Tayo Michaels was the only person from the entire Class of ’09 who vouched for the AI, as he knew its potential and how it could help their cause. He didn’t see it as a threat like his colleagues did, and he was able to convince his bosses to make use of it in their investigations. But the fears of his colleagues came true, and the system started acting on its own will, making indictments that were totally against the rule of law. So, let’s find out what happened in the 7th episode and what Tayo Michaels did to rectify the mistakes he had committed in the past.
Spoilers Alert
Back in 2009, the instructors told the class that the spray test was the last obstacle that they had to cross before becoming agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The agents told the students that tasks like these made sure that an FBI agent did not lose his focus even in the direst of circumstances. As expected, Poet volunteered to go first, and she ended up doing quite well. The next person to volunteer was Tayo Michaels, but before he faced the challenge, he wanted the supervisors to accept that the motive of his test was to submit to an order that went against an individual’s natural instinct. He wanted the trainers to say that it was a test of submission, and once they agreed to it, he went ahead and participated in it. This event revealed one thing: Tayo had a lot of issues with the way things were done at the FBI, and he felt that a lot of restructuring was needed at the grassroot level if they ever wanted to reach a stage where the majority of investigations were successful, which in turn lessened the crime rate.
Finally, the day arrived when the aspirants were going to be told in which city they were going to be posted. Where Lennix got Washington DC, Poet was given San Diego. Lennix told Poet that he never wanted to work at the headquarters in DC, but he knew that it was his dad’s world, and things happened according to senior Lennix’s whims and fancies. Tayo didn’t expect that he would get Boston, as much as he would have liked it, since Vivienne was there, but he also didn’t expect that the agency would throw him in a predominantly white state, i.e., Billings, Montana. He got annoyed, and he told his supervisors that he was going to quit, as he found all of this quite deliberate. Gabriel told him that he was not sent to Montana as a punishment but because he was not fond of following orders and the place needed someone exactly like him. Gabriel told Tayo that all of them knew what the situation was in Montana and how much the locals hated the agency, so what he was perceiving as a punishment was actually an opportunity to prove his mettle. Obviously, Tayo didn’t quit, and ended up taking the job. Meanwhile, Drew offered Poet to become an undercover agent as she had performed quite well in her training. She told her that she would have to take an additional training program to prove that she was capable enough to carry out super sensitive missions, and Poet agreed to it.
What Happened During The Trial Of Garica’s AI?
After Tayo got a green signal from his superiors in the previous episode of Class of ’09, he wanted to conduct a trial and show everybody the benefit of using it in their investigations. Tayo wanted somebody to come forward and put the system to the test, and he knew that Poet would do it since she was never scared to go first. There was a man named Rowl James who was a suspect in a series of murders that had happened recently in the town. Many agents were put on his case, and all of them came to the conclusion that he was not guilty, and they refrained from pressing any charges. Now the agents had acted to the best of their knowledge, and Tayo didn’t have faith in their findings since he knew that our senses take a biased approach a lot of times. Their speculation was based on what they saw and heard, and Tayo knew that it could be influenced by various factors. The AI still considered Rowl a suspect, and that’s why Tayo sent Poet to look into the matter. Surprisingly, the multiple agents who had been put on the case and who had given a clean chit to Rowl were all wrong. Rowl James was the murderer in reality, and for Tayo, it was a huge victory as he finally had evidence to show his superiors that the fallibility of the human brain could be overcome using AI.
Tayo’s next target was the businessmen and politicians, who often got away with their crimes because of the resources and contacts they had. Tayo Michaels, in Class of ’09, episode 7, asked permission from his superiors to look into the white-collar crimes that had increased exponentially over the last couple of years or so. Tayo was allowed to look into the functioning of one particular bank because even his superiors were not sure what he and his system might end up doing. They knew that they had to be really cautious before waging an all-out war against the big guns. Once again, the AI did its magic, and a lot of corrupt practices by financial institutions, politicians, and businessmen came to light. Tayo was also assaulted in his house, as there must have been a few people who felt threatened by his AI. Tayo was sure that he was going in the right direction, and the assault probably made his resolve even stronger.
Why Did Tayo Michaels Resign From His Post?
In Class of ’09, episode 7, Lennix finally mustered up all the courage he had and proposed to Ashley Poet to marry him. Poet gladly accepted his offer, and he was grateful that life had given them another chance to be together. After Murphy’s death and what had happened in the church, Tayo finally came to the realization that the system was not under the control of the agents and whatever it was doing was not right. He decided that because he was the one who had started everything, the onus to shut down the AI also rested upon his shoulders. He went to the headquarters to close it down, but Warren and his team arrived on the scene and reminded Tayo that he needed to reach a consensus before doing that.
At the end of Class of ’09, Tayo resigned from his post as director of the FBI, and Warren took charge of things. Tayo knew that he had no other option, and now that the majority was against him, he knew that Warren would make sure that he was fired from his position. Tayo would have liked to be inside the system and fight for the cause, but now he no longer had that option. Tayo was sitting in a cafe, drinking alone, when his wife, Vivienne, gave him a pleasant surprise by coming to meet him. Though Tayo and Vivianne had separated a long time ago, they had never moved on from each other. They decided to fight this battle together, and Vivienne asked Tayo to move back with her.
Warren taking over the entire system was not good news for Poet, Tayo, and everybody else who wanted to shut it down. Tayo might have surrendered to his circumstances, but with Vivienne coming back into his life, his morale was boosted and he was willing to fight for justice. We believe that Poet, Lennix, Hour, and Tayo would want to avenge the death of their colleague and make sure that control once again came back into the hands of the agents.
