Reverie
“Bond. Jane Bond” (Episode 102)
June 6, 2018
Apertus.
At the end of episode one we left with having Mara seen her niece Brynn at the end of the hallway in her apartment for a split second. So I bet you are wondering if Mara will see more of Brynn and if she will be able to help more of the users who are stuck. Well, I could spoil the entire episode and tell you now or we can dive right into the recap. You’ve been warned. spoilers ahead.
Random excerpt from the “previously on” that I wanted to include. I have a feeling this quote will be revisited throughout the season. “Find the lost ones and bring them home; and maybe by saving them, she will find a way to save herself.” – Charlie, discussing the goals of Mara being added to the team in the beginning of the episode.
We begin with a woman (Rachel) looking at a picture of what looks like the perfect family but when you see her face all you see is sadness. She then logs into the Onira Tech website. We are bounced back to when Rachel first went to Onira Tech to learn about the Reverie program and what it can offer a user. “I can be anything I want?” she asks the technician. –Anything you want…what or who would you want to be? Would you stay yourself and visit a favorite memory or would you make up an entirely different life?– You can see that Rachel is need of an adventure. Apertus, and away she goes.
Rachel is now in the library where all Reverie’s begin. She chooses a door and walks through into a hotel lobby. “I’ll have a scotch.” At the bar a man walks up to her and she’s given a code name, “Vater.” Her mission is to find this person and to eliminate them. Bang, Bang, Bang. All hell breaks loose. Rachel rises to the occasion after a mini pep talk and takes out the shooters. Her new adventure is as a spy chasing down the man from the photo in the beginning of the episode.
Now in Mara’s apartment, she is dreaming of Brynn in her apartment. A few moments later she is awake with coffee –but wait– she hears laughter and barefoot steps running through her apartment. Where is she? Then reality strikes and her phone rings, it’s Charlie; time to go to work.
Zoom we are at Onira Tech.
Mara asks Paul & Lexi about Rachel’s Reverie program. They don’t know very much about it, as users aren’t forced to give all the details for the program they create. Mara is going in blind. “Go In, Get Her, Get Out” -Charlie.
—Apertus–
Hello old school fancy casino, Mara looks around and is very out of place. She tries to adjust her look when she spots Rachel being escorted from the room with a gun pressed to her back. Mara follows them into a bathroom where she interrupts the interrogation going on. The men turn on Mara with one of them choking her out but both are quickly dispatched by the now freed Rachel. Alone, Mara quickly tells Rachel that she is with Onira Tech and why she is there but Rachel isn’t having it and leaves. Mara follows and keeps pace with Rachel, trying to explain the heart condition Rachel has but still won’t believe her. People have been lying to Rachel her entire life so why should she believe Mara. Rachel takes off again and once again Mara follows. –This girl is quick, I’m winded watching Mara chase after her.–
In a hotel room we find Rachel searching for something. Mara continues to try and explain to Rachel about her heart. Rachel still is in disbelief because her doctors never said anything about it. She doesn’t want to leave the game she created, it’s too important. In the hotel room after searching, Rachel finds another clue for where this man may be hiding and continues with her search. She needs to find Vader. –Right now you can feel every feeling going through Rachel. The game means way too much to her but she is torn on what she should do. We also don’t know why she is looking for this Vader person. Although we will find out soon enough.–
Exitus.
Back at Onira Tech, Mara is talking with Paul about what she experienced in Rachel’s Reverie. Paul explains to Mara that many times users create a fantasy/experience. Many have chosen a similar spy experience as Rachel and others have chosen Jedi knights or cowboys. The users just want to escape to another world. Mara is concerned that Rachel is too concerned by the mission to differentiate reality from the Reverie. Mara also knows that she needs to figure out who she is looking for and try to help her find him. Mara also explains to Paul that the characters in Rachel’s Reverie started to interact with her (see above – the choking out). Paul explain to her that the BCI implant is starting to learn her the more that she is inside the program. Which is why the characters are now noticing her. Paul is super excited about this, but Mara is confused. –You can see it in her face.–
In Mara’s office she is at her desk looking into Rachel’s life. Mara coins Rachel as “Jane Bond” in a conversation with Dylan. As they are talking Dylan shares with Mara that he and Lexi used to play spy games when they were younger. –Head tilt.– Mara wants to know more but doesn’t have the time as she needs to meet with someone from Rachel’s life. –FREEZE– Brynn just walked by Mara’s office. She jolts from her desk going after her. Except when she thinks she has caught up to her she finds another little girl, whom she has now scared. She apologizes and returns to her office. In the distance Charlie sees this take place.
