The following will contain spoilers toward the end. You have been warned.
Telepathy; teleportation; telekinisis: the three awesome abilities The Tomorrow People acquire, except...they can't kill. Similar to the movie Jumper, each and every one of their species is being hunted by a secret organisation hunting paranormals, in this case Ultra. You have the love triangles, the badass fighting scenes, betrayal, twists, and, of course, your heroes and, behold...the Chosen One, a teenage boy named Stephen with the rare ability to stop time just like previous leader of their kind: his father.
Episode after episode, I was hooked. I liked each of the main characters and the way the show played out. It tricked me into thinking who you can trust and who the real villain is. And then, after falling in love with this series until the last few episodes, it all went wrong. Here's why.
Before I get deep into the falling of the show, here is what you need to know if you haven't already seen it.
The Plot
Meet Stephen Jameson (left), your semi-ordinary teenager who is made to believe that he suffers from a mental illness, just like his father. He has his high school best friend Astrid who worries about him and his state, and, well, the obvious: she's in love with him. Suffering from a bad case of "sleepwalking", Stephen's life changes when he discovers he can move objects with his mind. He keeps hearing the voice of a mysterious woman, a woman who plays as one of his mentors and love interests: Cara (right).
After having learning his abilities and what he is truly capable of, Stephen meets more of The Tomorrow People and the most important character—and probably the best character—in the series overall, John Young, Cara's love interest. Since they are not able to kill, they teach Stephen how to fight and use his abilities so they can rescue more of their kind from Ultra. But things get complicated when Stephen meets with the man who is in charge at Ultra, Jedikiah—heads up, it's a bit of a twist.
Throughout the series, Stephen works with Ultra as a way to help John and his group people save more of their hunted species. Not everyone is who you think they are and everyone has their secrets. Power is everything, and if it's in the wrong hands, humans and paranormals could face extinction.
The Good
Every great series needs a good storyline and The Tomorrow People does. Most of the characters are likeable and different in their own way, there were some twists that left me wanting more, the writers did a good job at making you second guess certain things, the idea of these abilities is awesome, some moments left me on edge, the CGI was well done, the acting was quite good overall, Stephen having a different ability than the others was a great touch—along with his new ability at the end—and it didn't drag out too much.
The one thing I found with this show however is that the "main" character is left for you as the viewer to decide. Sure, many would say it's Stephen and it's correct, but when I watched the series, there was a huge focus on John and his story. His storyline overpowered the others, including Stephen's, and it left me liking his character more since he is the most interesting of the group. I'm not sure if this is a good thing, but it definitely isn't bad.
It keeps you hooked, especially if you watch it one after the other so you don't forget what happens, and I would recommend it to anyone who loves the movie Jumper or loves the idea of cool abilities. Then again, if you don't want to see a great TV series with potential fall flat on its head then maybe reconsider. It isn't terrible, but the last few episodes will either leave you enjoying it, not caring for it anymore or mentally frustrated and disappointed at the thought of something so good doing a total 180.
The Bad
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| Where it all goes Wrong. |
~X~
As I mentioned earlier, I loved the series, but only up until the resurrection of Roger. Since he returned to life, the show died in a way—the irony.
Episode 21 has got to be the worst episode of them all. Seriously, WTF happened? To me, it felt like the writers didn't know what they were doing and were trying to make small twists that ended up backfiring, leaving some viewers confused and annoyed. I can honestly say that I have never watched a TV series that has totally let me down and left me so frustrated to the point of giving up on it.
Russell, the strong, outspoken, witty and loyal character throughout most of the series has kept his loyalty for Roger and the group and remained good and then, all of a sudden, he is completely whipped by the worst and most irritating character ever, Natalie: a character you want to kill yourself. Natalie, out of nowhere, became a new voice rebelling against Roger and Russell is suddenly smitten with her. HUH?! Did I completely miss something, or have the writers gone off track completely? It certainly felt that way.
