The Tomorrow People Bosses Sound Off on Killer John Reveal and Tease Jedikiah's Flashback Episode

Greg Berlanti and Phil Klemmer dish on what's ahead for Stephen, his mother and Russell on the new CW hit drama

By Tierney Bricker Oct 31, 2013 2:00 AMTags
Mark Pellegrino, Tomorrow PeopleBarbara Nitke/The CW

Spoiler Alert! Do not continue reading unless you've watched The Tomorrow People's latest episode. We're spelling out all of the latest happenings and will hex all those who complain about being spoiled in the comments!

Not only do The Tomorrow People have the power of telekinesis, teleportation and telepathy, they also have tele-pacing! OK, so we totally made that last power up, but seriously, the new CW hit is blowing through storylines at a breakneck place and we are loving it.

In tonight's episode, which revealed John's (Luke Mitchell) tragic backstory, we learned that Ultra and Jedikiah (Mark Pellegrino) have found a way to make the Tomorrow People capable of murder. And guess which one of our main characters was revealed to have the ability to kill? Tomorrow People leader John, who was kill to his former friend and Ultra co-worker McCrane (guest star Jason Dohring), the first agent to undergo the experiments.

So what's next for John now that he's officially waged war on Jedikiah and Ultra? And why is Jedikiah so obsessed with the Tomorrow People? We chatted with executive producers Greg Berlanti and Phil Klemmer about what's ahead on the series, including major flashback reveals and scoop on Stephen's (Robbie Amell) parents...

Jedikiah's Backstory: Fans will learn more about Uncle Jed/sir (Come on Stephen, you're at work!) in episode eight, which will feature Jedikiah-centric flashbacks, but not of his childhood. "We always talked about how much fun it would be to see Roger and Jedikiah at Stephen and Luca's age, to see his initial breaking out, but so far, it's been so delicious to see Pellegrino himself. It seems like a waste to cast some other younger version of him."

The illuminating flashbacks will focus on John's time (the beginning of his tenure and the very end) working at Ultra "under Jedikiah's perverse surrogate fatherhood relationship," Klemmer sets up, while Berlanti adds that the episode "deals with the mythology of Roger."

But Klemmer and Berlanti plan to delve deeper into Jedikiah and Roger, Stephen's father and one of the original Tomorrow People who is believed to be dead, relationship, especially the former's possible jealousy over not having the gene. "We liked the idea that in the pilot he's got a very iron-clad rational explanation for why he's doing what he's doing, but gradually we wanted to give him a personal mythology; a Cain and Abel story," Klemmer says. "As much as he fears and is fascinated by Tomorrow People, there's a huge degree of envy and almost a little bit of a fetish for the thing that he's hunting. He's so cold-blooded that we wanted to give him some very human foibles below his scientific cold agenda."

The CW

The Kill Switch: Though no one else has yet to find out that John has the ability to kill, his secret won't stay hidden for very long. "It's a central part of John's story and in a lot of ways of John and Jedikiah's story; it broadens out as more and more people possibly discover it," Berlanti previews. "He has other secrets as well, in terms of other burdens John carries that we'll expose."

And within the first nine episodes, the series will flashback to John's first kill, but "you will see it I the first nine, but from Jedikiah's perspective," Berlanti teases.

Mommy Dearest: After surprising Stephen by giving Jedikiah major attitude, his mother Marla (Sarah Clarke) said, "There's a lot you don't know about me." Cue speculation! "We're in the thick of that right now, which will be the last of 13. That's when we really start pulling back the layers on mom and revealing that she's gone to heroic lengths to protect her two children and that she does more about what happened between Roger and Jedikiah." Expect answers around episodes 10-12, the bosses hint.

Getting to Know Russell: While episode five will take a break from the flashbacks, the sixth outing will center on Aaron Yoo's Russell, and fans should prepare for a dark ride as Klemmer says Cara and John's heartbreaking backstories "were the funny ones."

Berlanti says they've dropped hints about Russell's past, explaining, "Russell's alluded to problems with the law." He also notes that Russell's specialty is "telekinesis, so you see that in play a little bit. We get his backstory with his family. It starts there with his family and his relationship with them and how his powers can to express themselves."

The Tomorrow People airs Wednesday at 9 p.m. on the CW.

What did you think of tonight's episode? Whose flashback are you most excited to see? Sound off in the comments!

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