The Tomorrow People - Episode 1.03 - Girl, Interrupted - Review: What's With That Girl In The Subway?

The Tomorrow People delivered its best episode yet, as Ultra managed to capture Cara, Stephen gained a new partner and Stephen is put into a very awkward position.

It hasn't taken the show long to give us insight into some backstory. While the first two episodes were very focused on Stephen and his integration into both Ultra and the rest of the Tomorrow People, this week's was entirely focused on Cara. Small hints have previously been dropped as to her past life, but she has been very secretive about it.

In the opening scene, we flashback to see Cara as a deaf girl. Since she's obviously not now, it puzzled me as to how and when she transformed from one to the other. It made sense that it happened when she had her breakout. As we saw, there's no way she can go back to the real world. Killing someone, no matter how accidental it was, isn't something that can be reversed.

Despite her claims that it was an accident (which let's face it, it was), the police refused to believe her. While she wants to share her newfound hearing abilities with her family, her father sends her away, supposedly to give her a better life. Of course, she can now read minds. Hearing that her father is happy that she's leaving, making his life easier, would have been the worst thing in her life. That, coupled with having to leave her young sister, meant she was in a bad place before joining the group.

Back in the present, it's five years to the day since Cara broke out (these Amell shows like the five years thing, don't they?). The memories obviously affected her - as they would anyone, yet she refused to listen to John's advice that she shouldn't be in the field. This wasn't inteligent, as not only did she lose control of her telepathy and almost got Stephen caught doing dirty work, but got caught by Ultra.

While Jedikiah wanted to employ his inhumane tactics upon her, Stephen made the intelligent suggestion that they should just strip her of her powers, not to hurt her, but to hurt John. Having yet to see any of John's backstory, it's fascinating that Stephen was able to use the little he's been told against Jedikiah. Yet, it worked. I still couldn't quite understand what Stephen was doing though.

When Stephen injected her, I was sure that he had just taken her powers away. I smiled when she teleported across to him on the subway train. His time-stopping power, although not yet under control, can be clearly used when under emotional stress. Perhaps they need a name for this power, since it is making reappearances.

As Cara was dealing with her personal problems, Stephen had some of his own. As his telepathy skills grew stronger, he began to hear other people's thoughts. While he enjoyed the ability at first, hearing that one of his classmates would be dead in 48 hours put a damper on things.

Cara, John and Jedikiah, all three worried about potential exposure, all advised Stephen to do nothing. In the midst of Cara's troubles, she even remarked that he should forget about human kind. While she had her own reasons to be on edge, Stephen refused to capitulate to any of their requests; instead the ethical side of him took control.

As Cara thought about her past, and the sister she left behind, parallels could be drawn to the situations. Although there are multiple differences, Cara could understand Emily's grief, and Stephen's frustration. The humane side of her finally got the better of her, as she successfully convinced Emily to reconsider suicide. Yet, it came at a cost. As Stephen teleported away, Astrid happened to witness. Now, I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure humans don't do that. She came to the same conclusion, and has now put Stephen in an awkward place. And, since he is yet to tell the Tomorrow People (or Jedikiah), he could get burned from both ends.

Stephen's new partner is a hoot. On their first day together, she fires a gun at him. Does she need therapy? Perhaps. Her reasoning behind it was logical, but doing that may be pushing it over the edge just a little. However, Stephen's comment that he'd "Go grab a water, maybe change my shorts." was comical.

As if Jedikiah wasn't suspicious enough, finding the dongle that Stephen installed to track Ultra's knowledge of new breakouts would have only left him more suspicious of his nephew. Stephen's supposed removal of Cara's powers may lead to trust between the two, but it'll be interesting to see how long that trust lasts.

Some extra points:

• Stephen may have the three 'T's, he may be able to stop time. But have dancing powers? No, he does not. As Astrid perfectly summed up, "I'm trying to reintegrate you into the social circle, not scare people away." Please Stephen, never do that again.
• Three episodes in and The Tomorrow People is making mild sexual euphenisms. Russell's remark to TIM asking "Are you excited you get to stick your dongle in Ultra's mainframe?" brought about no real response from the supercomputer. How dull. Russell had another of the best quotes, stating "There are a few casinos I haven't been banned from, we could do some major damage" in response to Stephen's time-stopping powers. Do the Tomorrow People envision crime as a future superpower?
• The fight scene at the docks was very cool. They need more stunts I feel. 
• I hope we get to see Cara's sister again. It's unlikely, but it would be nice.

This was the best episode yet. We learned a great deal about Cara, while the fight scene and dialogue was greatly improved. 9/10

Promo for next week (Which comes very close to being better than this week's, on all levels):

Bradley Adams

15 year old in England. Love Hawaii Five-0, NCIS, NCIS LA, Person of Interest, Elementary, Criminal Minds, Nikita and Arrow, and the new The Blacklist, Hostages and The Tomorrow People. I am reviewing The Blacklist, Person of Interest and The Tomorrow People for Spoiler TV. Aside from TV, a keen cricketer.

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