Not only that, Russell is outspoken and typically speaks his mind when necessary. When in the presence of Natalie, he completely shies away, doesn't bother trying to stop her or help Roger and he plays right into the Founder's hand—their known enemy. That isn't the Russell that I've watched over the series, he turned unrecognisable and went against everything he stood for and got Roger killed. As a fan of his character, I didn't care if he died in the end. I ended up not liking him anymore.
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| All happening too fast! |
John is another character that changed, not just into a human, but to another favourite character of mine who isn't exactly "himself". He was devoted to Cara for so long and since he became human, he is already in love with Astrid and vice versa. Sorry while I try to process this through my brain.... If John and Astrid always had an attraction for each other and if sexual tension was built up in previous episodes it would have worked, but it didn't. If the scenes when they were helping each other out is how they fell in love then I certainly didn't feel it. Instead of stopping time, maybe they should have programmed Stephen to slow down time because everything happened way too fast and it was unbelievable. I don't hate the idea of them being together though, but it could have been built up a lot better.
As for John and Cara, that was another let down. Cara went from being a kickass female character to an unfriendly and bitchy one when she became the new leader. Her relationship with Stephen was full on one moment, then nothing the next. It's clear to me that Stephen and Cara will end up together since they are connected in some way and John will either be with Astrid or have no love interests at all and remain loyal to Jedikiah.
Which then brings me to the never-ending decision on if he is bad or good: Jedikiah. After losing his brother and shredding tears, he, two weeks later, decides to create a new line of work and he's bad...again. John changes again, regaining his abilities and becomes Jedikiah's first recruit of Super Soldiers—the unoriginality. Oh, but wait, John doesn't remember anything! Not even Cara! His brain seems to have been wiped clean of all of his relationships with The Tomorrow People and is now a robot under Jed's orders to recruit Cara and others to join Jedikiah's army of Super Soldiers. Season One ends. What the hell went wrong? Seriously, they could have ended it with Jedikiah having abilities and turning A wall, that would have been interesting to watch.
Season 2?
If it's renewed, I truly hope the writers know what they are doing and make the next season as good as start of the first one, but a large part of me doubts it. Here are some of my predictions of what's to come next:
- Jedikiah will gain power again which will go to his head, making him, and possibly John, the next villains of the season
- Stephen and Cara will be together romantically as well as lead the new, larger group
- Cara will try to help John recover his memories and will most likely fail many times
- Stephen will use his new ability to turn back time and change their fate, maybe even end up killing John to save them all since he is the ultimate weapon or kill Jedikiah to stop his new plan
- Natalie will die (can't wait for that).
As for twists, since Cara was shot and Stephen changed her fate, it would be interesting if there's a huge consequence as a result of him turning back time. Someone else could replace her death or perhaps she is truly dead deep inside and her soul is stuck in Limbo. This storyline could work since the Founder was pushed into the portal which—I believe—might go to Limbo—a timeless world. If that's the case then Stephen would have to rescue her and face the Founder again.
Overall
The show lost the plot toward the end and a lot of built up character development got thrown out of the window. It definitely went from a a show I loved, to a show I didn't recognise anymore. Sad. It had a lot of potential to be great if it wasn't so rushed during the last few episodes and if it had a better and more original direction. As for Season Two, I don't care if the series is cancelled because I know why it would be. It should have been a miniseries in my opinion, it would have worked a lot better, or they should have ended the first season when time stopped or with Jedikiah gaining abilities and going A wall, that could have worked also.Overall, it wasn't bad, just disappointing. I would rate most of the season an 8/10 and the last three episodes, especially episode 21, a 4.5/10. It didn't live up to the expectation and hopes I had for it, instead it drifted off the edge of its promise and potential into a huge "meh". Please have Stephen go back in time and fix up the show's mistakes, it's such a shame. I loved this show.
3.5/5
I was really hoping to give this series a 4.5/5 overall, but the last few episodes and the ending ruined it for me.
What are your thoughts? Will you watch it? If you already have, did you like it? Let me know in the comments!
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