Mara meets with Anton, a friend of Rachel’s, to try and find out more about her. He explains that people were always disappointing her or were leaving and she eventually came to expect it. Four months earlier Rachel’s aunt passed away and after cleaning out her place, Rachel came back changed. –What did Rachel find when she was there?– Anton has to leave for work, and Paul asks Mara if he can speak with her.
–If you live tweeted with me last week. We are about to find out the reasoning behind secret 2.5 is the number I assigned to it…I think.–
Paul asks Mara if she has been having any side effects from the BCI. Hallucinations or anything like that. He explains that they call them derealizations; Reverie 2.0 digs deeper into the mind and every now and again something can be pulled from the mind into reality. —Brynn— Mara tells Paul about Brynn appearing the two times. He advises Mara to put any reminders of her away until the symptoms pass. He also gives her anti-anxiety meds to help, Mara is wary about the pills since she just emptied her medicine cabinet.
Charlie comes in, Rachel isn’t doing well, it’s time for Mara to give it another go in getting Rachel back. With the help of Paul, Mara now fits into her surroundings with a fancy dress and a gun. Mara finds Rachel right away and plays along with the experience until they are alone. Rachel tells Mara who she is looking for and why she wanted to be a spy. Mara asks Rachel about her aunt, her mom, and Vader. This causes Rachel to become more and more agitated. Rachel pulls a gun on Mara forcing her to leave the Reverie. —For now—
Charlie introduces Mara to Monica Shaw, “an investor.” Monica is excited to meet Mara, once again Mara is confused as heck. Stepping away from Monica briefly, Charlie advises Mara to do what Paul told her. He also informs her that Rachel is doing better after changing her medications. Charlie advises Mara to go home and to rest. They part ways and Charlie returns to Monica. She asks him why he is so concerned about Mara. –Well you DoDo brain, I mean DOD lady…Mara is jumping around in people’s brains trying to convince them to come back. Oh, not to mention they still don’t fully understand 2.0. Ugh Monica, get it together.– Monica isn’t fully convinced with what Charlie tells her, I’m not either.
Mara listens and returns to her apartment, while cooking dinner she hears a young girls laughter. Going for the pills she downs one quickly. She then goes around her apartment putting any photos of her niece into drawers and removing her from her site.
The next day Mara works with Dylan to learn more about Rachel trying to piece together her past and what changed. She tries to get Dylan to find any information on Vader. He can’t find anything matching Vader except that it might be a German name (“vater”) which is pronounced differently. This could be the answer she is looking for, that Rachel was confused. Now Mara has come to the conclusion that Rachel is searching for her father and the program has inserted someone into the Reverie for Rachel to search for. Somewhere though, Rachel would have had to give the program details about “vater” when she was creating the program. –Also if you missed the jump from vaderr to father….vater also means father in German. Thank you Anna Kendrick on Pitch Perfect for that one.–
After talking to Paul about the information she found out about vater/father he suggests that there may be more information on the computer Rachel used to create her program. Mara finds Rachel’s laptop and tries to convince Lexi to hack into it to get the information she is looking for. Lexi isn’t having it, this work is beneath her. She is a genius and has other work she should and could be doing. –At some point Lexi became my spirit animal, her attitude and her smarts. She is a very misunderstood person.– Of course, she eventually caves and does it for Mara. While Lexi is working, Mara tries to pull out information about Dylan and Lexi’s past, but she brushes it off.
Ta-da! Mara has found the picture from the beginning of the episode, the person that Rachel believes is her father. She explains all the work that Rachel did trying to find her father to Charlie. That she did everything she could. Mara needs Charlie to look for Rachel’s father … that this is the one thing she needs to get Rachel back. He laughs it off but eventually agrees to it. Mara heads back into Rachel’s Reverie.
In a new location, Mara faces Rachel. Rachel is pissed she is there. Mara talks to Rachel explaining to her that she understands the pushing all the people away, not letting anyone in when actually they want just the opposite. To have someone fight passed the barrier and stay. –I know I’ve done exactly this in my life hoping that someone will push thru and stay or help me dig deeper into whatever is going on.– Mara sticks with Rachel and says she isn’t going anywhere.
Charlie is in a public space with Dylan trying to find out more from the picture that she found. Dylan asks Charlie why he always works with him from the public areas and never his office. Charlie isn’t going to allow Dylan into his office, a man needs his privacy. –Charlie what are you hiding in that office of yours??– Charlie tries to take a creative approach and goes after a ring that is on the man that was cut out of the image. In hopes that he can track down the missing person in the photo from the ring. He solved a case because of a class ring once. He’s hoping he can do the same now.
Back to Rachel and Mara….so much jumping.
