Class of '09 - Season 1

Can we build an artificial intelligence to truly see no race, no gender? This idea is explored in Class of ‘09.

Class of ‘09 covers the lives of four FBI agents from the moment they join the FBI until twenty-five years later. Not chronologically, but rather through three moments in time by repeatedly switching between them. The first timeline takes place in 2009, where the four agents start out in the same Quantico class, training together for five months. This timeline is called ‘the past’. The second timeline is ‘the present’ and takes place between 2023 and 2025. It covers formative experiences of our protagonists while they work for the FBI. The third timeline, ‘the future’, is set in 2034 and basically covers the consequences of the choices made by the agents in the past and present. Without spoiling too much, the central themes throughout all timelines are justice and artificial intelligence.

All in all, Class of ‘09 falls short of becoming a truly great show, while the potential is certainly there.

These topics are not new, of course, and I would argue that the story that is told here is indeed not new in its key plot points. The way it is covered, however, does have novelty, making this an interesting show. Instead of focusing on the fallout of artificial intelligence for justice, this show is about the lead-up to it, its development. Why did people start to use AI? What made them act? In that sense, the show might be scarier than any movie or series about the problems of unfettered AI; Class of ‘09 tries to make you understand how we could end up there. The characters’ motivations make sense; they are not evil, but rather all work towards justice in their own ways, however misguided that might have been in hindsight.



People have critiqued the show for being too convoluted and complicated in its use of the different timelines. I personally experienced little problem due to this. Yes, you need to pay more attention than you might have to to an average crime show, but I found the story quite clear, especially when I had gotten to know the characters. I also believe that the impact of the story would not have been the same if it had been told chronologically. We see formative events and choices together with their impact. Because of this, one could say that the series is about life stories and how choices and events in the past form a person and influence their lives and future choices.

There are some other problems, however. The show starts off slow, but picks up pace from the third episode onward. The ending then accelerates out of control; it feels hasty and does not live up to the buildup from the first seven episodes. More consistent pacing would have been preferable. Furthermore, Kate Mara (Ashley Poet, House of Cards), one of our four protagonists and arguably the main character, is not the strongest lead; her character feels stale and the actress does not really manage to give life to it. Luckily, the other actors are stronger and manage to make up for this, at least partially. Especially Brian Tyree Henry (Atlanta) and Sepideh Moafi (The Deuce) shine as Tayo Michaels and Hour Nazari respectively. All in all, these problems make Class of ‘09 fall short of becoming a truly great show, while the potential is certainly there.

In the end, it is a nice show with some interesting ideas. Sadly, however, it is also likely one that is going to drown in the large number of productions we have nowadays. It just does not sparkle enough to gain some real traction.