THE TOMORROW PEOPLE: Peyton List Previews Cara’s Struggles, and the ‘Epic’ Season Finale

THE TOMORROW PEOPLE is ramping up the stakes as it heads towards its first season finale, but, for now, the Tomorrow People and Ultra have struck a tentative peace.

But will it last? And should it? To get a little scoop about what’s to come, I spoke with THE TOMORROW PEOPLE star Peyton List (Cara) about Cara’s big decisions, the machine, the “epic” finale, and more…

How is Cara going to be reacting to all the changes the Tomorrow People are going to be facing, especially with the battle between Jedikiah and the Founder?
Peyton List: Well, I think it’s a tricky situation for Cara, because she doesn’t trust either one of them. [Laughs] Between the Founder and Jedikiah, they’re both well-versed in manipulation and getting what they want, and having people believe what they want them to believe. So, it’s one of those situation for Cara — who is in charge, and responsible for other Tomorrow People, and their safety — to make a decision: who’s right, who’s good, who’s bad, and quickly.

She’s taking the tactic of, let’s step back, what is their end game, what is the other person’s end game, and how are they fitting us in? Are they turning us against each other? What does it mean?

A lot of characters are going to react differently, because a lot of times, people are going to believe what they want to believe. And trying to be rational at the same time is a dilemma for a lot of our characters.

Speaking of rational, Stephen pointed out that Cara’s jealousy may be influencing her reaction to his new relationship. How will that impact how she deals with him?
PL: I think it’s a little bit personal. It will affect what Stephen does, because he’s been so pivotal in helping the Tomorrow People make decisions based on what Ultra is doing. Having him sort of pull away and be independent, and do what he wants to do, versus what is in the best interest of the Tomorrow People is scary for Cara.

She did have some jealousy over the Stephen and Hillary dynamic, because he was always looking to Cara [as] the person to turn to, as the person to look out for, or the person to protect, or the person to help. And it seems like now maybe his investment is changing. And with Cara as a leader, and having the responsibilities she does, that’s a very scary situation to be in.

But, you’ve got so many people telling you different things, between Jedikiah and the Founder, picking a side is a tall order.

Right. When the world’s fate is at stake, every decision carries that much more weight.
PL: It does. Every decision is heightened, it’s so much more important. It’s a scary call to make, because it’s so important. You don’t want to be responsible for making the wrong call.

As Cara is going through all of these things, can she lean on John?
PL: The dynamic with John, she’s always looked up to him as leader, before all of this. He is much more experienced with Ultra and leading the Tomorrow People. They’re not always going to be on the same side, and Cara has the same issue with Stephen: both Stephen and John have their own ties, and their own investments, with Jedikiah, or with Ultra, or with the Founder.

John has always had this emotional and complicated relationship with Jedikiah, which Cara never had. So she’s not always going to see eye-to-eye with John. She can trust John; but she will make up her own mind when it comes to Jedikiah and Ultra, because she doesn’t have the same relationship that Stephen has with Jedikiah, or John has with Jedikiah.

What an you tease about how the Tomorrow People might react if they find out Founder’s motives and actions aren’t as harmless as they’ve been led to believe?
PL: I believe that, particularly with Cara, she’s reluctant to believe what Ultra is saying: that everything will be completely peaceful, we’re going to have a softer approach of how we deal with the species, and how we exist, because it’s still Ultra. She doesn’t work there, she’s not completely in the loop, and they’ve never been true to their word. And they’ve never been on their side. So they may want to believe it, but I think Cara is a bit reluctant. She doesn’t really have a choice going forward, but to try and play along. But it’s sort of walking on thin ice, because you know at any moment, this could all go to hell. So it may not be everything the Founder makes it out to be. Which knowing him, is not entirely surprising. It’s a bit chaotic.

We will be seeing anything more about her family as we head towards the end of the season?
PL: What we’ve done, really, throughout the season with the flashbacks and the backstories and the Tomorrow People in the subway station with John and Russell and Cara, is you sort of get to know them with their backstories.

But what we’re doing now, as we approach the end, is we learn the backstories of Jedikiah, and Roger, and the Founder. You learn how they came to be in the situation they are in the present. It’s all coming to a head: Stephen seeing Roger’s body, everyone believing his body is here, and how does this all come to be? Getting every bit of information, because this has all been leading up to this. This is why they’ve been doing it all along: we’re really more focusing on the present, and how the past with Jedikiah, Rodger, and the Founder relates to the present.

I know you can’t say much, but what can you say about how Roger and the Machine will play into the final episodes?
PL: They have a massive part. They are really the final storyline of the season. We’ve been dropping little bits of information about it, but it’s all going to be unveiled as the next couple of episodes play out. It has much more gravity than we lead you to believe, initially. So it gets kind of crazy.

There’s been a lot, lot, lot of talk about how big the finale is. What can you share about what’s in store?
PL: It’s enormous.

Our scripts are normally about 55-60 pages. I read it, and I felt like I put down a three-hour movie, given how much happens. It doesn’t really slow at all. It’s sort of like that from episodes 20 [and] 21, into the finale. There’s so much stuff we allude to in the season, and as soon as we answer a question, that leads to another, which leads to something else happening. And the powers are massive, the fight scenes are massive, it’s just the biggest showdown you can possibly do.

I hope people enjoy it. It just feels rewarding, at least for the actors, when you’ve played all these small bits of information, all these small things you don’t think much of, and then it’s suddenly revelation, revelation, revelation, into this is causing a huge problem here, and then this is forcing this character to go to this side. It’s a bit on the epic side.

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THE TOMORROW PEOPLE airs Mondays at 9 PM on The CW.

Related:

THE TOMORROW PEOPLE: Mark Pellegrino on Jedikiah’s Decline, Strained Relationships, and More
THE TOMORROW PEOPLE: Luke Mitchell Previews Monday’s Big Episode, John’s Decision, and More
THE TOMORROW PEOPLE: Phil Klemmer on the Move to Monday Nights

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