The FX series Class Of '09 smartly layers the past, present, and future in telling this story. Introducing viewers to only two-time frames inThe FX series Class Of '09 smartly layers the past, present, and future in telling this story. Introducing viewers to only two-time frames in the first five minutes made everything that happened in these first two episodes easier to absorb. Kate Mara's performance as Poet is so good that you are (easily) pulled into the third time frame (Present 2023) without it feeling disruptive.
You could argue that this story could have been just as good without the time jump. But it feels more attractive told this way and complements the dystopian part of the story set in 2034.
The showrunners, writers, and actors did a great job showing the good in 2009 and the ugly in 2034 but offered only a glimpse of the bad that's about to happen with a great cliffhanger at the end of episode two. This direction made it thrilling and fun to watch.
Structuring a series like this is difficult and often loses focus with all the back and forth, but this new limited series from FX may be the exception. I look forward to seeing how this story plays out.