Reverie - General Discussion

[CoderLady]

I'm thinking the version of Chris in Mara's apartment was a hallucination because of something odd in the morning after scene. I thought it was just that the production set dressers messed up, but when Mara wakes up and reaches over to the other side of the bed, the pillow is perfectly plumped with not a single wrinkle in the pillowcase and the sheet is also fresh and smooth. It didn't seem like anyone, even Mara, had been on that side of the bed recently.

Then when she gets home at the end, he's unexpectedly there again. He's not behaving dangerously yet, though I'm interested in that lie about using a key to get in.

[Camera One]

This episode went back to the addicted-Reverie-user-of-the-week formula and I got a little bored.  I'm not sure this premise can sustain multiple seasons.  The cases of the week aren't particularly engaging and the fact that it's all imagination plus with the constantly uncooperative guest characters just makes it hard to care about the story.

HallucinationChris is about as interesting as RealChris.  I can't say I'm too interested in the ex-company founder either.

Edited July 28, 2018 by Camera One

[Free]

5 hours ago, Camera One said:

This episode went back to the addicted-Reverie-user-of-the-week formula and I got a little bored.  I'm not sure this premise can sustain multiple seasons.  The case of the weeks aren't particularly engaging and the fact that it's all imagination plus with the constantly uncooperative guest characters just makes it hard to care about the story.

HallucinationChris is about as interesting as RealChris.  I can't say I'm too interested in the ex-company founder either.

It doesn't seem like he type of show that'll last too long.

[treasaigh]

On 7/27/2018 at 12:47 AM, bilgistic said:

Color me confused, because I just looked at last week's episode again, and Chris had texted Mara when she was at work. The text says, "Still feel like talking later?" She smiles and presumably responds because we later see them at her apartment. They talk and then have sex. So now we're supposed to think that didn't happen? What about the text that we know is from his phone (shows up as "Chris") because he called her from his phone (showed his name) when she was seeing HallucinationChris.

He's very dull and his mustache is no bueno.

My suspicion is that everything about the text about talking later wasn't real.  Not the visit, not the talk.  That's my guess anyway.

What I don't understand is what is happening.  Is this supposed to be just like her seeing her niece earlier in the season?  She sees/creates what she wants, reconciliation with Chris?  Only when finding out that it's not real her mind feels betrayed and brings up the other person she feels betrayed by, the brother in law?  I hope they have actually thought this through and not just done it for shock value.

So what's the crazy guys plan?  Get Mara into Reverie with him?

[Clanstarling]

On 7/27/2018 at 11:20 AM, CoderLady said:

I'm thinking the version of Chris in Mara's apartment was a hallucination because of something odd in the morning after scene. I thought it was just that the production set dressers messed up, but when Mara wakes up and reaches over to the other side of the bed, the pillow is perfectly plumped with not a single wrinkle in the pillowcase and the sheet is also fresh and smooth. It didn't seem like anyone, even Mara, had been on that side of the bed recently.

Then when she gets home at the end, he's unexpectedly there again. He's not behaving dangerously yet, though I'm interested in that lie about using a key to get in.

I noticed the bedding too and thought it looked pretty strange. Up until reading your post, my take was that the dinner and sex were real, but the guy in the apartment was not. You may have convinced me that it was all an hallucination. I think it's too bad that the 'stache has sucked all of the appeal off of Sam Jaeger. I thought he was pretty hot in Parenthood, in an understated way.

I liked Pilar's story, myself. Especially that it wasn't about loving the guy, but saving the girls. And was very touched when one of them came to see her (though I was a bit miffed that they didn't find out - or say - anything about the other girls. But I was expecting too much, I guess.)

I'm intrigued about what former co-founder is doing.

[tvfanatic13]

What was written on the co-founder’s chest?

[Clanstarling]

11 minutes ago, tvfanatic13 said:

What was written on the co-founder’s chest?

I was wondering that myself. For some reason I thought it was either a "revive" or "do not revive", but I never saw it clearly enough.

[Dowel Jones]

Pilar must have been fairly well off to afford private nursing home care, plus a Reverie tablet.  Or perhaps the company actually prices them low enough for the general public to afford a regular trip to fantasyland, but you would think that they would inquire as to the client's health before licensing the software to them.  I didn't have any sympathy for the rest home manager, with his "She must come out of the reverie (where she's happy) so we can continue her treatment for terminal lung cancer (until she dies, anyway).  Otherwise, we'll send her to a state home."

I also weary of the continual syrupy endings.  Let's have some longer story arcs. 

