The Class of ‘09 receive their job assignments in “Orders Night,” the seventh and penultimate episode of the FX limited series. But that theme of following orders, or not, Carrie’s through to 2025 and 2034. Here’s a recap of this prelude to the series finale.
The Past – 2009
It’s the last day of training at Quantico. There’s just one final test, receiving a blast of pepper spray in the face and overcoming the pain to fight back and retrieve the assailant’s gun. Drew (Brooke Smith) and Gabriel (Jon Jon Briones) ask for a volunteer to go first. When nobody steps up, Poet (Kate Mara) raises her hand. She succeeds at the task, and Tayo (Brian Tyree Henry) raises his hand to go next. But when he steps up, he points out that this scenario isn’t part of combat training. “The real test is our willingness to submit, right?” After a brief back and forth, Gabriel confirms, saying, “I acknowledge your interpretation of this test.”
(Steve Swisher/FX)
“Welcome to Orders Night,” Gabriel announces in the auditorium. As the students are called up, they are presented an envelope with their assignment. They are asked to first state where they want to go, then where they think they’re going, and finally opening the envelope to reveal where they’re being sent. “As you’re aware, these orders are not up for debate,” Drew reminds the class. Lennix (Brian J. Smith) is called up first. He tells the class that he wants D.C., thinks he will get D.C., and when he opens the envelope, sure enough, he’s heading to D.C. Poet is next, announcing that she doesn’t care where she goes (the class jokingly “boo”’s her response). The outcome: San Diego. She sits next to Lennix, who tells her that’s not where she’s going. He confesses to her that he didn’t really want D.C., that it was just where his dad expects him to go. “Where did you want?”, she asks. He looks at her wistfully and replies, “San Diego.”
Tayo is up. He wants Boston, thinks he will get L.A., but gets Billings, Montana. He’s visibly angry. After, we see Gabriel standing in Tayo’s room as he stuffs his belongings into a bag. Gabriel explains that Billings isn’t a punishment. “You will be your own boss the moment you arrive,” he says, adding that it’s the toughest place to work as an agent. Tayo reveals the real reason he’s upset, he’s met someone. He says his girlfriend won’t move to Billings. “Whatever you decide, you’ll always be the best trainee I ever taught,” Gabriel tells Tayo.
(Richard Ducree/FX)
Poet tells Hour (Sepideh Moafi) that Lennix told her he wanted San Diego. “I kind of want him to come, too,” she adds. “Poet, he’s seeing someone else,” Hour comes clean. She tells Poet about an analyst Lennix started seeing after they broke up. Poet asks about her, but their conversation is interrupted by Drew, who asks to speak to Poet in private. “You’re not going to San Diego,” Drew reveals. Poet is being offered the chance to stay at Quantico and advance through their toughest course to become an undercover agent. “Some of the greatest agents the FBI has ever known have worked undercover,” Drew adds, noting that it comes with a lot of sacrifices. “I’ll do it,” Poet responds.
The Present – 2025
At her home, Poet uses the new system to review data from the serial killings she’s been investigating. The tablet offers automated assistance, and she accepts. Within a few seconds, it gives her a name – James Row – and an address in Ohio.
Tayo watches Poet’s body cam livestream from the control room at HQ, informing Poet that the system has linked James to sixteen of the murders. Hour anxiously watches behind Tayo, asking why her best friend has to be the guinea pig for the system. “She’s never been scared of going first,” Tayo responds.
Poet knocks on the front door, and James (Christopher Thornton) answers in his wheelchair, inviting her in. “You’re the seventh person to talk to me about those freeway murders,” he says. Poet challenges that number, saying that her intel says there were only five, but he mentions a few visits from local police. On James’ couch, Poet sees a road map with markings. “I’ve never even seen those cases on the news,” he tells her about first hearing of the murders from the police questioning him about them. Poet looks outside and sees James’ semi-truck, asking if she can see it. He takes her out and offers to show her how he modified the truck himself, using a lift to get in. In Poet’s earpiece, Tayo warns her not to get in the truck, but she doesn’t listen.
“See, when I’m in here, all those other cars, they’re like toys to me,” James tells Poet as he locks his wheelchair in position at the wheel. Poet mentions how some of the victim’s bodies were staged or buried in shallow graves, but several were tossed from a substantial height. “I never considered it might be out of necessity,” she says to James, asking if he ever hires prostitutes while on the road. He ignores the question, showing her a binder of photos that display how he modified the truck. “Did they notice the wheelchair and feel safe?”, she asks. “Was their pity in their eyes?” James pulls something out from under the wheel, and Poet seemingly doesn’t notice, but her right-hand moves to her gun as she asks what forensics would find if they inspected the truck. “You used to be really careful, but now you’re sloppy.” James hits Poet with a club, but she fights back, using the edge of the binder to choke him. The truck is locked, and she can’t get out as James tries to strangle her. That’s when the automated system instructs Poet to close her eyes. She does so, as the camera device on her tases James. Police backup arrives just then.
