'Reverie' episode seven recap: 'The Black Mandala'

In episode seven of Reverie, Mara and the team help rescue a young Syrian refugee who’s being tortured in Reverie.

Previously on Reverie, Mara helped a dancer move on after a horrific accident in which she lost her baby and the use of her legs. Mara also reconnected with the woman’s doctor, her old boyfriend.

“The Black Mandala” opens on Paul and Mara in Reverie. He explains all she has to do is believe and practice to do something in Reverie that she can’t in real life. With Mara reminding him this isn’t the real world, he manages to levitate in the air for a bit before falling down. They go back into the circular library and Paul goes through his door. Mara’s about to exit Reverie when the program glitches and she sees a new door.

Mara opens the new door and finds herself in a warehouse. She hears someone scream for help and finds a teenage boy in a locked room. His name is Ehmet Alwad and he says he’s been kidnapped and tortured. She tries to explain Reverie to him, but he doesn’t believe her and talks about continually being questioned about an attack. She tells him to say exodus, but nothing happens. He says she’s lying and she tries to say it too, but it doesn’t work. The world starts disappearing around her and she promised Ehmet she will find him again. Mara wakes in the real world to find Paul next to her, worried and asking what happened.

Mara tells the others what happened. She mentions Ehmet being questioned by a soldier. Alexis explains there’s an extremely rare chance of Reverie’s crossing, which is what happened. Mara asks Dylan to help them find Ehmet. Dylan shows them pictures of missing people and they find out Ehmet is a Syrian refugee staying in Canada who was picked up by U.S. immigration authorities. Paul and Alexis trace the IP address and find it's one being used by the U.S. government.

Alexis and Charlie talk to Monica about the Reverie program. She admits she knows the government was testing Reverie to be used as an interrogation tactic. She wants to use it for helping PTSD, but it’s not her decision. Orina-Tech has a contract with the government and it can use Reverie however it wants.

While Alexis works on the Reverie code the government altered, Mara and Paul talk about Ehmet. Mara finds information about an airbase attack and a group of terrorists that tried to get Syrians to join. She believes Ehmet is innocent, but the government thinks he was part of the attack or has information. Alexis fixes the link and Mara tries to enter the Reverie but it doesn’t work. They all realize the interrogator must be in the Reverie with Ehmet.

Mara meets with Ehmet’s brother, Kareem. He tells her about their journey as refugees and how much Ehmet hates violence. Paul calls and says the link is open, so Mara rushes back to the office to enter the Reverie. Alexis reminds her that the government’s changes might make the Reverie strange. Paul reminds her the voice commands still aren’t working right and she has to use the mandala symbol to leave. In Reverie, Mara frees Ehmet with tools she brought in, but he doesn’t trust her and runs away.

He mentions telling the soldier about their meeting. Back in the real world, The soldier, Sullivan comes with Monica and tells the team he cannot get in the system. He says he can charge them with helping a terrorist and demands they hand over Mara. The team claims they have no idea where Mara is and refuses to help. After they leave, Alexis reveals she hacked Sullivan’s phone so now they have all his recent locations.

Back in Reverie, Mara catches up to Ehmet and manages to get through to him by talking about Kareem. They find soldiers blocking guarding the mandala symbol. Mara says they may be able to seperate the guards and have a chance, but Ehmet is overwhelmed and exhausted. He tells her what it was like, to be treated like a terrorist. He explains they lost all their papers on the boat to Greece and they lost his father as well. Mara gives him words of encouragement and they look for items to help in their plan.

Ehmet and Mara work together to separate the guards. They trap one guard in a cell, but when they get to the mandala, the world starts breaking and a strange rift appears in the ground that they cannot cross. The other guard arrives and starts shooting at them so they run. They lock themselves in a room and Ehmet realizes Mara got shot. Mara continues to try to tell herself that the pain is all in her mind.

Back in the real world, the team has been looking for photos from the refugee camp where Ehmet’s family lived. Kareem told Charlie that photojournalists came and took photos of the camp. The team looks, but finds nothing to prove Ehmet wasn’t near the attack. Charlie goes to Kareem again and asks for more information. Kareem remembers a British filmmaker who came to the camps. Charlie contacts the woman, Anne Fox and asks for her help. Anne says she cannot go through all the footage alone, so Charlie introduces her to Dylan.

Back in Reverie, Mara and Ehmet talk about what to do next. Mara decides the guards are only after her, and tells Ehmet her plan. She opens the door to talk to the guard and Ehmet sneaks behind him and pushes him into the exposed system rift. Ehmet puts a board they find across the rift and helps Mara cross. She continues to remind him that nothing that is happening is real.

Photo by: Greg Gayne/NBC

Mara and Ehmet make it to the other side and Mara tells him she will make sure they find him in the real world. They both use the mandala symbol to get free. Paul’s waiting for her when she wakes up and tells her they have Ehmet’s location. She moves and realizes she’s still in pain. There’s a big bruise where she was shot in the Reverie.

Alexis and Charlie go to confront Sullivan with footage they found of Ehmet and Kareem before the attack. Sullivan doesn’t care and refuses to let Ehmet go, but Monica arrives and tells him she’s passed on the video to his superiors. She’s concerned with how he’s been using the program and says others are as well.

Back at Orina-Tech, Mara picks up her phone and finds a text from Chris, who called earlier to talk. Monica shows up with Ehmet and he and Mara hug. They have a nice moment, then Kareem arrives and the brother have a touching reunion.

Monica lets Charlie know Reverie as an interrogation method is stopping for now. Charlie reveals he knows Monica made it so the Reverie streams crossed. She didn’t want Reverie used for interrogation either and knew the team would want to help Ehmet. He compliments her and they share a drink.

Mara invites Chris over and she tells him about her day. She mentions going to see Ray after talking to him and that she never visited him before. She tells him about getting shot and how her life is changing, then they make out on the couch.

I liked this episode of Reverie. I think the show has greatly improved since the first episode. The writing is getting better and I like the team’s relationship. I liked the main story; Ehmed and Kareem were kind, interesting characters. Monica’s character development was a bit unexpected and I’m excited to see if her relationship with the team changes.

Reverie airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on NBC. Check out the preview for the next episode below.