Note to Alexis - If you frown every minute of the day, your face will freeze in that look.  That's what my mom said, anyway.  I wonder what her reverie is like.

[AnimeMania]

So Mara is a psychological hitman.

I don't see how having a flash drive with the code to Reverie would allow Oliver to gain physical access to Onira-Tech. Maybe the killing of the security officer might have given Oliver the opportunities he needed to gain access to Onira-Tech's servers, but I doubt that very much. Dylan's sensors should be able to detect Oliver's security breach, especially with the amount of materials he brought with him.

[Dowel Jones]

Mara must have zen messaging skills if she can speed type out a coherent message during a volatile hostage situation.  But how do you make an accidental phone call while you are messaging?

Once again, it is imperative that no one ever reveal some secret information that will have bearing on anyone's future.  Good move, Alexis.

As soon as the security guard said "I almost got caught", I felt the anvil drop.  You're done, dude.

[Free]

4 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

As soon as the security guard said "I almost got caught", I felt the anvil drop.  You're done, dude.

That was really dumb especially working for a baddie that was likely to clean up any mess.

[CooperTV]

Quote

 

The team must race against the clock when one of them is kidnapped, and Onira-Tech is at risk of being destroyed.

 

[AnimeMania]

Oliver was threatening to sue Onira-Tech for the way he was treated as a patient, I wonder if he had any legal claims since he probably waived all his rights when he wrote on his chest "Deliver me to Mara Kint". He probably didn't have any other relatives/guardians to make medical decisions for him.

[dreadfulLeigh]

On 7/30/2018 at 6:54 PM, Clanstarling said:

 I think it's too bad that the 'stache has sucked all of the appeal off of Sam Jaeger. I thought he was pretty hot in Parenthood, in an understated way.

 

Yes, this! I thought the same about him in Parenthood but, my gods, man, that is a terrible facial hair choice. Ugh. I just can’t look past it. Whose choice was this??

[Whimsy]

On 7/30/2018 at 6:54 PM, Clanstarling said:

I think it's too bad that the 'stache has sucked all of the appeal off of Sam Jaeger. I thought he was pretty hot in Parenthood, in an understated way.

I actually have loved him since Catch and Release.  I started watching Eli Stone just for him.  Also continued to watch Parenthood after I started hating everyone else just for him.  Haaaaattttteeeee the mustache.  

On 7/30/2018 at 7:16 PM, Clanstarling said:

I was wondering that myself. For some reason I thought it was either a "revive" or "do not revive", but I never saw it clearly enough.

It said something along the lines of "Take me to Mara Kent"

[Whimsy]

I feel this was a total and unbelievable retcon.  There's no way that Mara, immediately following the shooting of her sister, essentially talked her brother-in-law into killing himself by being all calm and serene and making it seem like it's the best idea in the entire world.  I hate this turn of events.  

Why do all these shows have to have the main character be so fundamentally flawed that I don't understand how they are even walking and talking?  The premise of having a hostage negotiator, who is just simply really good at their job, work for them to talk people out of reverie's is enough!  This could've been a fun show where each week there's a new person that needs to be saved without all of that other junk going on.  

[Clanstarling]

49 minutes ago, Whimsy said:

It said something along the lines of "Take me to Mara Kent"

That makes more sense. You must have excellent eyes. I never saw more than a handful of letters and not clearly.

[Clanstarling]

10 hours ago, dreadfulLeigh said:

Yes, this! I thought the same about him in Parenthood but, my gods, man, that is a terrible facial hair choice. Ugh. I just can’t look past it. Whose choice was this??

I thought maybe he was acting in a another show that's a period piece, but IMDB doesn't indicate that. He has had a couple of gigs right around the same time, though, so maybe it was a choice for one of those characters.

[dreadfulLeigh]

12 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

I thought maybe he was acting in a another show that's a period piece, but IMDB doesn't indicate that. He has had a couple of gigs right around the same time, though, so maybe it was a choice for one of those characters.

That’s what I was thinking. That’s a thick mustache. He seemed committed to it. Maybe for another part?

[bilgistic]

I got to wondering how often people's Amazon smart home devices respond during this show because of the character Alexis's name being spoken so often.

[tessaray]

On 8/4/2018 at 6:11 PM, bilgistic said:

I got to wondering how often people's Amazon smart home devices respond during this show because of the character Alexis's name being spoken so often.

My husband and I are doing a rewatch of Castle right now and the Echo lights up every damn time the show says the daughter's name, so I'm guessing it's the same here. (I watch Reverie, when I watch anyway, on my tablet in an Echo free zone.)