In the control room, Hour is speechless. “It saved her,” Tayo declares. “It sent her to danger,” Hour counters. Tayo argues that it will learn from its mistakes, but Hour thinks the system will never have to pay for them. She’s not convinced this was a success. “You will be,” Tayo promises.
Tayo meets with Shannon (Lindsay Ayliffe), Warren (Dan Tracy), and Lennox to discuss the next test he’d like to try with the system. He wants to see how it handles white-collar crimes. “Most people think there’s a justice system for them and a justice system for corporate America,” he explains, seeking permission to use it against the Wall Street bankers who caused the last recession. Shannon fears the FBI won’t survive a war with the banks. ‘We survived white militia, we can’t be scared of white collar,” Lennix reasons. Shannon agreed to let Tayo test the system on just one bank, asking him to choose the worst offender.
Tayo and a team enter a bank and go directly to a meeting room. The executives are stunned as the system sends them all evidence it found against them. Tayo gets an alert that the corporate helicopter is requesting permission to take off from the roof. “Whether you’re wearing ski masks or suits, when robbing a bank, you’ve gotta find a quick escape,” he announces.
“First the banks, what next?”, Amos (Raul Castillo) asks Tayo when he returns to HQ. They’re standing in the server farm wearing protective suits. “Corrupt politicians,” Tayo responds, “All of them.”
Poet returns to HQ to assemble a team to help with all the new leads. She didn’t tell Hour she was coming, who is surprised to see her friend. They hug and Hour invites Poet to stay with her in her new two-bedroom condo instead of the motel. Later, we see them enter the apartment that will become Poet’s in the future. Hour has a security system designed for single people. It automates everything she needs. “You’re more than welcome to stay as long as you like,” Hour says. She tells Poet she wants to talk to her about something, but Poet says she had to meet with Tayo’s team.
(Steve Swisher/FX)
At night, we see Tayo and Vivienne (Rosalind Eleazar) sleeping. An Intruder (R.C. Ormond) breaks in quietly, and Tayo wakes up, feeling that something is wrong. We see Tayo moving through the house, always missing where the prowler is. We see the hooded figure grab a knife in the kitchen. Tayo goes back upstairs to the master bathroom and looks at his reflection in the mirror. That’s when he sees something move behind him. He jabs at them defensively and ends up stabbed. The fight wakes up Vivienne, who calls to cops. Eventually, Tayo pulls the knife out of his stomach and uses it to stab his assailant. He presses their neck against the bathtub's edge, demanding to know who they work for. He doesn’t get an answer.
The Future – 2034
Poet, Hour, and Lennix stand together at Murphy’s burial as people toss roses onto his coffin. Poet sees Tayo standing in the distance, watching. The trio goes to him and tell him this wasn’t his fault. They ask for their next steps. “You’ve all done everything you can,” he answers. “I’m up.”
Tayo goes to HQ and tells his assistant (Sharayu Mahale) to go home. Alone, he opens a secret compartment and pulls out a red tablet. He goes to the system’s command center and orders the team to leave. As he begins to activate the red tablet, Warren enters the room with a posse, telling Tayo that shit down requires a consensus. “To even attempt a shutdown on your own is a crime,” he says. “You enter that code, the system stays on, but your career is over,” he says. Tayo tells him it already is. He looks up at the screen as it announces that there’s a crime in process. Tayo’s face appears on the monitors.
(Steve Swisher/FX)
Lennix is at Poet’s condo and asks her to marry him. She says yes. He promises to give her a proper proposal, but she likes the quick and hasty one. But their sweet moment is interrupted when they see Tayo’s face on the news. Turning the volume on, they hear that the president fired him.
Tayo drowns his sorrows over a 2009 bottle of whisky he bought inside his favorite diner. That’s where Vivienne finds him. “When this happened, I didn’t know what to do,” he tells her. She says she saw a wall of press waiting outside of the home they once shared. “Why did you never move on?”, she asks. “No one else was you,” Tayo answers. He apologizes for letting her go, saying he’s never forgiven himself. “Stay with me,” Vivienne offers, taking Tayo’s hand. He says things won’t be the same. She says it will be something new.
Warren enters the server room with his goons. The Lead Programmer (Shravan Amin) encourages them to wear protective gear. Warren ignores it, asking the programmer if Tayo hired them. He dismisses them when they nod their head. He leads his men into the room. “Now, let’s see what the system can really do,” Warren announces.
Class of ‘09 concludes on Wednesday, June 21st, only on Hulu. Here is a description of the final episode, “Graduation.”
In the present, Tayo seizes control of the Bureau. In the future, the Class of ’09 reunites in a final showdown with the system they created. In the past, the trainees graduate, wondering where they will all end up.