By: Mariah Thomas
Nora (Andy Allo) is reliving the wedding simulation to Nathan #1 (Robbie Amell). As they are in the midst of saying vows, the real Nathan removes her glasses. She is overcome with emotion seeing him and finally getting to feel his touch. The following morning the pair greet Ivan (Josh Banday) and Aleesha (Zainab Johnson). Nathan has a hard time remembering Ivan and there is a sense of concern among the group.
Back in Lake View, Ingrid and Nathan reconnect. They discuss the idea of Nathan #2 reuploading into a cloned body. He is hesitant and has fears of going back. In the midst of their argument, Nathan freezes and Ingrid has to pay a fee to continue. In the monitoring room, Aleesha is displeased with this new feature while Jitendra (Lee Majdoub) is delighted. The AI (Owen Daniels) that serves the company took the essence of all of the others, so he now does all jobs. He seems to have a strong disliking for Aleesha as she is always rallying against his choices.
Nathan is still visibly weak and feels it too, so Nora takes him to the hospital. The doctor (Britney Mocca) checking on him says it is something she’s never seen before. The constant reupload experiments did serious damage to his body. The doctor suggests reuploading so they have time to sort out what the core issue could be. However, with his constant uploads, the fear of memory loss and what he can emotionally handle boil over. A nurse (Emily Schoen) overhearing this conversation suggests they go see the midtown healer as a next step.
Luke (Kevin Bigley) and Nathan discuss the logistics of him leaving. Since Luke is running out of funds, Nathan suggests he go with them via a server suitcase upload. They watch in horror as the new AI guy convinces the 2g residents to destroy themselves in the torrent. When they resist, they are thrown in by him. Aleesha quickly pauses the AI to Jitendra’s annoyance. In the same moment, Nathan and Luke gather the others and run. The groundskeeper that morphed into a coconut to help Luke previously is still “alive”. He is too self aware after exchanging information with the Apple Cove AI and is too emotional to help. The evil AI is able to unpause himself and Jitendra is finally seeing the severity of the situation. Once the evil AI absorbs the coconut, he grows too powerful and Lake View’s servers shut down to prevent him from travelling across the internet to do more harm. However, there was never a plan in place to retrieve the other residents. The protocol is to wipe the servers and Aleesha is determined to find another way. She is able to get a text through to Luke with a time and place to be rescued at.
In a fit of rage, Ingrid begins to destroy the computer room. The shut down happened during a tense conversation with Nathan and she has no further context. Aleesha is quick to come and update her. Aleesha says she knows someone who can help, but she cannot reach them directly. Ingrid appears to give up hope and Aleesha slaps her and reminds her who she is. Ingrid has always been someone who is persistent and never gives up. She references Ingrid’s vows and says that the independent bubble needs her help or he will be popped. The person Aleesha wanted to find was the midtown healer. The midtown healer is the AI guy digitized as a human body. When the two finally track him down he is in the midst of helping Nathan #1. He is clearly distraught over how bad of a state Nathan is in and can’t help him. Nora asks the healer once more what she can do. In a beautifully chilling full circle moment, he encourages her to be his angel one last time. There is a wash of sadness over the group as they all accept his fate. Nora and Nathan head home to spend his final hours together. Once home, they share a heart to heart before Nathan grows too tired and wants to lay down. He tells Nora all he wants to do is hold her. He tells her he wishes they made it to Montreal, which was his dream honeymoon destination. Nora has the goggles which will take them there virtually. However in order to do so, the initial set up is the wedding. Nathan seems moved and happy. As he places a ring on her finger in the virtual world, he also places his ring of memories on her hand.
In the Horizen offices, AI guy has to be uploaded to return to Lake View and fight off the evil AI. Ingrid holds his hand as he is put back in the system. Luke and Nathan wait at the tubes to be pulled out and be saved. They have a heart to heart moment about their friendship. Meanwhile Aleesha storms back into the main office and takes over in order for the servers to be turned back on to upload the AI healer. His experiences on earth have made him more equipped to fight. Nathan is on his way out via the tube when Luke spots the evil AI making a run for the torrent. He retreats from his tube and runs after him. By giving him an order, he is transported back into the bar to fulfill the request. Once he reaches the torrent again, this method does not work and he overpowers Luke. He pushes him into the torrent and Nathan is able to stop evil AI from crossing over. He is saved by the healer AI. The healer holds strength and is able to take out all of the AI workers that were absorbed. When the torrent goes back online, Ingrid and Aleesha see Nathan and healer AI holding hands in a moment of victory. They enter virtually and Ingrid runs to embrace Nathan. Aleehsa stares at the torrent that just killed Luke and reflects on his memory.
Nora and Nathan spend time together strolling in virtual Montreal. They say all the things they don’t want to leave unsaid. Many declarations of love and happy birthday’s and good morning’s. Nathan tells Nora not to put her life on hold for him, he encourages her not to spend all of her time in the virtual world. “You don’t have to be sad or feel like I missed out on anything. I had everything. Everything I ever was, I saved it for you. You are my angel, the love of my life. This one and the next one and the one after that.” These are the final words Nathan expresses to Nora before dying. He disappears in the virtual world and she removes the goggles to kiss his forehead a final time.
Sometime in the future, Nathan and Ingrid have a sit down interview about their life. The host is real life celebrity figure Gigi Gorgeous as herself. It is revealed that Nathan was reuploaded into a body and Ingrid is pregnant. Nathan tells her they plan to name the baby after Luke. They are asked about Lake View now and the AI guys are in charge and run it as a non profit. Ingrid gives updates on Aleesha. She is an international spy for Oscar Mayer intel. As for Nora, they have no idea where she is and just hope she is okay. We then see her at the same cafe where she and Nathan were out virtually. She sits and draws as a man attempts to ask her out and she simply holds up her ring. They share a polite conversation before she takes off the ring and questions that choice for a moment. When she puts it back on, the ring attempts to pair to her ipad and reveals another Nathan upload.
A devastating ending, but the show has come full circle. We meet Ingrid as a self absorbed person who does love Nathan and wants a family. However, her vanity prevents that for sometime. Through this series she has gone on a journey of reclaiming herself and in the end, getting her dream life. Nora’s beginning here was as Nathan’s angel. It was her job to guide him and help him transition in this afterlife setting. In the most technical ways, that is what their destiny sadly always was. Aleesha and Luke could never truly be together with their circumstances, but by the time she let herself admit to her feelings- he was gone. Her focus has always been to do the right thing, so continuing on fighting the evil of the new age technology makes the most sense for her.