Reverie – Blue Is The Coldest Color

By starrymag | June 26, 2018

By: Jessica Wolff

 

 

The room around Mara Kint (Sarah Shahi) glitches and disappears, revealing her to be standing on the road in the path of an oncoming car. She is pushed out of the way by a man, Oliver Hill (Jon Fletcher). Mara is alarmed that he knows her name and Oliver tells her they need to talk. At a diner, Oliver explains that he was a co-founder of Onira Tech with Alexis Barrett (Jessica Lu). Mara notices his erratic behavior and asks if he is on psychiatric medication. Oliver tells her that the medication doesn’t help, and that he’s been following her since she was brought into the Reverie program.

 

Oliver warns her that she’s in danger, explaining that he lost his mind by spending too much time in Reverie 2.0. He tells her that the derealization doesn’t get better, and questions if anything is real. Oliver tells her that several future users of the program are at risk, declaring that Mara is the only person who can stop it from the inside. Mara interrupts him, and thanks him for saving her before leaving. Oliver runs after her, and asks why she thinks the others have never mentioned his name as a founder. Mara declares that Charlie Ventana (Dennis Haybert) would never put her in danger, but Oliver tells her to think about it and to not tell the others that she talked to him.

 

Mara comes into Onira Tech to find security guards searching everyone. Charlie approaches Mara and tells her that Onira Tech has been robbed of a full BCI unit, causing Mara to questions why someone would steal something that’s readily available. Glenn (David Clayton Rogers) starts up the stolen unit, but is interrupted by a knock at the door. Quincy (Justin Claiborne) brings him his mail, and Glenn tells him he can open it. Quincy is excited that a vintage Roberto Clemente baseball card is in the package, and Glenn lets him keep it as Quincy’s mother Liz (Erica Luttrell) tells him that he’s going to the doctor. They thank him, and Liz tells Glenn that he can come visit them if he wants.

 

Glenn closes the door and goes into the Reverie program. He opens a door, but struggles at the sight of the bright sunlight when he opens the door. He forces himself into the parking lot, but the sunlight is too strong for him and he screams. Mara searches for Onira Tech and finds a photo of Alexis and Oliver posing for a photo together. She asks Dylan (Kai Scott) for information on Oliver, and he gives her a little basic information before telling her that the rest of the information is classified. Charlie and Paul Hammond (Sendhil Ramamurthy) tell Mara that they have discovered an unregistered BCI in Reverie, asking her to go in and find out what he’s up to.

 

Mara enters the Reverie and looks through possible Reveries to find the thief. One door leads to a hallway with watery tiles, the next leads to an exterior with a fountain, and another leads to a storage room. Mara observes as the MRL Guard (Treisa Gray) talks to someone and then sees Glenn run in and take a keycard off the Guard’s jacket when she walks away. Mara calls out to him, and Glenn tells her to stay in the parking lot. The guard spots them and reports two unauthorized personnel as Glenn is frustrated that he has to try again. Glenn tells her to stay in the parking lot, and she tells him to return the stolen technology. He leaves the Reverie, and Mara reports to Paul that Glenn is planning another robbery.

 

Dylan helps Mara figure out that the target is a pharmaceutical company, MRL and Charlie reports that the Glenn bought the stolen technology from the Dark Reverie site. Paul explains that there are limits to what people can do in Reverie, but there is a black market to help people get past those restrictions. Charlie tells Mara to go back in to identify Glenn, and Mara questions why he isn’t involving the police in the case. He tells her that inviting the police also means inviting the press, and she questions if there’s a secret he’s trying to protect.

 

Charlie asks what she means, and she confronts him about nobody being upfront with her. He asks where this is coming from, and she asks him about Oliver. Mara tells him what happened with the derealization and Oliver, and Alexis tells her the derealization was the result of the missed medication. Mara tells her what Oliver said about the derealization never getting bette and Alexis insists that Oliver doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

 

Mara confronts Alexis about Oliver’s claims that they shut him out of the company, and Charlie calls Oliver unstable. Mara continues to question Charlie, and Charlie explains they have a restraining order against Oliver and calls him manipulative. However, Mara questions who is the true manipulator, and Charlie suggests that Alexis tells Mara the truth. Charlie goes to Mara’s office and asks if she really thinks he would put her in danger after all the times he’s had her back over the years, and Mara tells him that Brynn told her that she was there for a reason. He assures her they’ll figure it out, and she tells him that she’s figured out where Glenn lives based on the fountain in the Reverie.

 

Mara and Charlie visit the house, and Liz calls out to them and introduces herself and Quincy before telling them that Glenn has obsessive-compulsive disorder and lists his sensitivities. Charlie and Mara knock on the door, and Glenn attempts to shut it upon seeing them. Glenn threatens to call the police, but Mara suggests that she report his plans to rob MRL. Mara suggests they work things out, and Glenn tells her he’ll only talk to her. She goes inside, closing the door on Charlie. Mara reads Glenn’s name on pieces of mail that he reorganizes and introduces herself. They talk about his OCD, and Mara questions why he wants to rob MRL. Charlie asks if everything’s okay, and Glenn freaks out at him touching the window. Mara tries to fix the situation, but Glenn enters the Reverie to escape.

