Reverie recap: What doesn’t Mara remember about that fateful day?

We finally learn more about Mara’s derealizations and why they’re happening. Meanwhile, Oliver manipulates Alexis to continue with his plans in Reverie Season 1, Episode 9.

Mara has to face some demons in Reverie Season 1, Episode 9. Titled “The Key,” she faces her derealizations and figures out exactly why Ray and Brynn are possibly showing up. Meanwhile, Oliver pushes through with the next stage of his plan, which involves manipulating Alexis.

A lot of the episode was easily guessable and a little cheesy if I’m honest, especially inside Oliver’s reverie. He’s watched Inception way too much. However, we do get to see Mara trust in Paul more and seeing this relationship blossom is cool.

What does Oliver want?

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Let’s get this part of the episode out of the way. Remember Oliver went into the reverie with the stole tech last week. He also left a message on his chest to send for Mara Kint. Fortunately, she was with Charlie, Alexis, and Paul at the time, after her derealizations took over, so they all head to the hospital.

It doesn’t take long for Charlie to pull his strings and get Oliver into Onari-Tech and, of course, Mara goes in to talk to him. All he wants is to talk to Alexis. He certainly has a lot of cool things to show his ex-girlfriend when she does decide to go in. Now if only it wasn’t all for ulterior motives. Did we really think he just wanted to show that he could bring her brother back from the dead? Or that he’d taken some hints from Inception on building a world inside your mind?

He got the security guard who’s been stealing the other kit to steal something from Alexis’ sleeping form. It’s the key to the source code so Oliver can take down the business. And then to cover his tracks, he shoots the security guard and makes it clear he’s going to burn the business to the ground.

Oh, dear. Never let your eyes off a crazy man!

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What did Mara forget?

The other half of the story is focused on Mara, who is freaking out about the derealizations. I don’t blame her. Watching a guy turn from your boyfriend to your brother-in-law, while on the phone to your boyfriend, must be majorly creepy! She doesn’t know what to believe around her, either.

Oliver does suggest that she gets the tech removed from her neck. This will completely stop the derealizations. Once it’s out, that’s it. Mara can never go back in. Realizing that people will need her help, she decides not to get the chip removed after all and she turns to Paul for help dealing with the derealizations instead.

The trick to the derealizations is they’re all connected. Chris works at the same hospital that Ray (Mara’s brother-in-law) is being treated. Ray killed Brynn. It’s very easy to see how her brain is connecting everything to help her remember something. What does she need to remember? Mara runs through the whole story.

However, Charlie has the truth. There was a recording. Mara had always believed Ray just attempted to kill himself after killing his wife and daughter. That wasn’t the case, at all. Ray apologized and Mara spoke to him before he turned the gun on himself and pulled the trigger. Mara’s memory completely blanked that to protect her. It’s amazing what the mind can do.

Knowing what she needed to remember, Mara asks Paul to help her deal with what Ray has done. That means illegally getting Ray into the reverie since he’s in a coma. It’s a major breach of morals and we’ll have to wait until next week to find out exactly what’s happened.

What did you think of Reverie‘s penultimate episode? Are you ready for the Season 1 finale? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Reverie Season 1 airs its finale next Wednesday at 10/9c on NBC.