By: Mariah Thomas
We pick up where we left off as we learn more about what is going on with the medical experiments at Horizen’s new facility. Nathan (Robbie Amell) #1 is continuously scanned and trained to lose his memory. They have done this over one hundred times to him and he is visibly weaker physically and mentally because of it. In a fun transition, Nathan #1 is yelling in agony and shifts to Nathan #2 yelling due to a brain freeze from his daiquiri. He and Ingrid (Allegra Edwards) are enjoying the virtual beach of Apple Cove while on their honeymoon. They stroll the beach and discuss their feelings on the other Nathan still being alive. They are interrupted by the Cove AI (Sam Krochmal) who previously was assigned with working with Nathan #1’s uploads. He is confused to see Nathan now strolling the beach instead of being strapped to a chair in an empty room. When Nathan #2 holds up his wristband, the AI resets momentarily and apologizes for the mishap. Back in the real world, the doctors are unable to rescan Nathan #1 as there is a dupe detection. They quickly learn Nathan #2 is there on his honeymoon and Nathan #1 appears to feel a sense of hope knowing he’s close. Ingrid was suspicious of the encounter, so she temporarily pops back into the real world to update Nora (Andy Allo). She instantly knows where Nathan is being streamed from and quickly calls Luke (Kevin Bigley) to tell him. He is ecstatic that the original Nathan he knew is still alive. He is tasked with sneaking into Apple Cove to break him out.
Jitendra (Lee Majdoub) is unhappy with how the AI workers (Owen Daniels) at Lake View prioritize the residents over making money. He enlists Aleesha (Zainab Johnson) to properly test them to see where their “morals” are. All three workers make the choice to prioritize the residents. Though they failed Jitendra’s test, Aleesha lets them know she is very proud of them. Showing the AI staff’s merge with humanity, Luke is able to get the AI groundskeeper to help him save Nathan. He agrees to help without a second thought. Luke is able to pass through the “grey zone” without detection and makes it to Apple Cove.
Ivan (Josh Banday) walks in on Nora taking David Choak’s (William B. Davis) upload to potentially use as a bargaining chip to get Nathan back. Ivan reminds her that David is an awful person and this could blow up but she disregards his concerns and heads off. Back at the facility, they reveal to Nathan they plan to begin animal upload trials on him. Nathan is distraught by this news as the doctors laugh and head off to lunch. They leave him in the care of Dennis (Amitai Marmorstein), an overlooked doctor by the others. Nathan requests to watch some of his memories one last time before they are fully wiped with the new animal trials. Due to the current testing, his memory is hazy however Nora’s image is crystal clear. With some tweaking, Dennis is able to restore the memory for Nathan. Seeing how in love Nathan and Nora are clearly moves him emotionally.
Aleesha and Jitendra discuss the results of the AI tests. He is displeased with the results and is only focused on making money. In the new lounge for managers of Horizen, the AI bartender here is more sinister. He is programmed to prioritize the company over the guests. Jitendra has the idea to place him directly in Lake View and replace the other bartender. AI Girl (Anja Savcic) is shocked to see a new bartender and learns her boyfriend is gone. She quickly runs to the other and informs him of the change.
Aleesha, Nora and Ivan arrive at the real life Lake View. They walk into a lobby filled with people recovering from medical procedures. A staff member informs Nora they are prepared for her scan and she goes inside to further investigate. In another room in the facility Nathan continues to watch his memories. Dennis is still emotional and reveals he’s never been in love. He admits to never doing anything with his life and is in awe of the life Nathan lived. Nathan requests he save his memories with Nora for him to hold onto when everything else is lost. In a quick decision, Dennis uploads all of his memories on a ring and lets him free. He instructs Nathan to lock him in the chair to make it look like he escaped. Nathan makes his grand run for it to find Nora.
Sadly, Nathan misses Nora by half a second as she enters a room and he heads for the exit. She snuck into the room of Oliver Kannerman (Barclay Hope) and tells him she wants a trade off for Nathan in order for them to get David Choak’s scan back. She gives him a time and place before sneaking back out. She returns to Aleesha and Ivan to see the wild face lift Ivan ended up getting. They head to the meeting spot and sure enough, Kannerman arrives with a hooded man and others. She approaches the group with Choak’s scan. She hands over the scan just to learn they were duped. The hooded man lunges at Nora and Aleesha steps in with her new combat skills. Moments later the “police” Aleesha called arrived. They swoop in on the Horizen Billionaires before they can escape. Nora is confused to see this go down, however we see
Babatunde (Dayo Ade) is standing with the officers. He gives Aleesha a quick nod and this could signify her debt has finally been paid off.
Nathan #1 makes it safely to the van Dennis had given him keys to. He unknowingly backs up into David Choak’s upload harddrive and destroys it. He heads off to find Nora. Knowing how much she has sacrificed to spend time with him, Nathan #2 arranges for a real beach day for Ingrid. She is able to finally feel the sun on her skin and be immersed in life again. She sends Nathan a selfie as he sits on the Apple Cove beach. Flashing back to Nora, Aleesha and Ivan, the trio arrives home only to feel defeated by the outcome of the day. Nora disappears into her room while Aleesha answers the front door to find Nathan.