Reviewed by Mark McCullough.

After a couple of very impressive game-changing twists, I find myself in the position of not having a clue where the series is going next, and that is wonderful. So many potential storylines that could be expanded upon in each episode makes for an exciting wait between episodes. What’s more given the quality of the recent run, I fully trust that whatever the show does next, it will be done well. So what does this week have to offer?

From the off, it looks like the narrative this week will be dealing with the consequences of some of the plot points raised throughout the previous episode. John and Cara’s situation takes strong focus early in the episode as we see the group struggle without John. Naturally he is missed by everyone and he himself wants to go back. However as Stephen rightly points out, it is stubbornness on behalf of both parties which is preventing it. We get to see a flashback scene from three years previous featuring the first meeting between John and Cara.

Next we see a focus on Astrid and Stephen, as you would expect the pair disagree about Stephen’s current position with Ultra. Astrid after blanking out Stephen then reaches out to him via web cam, however instead she gets John who is using Stephen’s room to work out. This provides an opportunity for the two characters to spend some time together and it is obvious they share chemistry. Astrid opens up to John revealing her fears, I found this scene to be quite well done as it was realistic and really made you feel sympathy for her. With John’s help Astrid id able to conquer her fear. From this she tells him that he needs to do the same and that he needs to go back to Cara and the rest of the Tomorrow People.

The episode also features the return of Julian Masters. Angry about what had happened a few episodes previously, he is determined to have revenge on Cara. It is revealed that he has lost everything and blames Cara. The question is, is he a threat without his so-called gang of thugs? This is answered very early by the prospect of an alliance with Jedikiah meaning Julian could be more dangerous than ever. Dealing with Jedikiah proves to be a risky business, as he looks to seek assurances that Julian will deliver on his promise. This leaves Julian in a perilous situation where it is quite literally do or die.

A routine trip to the supermarket to replenish inventory almost ends in disaster as Julian and his crew of four Ultra agents ambush the Tomorrow People. Thanks to some quick thinking by Stephen and Russell’s ability to put the group before his desire for revenge on Julian, they are able to escape. However things go from bad to worse as Julian betrays Stephen and captures one of the Tomorrow People who have gone looking for John. From this Julian is able to extract the location of the Tomorrow People’s hideout setting up the dramatic climax to the episode.

The events force John to return to Cara as Julian leads an Ultra kill squad straight into the base of the Tomorrow People. With ample warning, they are able to evacuate leaving John, Cara and Russell to face off against Julian. Julian also tries to level the playing field with Jedikiah by taking Stephen as a hostage meaning Jedikiah cannot hurt one without the other. After a very tense few scenes, the episode comes to the only dénouement that was possible given the nature of the storyline.

The episode ends on some strong character moments. In an exchange with Jedikiah where Jedikiah says he wants the war to end, Stephen tells him that he doesn’t know what it means to be human. I’m really beginning to believe that there is much more to Jedikiah, which would be excellent as I love his character. Cara and John make up as do Astrid and Stephen. The episode ends with Stephen discovering one of his father’s experiments.

Verdict 8.5/10

This week we have yet another strong outing from The Tomorrow People, which delivers a highly entertaining and character driven story. The story integrates three separate story strands into one larger narrative extremely well. It takes the characters and advances them to where they need to be to build-up within the remainder of the series. The only thing I will say negative about this week’s outing is that the conclusion lacked real impact. Whilst not specifically a problem with the episode itself, what was occurring was too big for the overall series narrative and as such could only have ended in the way in which it did, which reduced the impact slightly.