 

As Glenn lies in Onira Tech, Alexis declares that they’ll turn him over to the police once they get him out of the Reverie. Mara declares that he won’t survive in prison, but Alexis has no sympathy. Mara tells Paul that the thief is in custody, but is worried about him. Paul tells her to get Glenn out, but knows she is reluctant due to her mistrust of Onira Tech. Mara asks if she’s going to go crazy but Paul shows her that her brain scans prior to entering Reverie match his and Alexis’ before showing her that Oliver’s were abnormal even before the Reverie. Paul declares that he and Alexis have spent even more time in Reverie, and are not unstable. Mara still isn’t convinced, but suggests that she’ll throw herself into work and comes to a realization.

 

Glenn struggles to make his way into the parking lot in the Reverie, and finds Mara waiting for him when he shuts the door. Mara assesses that he’s robbing MRL for Quincy. Glenn tells her that Quincy has a lung issue and was passed over for a potentially lifesaving MRL trial, and that he wants to steal the medicine to help him. He tells her that he has the plan down to a science, but can’t make it into the parking lot due to his sunlight sensitivity. Mara tells him to leave, but Glenn tells her that he watched Quincy grow up and get sicker through his window and calls them the best part of his life. Glenn declares that he can’t watch Quincy die, and Mara tells Charlie that Glenn agreed to come out of the Reverie on the condition that they help him rob MRL.

 

Charlie tells Monica Shaw (Kathryn Morris) that Glenn is willing to help shut down several Dark Reverie sites and the condition of his cooperation. He asks for her help, and Glenn tells Mara the plan down to the exact times. Glenn tells her he struggles with the blue tiles and Mara demonstrates that he simply focus on hopping on the white tiles to avoid the blue ones. He shows her his plan to steal the guard’s keycard to get the medicine, and that he must finish the plan by walking across the sunlit parking lot. Mara gives him a dice to focus on as he walks and continues to tell him to focus as they try it out. Glenn stops focusing and runs out of the Reverie, and Mara tells him to think about Quincy.

 

Charlie visits Oliver, and Oliver taunts him. Charlie urges him not to make him angry, and accuses him harrassing Mara. Oliver insists he saved her and tried to warn her, but Charlie tells him that he has his attention. Oliver tells him that he wants his company back, but Charlie tells him that won’t happen. Charlie tells him that there’s a reason he’s been erased from the company, and Oliver tells him that the program messed him up. However, Charlie tells him that there’s no way he’s coming back and warns him to take his medication and stay away from Alexis, Mara, and himself.

 

Mara picks up Glenn for the robbery and gives him the dice as she drives to MRL As they pull up, Mara asks how he’s feeling and Glenn admits he’s scared. Mara tells him that most criminals get scared, and Glenn thanks her despite knowing she’s lying. She gives him an earpiece and Glenn enters the facility. Glenn communicates with Mara as he goes through his plan, and retrieves the medicine. He makes it to the parking lot entrance and grabs the dice as he prepares himself. Glenn opens the door and focuses on the dice as he makes his way through the parking lot. He freezes as he loses focus, but forces himself to focus on Quincy.

 

Glenn makes it to Mara’s car, and Charlie congratulates him before telling him there’s no way they’re helping him commit a felony. Monica brings out MRL’s CEO, Richard Brewster (George Tovar) to the parking lot, and has Glenn give the medicine back. She fabricates a story that they were helping demonstrate the issues of MRL’s security, and Brewster is impressed by Glenn’s efforts. Brewster tells Glenn that Monica suggested a way to reward him, and Liz is in shock when Glenn tells her that Quincy has been accepted into the trial. Glenn admits it’s a long story, and Liz embraces him. Glenn offers to go with her to tell Quincy the news, grabbing his dice for the walk.

 

Oliver meets Leekly (Gary Kraus) in a parking lot, offering money for a BCI kit. Leekly tells him that it will take some time due to heightened security, but Oliver increases his offer for the service. When asked why he wants a BCI, Oliver tells him that he wants to get back the girl that got away. Alexis tells Mara that when she met Oliver, he talked about the brain as a time machine. She tells her how their partnership started and that it blossomed into romance. However, his mental instability worsened and he lit her house on fire after an argument.  Alexis tells her that Charlie fired Oliver and got a restraining order against him. Mara understands how she feels, but tells her that she has nothing to be ashamed of. Alexis calls Oliver the biggest mistake of her life, and refuses to be defined by it. She asks Mara to act like it never happened, and Mara plays along.