Reverie – Despedida

By starrymag | July 31, 2018

By: Jessica Wolff

 

 

The morning after, Mara Kint (Sarah Shahi) wakes up and Chris Condera (Sam Jaeger) comments that he wondered when she would get up. Mara hesitates and asks if he thinks this was a good idea. Chris asks if he would still be there if he didn’t think it was, and Mara admits that she’s overthinking things. Mara then says she’s good and they decide to give their relationship another shot.

 

At a nursing home, Pilar Simonet (Anne Betancourt) goes about her day. She returns to her room, pulls out her tablet and enters her Reverie as an aide enters and asks what she’s doing. Inside her Reverie, a younger Pilar (Elena Tovar) walks along a South American street and admires her appearance in a mirror. She embraces a group of young girls and Joaquin (Adrian Anchondo) remarks that he was waiting for the sun to shine upon seeing her. Pilar takes his hand and they walk into a nearby bar.

 

The executive director of the nursing home, Jack (David Burke) tells Charlie Ventana (Dennis Haysbert) that they would have stopped Pilar if they had known she was using Reverie. Charlie introduces Mara to Jack, and Jack tells them that they work hard to keep the seniors engaged in the real world as they would never leave Reverie if they had access to it. Charlie argues that it’s Pilar’s choice, but Jack tells them that Pilar is missing her scheduled lung cancer treatment.

 

Jack explains that Pilar got access to Reverie by bribing an aide and visiting Onira Tech under the cover of hairdressing appointments. He asks them to extract Pilar from the Reverie by tomorrow, or else she will be moved to a stricter facility. Charlie asks what Pilar’s family thinks of that, and Jack tells him she has no family. Mara comments that it seems harsh, but Jack insists he’s doing what’s best for all his residents.

 

Mara enters the Reverie and finds herself inside the bar. She notices a band poster on the wall and identifies Pilar among the patrons. Pilar comments on her strange outfit, and Mara identifies herself as being from Onira Tech. Mara tells Pilar that Jack is worried about her, but Pilar replies she’s been dying for a while. Mara warns her that Jack intends to move her, and Pilar is horrified by the prospect.

 

As Mara tries to convince Pilar to leave, vehicles drive up and the bar is shot at. Mara tells Pilar it’s time to go, but Pilar declares that it’s her second chance and that she’s not letting go of it. Pilar runs out of the bar and Mara chases her out, watching as Pilar drives away in a vehicle.

 

Mara tells Paul Hammond (Sendhil Ramamurthy) about Pilar’s Reverie, remarking that Pilar seemed to be anticipating the bar attack. Charlie tells them that Pilar took a trip in the 70s to multiple South American countries. Mara asks Dylan (Kai Scott) to search for the band name on the band poster, and Dylan identifies them as a Chile band that never released their first album. Charlie comments that it must have been because of the Chile military coup, and tells Mara and Paul to learn their history when they look surprised.

 

Paul asks Mara about her bruise, and Mara tells her it’s getting better. He tells her that Reverie isn’t supposed to leave a mark, and is trying to figure out why hers did. Mara is confident that he and Alexis Barrett (Jessica Lu) will figure it out, and Paul asks why she’s in such a good mood. She doesn’t answer and goes back into the Reverie.

 

Mara observes as Pilar goes into a building and follows her. Pilar goes into a room where the girls are sleeping, and one of them, Elvia (Ava Darby) tells Pilar that she had a bad dream. Mara observes as Pilar comforts her and gives her a small doll. Pilar leaves the room as Joaquin calls out to her, and Mara follows her. Pilar and Joaquin kiss in the alleyway, and he tells her he loves her before promising to come back tomorrow. They kiss again before Joaquin leaves.

 

Mara calls out to Pilar, startling her. Mara suggests that Pilar built the Reverie because of Joaquin, but Pilar continues to be annoyed by her presence and tells her to stay out of her business. Pilar starts feeling sick, and Mara explains that the Reverie is making her sicker. However, Pilar refuses to leave and tells Mara to leave her alone.

 

Alexis doesn’t believe Paul’s claim that Mara got a real-life bruise due to a Reverie gunshot wound, but Paul tells her he saw it with his own eyes. He suggests that the mind creates a physical state, and reminds her that Oliver Hill (Jon Fletcher) warned them about this possibility. Alexis insists it’s a fluke, but Paul questions what will happen if it’s worse the next time it happens. She questions why Paul is so worried about Mara, but he insists he’s worried about the program. Paul tells her they should call Oliver, but Alexis refuses and tells him she’ll look into it. Once Paul leaves, Alexis hesitates and then calls Oliver.

 

Replaying her memories of her night with Chris, Mara texts him and invites him to dinner. Mara presents Paul and Charlie her theory that Pilar created the Reverie for love and that she’s trying to have a second chance with Joaquin. She has Dylan explain that Joaquin became a leader of the coup who got killed in the fight. Paul questions why she isn’t coming out if she’s already seen Joaquin, and Mara suggests she needs to create a new romantic moment with him. Paul reminds her that their interference can change Pilar’s story, but Mara insists it’s what’s best for Pilar.

