From the very first episode that found Stephen Jameson teleporting into his neighbors’ bed and the strange voice in his head, it has all been leading up to this moment. The moment where Stephen must live up to himself being the one that will stand and deliver, the one to lead the Tomorrow People, the son of man…

Jedikiah stares up at Roger, powerless to save his brother

Last week ended with the machine up and running, thanks to the traitor Russell and his unlikeable girl Natalie, who hijacked Roger Price and delivered him to the Founder. He’s strapped up and powering the machine but all is not yet lost. Jedikiah, after stealing Irene’s powers, works his way into ULTRA, ready to free his brother from the infernal machine, but by the time he enters the chambers, the powers have already faded so he can’t get close enough to free Roger and live to tell the tale. Roger knows there’s only recourse; kill him. Jedikiah can’t fathom the idea but Roger begs him. “Do it, Jedikiah,” he screams. “Do it for me, please. Do it for me.” With a heavy heart and regret etched in his face, Jedikiah pulls the trigger, moments before Stephen arrives. He pulls Roger’s dying body from the device as a triumphant Founder strolls in, announcing that they are too late. The machine has already absorbed Roger’s power and is in the midst of “growing, expanding, transforming the planet.” Roger tells Stephen that he call still save this world and the younger man teleports away. Jed stays with his brother until Roger jumps them back to the former’s apartment. The brothers share a final moment before Roger Price succumbs to his injuries.

Still in a daze from his father once again leaving him, Stephen returns to the Lair and, wanting the end things, searches John’s mind for information on the Annex drug. He wants to weaponize himself, to be able to kill, specifically the Founder. It’s not about being a savior; it’s about revenge, pure and simple. As Stephen goes searching for the drugs, TIM explains the reactor details of the machine as well as the blast radius once it goes “nuclear”. John and Cara spend some time talking about how different things are now but she knows he can’t stay and pushes him to get somewhere safe, if not for himself, for Astrid. He reluctantly agrees and leaves Cara at the Lair, not knowing that she’s in danger when the Founder requests Natalie and Russell to round her and the others up — if they want to be a part of the new world.

Needing cash to get he and Astrid out of the blast radius, John breaks into Jed’s condo and is surprised to find his father figure watching videos of a teenaged John getting a birthday celebration. He reminisces about the pocket knife he gave John, one that had been passed down to his family. But things are different now; “I’m just a man,” John tells him but it doesn’t matter to Jed. “That’s all a father could ever want for his son,” he replies and the two embrace, a past of mistrust and heartbreak temporarily forgotten.

Cara takes on the Founder

On his mission for revenge, Stephen arrives at the facility where the Annex drug is stored and is surprised to find that it’s still being manufactured. And we find out rather quickly that the hit squad sent to take down Cara are weaponized paranormals, something Russell and Natalie find out at the last second. Russell steps in and saves Cara from being cut down and she uses her time to find Stephen. He’s in his room, the needle ready to go but she knows this is not him. She still believes he’s the one to save them all “but not by giving up your humanity” and those heartfelt words are enough to pull the syringe from his hand and take the Founder on like a hero should. They arrive at the usual restaurant rendezvous where Astrid and John meet them. Russell appears and though he’s persona non grata with Stephen, is desperate to make amends, telling them about Roger’s previous plan. There may be only five of them but they are going full tilt boogie with a full frontal assault.

