The Tomorrow People: 117 “Endgame” Review
Reviewed by Mark McCullough.
The dramatic conclusion from last time has quite literally left everything established thus far under question. Stephen has found his father, but has Jedikiah to go through first. Jedikiah is now obviously aware of Stephen’s betrayal having pieced together the plan from the previous story. Added to the mix that Jedikiah himself is about to become a father, and anything could happen from here.
N.B. Due to the nature of the episode and the revelations featured within, the review contains several spoilers for major plot twists. If you want to avoid these, read no further until after watching the episode. I can assure you that this episode was the best of the series so far!
From the off, the episode appears to focus strongly on Jedikiah. We are treated to a flashback scene where after falling victim to bullies, Jedikiah takes his father’s gun to feel powerful. This leads to a confrontation between him and Roger which results in the latter saving Jedikiah’s life. Fast forward to the current plot and it is revealed that Jedikiah has been playing a very long game, as has been typical of his character throughout, everything has been meticulously planned. He reveals the reason why Roger had to be eliminated; the Founder had developed a machine to turn Roger’s powers into a weapon. To prevent this Jedikiah took action beginning a plan whose end phase is shown in this episode.
When the Founder claims the machine in question is fixed, Jedikiah is forced to accelerate his plan. The Founder wants to use Stephen in the machine in Roger’s place. This forces an unlikely alliance between Stephen and Jedikiah as they have to make use of what Jedikiah has laid in place. The only way to do that is by killing the Founder himself. To do so, Stephen requires a connection to the founder, provided in the form of Cassie, the Founder’s daughter. After breaking her out of the Citadel, he hopes she can lead him to her father. This however comes at a cost for Jedikiah, by issuing the order to allow Stephen access to Cassie; the Founder can trace the deceit back to Jedikiah.
Another important aspect of the plan is John, the only Tomorrow person who can kill. Stephen tries to enlist his help; however John refuses on moral grounds. After being persuaded by what happened to Cassie and events with Cara, he agrees to meet with Jedikiah. The dialogue between the two reveals that Jedikiah still cares for John and has made decisions in his interest and that Stephen has all along been an unknowing triple agent.
The plan looks set to be a dangerous one, with the Founder’s house guarded by several ex-military men and also being located in a radar blind spot. This leaves the Tomorrow People going in blind. John brings Jedikiah to the hideout of the Tomorrow People causing worry amongst them.
Upon entering the Founder’s house, Cassie communicates with him telepathically causing him to lower the security and underestimate the threat. She uses a suppression device on him to render his powers ineffective before calling in Stephen and John. A stand-off ensues which results in the death of a cast member and the plan ultimately failing. The Founder tries to convince the audience and Stephen that he is not the bad guy. This is supported by Jedikiah’s betrayal of Russell who then goes on the run from his previous employers.
Secondary to the main plot of the episode, there is some development in Cara’s storyline as her sister also breaks out as a Tomorrow Person. This leads to friction between the two as Cara’s Sister cannot stand the lifestyle of the others. This leads to a compromise with Cara entrusting the protection of her sister to Astrid. This backfires as the two bond over shared experiences and decide to go to the ballet show despite Cara telling them not to. Cara ultimately decides upon what is best for her sister and allows her to live her normal life with the aid of a power suppression cuff and her records being removed from Ultra’s database.
Verdict 10/10
One word: Wow! Without a doubt the best episode of the series so far (if not of any series I have watched this year), setting the bar very highly for what is yet to come. I honestly don’t know what to think now, who is good and who is bad remains to be seen. All I can say is that it was wonderful to get such expansion on the character of Jedikiah and the new light in which we seen his character was a rewarding payoff for the minor hints throughout the series. One can only hope that his character will feature again, especially now that his relationship with Roger has been showcased to the full, it would be a shame not to see more of that. The impact of the revelation will also make for exciting viewing in the weeks ahead.