Reverie – Point Of Origin

By starrymag | August 14, 2018

By: Jessica Wolff

 

Mara Kint (Sarah Shahi) explains to Ray McConley (Christopher Redman) that they’re inside a Reverie. He asks why she brought him there and Mara tells him she has questions about the day he shot Jamie and Brynn. Ray tells her that talking about it won’t bring them back, but Mara tells him she wants to understand. Alexis Barrett (Jessica Lu) returns to her childhood home and her parents (Page Leong and Ming Lo) greet her and wish her a Happy Birthday. Alexis’ mother demands that she hand over her cell phone, and Alexis relucantly does before looking at shelves displaying her accomplishments and a framed photo of Dylan (Kai Scott).

 

Mara tells Ray that he can choose whether he wants to answer her questions, and Ray asks what she wants to know. A door appears in the Reverie and they enter into the house where the murders took place. Mara notices Brynn’s stuffed rabbit on the table, and Ray asks where the pictures of Jamie and Brynn are. Mara asks why he killed them, and Ray explains that he hid his being fired from Jamie. He explains that Jamie was planning to leave with Brynn once she found out the truth, and Mara demands to know why he went for the gun. Ray tells her that he was begging Jamie to listen to him, and he felt powerless. He explains that the gun gave him control and he knew that he would lose his family once Mara and the police showed up. Ray explains that his last thought was that they were all better off dead, and Mara tells him he had no right to decide that for them.

 

Alexis looks over her old yearbook with her mother and her father brings out a birthday cake. After he finishes singing, Alexis questions why Dylan’s name isn’t on the cake as well. She questions why there’s only one photo of Dylan and explains that her recreation of Dylan is artificial intelligence, not a robot. Alexis tells them that talking to it is like talking to the real Dylan, and asks if they want to forget him. Her mother tells her that they can’t forget him, and insists that the artificial intelligence is not her son.

 

Alexis tells her that she built Dylan so they wouldn’t lose him for good, but her mother tells her that they didn’t want her to feel more guilty than she already did. Alexis’ father tells her that they wanted to keep moving forward, but Alexis declares that none of them have. Alexis takes out the trash and flashes back to Dylan knocking on her door and climbing up the fence. As she reaches the trashcan, Oliver Hill (Jon Fletcher) grabs her.

 

Mara asks Ray if he remembers what happened after he killed Jamie and Brynn, and he tells her he remembers her and putting the gun to his head. She tells him what she remembers as she breaks down, and feels guilty for making him pull the trigger. Ray tells her that she didn’t make him do anything, as he wanted to die. He tells her that he dreams about apologizing to Jamie and Brynn, but is unable to remember their faces. Ray tells her that he doesn’t blame her, as he deserved what he got.

 

Mara exits the Reverie and Paul Hammond (Sendhil Ramamurthy) tells her that Alexis is missing. Charlie Ventana (Dennis Haysbert) shows them security footage of Oliver at a gas station near Alexis’ parents house. He leaves to investigate Oliver’s house, and Paul asks Casey Hathaway (Sasha Compere) to look for any Reveries connected to Oliver. Casey tells him that Alexis has been unusally inactive in the server, but sees that Alexis is logged on when they reach her desk. Dylan tells Paul that Alexis is accessing the program from an inactive server, and Paul questions what she’s doing.

 

Alexis wakes in a chair, and Oliver tells her they’re in Einstein’s secret lab recreated in Reverie. Oliver asks her if he at least pretended to be outraged at the idea of forcing people into Reveries, and Alexis is unable to exit the Reverie. He tells her that the Reverie is coded to recognize only his voice, and Alexis finds that the door is locked. Alexis asks why she’s there, and Oliver reminds her that they visited the place together. He tells her that she always talked about Einstein’s greatest regret of having helped build the bomb that killed millions of people. Alexis asks if he’s going to kill her, and Oliver tells her he would never hurt her. He tells her that the people getting trapped in reverie, the derealizations, and that military involvement ends tonight. Alexis warns him that she will be rescued, but Oliver tells her they won’t find her in time before exiting the Reverie.

 

Paul finds the Reverie on Oliver’s computer, and Mara tells them that she wants to go in to rescue Alexis. Charlie asks if she’s up to it, and Mara insists she is. Mara enters the Reverie and finds herself in an abandoned school hallway. An avatar runs at her covered in ash before disappearing. Mara calls out for Alexis, and Paul sees that Onira Tech’s air conditioning has been turned off. Casey tells him that Alexis authorized it, and Paul theorizes that Oliver has Alexis’ security key. Dylan tells him that he’s been locked out, and Paul realizes that Oliver intends to overheat the servers.

 

Mara continues to search for Alexis and enters a door to find herself coming out of a door across the hallway. She goes back through the door, and opens another door to find an empty classroom. Mara opens another door, but shuts it when another avatar runs at her. She grabs a piece of chalk from the empty classroom and draws an X over the doors she’s already searched. Charlie instructs Dylan to search for everything he can find concerning Oliver, and Monica Shaw (Kathryn Morris) arrives and gives Dylan access to government servers.

