Reverie: Pop culture deja vu that could become something more
By Drew Koenig
Reverie premiered last night on NBC and largely felt like something you’ve seen before already, but still shows some promise.
There’s a chance that you watched Reverie last night and was struck with the suspicion that you’ve already watched this before. That’s because, in one way or another, you have.
Reverie stars Person of Interest alum Sarah Shahi as Mara Kint, a former hostage negotiator that has been recruited by an old cop friend (Dennis Haysbert) who now works for Onira Tech. They’ve developed Reverie, a virtual reality technology so lifelike it could rival a Holodeck from Star Trek.
They’ve run into a problem recently with some users that have gone in, but have never come back out and are in a coma now. Kint’s job is to go in and try to talk the person into coming back into the real world.
It’s a fine concept, but it’s littered with ideas and visuals that we’re familiar with in other properties. For instance, there’s a sequence where Kint is being trained by Heroes‘ Sendhil Ramamurthy on how to use Reverie and he points out that there are icons throughout the program that represent a way out.
More from NBC
- It’s Thanksgiving Eve! Tune into the SNL Thanksgiving special to get into the spirit of the holiday
- Final season, release date set for La Brea season 3: Everything we know so far
- Law and Order: Organized Crime season 4 release date revealed!: Everything we know about the new season
- QUIZ: Finish these Friends quotes from “The One With All the Thanksgivings”
- Is Quantum Leap on tonight? (November 22, 2023)
For the story that it’s trying to tell, this rings a little too close to Inception and the use of totems in that movie. Both serve very similar functions within the narrative to presume otherwise. Beyond even that, the entire training simulation hues so closely to The Matrix and the scene where Keanu Reeves learns how to fight in the program that, again, it’s difficult to ignore.
Granted, this only the pilot and it could be trying to lure the viewer in with visual cues and concepts that we’re already familiar with to get us on its side but, honestly, it’s having quite the opposite effect here.
On the more positive side of things, Shahi is rather charming in this role and will likely make for a solid protagonist as the series goes on. Going forward, however, we could do with less clunky characterization about her. Haysbert makes a line to someone about her in the episode that was absolutely groan worthy and should be shot out of a cannon and into the sun.
The real promise of the series looks to come from the directions that it can take itself in as Quantum Leap-style series as Kint dives into different realities each episode. To be successful, it’s best that Reverie try to stand on its own feet and not off of established iconography, unless its desire is to be some type of Ready Player One.
Next: Timeless fans blamed for being in the bubble
Reverie airs Wednesday nights on NBC. What did you think of the series premiere? Let us know in the comments below.