 

Mara enters bar in the Reverie and gets the patrons’ attention. She offers a stack of money to whoever can take her to Joaquin. Pilar is annoyed when Mara approaches her, but Mara tells her that anything can happen in Reverie before bringing Joaquin to her. However, Pilar tells her that Joaquin is supposed to be leading the raid and that he can’t be there.

 

Mara comments that she thought that’s what Pilar wanted, but Pilar yells that everyone is making decisions for her. The military vehicles pull up in front of the building, and Mara asks what’s happening. Pilar tells her it’s her fault and runs towards the building. The military restrains both Pilar and Mara as the girls are dragged out of the building and into custody.

 

Mara joins Pilar at the bar and tells her the girls are being held at the schoolhouse. She apologizes for misinterpreting the reason Pilar built the Reverie and that she thought she did it for love. Pilar tells her she did build it for love, but for love of the girls. Mara admits she messed up, but tells her she can see the girls again by exiting and reentering the Reverie.

 

Pilar questions if Jack will let her, but Mara tells her she’ll ask. Mara asks Pilar what really happened, and Pilar explains that she was able to help the girls escape with Joaquin’s help and drove them to to border. She tells her that she wanted to feel like her life had purpose one more time, but she can’t thanks to Mara.

 

Alexis meets with Oliver, who comments that this meeting must be a secret since Charlie would never let her come there. She tells him about Mara’s physical bruise caused by Reverie, and Oliver reminds her that he warned her about this. Alexis admits he was right and asks for help identifying the glitch. She explains that it took place in an experimental Reverie, and Oliver suggests that the altered code is to blame for the injury.

 

Oliver provides a hypothesis, and writes down some information for her to look at. He tells her he can do more, but she doesn’t answer. Alexis thanks him, and he realizes that Alexis gave the Reverie code to the military. Oliver gets angry, and yells at her to stop it. Alexis admits she understands how he feels, but he can’t dictate what she does with the company. He admits she’s right, and Alexis urges him to take care of himself.

 

Jack refuses to let Pilar have another chance in the Reverie, and Mara attempts to convince him. However, he continues to refuse and tells Mara that her time is running out to pull Pilar out of Reverie. Mara talks to Pilar and looks around her room, finding the doll she gave to Elvia in her nightstand drawer.

 

Mara asks Charlie to let her back in to help Pilar rescue the children, but Paul questions her engaging with armed military. Mara insists she screwed up and that she wants to fix things. Mara reenters the Reverie and tells Pilar that Jack refused. However, she tells Pilar that she refuses to give up and Pilar tells Mara she’ll do anything for the girls.

 

As they sneak towards the schoolhouse, Mara pulls out an explosive that she puts in one of the military vehicles. Mara and Pilar use the distraction of the explosion to sneak into the schoolhouse, and look for the girls. The girls embrace Pilar, and Pilar tells them she would never leave without them. Mara helps them escape the schoolhouse and ushers them towards an abandoned van. One of the soldiers spot them as they get inside, and Mara tells Pilar to drive.

 

Pilar drives out of the city as the military shoots at them. They reach the border and everyone gets out of the car. Pilar remarks that it was better the second time around, and Mara asks what happens next. Pilar admits that she never sees the girls after this, and was never able to find them. She realizes that she can’t say goodbye, and apologizes to Mara.

 

Mara reminds her what will happen if she stays, and Pilar tells her there are some things worse than death. However, Mara reminds her that these aren’t the actual girls and tells her that she can still have purpose in the real world. Mara questions if the real girls would want this for her, and Pilar says goodbye to the girls before exiting the program.

 

Pilar goes through her day at the nursing home and Mara visits her. They reminsce over their adventure, and Pilar comments that she got to say goodbye to the girls this time. Mara calls Charlie in, and he brings an older Elvia (Lidia Porto). Pilar cries as she realizes who Elvia is and embraces her.  She asks Mara how she found them, and Mara explains that Charlie found all of the girls. Elvia introduces her granddaughter, named Pilar (Evey Alexander), and they show Pilar photos of their family. Elvia thanks Pilar, telling her that she and her family wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for her.

 

Oliver meets with Leekly (Gary Kraus) at a bar, confirming he knows what to do and promising him money afterwards. After Leekly leaves, Oliver pulls out a Reverie tablet and goes into the program before collapsing to the ground. Mara returns home to find Chris waiting for her. She asks how he got in and he shows her his copy of her key. As she kisses him and promises to tell him about her day, she gets a call from Chris.

 

Confused, Mara answers and Chris apologizes for not getting her message during the day. Chris asks why she’s asking him over for dinner, and Mara asks when she saw him last. He confirms it was days ago, and Mara drops the phone. She tells the Chris in her apartment that he’s not real, and Chris glitches. Chris transforms into Ray McConley (Christopher Redmond), telling her they’re there for a reason.