'The Tomorrow People': (SPOILER)'s Sacrifices

So, let's get the big news out of the way: The Tomorrow People succeeded in its plan to resurrect Roger from his icy kind-of grave. This week, everyone is scrambling to figure out what to do next. Roger and Jed are convinced that killing The Founder is the key to saving the Tomorrow People. Russell gets into some deeply stupid trouble by inviting Ultra to inject him with a tracking agent (huh?) and John has an epic (and SHIRTLESS) showdown with Roger… which he loses. Ouch.

But none of that compares to the true highlight of the night. This week marks the first time I've felt anything approaching real emotion while watching The Tomorrow People. WARNING: Spoilers ahead.

Last week, Hillary betrayed Stephen by teaming with The Founder. This week, she's so plagued with guilt about it that she finds a loophole in the rule that says the Tomorrow People can't kill. She straps a bomb to her chest and makes Astrid promise to, at a very specific time, call a cellphone that will detonate it. Astrid, not knowing what she's really being asked to do (Hillary is super cryptic about it and just assures her that making the call is the only way to help Stephen and the other TP), makes the call and Hillary goes boom – along with The Founder, whose office she's in when the bomb goes off.

She makes sure to send Stephen a psychic goodbye message moments before she does the deed, and he realizes something is up and rushes to Ultra HQ just in time to see her plan in action. She really loved Stephen and this was her way of making things right with him.

This is an important moment in a few ways:

1. It's the first time anyone on this show has done something truly selfless.

In spite of being introduced as something of an uber-bitch, Hillary grew into probably the most decent person on the show. Sure, a suicide mission is a little extreme, but she had the access to do something she believed was necessary to help others and she did it. For the most part, everyone on the show is fighting desperately to serve their own interests, even if they aren't sure what their interests are (*COUGH* STEPHEN *COUGH*). The TP help their kind, but only to grow their numbers for the war they know is brewing. Hillary's death was emotional because it was so selfless and came from the most openly self-serving character. Congratulations, Hillary, on being the first character on The Tomorrow People to complete an emotional arc.

2. It's a game-changer.

The Tomorrow People were strategizing about what to do next, and Roger and Jed were firmly in favor of finding a way to overthrow The Founder to save the Tomorrow People's species. With him out of the way, it will be interesting to see what direction the series takes for it's final episodes.

3. It tests the boundaries of the Tomorrow People's inability to kill.

Yes, technically Hillary didn't kill anyone. She got Astrid to (unknowingly) do the dirty work for her. But she did strap a bomb to her chest and then make sure it would go off at the right moment. Just because she didn't technically detonate it doesn't mean she didn't plan a successful assassination. A loophole like this could impact the TP's race forever, even if John remains the only TP who can technically kill on his own.

4. Hillary will be missed.

Yes, she started her life on the show as a definite antagonist and anyone who ships Cara and Stephen had to hate her. But I have never for a moment shipped Cara and Stephen and no matter how much poor Astrid pined at the beginning of the Stephen, the show has made it clear that they have no intention of pursuing that romance any time soon (and frankly, I'm not sure Astrid would be interested anymore if they did). Hillary was a viable love interest for TV's most milquetoast superhero protagonist. She was a foil for his boring nature and brought out, if not the best in him, at least the most interesting.

So goodbye, Agent Hillary Cole. And kudos for making me care, Alexa PenaVega.

Image: The CW