Reverie Season 1 Episode 9 Review: The Key
Dale McGarrigle
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Well, at least we know what's wrong with Mara now.
The Reverie program liberated a forgotten part from the worst night on Mara's life on Reverie Season 1 Episode 9.
So will the truth set her free? It's too early to tell.
And when she comes out of Ray's mind, will there be any Onira-Tech for her to come back to?
Let's start with poor Mara, then move on to Oliver's scheme.
Mara was continuing to be haunted by derealizations, in spite of the pills which Paul provided to her.
Related: Reverie Season 1 Episode 8 Review: Despedida
Then helpful Oliver, when they met inside Reverie, told her that the only way to stop the derealizations was to have the brain-computer interface removed, then to leave Onira-Tech.
Since no one at Onira-Tech had any concrete solutions, Mara was freaked out enough that she was ready to follow Oliver's suggestion.
Fortunately, she was conscientious enough to realize that her skill, rescuing Reverie clients from themselves, was unique and that she would be letting down hundreds of people if she got her CBI removed.
Paul pieced together that Mara's derealizations had one hospital in common, and that they had to have some connection to the traumatic shooting she witnessed.
Then Charlie dropped the secret that sent Mara back to drinking. His voicemail had recorded the whole shooting, and it wasn't as Mara remembered it. Instead, Ray said something cryptic like "This wasn't how things were supposed to go." Then Mara suggested that he kill himself, although she said it very nicely.
It seemed to be a brief fall off the wagon, as Mara fought to regain her bearings. She came up with a plan and Paul was always game for pushing the envelope.
Related: Reverie Quotes: Season 1 Episode 8
At the end of the episode, it appeared that Mara was, what, trying to make amends with Ray? Or was she attempting to find out what he meant in his final statement? There appears to be more to the shooting than she was previously aware of.
Equally interesting was Oliver's plan to, what, take over Onira-Tech? Ruin Onira-Tech? Steal the Reverie technology? Oliver is brilliant but irrational, so It's hard to judge what he's got planned.
It was a wily scheme to have a guard steal a BCI for him. That gave him a way into Reverie and the perfect alibi as well. He found a method to get himself delivered first to Mara, then to Onira-Tech. And he had a mole inside the company to do his bidding.
Oliver bet correctly on the intellectual curiosity of both Mara and Alexis.
Mara had no fear and was desperate for answers so, of course, she met the crazy man inside Reverie.
Oliver tried to convince Mara that he had the solutions to her problems, when in fact he just wanted her gone since she is nearly as adroit as he is inside Reverie. He was trying to remove a threat.
He seemed to have nothing to do with her derealizations since those are on her. That was proven when her hallucinations disappeared after she learned the truth. Possibly being hammered helped there as well.
But Oliver planted the seed that he wanted to meet with Alexis in Reverie, a bad idea in so many ways, as Mara pointed out.
Against Charlie's better judgment, Alexis did just that. She still feels guilty about how things ended with Oliver, even though it seems he caused most of the problems. Smart head, dumb heart.
To stall Alexis in Reverie, Oliver attempted to woo her with a recreation of their trip to Paris and a living Dylan. That last one was a step too far, leading her to leave him and the program.
Still, being in Reverie allowed Oliver's soon-to-be-dead, security-guard stooge to sneak into her office and steal the security key, which certainly sounds important. I'm guessing we'll find out what it does on Reverie Season 1 Episode 10.
Related: Reverie's Sendhil Ramamurthy Q&A
Also, Oliver bringing in his lawyer after Charlie essentially kidnapped him and held him against his will put Charlie on the defensive, which made him less sharp.
Oliver's tailing Alexis as she drove to her parents' house can't be good. I'm betting he abducts her, like any good stalker.
There's now one episode left in what's likely Reverie's only season, based on its ratings.
That's not a lot of time to sew up storylines. Will Mara forgive herself? Will Alexis forgive herself? Will Oliver get caught? Or will Onira-Tech go down in flames? Or will viewers be stuck with a cliffhanger and a lack of closure?
Tune in to find out.
To catch up before the finale, watch Reverie online.
What's Oliver's plan? What's Mara's plan? Who is in more trouble, Alexis or Charlie?
Comment below.
Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.
