Quick Take review – The Tomorrow People 1×21: ‘Kill Switch’

Courtesy of The CW

Online contributors have tried to argue that The Tomorrow People has gotten better as it nears the end of its only first season. I beg to differ.

Let’s bitch it out…

Here are the top five reasons why ‘Kill Switch’ was incredibly annoying / frustrating / soul-destroying:

1. Hillary’s (Alexa Vega) sacrifice was a non-factor: As predicted by everyone, Hilary’s truly stupid decision to tell the Founder (Simon Merrells) that she was going to kill him allowed him to escape relatively unscathed. That would be bad enough if the rest of the episode didn’t proceed to treat her sacrifice and the impact it would have at Ultra as a complete non-starter. It’s basically the show’s way of saying “yup, we only blew that chick up as a cliffhanger for last week’s episode.” This series has a habit of pulling out a game-changer and then backtracking in the next episode to completely reduce its significance. This is a prime exhibit.
   1. See also: the fall-out from this episode, when Ultra massacred half of the Tomorrow People and two weeks later everything was hunky-dory.
2. Natalie (Leven Rambin): I generally have problems with any character who is randomly introduced out of the blue (especially if they’re meant to have been there all along and clearly weren’t). Natalie is the kind of character that writers love to introduce: the antagonist who stirs the pot and threatens the status quo. The problem with Natalie is that she’s a bitch and everyone knows it, but no one calls her on it. I don’t buy that no one tells her to shut the hell up or blames her to the whole “kill switch” situation. Basically I just want someone to punch Natalie in the face, and not because I “love to hate her.” I just “hate her and want her to die painfully.”
   1. If I’m being really bitchy, she deserves to die for that hairdo alone.
3. Russell’s (Aaron Yoo) role in the rebellion: Things really get out of control, when Rusell randomly starts acting like a complete idiot and listening to Natalie’s cry for mutiny. I get that Russell has long been a bit of a goofball, but until Natalie’s introduction, he never would have sold someone out to Ultra. His behaviour makes no sense to me, and really betrays the recent episode that suggested he would become a protector of the innocent like his ex-girlfriend. This reaches an apex when he kisses Natalie after delivering Roger (Jeffrey Pierce) to the Founder – a move that will effectively kill all humans in the NY proximity. There’s been no suggestion that Russell even likes her romantically since we’ve only ever seen Natalie manipulate him (hence the close-up of her whispering to him to be a leader and then the long shot of her strutting sexily away).
4. The inconsistent use of the Tomorrow People’s powers: I’m willing to accept that Jedikiah (Mark Pellegrino) is a lousy enough scientist that a teenage girl can do in 20 minutes what he couldn’t do in 20 years (ie: unlock the mystery DNA of the TP). What I can’t ignore is how The Tomorrow People employs the 3 Ts in a selective way depending on what the narrative requires. We’ve already seen John (Luke Mitchell) and Russell teleport in short bursts across the country to attend Russell’s father’s funeral, so why do Stephen (Robbie Amell) and Cara (Peyton List) need to use motorcycles to get into the Adirondack mountains? And why when they’re accosted by army men don’t they simply teleport into the control room and disable the signal instead of wasting time and getting Cara shot? If they really only had one hr before the Founder kills another friend, wouldn’t they make every single minute count? (Side Note: Don’t even get me started on the stupid power suppressing bracelets. Why wouldn’t Ultra just outfit all break-outs with one instead of removing their powers?)
   1. Same issue applies to Mama Marla (Sarah Clarke). By the end of the episode she and 16-going-on-12 Luca (Jacob Kogan) are leaving NY before the machine destroys all humans.The fact that she’s grabbing passports suggests that they’re planning to travel by plane. Why doesn’t she just do a series of teleport hops?
5. And the final reason why The Tomorrow People remains a woeful mess: Jedikiah’s “dark side.” Why does Jedikiah turn into a generic movie villain once he turns himself into a Tomorrow Person (never mind how easily he does this or how he manages to get it right on the first try. I feel a migraine / nosebleed coming on). Don’t get me wrong, I think giving Jedikiah the one thing he’s clearly lusted after all of this time is intriguing, but I’m unsure why he suddenly starts power fisting cars out of his way in that final scene. Is it just because he can? It doesn’t exactly gel with his primary interest of protecting humans, while – I know, I know – was likely just a line he was using until he could realize his real goal of becoming aTomorrow Person. But still, this doesn’t explain why he suddenly begins acting like an evil supervillain.
   1. Not to beat a dead horse, but – again! – why is Jedikiah walking down the street? He can freakin’ teleport!

So yeah, ‘Kill Switch’ contains more than a few ridiculously gaping plot holes that absolutely drove me crazy and unfortunately are symptomatic of the larger issues that have prevented me from really getting into The Tomorrow People. Here’s our “Keep” / “Kill” rating for the episode:

• Keep: All of the Astrid (Madeleine Mantock) / John stuff for its emotional resonance.
• Kill: The rest of it…at least until things are properly plotted.

What are your thoughts on The Tomorrow People? Are you disappointed that the Founder survived? Are you impressed John is actually human (though with this break-through that shouldn’t last long, right)? Did you anticipate the Astrid / John hook-up? Were you frustrated that the use of powers is inconsistent? And do you think that Natalie should be killed (and, if so, how should it happen)? Sound off below.

The Tomorrow People airs its series season finale Monday at 9pm EST on The CW