Class of ‘09 Official Trailer | Brian Tyree Henry, Kate Mara | FX
Artificial intelligence and cops…it’s not exactly the dynamic duo I’d expect to be excited about. And yet, here I am, zipping through Class of ’09, FX’s new show on Hulu that lays out the seemingly promising (if you’re an idiot) but ultimately bone-chilling (who would’ve thought!) collaboration between AI and the FBI.
The show jumps between the present (2023), the past (2009), and the future (2034), following four graduates of the Quantico program as their work within the FBI and their personal relationships overlap and then wildly diverge. In the first four episodes, we get actually touching scenes from their bonding at the training program (reminiscent of the Hunger Games’ training sequences—cute!), spy ops in the present, and the surveillance state in the future. There are cool cybernetic implants, lesbian chemistry, straight sex, and a white nationalist terrorist plot.
And none of it is annoyingly complicated, I swear! That’s kind of the beauty of it. So far the reviews have been mediocre, which I understand—the bar set for FX and this cast in particular is high. But I like to look at Class of ’09 as Severance if it mated with Minority Report (cerebral and spooky, but not artistic), or The Diplomat for the sci-fi crowd (smart, but not prestige). If nothing else, it’s another excuse to watch Bryan Tyree Henry do what he does so well. —Sarah Rense