Class of ’09 – Episode 2 “The Fitness Test” Recap & Review

The Fitness Test

The Past – 2009

Class of 09 episode 2 takes us back to 2009, during the FBI academy class training period. The trainees are in their locker rooms, changing for the upcoming fitness test. Tayo is seemingly uncomfortable changing in front of his fellow male trainees, probably because of his weight. He waits for everyone else to leave so he can change.

Drew and Gabriel conduct the first phase of the fitness test, where the female trainees needed to run for 1 ½ miles in 14 minutes while the male trainees needed to run the same distance in 12 minutes.

Unfortunately, Tayo finishes that distance in 14 minutes, and Gabriel and Drew start questioning whether he passed his self-test. It seems the trainees had to self-test themselves, running a particular distance under a specific time frame to qualify to join the FBI academy.

One of the trainees, Tyler Simons, begins picking on Tayo, calling him slow for not finishing the run in the required time frame. Tayo stands up for himself though.

At the female locker room, Ashley and Hour begin arguing about Tayo. Hour feels that Tayo can’t finish running that distance in the required time frame, and Ashley will help him train because saving people is “her thing.” This pisses Ashley off.

The next day, Ashley meets Tayo early in the morning to help him train for the next fitness test. Tyler attempts to break the record of the fastest FBI trainee in history, a title which was currently held by a former FBI trainee, Mitch Colby.

Although Tyler doesn’t break the record, he misses it by a few seconds. He then makes a racist remark about him being the fastest white FBI trainee since Mitch Colby is black. Understandably, this pisses Tayo off, and he confronts him.

Later, Ashley comes to check on Tayo, and he begins venting to her about the racial prejudices he’s been facing. He also tells her about when he and his brother were arrested by white police officers when they were young.

The trainees retake the fitness test, and Tayo doesn’t finish the run in the required time frame. Tayo tells Gabriel and Drew that according to the FBI academy procedures, he can retake the fitness test in the next seven weeks. Fortunately, Gabriel and Drew agree.

The Present – 2023

We then jump to the present, where Tayo is a special FBI agent. He and another special agent, Nunez, are visiting a man called Mark Tupirik, suspected to be a hardcore criminal known to control people’s lives in Billings.

On their way, Nunez expresses her fear of going to see Tupirik because they have no warrant. Some other FBI agents questioned Tupirik earlier but found no evidence of his alleged criminal activities. However, Tayo tells Nunez that sometimes people reveal things just by showing up, suggesting that they may find evidence against Tupirik just by going to talk to him.

Tayo and Nunez arrive at Tupirik’s residence, and Tupirik acts all nice and welcoming. He offers them coffee and tells them how he takes in isolated men around Billings. Tupirik also introduces Tayo and Nunez to his wife, Jessa Mae.

Nunez later requests to go to the restroom, so Tupirik asks Jessa to show her the way to the restroom. Instead, Jessa takes Nunez to the basement, and Nunez discovers Tupirik has been closely monitoring many FBI agents, including her and Tayo.

Jessa begs Nunez to take her away from that place, and Nunez assures her they’ll come back for her. Meanwhile, Tupirik notices something is wrong, so he asks two of his men to look for Nunez and Jessa. Luckily, they get out of the basement before those men find them.

Tayo and Nunez leave, but Jessa approaches them before they get into their car. Nunez goes to meet Jessa despite Tayo asking her not to. Just then, Jessa is shot dead by someone from Tupirik’s house. Realizing what happened, Tayo takes out his gun and shoots at the house, causing Tupirik’s men to shoot at him and Nunez in response.

Nunez is shot during this shootout between Tayo and Tupirik’s men, so Tayo helps her to the car while still shooting at Tupirik’s men. Tayo drives away, but their car breaks down not far from Tupirik’s residence.

Tayo realizes Tupirik’s men are following them, so he helps Nunez out of the car and asks her to prepare to shoot those men. He also takes another gun and positions himself in a location where those can’t see him. Fortunately, he manages to shoot Tupirik’s men, who came after him and Nunez.

Tayo returns to Nunez and finds her in bad shape due to her gunshot wound, so he calls for backup. He asks Nunez what she found out when she pretended to go to the restroom at Tupirik’s house earlier. Nunez tells him about the basement, so Tayo returns to Tupirik’s house to check.

He arrives and finds that the house, including the basement, has been set on fire. Luckily, he manages to see how Tupirik was keeping tabs on FBI agents, including himself and Nunez.

Tayo is at the hospital with Nunez when his wife, Vivienne, comes to see him. While he isn’t injured, Vivienne notices how much Tayo is devastated by what happened, so she does her best to comfort him.

Tayo goes to see Nunez, who asks him if “they stopped something or start it.” She also wonders when Tupirik and his men will strike. At the end of this episode, Tupirik and his men are seemingly preparing for some sort of attack.

The Future – 2034

The episode takes us to the future in 2034. Daniel Lennix is giving some students a tour of the FBI headquarters. Ashley comes to meet him, and they catch up. It turns out Daniel got married after he broke up with Ashley, but he’s now getting a divorce. He also was a trainer back at the FBI training centre in Quantico. He’s also now getting into politics just as his parents wanted, as we saw him tell Ashley in the last episode.

Daniel tells Ashley that the academy isn’t what it used to be when they were trainees. Now, machines and technology have taken over, and the FBI trains trainees quickly to get as many agents out there as possible. Daniel couldn’t bear seeing how the training centre is and decided to quit.

Ashley begins telling Daniel how the FBI is now following her. She tells him that FBI agents are always outside his house and how they came in almost immediately after Amos Garcia showed up at her house in the last episode. She also tells him that Amos gave her a key code before he was shot.

Daniel asks Ashley to talk to Hour about the key code as she could help, but Ashley and Hour haven’t been in contact for nine years.

Elsewhere, the senator confronts Tayo about how unfair the justice system is. Tayo, who’s now the FBI director, has implemented a lot of artificial intelligence and technology in the justice system, and the senator thinks how the system works is unfair. Tayo tries to show the senator how artificial intelligence has been of significant help to the system, bringing the episode to a close.

The Episode Review

This episode sheds light on Tayo’s challenges throughout his journey to become the FBI director and how he overcame them. Several of his challenges are relatable to many people, particularly his struggles with his weight and racial discrimination. I’m honestly happy to see he got married, considering he mentioned he was never going to in the last episode.

We have also got an idea of Daniel Lennix’s journey after the FBI academy. It seems that artificial intelligence and technology Tayo introduced to the FBI isn’t going well for a lot of people. So, I am eager to see how things will go in the next episode.

I’m also looking forward to seeing whether or not Tupirik and his men will attack the FBI after what happened.