Mara follows Rachel into a large mansion, Mara stays on Rachel. They enter a room and find “vater” waiting for them. He tells her to put the gun down and that he’s been waiting for her to find him. You can see in Rachel’s face she is super confused. Rachel asks this man if he is her father, trying to get answers but the program can’t actually give her the answer she needs. This man just responds in the way she needs him to. We learn pretty quickly that Rachel has been longing her entire life for so many answers about her father and rambles off a bunch of questions but he can’t respond. Rachel is realizing what she has been longing for in the real world. Mara now steps in to talk to Rachel. She’s ready to go back to reality.
Exitus.
Rachel’s eyes open and immediately Mara walks into her room to be with her.
Paul finds Mara in her room to congratulate her and to follow up with Rachel now that she has been seen by a doctor. Enter Charlie with an older gentleman, who he introduces to Mara & Paul as Elliott, the man who is missing from the photo. Elliott explains that he was there with his friend Allen. Allen was there to meet the baby; he is Rachel’s father but not in the traditional sense. That is why she never knew him, he was there to help “make” a baby and then Rachel’s mom Miriam pushed him away. Elliott had no idea that this is how everything went down and feels terrible.
Of course Rachel walks up to them talking at the moment Elliott says the word “terrible.” Mara introduces Elliott to Rachel. After a few words Elliott hand Rachel her father’s phone number and she throws her arms around Elliott giving him a huge hug. —happiness all around—
Mara goes to find Lexi (in her office) to let her know that thanks to Lexi’s help, she was able to help Rachel find who she’s been looking for all this time. Lexi is clearly preoccupied with what she is working on. Mara gives Lexi feedback from Rachel and the magic the program provides. Lexi throws a little attitude towards it back at Mara, cause of course that’s why she created the program.
Dylan interrupts they have their date to play backgammon and a smile comes on Lexi’s face. She leaves her desk and goes over to a couch in the corner of her office and they begin to play on a hologram board. Mara watches from the doorway, Paul comes up behind Mara and tells her that Dylan was her brother and they were twins. Dylan died when they were 10 or 11 but Lexi hasn’t told anyone what happened to him. –Mara and myself are intrigued … we want MORE!!–
Rachel is knocking on the front door of her father’s house. He invites her inside for coffee and explains that she understands if he doesn’t want to have a relationship with her. Allen shows her the same picture that she had found at her Aunt’s that he kept because he never wanted to forget her. He wants to have Rachel meet his family. Rachel is going to get what she longed for.
Closing the episode Mara is back in her apartment on her computer when she hears the footsteps running across the floor. She reaches for the pills but puts them down and goes to the drawer that she put the pictures of Brynn inside of. Sitting down at the table she looks up and finds Brynn standing in front of her.
“Hi There.”
-End Episode.-
Exitus.
Kayla’s Feelings toward the episode:
Diving right it in. This episode wasn’t exactly what I was expecting for a second episode but it was needed. We were able to see another side of what the Reverie program can offer. A fantasy world. I think this side of the program would be better suited for most than revisiting a memory. It would be like live action video games, virtual reality, and “Hollywood magic” thrown into one. The possibilities would be endless.
Brynn, this is something that thoroughly intrigues me. The derealizations, how long can they last and how real can they become. Will Mara continue to want to see Brynn and keep that gateway open or will she listen to Charlie and Paul and take the meds so she goes away. So many questions here, not so many answers.
You are probably about to make a weird face after the following sentence. Lexi is my girl! Okay before you visually slap me, let me explain. I may have said in my pilot recap that Lexi has a Millennial grade attitude well she’s kind of earned it. As she states, she is a genius. Most people for that exact reason probably don’t understand her. Also, she experienced the loss of her twin at a young age, that doesn’t just go away. I’m excited to learn more of Lexi and Dylan’s story as the season continues. Not that we have teams on this show but if we did, well I’m yelling it now #TeamLexi.
Off that tangent and onto the next. In this episode Mara and Paul interact a lot with each other. I for one, see this being a common thing in future episodes. There is something between Mara and Paul–is there a ship about to dock?– Paul is also super excited about how things are progressing for Mara in the program and the success she is having.
Monica flipping Shaw. Lady, I have words for you. I don’t get a good vibe from her. The government investing in Onira Tech just doesn’t sound like a good thing. What kind of stakes do they have in the program? How many people know about it? Why is Charlie so secretive about Mara’s past? Does anyone else know who Monica really is aside from “an investor”? SO MANY QUESTIONS.
Overall this is a solid arch episode we find out more about the program, the characters, and side effects. I believe from the pilot and this episode, we are given vital information for going forward with the season. From the preview, next week’s episode is going to be tense and have a few twists involved. Hopefully more of our questions are answered and maybe a few secrets will be revealed.