Tom Rob Smith’s Class of ’09 released its third episode today, and we’re starting to understand how the intimidating technology of the future, which arrests people based on predictions, came into being. In the previous episodes, we found Ashley Poet (Kate Mara) being assigned to seek out her FBI batchmate Hour Nazari (Sepideh Moafi) in 2034. Additionally, the FBI director of the future, Tayo Michaels, realized domestic terrorist Mark Tupirik was planning something big and needed to be stopped in 2023. With the well-being of the entire country at stake, Tayo needs to apprehend Tupirik early. The episode opens with Poet learning to do a J-turn with a car in Quantico in 2009 before things turned serious. So, how exactly do things turn serious in Episode 3 of Class of ’09?
Spoilers Ahead
Hour’s Genius
When a tech genius creates something so revolutionary that it needs to be taken down, they can rest easy knowing they’ve created something that stands miles above the rest. FBI’s ’09 batch graduate Hour Nazari couldn’t be prouder of her invention of a library that contained the record of every FBI investigation and all the information in the database in one super system. While this technology had the capacity to change the way crimes were detected to a level we’d never seen before, the top brass at the FBI got cold feet quickly. In a presentation for her new library, Hour was told in no uncertain words that the FBI won’t rely on technology, no matter how easy it made solving crimes or how it could act as a catalyst for fairer treatment. Hour told her best friend from the batch, Ashley Poet, that the project would be shut down by the end of the month, no matter how good it was. The old geezers making the big bucks can’t let a machine record everything the FBI does, lest some of their dirty laundry become a public spectacle. At Hour’s engagement party with her fiancé, Poet dropped by, and she was asked to dance by the bride-to-be when Hour let Poet know that she was aware of her task to spy on the tech genius. While discussing her brainchild later, Hour received a call from Tayo Michaels: he needed her device.
Tupirik’s News
Tayo is dealing with a suspect from Mark Tupirik’s estate who refuses to cooperate when he learns that an attempt was made on Tayo’s wife’s life. The brave woman was able to kill the shooter and driver who ambushed her outside her house, but she survived because of the bulletproof windshield that Tayo had preemptively installed. Realizing that he’d have no choice but to break the law to extract information from the suspect, Tayo went in deep and contacted Hour. Her tech was able to scan the letters that the suspect had unconsciously scratched on a notepad, and within a few moments, they were on the truck that was transporting Tupirik. He’d taken extreme care, building a fake section within a truck to conceal himself, but when the armed forces converged around the truck, the three deliverymen quickly had their brains blown out, leaving Tupirik defenseless. He managed to burn the blueprints of the master plan he was cooking, but he was dragged to a secret base, and Tayo was invited there in a private jet to question the domestic terrorist. Tupirik, however, remained unfazed because Tayo was right where he wanted the FBI agent to be, where he could see the news.
Reunion
Fast forward to 2034, and Poet has to swallow her pride and visit Hour, her old best friend from Quantico, whom she is no longer in contact with because things have turned sour between them. Poet meets Hour’s wife and their daughter and then asks her old friend for help. Hour, who’d proposed to Poet in the past because she was in love with her best friend, initially refuses but ultimately agrees to help. The two go for a ride and discuss that Poet is alone, and that she believes loneliness is better than being with the wrong person. The car ride is supposed to go smoothly, but in 2034, a car being driven by a person is a reasonable cause for the cops to stop the car. In the futuristic age, cars are made to drive themselves, and driving one’s car is seen as just short of going against the law. Poet is stopped by two cops, and the alert flashes for FBI Director Tayo that she can be a potential threat, but in the end, they’re let go. The two women arrive at the residence of Amos Garcia, the man who stole the technology from Hour. Poet plugs in the device that Garcia had thrown to her before being shot dead, and all the screens in the room light up with Garcia’s face addressing Poet. His pre-recorded self warns Poet that Tayo is making rampant use of Hour’s tech to do as he pleases, which is resulting in arrests, before a crime has been committed—but we know that.
Does The Poet Secretly Love Hour?
Hour goes back to Poet’s place, and each woman goes to a separate room to go to bed, and Poet lies on her bed, contemplating what her life has come to. Hour comes in and snuggles with the girl she loves and begins kissing her as Poet cries quietly. Class of ’09 Episode 3 ends with the two women in embrace and showing that Poet must’ve secretly cared for Hour because she welcomes her into her bedroom. This could mean that the two women might be together in the episodes to follow or that Hour will come to her senses and remember her wife and daughter before she proceeds with Poet. To find out more, check back next week at the same time for Episode 4.
Review
Now, I’m no screenwriter or director of a show, but I believe ending an episode with something shocking goes a long way in ensuring that the audience tunes in next week to look into the event. Being told that some news is to come and then leaving people in suspense may not be the hook the showrunners need to be going for, especially when this week’s episode ends on a soft note. With this generation’s audience that needs a gaming clip running below the YouTube short they’re watching to keep their attention focused, is it fair to expect that 100% of this week’s viewership will tune in the next week to find out what “news” Tupirik was talking about? Besides, couldn’t the showrunners think of a few more interesting ways to end an episode? I mean, I’d rather watch the pre-recorded version of Amos Garcia exposing Tayo’s secrets for Poet and Hour to ponder on, other than the obvious about people being arrested on only suspicions. Sure, there are a lot of emotions between Hour and Poet that need to be explored, but this episode’s ending felt like it stumbled to a halt after traveling at a steady pace, except for a few speedbumps. Hopefully, Class of ’09 Episode 4 picks up the pace and gives us a sci-fi thriller we can actually get behind, with engrossing stories and nail-biting endings.
