Pratik Handore
Created by Tom Rob Smith, ‘Class of ’09’ is a suspense thriller series that revolves around a class of FBI Agents at three distinct points in their careers who must deal with the rapidly changing nature of their agency following the introduction of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system that seemingly identifies criminals before they commit crimes. The first two episodes of the layered and complex thriller introduce us to the core group of characters as they undertake their FBI training in The Past while dealing with the fallout of a tragic incident in The Future. Hence, viewers must be looking for answers about the forever twisting and turning plot and ending of ‘Class of ’09’ episode 1 and episode 2! SPOILERS AHEAD!
Class of ’09 Episode 1 and 2 Recap
The first episode, titled ‘Part of Something,’ opens in The Future: The year 2034 and introduces us to FBI Director Tayo Michaels (Brian Tyree Henry of ‘Atlanta‘). He uses an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system to determine the criminal potential of a subject named Amos Garcia. The AI determines that Garcia is a threat to society, and Tayo releases an arrest order for the supposed criminal. Elsewhere, FBI Agent Ashley Poet (Kate Mara of ‘House of Cards‘) reunites with her classmate FBI Agent Murphy, and the duo, along with a task force, raid Garcia’s last known location. However, Garcia is not there, and the raid is a bust.
The story jumps back in time to The Past: the year 2009, as Ashley Poet arrives at the Quantico training facility for new FBI recruits. On her first day, she meets her new classmates – Murphy, Hour (Sepideh Moafi of ‘Black Bird‘), Lennix (Brian J. Smith of ‘Essex County’), and Tayo. During their induction class, instructors Gabriel and Drew ask the batch to share some details about their past and desire to join the FBI. We learn that Hour is the daughter of Iranian immigrants and Tayo was an insurance agent before clearing the FBI entrance test. Poet worked as a nurse until she was recommended for the program by an FBI Agent she assisted on a case.
In The Present Day: the year 2023, Poet works as an undercover agent and succeeds in gathering evidence against one of the most notorious gangs in Los Angeles. She is assigned to be a part of the arrests, after which Poet attends a psych evaluation. During her conversation with the therapist, Poet reveals she was engaged before joining the FBI but broke up with her fiancé due to his lack of faith in her career choice. Later, Poet meets Lennix, who assigns her an undercover mission within the FBI and asks her to spy on her best friend, Hour.
Agent Poet meets Hour and learns the latter is developing the world’s most detailed criminal database. We see flashbacks of the ’09 batch gelling with each other, and Lennix and Poet take a romantic liking to each other. In The Future, a hearing is organized to determine whether Tayo’s term as the FBI Director should be extended. Tayo convinces them to allow him to continue his work with the AI. The episode ends with Amos Garcia showing up at Poet’s house and warning her of a conspiracy within the FBI. However, he is killed by an incoming FBI task force shortly after handing over a flash drive to Poet.
The second episode, titled ‘The Fitness Test,’ opens in The Past with the FBI trainees of ’09 being prepared for a fitness test they must pass in order to remain in the program. In the Present, Tayo, and Agent Nunez drive to a remote mansion in Montana and meet Mark Tupirik (Mark Pellegrino of ‘Dexter’), the leader of a separatist organization. During his brief meeting with Tupirik, Tayo becomes convinced that the former is an extremist. However, things go sideways when Tupirik discovers one of his associates is an undercover FBI agent. Nunez is gravely injured in the ensuing gunfight.
In The Past, everyone doubts Tayo’s ability to pass the fitness test while Poet offers to help him train. It causes a fight between Poet and Hour as the latter calls out the former’s constant need to help lost causes. In the Future, Lennix remembers the FBI Agents who died during an attack on the agency. In the Past, Poet and Tayo train together, but the latter gets into an argument with his classmate. Eventually, Tayo fails the fitness test but is given a second chance to retake the test in seven months as per the rules of the training program. Later, Tayo tells Poet about an incident from his childhood when a police officer assaulted him.
Class of ’09 Episode 2 Ending: Who Is Tupirik Going to Attack? Why Does Tayo Use the AI?
In the final act of episode 2, The Future timeline see Tayo being visited by the Senator, who condemns his use of AI to determine who is a criminal even before crimes are committed. Meanwhile, The Present sees Tayo waiting in the hospital for Agent Nunez to regain consciousness following the attack on their lives by Mark Tupirik and his forces. Tupirik is an extremist who is running a separatist organization, and his disdain for the FBI meddling in his operation is evident from the attack on Tayo and Nunez. In the episode’s final moments, Tayo and Nunez discuss the arms and ammunition they found in Tupirik’s basement, which indicates that his organization is planning a massive attack.
Ultimately, Tayo deduces that Tupirik is going to attack the FBI as we see the latter’s forces set out to execute the strike on the agency. As a result, the ending of the second episode confirms that the incident Lennix is talking about in The Future is Tupirik’s attack on the FBI. It is stated that nearly twenty-four FBI Agents were killed during the altercation. Meanwhile, Tayo had already sensed the darkness within Tupirik and got a hint of the extremist leader’s plan. However, he was likely unable to stop Tupirik’s attack and blamed himself for losing several FBI Agents. Consequently, the attack on the FBI would explain why Tayo developed the AI and believes in executing preemptive strikes on supposed criminals before they can cause any damage. As a result, the show sets up a compelling exploration of the moral ambiguity of brandishing a person a criminal based solely on their thoughts and how it will affect the criminal justice system.
Read More: Where is Class of ’09 Filmed?