[Clanstarling]

On 8/2/2018 at 1:20 AM, Dowel Jones said:

Mara must have zen messaging skills if she can speed type out a coherent message during a volatile hostage situation.  But how do you make an accidental phone call while you are messaging?

Raises hand. Don't know how, but I've done it.

On 8/4/2018 at 4:11 PM, bilgistic said:

I got to wondering how often people's Amazon smart home devices respond during this show because of the character Alexis's name being spoken so often.

That made me laugh. I won't have an Amazon device in my home, even though I work in tech and my colleagues were early adopters.

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, Clanstarling said:

I won't have an Amazon device in my home, even though I work in tech and my colleagues were early adopters.

I understand the Alexa AI is highly biased in it's answers.

[AnimeMania]

I don't blame Alexis for the death of her brother Dylan, I blame whoever designed the shed with a little door that is 10 feet off the the ground. Maybe it was a reproduction of an actual barn that has a hayloft? Anyway, why would the lock be on the outside and not inside of the shed.

So Oliver uploaded himself into Reverie and I guess as long as he is alive he will stay in there. I wonder if that thing that looks like an evil Mara is Oliver or something else.

I wonder why the thermite didn't seem to do much damage? I could see that happening if they were breaking the lines of thermite as they were sweeping the room for Oliver.

[CoderLady]

2 minutes ago, AnimeMania said:

So Oliver uploaded himself into Reverie and I guess as long as he is alive he will stay in there. I wonder if that thing that looks like an evil Mara is Oliver or something else.

Interesting about Oliver. If the show gets renewed he may just pop up from time to time inside Reverie to mess things up.

The Mara inside Reverie looked like she was trying to find a way out, like somehow she got trapped after freeing Alexis. Nightmare fuel to be resolved in the next (I hope!) season.

[AnimeMania]

Just now, CoderLady said:

The Mara inside Reverie looked like she was trying to find a way out, like somehow she got trapped after freeing Alexis. Nightmare fuel to be resolved in the next (I hope!) season.

Ray, Mara's brother-in-law (seemed to have died while in Reverie?), maybe his consciousness jumped into Mara's body leaving Mara trapped in Reverie.

[Free]

8 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

I wonder if that thing that looks like an evil Mara is Oliver or something else.

It seems to be behaving like those other programs that ran around and disappeared that they met earlier.

[tennisgurl]

Poor Alexis, and her parents. I dont blame them for wanting to focus on the future after losing their son, but I can get why Alexis thought they were just trying to forget about him, or that they blamed her for his death. 

So is a copy of Mara still in haunted school reverie? Or is it Oliver? If it is a copy of Mara, we are moving into Black Mirror land for next season (hopefully!) which sounds like it could be super interesting. 

Mara gets some closure, which means we hopefully wont have to watch more flashbacks to her sister and niece getting killed. You hear about those kinds of stories (man kills his family because he feels he cant support them or something) but its such a bizarre, selfish way of looking at your family. Like, just tell the truth from the start? Or wait until things cool off? It seems like it escalated so quickly, like they were just a normal family, then a few weeks of unemployment, and BAM! 

And, more importantly, stop with the melodramatic "can she save herself?!" stuff at the start of every episode. 

Edited August 9, 2018 by tennisgurl

[AnimeMania]

Had time to sleep on it and I think Mara is repressing another trauma because that thing reminds me of the thing she had sex with in her apartment. I am guessing this repressed memory will be much worst than the other one, maybe her lifelong desire to help people is a penance from this misdeed.

There is also possibilities that the Reverie program might find flaws in the human psyche and bring them to the forefront. What would Reverie do with people with mental disorders like Bipolar, Dementia, Schizophrenia, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress, Multiple Personalities, Psychopathy, Sociopathy, or Narcissism.

[Free]

1 hour ago, AnimeMania said:

There is also possibilities that the Reverie program might find flaws in the human psyche and bring them to the forefront. What would Reverie do with people with mental disorders like Bipolar, Dementia, Schizophrenia, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress, Multiple Personalities, Psychopathy, Sociopathy, or Narcissism.

It would probably likely reflect each person's personal reverie vr simulations.

[Miss Dee]

I really liked how understanding Mara was with the RotW (Reverie-er of the Week) and his illness. I appreciated that the mother and boy were also fully aware and sympathetic and looking out for him. I got the impression from the ending that with a little time the two adults might reach a more intimate rapport, but I liked that it was subtle.