 

Alexis calls out to Mara and questions if Mara is an avatar. Mara shares details from their first meeting, and Alexis tells her that she’s glad she’s there. Mara attempts to open the door, but Alexis tells her to warn Charlie that Oliver intends to destroy the Reverie program. However, Mara refuses to leave without her and suggests that they make the program open the door. Alexis explains that they need to simulate using a key to get the program to unlock the door. She slides Mara a lamp knob and Mara is able to open the door with concentration. As Mara and Alexis reunite, the room starts glitching and they start searching for the mandala.

 

Dylan tells Charlie and Monica that Oliver’s school burned down when he was younger and is able to locate a cabin from a photo of Oliver with other kids. Charlie and Monica present Paul their evidence that Oliver is keeping Alexis at the cabin, and Casey reports there have been three server meltdowns. Paul announces to the room that they are under attack and requests all hands on deck. However, Oliver brings several canisters into Onira Tech disguised as a janitor and makes his way to the elevator undetected.

 

Mara and Alexis search for the mandala and another avatar runs at them when Mara opens a door. Alexis theorizes that the avatar shows the derealizations that Oliver has been seeing, and they see a door open at the end of the hall. Oliver tells the server tech that he’s there to fix the air conditioning, and that he doesn’t need his assistance. Once the tech is gone, Oliver opens his laptop and initiates lockdown in the server room.

 

Alexis’ parents enter the hallway and blame Alexis for Dylan’s death. Mara calms Alexis down, assuring her that Oliver created the avatars to hurt her. She suggests the mandala is through the door, and assures Alexis that none of this is real. They go through the door to find people frozen with lights in their eyes, and Alexis explains that they are her creation. Charlie and Monica arrive at the cabin and find Alexis lying on the couch.

 

Alexis explains that she experimented with the idea of the Reverie adapting to people’s fears, and that the people represent her fear that her creation didn’t bring people together. She questions if she’s ruining people’s lives with Reverie, and Mara tells her that Reverie helped her confront her issues face to face. Mara assures her that Reverie is a gift worth saving, and they exit through the nearby mandala. Charlie embraces Alexis when she wakes up and reports that Alexis has been found. Monica calls Charlie over and they find several canisters of thermite powder outside the cabin. Charlie declares that Oliver intends to burn Onira Tech down.

 

As the building is evacuated, Tirzah Hagan (Molly Hagan) reports that Oliver is in the server room. Mara questions if Alexis has back-up servers, but Alexis replies that she doesn’t. Monica reports that she has a SWAT team ready, but Mara requests that she go in first and try to talk to Oliver. Charlie warns her that she will die if Oliver lights the fire, and Paul tells her they can’t get into the server room. Alexis suggests that she might be able to, and Charlie tells Mara that he’s not letting her go in without backup. He tells her that Oliver has done this before, and clarifies that there was another arson in addition to Alexis’ house.

 

Alexis uses Dylan to hack into the security key as Charlie and Mara approach the server room. Charlie and Mara wait outside and enter as soon as Alexis disables the lockdown. They find Oliver pouring out the thermite powder on the floor and Mara approaches Oliver. He tells her she shouldn’t have come, but Mara insists she just wants to talk. Oliver confirms that Mara still has the BCI and calls her a lost cause. Mara confronts him about burning down his school, and Oliver insists they didn’t listen to him.

 

Mara tells him she’s listening now, and tells him it’s not too late. He tells her this is the only way, and declares everyone thinks he’s crazy. She tells him she doesn’t think he’s crazy, but he tells her she should have left as he lights the match. Charlie shoots Oliver, but he is able to light the thermite powder as he falls to the ground. As the room bursts into flames, Oliver reaches for his tablet and enters his Reverie. Charlie tells Mara they need to go, but Mara insists they can’t leave Oliver. Charlie calls for a stretcher before he and Mara exit the building and watch as Oliver is wheeled out.

 

Three weeks later Alexis assures boardmembers that they have been able to reboot the system with Monica’s help. Charlie tells the board that less than a thousand people were still in the Reverie and are being monitored closely. Alexis comments that Oliver hasn’t regained consciousness and tells the board that she believes the system can be relaunched at the end of the day. Mara tells Paul there’s something she needs, and Mara meets Ray again in Reverie. Ray questions why she brought him back, and Mara explains that she wants to stop hating him and move on. She hands him her photo of Jamie and Brynn, and Ray wakes up out of his coma.

 

Dylan apologizes for his voice issues, but Alexis reminds him he was damaged in the fire. She tells him it’s time for an upgrade, but decides to tell him the story of how the real Dylan died. Dylan tried to get into Alexis’ lab, but Alexis locked him out. He then tried to climb onto the roof to look inside, but fell to his death. Alexis tells Dylan he was her best friend, and that she created him so that she could talk to him. She tells him that it kept her from seeing things clearly and declares that it’s time to let him grow up.

 

Paul asks Mara why she went back to talk to Ray, and Mara tells him that she likes helping people and wanted to prove she could do it even for him. He is thrilled that she’s staying and jokes that she can put artwork on the office walls now. Mara thanks him for helping her, and he tells her it’s what you do when you care about someone. Charlie interrupts the moment to tell them that the relaunch is starting.

 

Alexis addresses the crowd, thanking everyone for their help. She calls them her family and friends, and addresses Dylan, now with a grown-up voice (Joshua Chang). Alexis and Dylan officially relaunch Reverie and the crowd cheers. Paul shows Mara that his tablet says she is currently in Reverie, but Mara is confused. In Oliver’s Reverie, Mara continues to draw in the hallway with chalk.