Jaden thoughts. Thom, too.
From what we see in the pre-hiatus episodes, Jaden and Thom were f**k-buddies. I actually think that the show does a good job of portraying a friendship where someone has deeper feelings for the other person who is falling in love with someone else. Nothing wrong with that. But I have a big problem with Thom’s actions in ‘Guardian’, when Birkhoff is trying to set Jaden up for breaking into Percy’s office and he does nothing. Fine, I get that he didn’t want to get Alex into trouble either, but he doesn’t even scold Alex later for keeping silent and letting someone else take the blame for her actions. I have a problem with that. I liked that Alex didn’t step up and vindicate Jaden because it shows that intrinsic Udinov ruthlessness that we only saw flashes of until ‘Alexandra’ and ‘Echoes’, but I don’t like Thom’s role in this at all. Even worse though is that the show doesn’t even seem to acknowledge that anything was wrong in that scene. The show seems to think it’s inconsequential that Jaden is being framed for Alex’s crime (because she’s what? A bitch? Alex has never been Jaden’s victim. If anything, she has not only given as good as she got, she’s became the one in the position of power after ‘One Way’; but more on that below*); and that it’s also inconsequential that ‘Nice Guy’ Thom doesn’t even register that his old friend Jaden would have got into serious trouble because of what Alex did.
*I believe that Jaden would have helped Alex with Dr. Lecherous if Alex had asked her nicely. When Jaden finds Alex’s escape tunnel she whistles and says, “home girl escaped” and there’s no glee or triumph on her face, but something like awe, like respect. I don’t think she had any intention of reporting Alex. And earlier in that episode, when she pairs up with Alex for weapons, Jaden is actually friendly and it’s Alex that “gets her bitch-game on”. It bothered me that Alex blackmailed her and effectively killed any chance of them becoming natural allies; and it bothered me even more that when she comes to Thom with evidence in “All the way”, he promptly betrays her and gives Alex a heads-up even though Thom has seen enough suspicious behavior on Alex’s part to at least consider Jaden’s suspicions.
*I believe that Jaden would have helped Alex with Dr. Lecherous if Alex had asked her nicely. When Jaden finds Alex’s escape tunnel she whistles and says, “home girl escaped” and there’s no glee or triumph on her face, but something like awe, like respect. I don’t think she had any intention of reporting Alex. And earlier in that episode, when she pairs up with Alex for weapons, Jaden is actually friendly and it’s Alex that “gets her bitch-game on”. It bothered me that Alex blackmailed her and effectively killed any chance of them becoming natural allies; and it bothered me even more that when she comes to Thom with evidence in “All the way”, he promptly betrays her and gives Alex a heads-up even though Thom has seen enough suspicious behavior on Alex’s part to at least consider Jaden’s suspicions.