With everything in place, Stephen and Cara have a halfhearted goodbye before she and Russell draw the attention to themselves while Stephen waits for his opening. They end up taking down the hit squad—with some help from John on Overwatch duty. Cara and Russell make their way into ULTRA with the former taking on the Founder. She doesn’t fare well, though offers enough of a distraction for Stephen to sneak in and start doing what he can to shut the machine down. The wave is in full effect now and, outside, John and Astrid watch as it approaches them. She’s terrified but he calms her. “You know what the best part of being human was…you.” He kisses her and they are lost in time, ceasing to be…

Stephen’s attempts to stop the machine when Bathory appears, ready to stop him. The younger man puts up quite the fight but the Founder eventually takes the upper hand. “This is the future,” he tells Stephen, “and we are already living in it.” But Stephen will not be denied; he breaks free of the Founder’s grip and goes back to work on the machine. That’s when something strange happens; the essence powering the machine, the essence that was Roger Price, slips into Stephen and grants him the power to reverse the effects of the wave and take the Founder down. The reversal opens a portal to God knows where and Stephen throws the Founder into it, the machine following as it collapses in on itself. It’s over, the good guys have won and Stephen and John converge on Cara to celebrate, but it’s too late as Natalie kills her…

Stephen’s scream and release of power at Cara’s death changes things. He reverses time to moments before Natalie’s able to pull the trigger. “That’s not who we are,” he tells her and takes the gun. She teleports away and the four—Stephen, Cara, Astrid, and John—celebrate. The day is won and the world has been saved.

Two Weeks Later:

John and Astrid are on the subway, enjoying some time together when Jedikiah steps up, telling John he has something to show him. Apologizing to Astrid, John follows his foster father and is shocked to see that Jed’s put together some ULTRA equipment and is ready to give the former paranormal back his powers. John’s hesitant, reiterating Jed’s earlier words about being a man but the latter asks him “What if you could be something more?”

The next day, Astrid and Stephen are hanging out as friends when Cara gives him a psychic call. When he returns to the Lair, he’s greeted to a room full of breakouts. Evidently what he’d done with the machine sent out a beacon that these new people have answered. “You’re their leader,” she tells him but he balks at it. They’re here for “us,” he tells her as the two get ready to address their new crew. Of course, Russell arrives in time and it seems all has been forgiven. “We’re going to need a bigger Lair,” Stephen tells the other two and wouldn’t you know it, ULTRA’s HQ is free nowadays. It’s a temporary fix though but more to the point, it’s about the future, a future that “is only as small as our imagination.” They have some stress free banter when Cara grabs her side. “I still feel it,” she admits to him and asks Stephen what it was he did. He shrugs, citing she wouldn’t believe it when Cara gets the image of John breaking out…

Jedikiah is lounging in a chair when his Senator buddy enters. He wonders aloud if the government would like their own paranormal super soldier. As proof, he brings the first one of his new team: John Young. When they leave the good Senator’s office, he gives John the next mission; find and capture Cara. “She’s our first recruit,” he tells John, who has no idea who Cara is, “the first of many.”

Tomorrow’s News

  • The ‘Son of Man’ has been heard most often in the Old Testament and the role of Jesus as Savior. Despite the trials and tribulations he’s faced, Stephen (like Kal-el/Superman and others) is the Messiah for his people. More interesting is how, at the climax of his battle with the Founder, Stephen takes in his father’s power to defeat the adversary. With John, Cara, and even Russell acting as his own council of wise men(and woman), he has fulfilled the first part of his destiny saving the world. Now comes the hard part.
  • And just when I thought he’d learned and shown his true self, Jedikiah Price does it again. Not content to play for the good guys, he re-powers John and wipes his mind and is in line to restart ULTRA as something else, something more militaristic and just as big a threat on things as the Founder, though maybe not on a genocidal scale. Make no mistake though, his actions will bring war to their world.
  • So now we wait, so many questions unanswered—Where did the Founder go? What is Jed’s endgame? How will Stephen’s new power come into play and what will the lasting effects be on Cara? Will we get these answered next year or will we be left with the musings on how special this show can be after such a surprisingly quality first season? It’s in the hands of the CW now and whether or not they realize the potential they have in ‘The Tomorrow People’. Dare I say, if properly groomed, it could reach the quality of ‘Arrow‘ and ‘Supernatural‘. We can only hope that this isn’t the last we’ll see of Stephen, Cara, John and the others as they navigate a world that, for the most part, won’t be ready for the knowledge that there are others more advanced out there.