“Breeding Ground” is episode twelve of season one of First Wave.
Two girls are entering an auditorium. The first, Nikki, is telling the second, Julia, that Dave is a great guy. He’s hot and he likes Julia and he’s waiting in back for her. Dave is there, as said, and they kiss. He starts to unbutton her blouse. Of course, this is a setup, and when Julia’s blouse is off, the curtains open and the lights come on. There are others there, laughing and recording. Julia stares at David hard – and he catches fire.
Cade is heading to the Bradbury Academy in Cheshire, Massachusetts, following up on the story. As a criminal wanted for murder, he can’t use his own name, so is posing as a substitute gym teacher and track coach. Cade is with a group of girls and asks if anyone is missing. Yes; Julia Hartman. She’s sitting on the bleachers. Nikki is saying that Julia is special. Julia tells Nikki to watch herself. Nikki asks if that’s a threat. Cade breaks the two of them up and Julia walks off.
Cade questions Nikki about this; she says it’s not her fault Julia is a geek. Cade mentions Dave catching fire and asks what happened. Nikki doesn’t know how it happened. Dave could have been killed but the school hushed it up. Julia wasn’t even given a reprimand. She’s a weirdo and a teacher’s pet and spends so much time with Nurse Kelly in the infirmary you’d think Julia was on her death bed.
Julia is speed reading a book when Cade approaches her. When asked, she says that’s how she always reads. cade wants to know why she left, as she doesn’t strike him as a quitter. Because she doesn’t fit in; the others think she’s a freak. What kind? Regular or super? Super. Cade asks about what happened with David. She doesn’t know. Julia stared into David’s eyes, she could have killed him, she was so mad. Then something came over her. A wave. She’s not supposed to talk about it, but Julia won’t say who told her not to.
Cade heads to the infirmary, which is empty, and is eying the door of a locked cabinet when Nurse Kelly arrives. They introduce themselves. Cade wants to talk about Julia; as her coach, he wants to know her physical limitations. Kelly explains that Julia is anaemic and takes iron supplements. She also has a high IQ. When Cade asks about the fire, Kelly laughs it off; Julia isn’t Carrie.
Afterwards, Kelly speaks to the headmaster. She wants to know if Cade was cleared with the Assembly. No; the headmaster doesn’t consider a gym teacher a security risk. Kelly says they will soon be testing Julia’s loyalty and something about Cade bothers her. The headmaster doesn’t want to bother the Assembly; they have 2,000 experiments to keep on top of. Kelly presses him. Though, given how much trouble Cade has been causing, you’d think the Gua would have alerted all their operatives with at least his photo.
Cade is coaching the girls for the 400m. The school record is 57 seconds. Julia arrives, but doesn’t join the others. She speaks to Cade first. That feeling she told him about? She’s feeling it now. Julia sets off running. Even though she set off several seconds behind the rest, she easily passes them all and finished in 48 seconds.
Cade calls Eddie about this; Eddie thinks Julia is an alien. Cade isn’t so sure. She’s confused about her abilities. Eddie points out that she’d hardly come out and admit it. Cade thinks she’s something different. Eddie says they’ve been uploading things to the Paranoid Times website for three months and it’s not working. There’s a reporter form the LA Times who wants to do a fluff piece. If they have hard evidence, he might do something different.
Nikki and the other girls are talking about Julia. Nikki thinks Julia’s on steroids. Julia comes in and tells Nikki not to be a sore loser. She also has enough strength to force Nikki to the ground and make her apologise. Afterwards, Cade speaks to Julia outside about how she did. She was only average before. Julia no longer cares why this is happening; she likes it. Cade asks about her parents, as traits can be passed on. She’s a foster kid; her mother abandoned her when she was four. Anyway, Nurse Kelly says Julia can’t do athletics any more, because of her anaemia.
Julia is definitely human, but she seems to becoming less so. Her powers are growing and she’s starting to like it. The Carrie example might end up being not far from the truth.