At the end of last week’s ‘The Tomorrow People‘, Stephen finally found his father’s body, kept in stasis by his Uncle Jedikiah. So what do the two speak about now that things have come to a head? Well, it starts 30 years ago when Jed discovers Roger Price’s telekinetic powers. Since that moment, everything Jed has done has been for Roger. “Everything you see here,” he preaches, “is part of a plan.” He tells his shell-shocked nephew that Bathory, the Founder, had created a machine being on harnessing Roger as a weapon. Still, there’s a plan, but what is it?

On the second front, Cara’s awakened by another breakout, one whose cries are strangely reminiscent to her past connection to Stephen. She knows it means something and, just as TIM is tracking the faint signals of the breakout, so too is Jed. But he’s interrupted by Bathory, who tells Jed the machine has been completed and it’s time to move forward with Stephen. Jedikiah’s hedge is caught by the Founder who tries to glimpse into Jed’s mind to see if the ULTRA director is hiding anything. Jed’s able to divert the probes and, after Bathory leaves he finally shares the plan with Stephen; kill Bathory. “It’s the only way to bring your father back,” he says. “A life for a life.”

Jed and Roger–first contact with the Founder

To find the breakout, Cara drafts Russell for an uptown field trip while Stephen asks John to help him kill the Founder. John’s not for it, unable to trust Jedikiah. He reminds Stephen that it was him that helped John realize there is always another way. “This isn’t who we are,” John says but the words don’t detract Stephen’s drive. He returns to Jedikiah and the two brainstorm on how to find the elusive Founder. The carrot is the Founder’s daughter, Cassie, who’s locked up in the Citadel, subject to gross and inhuman experiments. With Jed’s approval, Stephen gets to the vegetative Cassie and reaches into her mind. “You saved me,” he tells her, “now it’s my turn to save you.” It’s enough to bring her back to the surface and she tells Stephen that he’s next on her father’s list. One thing at a time, though…he helps her up and they teleport away.

Pinpointing the breakout to the ballet show, Cara finds quite the surprise when—after her and Russell beat down two ULTRA agents—that the breakout is none other than her younger sister Sophie. The Tomorrow People’s leader shares her own breakout experience to her disbelieving sister before taking Sophie to the Lair. She needs John’s advice the same way he needs hers. He tells her of the plan with Cassie, Jed and the others to kill the Founder. “I say kill the bastard,” the ringing endorsement John needs to join in Jedikiah’s coup. If only things were as simple for Cara. Sophie’s not too happy about the change in her life. Cara tries to promote how the powers make them special but Sophie already has found her own special traits in the ballet company and openly wishes there was a way to get rid of her powers.

After gaining Cara’s support, John gets a one-on-one with Jed, to see if the latter’s on the up and up. No matter what, he’ll never trust Jed for turning John “into your own personal killing machine” but Jed begs John to end the war. He’s not proud of all the things he’s done, acknowledging on how he ruined John’s life but it was something that had to be done. Speaking of prepping for war, Cara drops her sister off to Astrid, knowing the house is off limits to ULTRA. She returns to the Lair as everyone puts the finishing touches on the final plan, the suicide mission to kill Bathory.

Throughout the episode, we’re given a peek into the history of Roger and Jed as they further experiment with Roger’s powers. We are there for the first meeting with Bathory as he declares to Roger that “We will redefine life on this planet.”

Astrid and Sophie share some girl chat with the latter’s laments on not feeling as if she has any choice in her life now. It’s something Astrid can relate to and, while Jed uses TIM to hack into ULTRA’s mainframe, Cara leaves the group to look out for Sophie, who’s returned to the ballet.  She watches off stage as her sister performs, pride and fear warring for her attention.

Bathory’s words give Stephen pause

Meanwhile, the three-person team of Cassie, Stephen, and John track Bathory down. They send Cassie in to drop her father’s guard as she slips a D-chip into his pocket. She gives the duo the go ahead and they storm the mansion, taking out the guards before confronting Bathory. But like any villain, Bathory sports quite the silver tongue, playing on Stephen and John’s distrust of Jedikiah. Despite experimenting on his daughter, he paints himself to be the good guy. “I did it for you, I did it for your father. I did it for all of you.” When he crushes the D-chip into ashes, it gives Stephen pause but Cassie still wants her father dead and screams for John to shoot. He does but the Founder pushes the bullet away from him and into Cassie. She falls to the ground and Bathory holds his daugther’s body in his arms, a casualty of his own actions—despite him pointing the finger at Jedikiah.

Cara and Sophie spend time at the Lair only to run into a messed up Russell just as John and Stephen jump back into the Lair. John is pissed, even more so when he finds that Jedikiah has disappeared. John wants blood and Stephen promises to get answers from his uncle. “You have one hour and then I’m coming for him,” John declares. Cara once again gets Sophie out of dodge and spends a bit more time with her sister at the empty theater. She gives Sophie a D-bracelet; it’ll mute her powers, keeping her off ULTRA’s radar as long as she wears it. The two sisters embrace, with the promise of seeing one another again.

A final glimpse into the past shows a less than friendly conversation between Jed and Bathory. The former shows his jealousy and desire to transfer powers to homo sapiens while the latter doesn’t hide his disdain for the ‘Saps’, those without powers. In the present, Stephen gets to ULTRA just before Jed has retreated into the shadows. “It wasn’t Roger’s powers that saved me, Stephen. It was his love for me.” Jed’s words confuse Stephen’s reeling brain even more. He doesn’t know what to do. “You need to decide who you are,” Jed offers.  “You powers make you very strong but only your humanity can save us; every one of us.” He exits the base moments before the Founder barges into the room, out for blood but it’s too late.

Tomorrow’s News

  • The key to a compelling villain is giving him a cause that, when looked at a certain way, one can understand why he believes he’s the good guy. The dynamic between Jedikiah and Bathory, showcased in flashbacks and impassioned speeches to our heroes, are stark reminders and blurs the lines on who is truly the bad guy.
  • The uncertainties of the above point further complicate Stephen’s position. On the one hand he feels betrayed by Jedikiah hiding Roger’s body but his uncle’s reasoning is sound and, despite his anger, something Stephen can understand. The problem becomes the Founder’s own case for doing things. He proclaims everything he’s done—including the experimentations on his daughter—are for the betterment of everyone. Unlike John, who’s suffered more at the hands of Jedikiah than anyone else, Stephen’s not quite ready to throw his uncle under the bus. Of course, that doesn’t mean he’s ready to put all of his faith in Jed, either. One can only guess how things go from here but one thing is certain; Stephen has a choice to make and, depending upon that choice, he can save his people and humanity or bring doom to them all. It’s an unenviable position for a high schooler just now coming into his own.