The Imperfects is a sci-fi series that follows three individuals in their twenties who find that they have become ‘monsters’ due to experimental gene therapy. The show is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Abbi Singh, an aspiring scientist, Juan Ruiz, a comic book sketcher and Tilda Webber, a musician, come to the realisation that they’re undergoing supernatural side-effects due to not receiving pills for medication from the genius scientist Alex Sarkov.
Abbi secretes pheromones that make people lust after her and do anything she orders. Juan turns into a chupacabra, while Tilda has extremely enhanced hearing and a destructive voice.
Due to the similarities with mythical creatures, they start considering themselves Succubus, Chupacabra and Banshee.
They had been part of a Wellness Program organised to cure those with genetic disorders called AGDS. Sydney Burke, Sarkov’s colleague, reveals they built the program together.
Its intention was to cure those with AGDS through the use of stem cells, but Sarkov believed they could create superior beings, leading to him and Burke parting ways. The pills kept their genes stable, but that’s not an option anymore.
They begin looking for Sarkov to cure them, but he is nowhere to be found. They are confronted by Doug, another victim with basic immortality. However, he can feel any pain inflicted on him throughout his life and believes it’s a curse.
He provides them with hints about Sarkov’s location in exchange for a painless death. When he finds out that Burke’s plan is to kill him with acid, he chooses to kill himself.
Abbi, Juan and Tilda make contact with a former member of the Wellness Program, Maxwell, who could have a lead on Sarkov. But this turns out to be a ruse and they’re actually biohackers. Maxwell is actually Nate Lang.
The real Maxwell is dead after becoming a fish-like person because of the stem cells. The three manage to kill Nate’s accomplices but Juan goes missing.
He finds himself at the house of his brother, Alejandro, and reconnects with his niece and his brother’s family.
Meanwhile, they’re being pursued by Flux, an organisation that deals with genetically altered species as well as a mysterious woman named Finch.
Abbi befriends Hannah, another one from the Wellness Program without any side effects. Juan and Tilda track down Sarkov, who’s pursuing Zoe, another ‘Imperfect’ with dangerous electrical powers.
Juan and Tilda help reunite Zoe with her family and bring Sarkov back. It turns out that Finch is actually just the alter ego of Burke, similar to how Juan transforms into a chupacabra.
Sarkov starts experimenting on her and figures out the cure. Hannah is accidentally shot by Flux and Abbi gives her the same stem cells as Doug, making her immortal.
Burke surrenders herself to Flux, headed by Dominique Crain. Nate has started taking revenge against those close to three and attacks Juan’s girlfriend, Darcy, but he saves her.
Nate ends up killing Tilda’s boyfriend, PJ, causing a shift in her personality. Hannah is furious that Abbi turned her into a monster.
Sarkov creates a cure but Nate kidnaps Hannah and forces them to give it to him first, curing him from his side effects.
Abbi discusses delivering the cure to all test subjects, but Sarkov’s plan is even bigger. He wants a delivery system for large-scale experimentation.
Since they depend on him for the cure, Sarkov tells the three to get nanobots from Dr. Monday for his plans. They end up killing her and Tilda steals the nanobot printer.
Later, Juan and Tilda sleep together but when he wakes up, she leaves alongside Sarkov with the nanobot printer. She believes in his ideology because of the negative impact PJ’s death had on her.
The nanobots take Juan and Abbi back to Monday’s lab and take over them. Thankfully, they’re able to destroy them even after they manage to take over their bodies.
Burke/Finch, now working together, escape the Flux facility and attempt to return and help Abbi and Juan. A couple of flashbacks reveal that Burke helped Sarkov with money during tough times.
Abbi and Juan decide on different routes. She wants to make her own cure while Juan wants to find Sarkov, because of his attraction towards Tilda.
He ends up at his niece’s birthday after Alejandro urges him. However, a Flux agent follows him and Juan kills him using his Chupacabra form.
Burke/Finch return and help Abbi create a cure using Sarkov’s DNA. Even though she is successful, Finch destroys it due to Burke’s fear of a certain secret related to Sarkov being exposed.
As Juan leaves his niece’s party abruptly, Alejandro tells him never to return if his family isn’t his priority. Abbi helps him bury the Flux agent. The two agree that they could never be human now even if their side effects are cured.
Juan tells Tilda how dangerous the nanobots are. She attempts to stop Sarkov but he pulls a gun on her.
As Abbi and Juan arrive at Sarkov’s location, Finch betrays them. After knocking the two out cold, she urges Sarkov to make her Finch permanently.
Burke tells him not to betray her. Sarkov assures her that she has nothing to worry about but shoots Tilda dead, and they abduct Juan, setting up the finale.
The Imperfects ending explained in detail:
How do Abbi and Tilda stop Sarkov?
Looking at Tilda’s corpse, Abbi is distraught and begins criticising her for siding with Sarkov. To her surprise, she awakens and makes fun of her for lecturing a corpse.
It turns out that they have regeneration powers similar to Doug, however, the truth behind it is still unclear since Maxwell never resurrected.
Abbi and Tilda track Sarkov down. They ask Hannah to drive them to the location. Abbi and Hannah make up after the former tried to use her powers to help her make the cure earlier.
Sarkov is using Juan as the experiment by making him a permanent chupacabra. Using the results, he will turn Burke into Finch forever.
Abbi and Tilda manage to arrive and capture Sarkov. However, Juan has already been injected. He asks them to kill him if he cannot return but he doesn’t transform. This puts an end to Sarkov’s plan.
How are Crain and the Flux exposed?
Agent Sponson and Benning from Flux join hands with Abbi and Tilda after the suspect Crain of being involved with the scientists that they were hunting.
After capturing Sarkov, Abbi uses the pheromones to compel him to tell the truth. He theorises that Crain has been funding scientists to create monsters. If there is no huge problem to solve, Flux wouldn’t exist.
Although Sarkov believes he was never funded, it turns out that the Helix Institute he received his grant from is actually a shell company used to launder funds by Flux. Sarkov is arrested and Crain is put under investigation.
Are all ‘The Imperfects’ cured?
With the cure now in their grasp, Abbi and Juan are elated. However, Tilda escapes without notice, as she wants to live as a ‘monster’.
Abbi and Juan are seemingly cured and continue being friends. Three months pass and Tilda is now saving those infects by a virus and pointing them to Burke for a cure.
During a conversation with his niece, Juan realises that he is turning back into a chupacabra. Abbi has been locating the remaining nanobots and experiences a sticky substance due to her pheromones.
The monster virus has swept the entire city. Hannah finds Abbi captured by the substance while Juan’s hands have transformed permanently. The cure wasn’t permanent and a new threat has emerged.
What is Sarkov’s secret?
Burke, now the head of Flux, meets Sarkov. She offers him a chance to experiment again and all his offences will be pardoned.
Crain’s actions allowed her to convince the board that a new approach is now needed. Mid-conversation, Sarkov realises that she is actually Finch, with the appearance of Burke.
She calls Dr. Hallenbeck, an affluent individual who created Sarkov with his own DNA as a super-intellect being. Sarkov, himself, is unaware of the truth.
Burke reveals that she and Hallenbeck worked together to urge Sarkov into creating superior beings. And she assures him that they will find success this time around.
The season ends with Burke’s reflection on the laptop showing an image of Finch, as she grins over how well her plans are progressing.
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