Tomorrow's Children

Morloch introduces a Junior ROTC programme at the school which all the boys join in order to improve the grade average. What seems like fun turns into something far more serious when they start to handle guns and the students start to think about the implications of War. They then decide to put on a peace show but suddenly the school becomes entangled in a battle of people who are pro war and people who campaign for peace. Morloch tries to cancel the show but this only makes things worse and leads to Sherwood's resignation.

Synopsis

My Review

This is another good ensemble story that I really enjoy and another episode directed wonderfully by Debbie Allen.

All the cast are involved with the exception of Mrs Berg who doesn't appear. As with most of the best episodes something straight forward gets out of control bringing difficult consequences for some of the cast.

The episode starts off quite fun with the ridiculous idea of a career day at the school but at least Lydia points this out to Morloch. Cleo is funny when she is considering being an air hostess but she's scared of flying!

Also I like the continuity with Doris bringing up her brother being a conscientious objector from season 2. I do think the season 4 writers were better at remembering and referring to past events which makes things seem more credible.

I don't actually know what Junior ROTC is as I don't we believe we call it by that name in the U.K. Also, I don't quite understand how taking the programme helps the boys improve their grade average. Surely it means there is less time for them to concentrate on their other subjects that they are already getting less than a C average so those grade could drop further. I know they get an extra grade for joining the programme but what if they aren't very good at it or don't comply with what is required they could end up with a D or lower.

I'm not sure if the girls just had more sense or if they weren't allowed to join because it's only the guys that get involved. It does appear that the male characters have been made more apathetic than the female characters and the issue of nuclear freeze created a huge response.

It’s nice to see all 4 boys performing a song together and as much as I love Culture Club “the War Song” is pretty corny.

I like the idea of the peace show and how Sherwood fights for what she believes is right, even to the point of quitting her job. I don't actually like it when the story calls for someone to quit or leave the school because the next episode everything is back to normal and I don't think it is that simple to be reinstated. However on of my favourite scenes is when Sherwood comes into watch the show and announces she is quitting, Carol is so powerful in that scene and then we cut to the emotional action on the stage. Nia always gets to me when she acts upset and emotional.

Also Sherwood having an emotional involvement with "the Enemy" was a nice addition too making the situation even more complicated.

I love Cleo's little speech about nuclear war it's funny because we don't even see her in the class until she starts to speak.

I also like Lydia when she takes over Sherwood's class and gives the kids the idea of a sit in. It's pretty powerful stuff and I love when Shorofsky decides to sit down and join them, it’s a real laugh out loud moment.

There is lots of bits of songs used in this episode, either played as background music or the kids performing them and I do find it a little irritating that we don’t get to hear the actual full songs.

I was a bit confused why when Sherwood sees the kids on TV they were now sitting outside the school when the sit was taking place inside and then later the kids were back inside the school. Also it was a big coincidence that Sherwood was watching TV at the exact moment the kids appealed for her to go down to the school. However the final scene with Joan Baez singing to the whole group is pretty moving, even Morloch seems to be enjoying it.

Episode Pictures