The possibilities of a Dark Reverie are intriguing, and it makes sense that such an innovative technology could be used nefariously. I imagine some of the arguments regarding videogames could be incorporated into this storyline.

[AnimeMania]

2 hours ago, Free said:

It would probably likely reflect each person's personal reverie vr simulations.

I was wondering if it could fix some problems like stuttering or OCD (instead of doing 5 times it changes the 5 to a 1) by rewiring the brain slightly.

[tvfanatic13]

Was this the season finale?

[theatremouse]

I straight up thought her surname was Kent until I saw it written otherwise on dude's chest.

[theatremouse]

I mean, we already saw the guy with severe OCD trying to use the program to work through it a handful of episodes ago. And Oliver is the example of what happens when someone with...I forget if they named his diagnosis...so they've already gone there.

[Free]

16 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

I was wondering if it could fix some problems like stuttering or OCD (instead of doing 5 times it changes the 5 to a 1) by rewiring the brain slightly.

Basically and we already had an example of a guy overcoming his issues in the reverie.

Edited August 10, 2018 by Free

[AnimeMania]

Not sure if he had OCD, I am remembering he seemed to have Agoraphobia, a fear or panic attack from going outside. Unless we are talking about different characters. Is Agoraphobia a form of OCD?

[theatremouse]

7 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

Not sure if he had OCD, I am remembering he seemed to have Agoraphobia, a fear or panic attack from going outside. Unless we are talking about different characters. Is Agoraphobia a form of OCD?

I'm going to respond to this in the topic for that episode.

[theatremouse]

7 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

Not sure if he had OCD, I am remembering he seemed to have Agoraphobia, a fear or panic attack from going outside. Unless we are talking about different characters. Is Agoraphobia a form of OCD?

I haven't rewatched the episode but now I can't remember if they actually said OCD in any of the dialogue, or if I just recognized it as OCD by watching.

I do not think he had agoraphobia, which I thought is more about being in either open or enclosed spaces, although he may have had both OCD and agoraphobia. The reason this character screamed OCD to me was three things:

1) When Mara touched the stack of envelopes/papers, whatever was on the end table in his house? The way he half whined screamed with panic and the look on his face, and the way he re-straightened the pile after it, but still seemed uncomfortable, even though he'd put it back in the "correct" position. He looked like he still felt bad because she'd touched it, even though he'd technically put it back. That's textbook.

2) When Haysbert's character was outside and touched the glass, how he screamed about not touching that and said he couldn't clean it. That seemed to me a concern for contamination, and again, a not wanting them to have touched anything.

3) The thing about "blue". Certain colors being good or bad is a very common OCD thing.

I got the impression the reason he didn't want to go outside wasn't so much about being out in the open, but was more about his lack of control of the environment due to more contamination-related thoughts. (Although it could be both)

[Dowel Jones]

On a side note, two things for Charlie:  1) Hire some competent security people.  The whole place is closed down, and security lets in some random A/C repairman.  2) It's Cavalry, not Calvary.  That is, unless you're going right to the top for help.

  I did like Charlie calling out, after shooting Oliver, "Don't move, Oliver!"  Or what, you're gonna shoot me?

The government gets redeemed on screen because they have a copy of the Reverie program, unlike the company which stores it backup on site.

How can Paul talk to Mara if he isn't in her Reverie inside the school?  Is she in another Reverie in the conference room?

[bilgistic]

On 8/9/2018 at 7:42 PM, tvfanatic13 said:

Was this the season finale?

Yes

[Miss Dee]

Maybe I was just PMSing or something, I don't know, but I got very teary-eyed at the ending when Mara was speaking with the mother.

The concept of using Reverie as a tool to enter the brain of the dying - help them come to terms for a "good death", make sure they can pass on messages and information, etc. - is very intriguing. I hope they find some way to pick up on this in the future, and that they continue to find story plots that aren't just "person doesn't want to exit private fantasy".

[Camera One]

This show is more engaging when it's not doing the case-of-the-week episodes.  Within the episode, I did want to find out what would happen next.  But what ultimately did happen isn't getting me too excited.  So Oliver turns out to be a cold-blooded killer and a straight-up villain.  Alexis didn't notice the key was missing from her pocket or did they cut a scene of her realizing it?  Oliver's plan was pretty easy to foil.  How pathetic is the security at Onira Tech?  

The reveal that Mara goaded the brother-in-law into committing suicide was a big twist but I'm not sure I see the point or the potential.  At least it finally gave the actress a chance to use her acting skills.  

So the Reverie program helpfully uncovers your deepest buried memories?  Why?  That whole explanation wasn't very believable.  

This show hasn't been horrible, but I'm not sure I care whether it's renewed or not.  I'm not exactly at the edge of my seat clamoring to watch the finale even though I have it on PVR.  I hope they didn't do a cliffhanger but I don't need Dylan to tell me they probably did.

Edited August 14, 2018 by Camera One

[Kelloggirl]

Soooo....way late to this party, but just chiming in to say that I caught this show one night after America's Got Talent I think when I was too lazy to change the channel (yes, that's a real thing even with remote controls, or maybe I was multi-tasking)...anyhoo, MOHINDER! got my attention with his pretty face and I decided to watch, although I didn't find anything that intriguing about it, I found it entertaining enough to watch and think the last 4 episodes were definitely a step up. Can't decide how I feel about Alexis, but definitely like the rest of the characters and actors. 

I'd watch if there is another season, but won't be surprised (or heartbroken) if there isn't.

[Camera One]

I think they did a pretty decent job of wrapping up most of the open plotlines and character arcs set up this season.  Mara got resolution with her brother-in-law and the murder.  Alexis grew and finally moved passed her brother's death. 

Overall, I'm fine with them ending like this.  Overall, the series was a mildly interesting diversion and the show did have its moments, usually when it diverged from its usual formula.  But the cases of the week were already getting boring and I don't care enough about the characters or the "world" to see any more.  The alternate Mara trapped in the reverie doesn't intrigue me, either.

[Halting Hex]

I've only gotten around to watching my DVRed episodes now (which may be an indication of how not-must-see-TV this is) but two things about this one:

1) Since when can agoraphobics go outside at night?  The open spaces are no less open then.  He's not a vampire, ffs; it's not as if he's scared of sunlight, per se.  It's the wide-open spaces that paralyze Greg.  If he was heliophobic (fear of sunlight), then a poncho with a hoodie should have gotten him across the parking lot without any problems.  But he seemed to be scared of the open space, not the light.  Which again begs the question of why he didn't have a problem going in at the early hour.

On a related note, I understand why, once Greg was out the back door, they didn't have Mara just drive the truck over to pick him up so he didn't have to cross the big scary parking lot on his own.  (Since, after all, Mara wasn't trying to help him pull off the robbery, just get past his fears.)  I'm just wondering what explanation she gave to Greg about this? "Sorry, kid, you're on your own.  It's too suspicious for me to drive a parked truck 30 feet and meet you at the end of the loading dock.  Even though it's meant for loading, after all."

2) Why on earth did they have Quincy keep saying that was a 1966 Roberto Clemente baseball card when it was clearly a 1968? 

Spectacularly easy to spot (I was never a fan of that rough-gold framing on the '68s) and it's not as though this was a relevant plot point.  If production could only get '68 instead of '66, how difficult would it be to change the script?  Sheesh.

Nice enough show (I'll watch the other episodes) but nothing special, yet.

[Clanstarling]

On 8/8/2018 at 11:49 PM, AnimeMania said:

Ray, Mara's brother-in-law (seemed to have died while in Reverie?), maybe his consciousness jumped into Mara's body leaving Mara trapped in Reverie.

Interesting idea...

On 8/9/2018 at 9:53 AM, tennisgurl said:

And, more importantly, stop with the melodramatic "can she save herself?!" stuff at the start of every episode. 

Amen! That schlock is, for me, the worst part of the series. Otherwise I find it intriguing and I like the cast. I mean, I won't cry if this is it for the show, but I will watch if there's a second season.

[Cranberry]

Oh man, if they're going the USS Callister route they're really gonna have to bring it, because that is one of the best Black Mirror episodes. I don't know if these writers have it in them, but I would like to see more mythology, so bring it on, I say.

I don't love this show or really even look forward to it every week, but I enjoy it well enough while I'm watching. I'll come back if we get a second season.

[bilgistic]

We never saw Mara leave the reverie with/after Alexis. Alexis hit the mandala while Mara watched and the next scene was Alexis awakening from the reverie. The question is not necessarily/only what Mara is in the reverie, but what Mara is in the "real world".

[Ceindreadh]

To me the most implausible thing about the episode was the fact that the pharmaceutical company weren’t actually the bad guys. Yes, Quincey didn’t get a place on their trials, but it wasn’t down to any evil or greedy intent, it was just luck of the draw who got picked for what was likely a limited number of places. 

 

I did think honk though that if the guy was able to hack into the systems to get all that security info, would it not have been just as easy to get into the stock control system and order a batch delivered and then change the records to hide the discrepancy.