'Reverie' episode nine recap: 'The Key'

On episode nine of Reverie, Mara and the team try to figure out how to fix her derealizations, while Oliver steals an important item.

Previously on Reverie, Mara helped a woman reconnect with someone she rescued. Also, Mara realized she was seeing and talking to Chris when he wasn’t actually around. The derealization of Chris turned into Ray at the end.

“The Key” begins with the team coming to Mara’s house. Mara is still in shock but explains what happened. Alexis tries to talk Mara through what happened. She asks questions and reassures Mara that she and the others are real.

Mara’s phone rings and Charlie answers it at her request. The hospital called to let them know Oliver Hill was brought in and had Mara’s name written on his chest. They don’t know what’s wrong with him, but the others realize he’s in Reverie.

Charlie and one of his coworkers, Tirzah Hagan, talk about Oliver’s condition. They brought him to Orina-Tech. Tirzah tells Leekly, the security guard Oliver's been working with, to watch over Oliver.

Alexis works on finding a neurologist to help them look at Mara’s condition. Charlie talks to Alexis about Oliver, mentioning Paul told him about Alexis seeing Oliver recently. She says she did to ask him about the physical effects of Reverie. Charlie is worried and reminds her of Oliver’s erratic behavior and his grudge against the team.

Paul checks on Mara and tries to understand why her derealization of Chris turned into Ray. Mara tells Charlie and Paul that she wants to go into Oliver’s Reverie and ask him about her issues. They disagree, but she says he’s her best chance at figuring out what’s wrong.

Mara enters Oliver’s Reverie and finds herself on a beach. Mara tells him about her problems and he claims he can help. In exchange, he wants Alexis to enter his Reverie. He claims to just want to talk to her without Charlie around. Oliver says in order for Mara to stop hallucinating, she needs to remove the BCI and leave the company.

Mara asks the team about removing the BCI. They explain if she removes it, scar tissue will form and she can’t ever have another one. Paul says they can deactivate it for now and look for more options, but Mara says no; she wants to remove it as soon as possible.

Charlie and Alexis talk about Oliver. She says he will stay in Reverie until she goes into the program. Charlie relents and Alexis enters the Reverie. Oliver says he wants to make amends and that he has something to show Alexis. He makes a recreation of a town they visited together. Oliver’s main “present” is a Reverie version of Dylan, Alexis’s dead brother.

Meanwhile at Orina-Tech, Leekly sees Alexis is in the program and goes to steal tech for Oliver. Then, Dylan alerts Charlie that Alexis’s office camera went down. Leekly steals the Reverie source code, hiding the flash drive inside his flashlight. Tirzah and Charlie get to the room and question Leekly and have him and the room searched to no avail.

Paul tells Mara all the hallucinations she’s seeing are linked. He thinks Reverie is trying to show her something about the shooting she’s repressed. She says she can’t think about the shooting and admits she’s having trouble not breaking down.

Alexis looks at Dylan and talks to him for a moment. She confronts Oliver, who claims Reverie is too personal for Alexis because she made it to bring back her dead brother. She says that’s not true. He tries to talk her into letting him back into the company. When that doesn’t work, he accuses her of killing Dylan. When she wakes, Charlie sees she’s shaken up. Charlie goes to threaten Oliver, and Tirzah has to remove him from the room. Later the men threaten each other again when Oliver’s lawyer arrives.

Mara’s about to have the BCI removed, but then she asks Dylan what the odds are that a Reverie user will need her help. He says based on the numbers, there could be two people at that exact moment that need help. Mara goes to Paul and tells him about the day her family was murdered. She tells him that Ray was listening to her, but then the sirens came and Ray killed her sister and niece. Paul and Mara talk about what Mara could be missing. Charlie tells them he can shed light on what happened.

Charlie reveals he has a voicemail recording of that day because Mara had accidentally called him when she texted. Mara’s confused because Ray spoke on the voicemail and she doesn’t remember him speaking before trying to commit suicide. She then hears herself convincing Ray to commit suicide. Charlie tells her Ray would have killed himself anyway and no one can blame her for what she said. Mara’s distraught and goes drinking. She gets home and calls out for her dead family, but no one appears.

Oliver meets Leekly for the key for the Reverie source code. Once Oliver gets the code, he kills Leekly. Later, Alexis talks to Charlie and mentions she’s going to visit her family for her birthday. When Alexis drives away, Oliver hill follows.

Mara goes to see Paul and tells him the derealizations are gone now, but she’s not satisfied. She admits she found out something about herself and now she needs his help. He agrees and the two go to the hospital. Paul gets Ray ready for Reverie and Mara enters the Reverie. Inside, everything’s white and then Mara sees Ray.

This was a great episode of Reverie. I was surprised by the reveal and think it made this season more interesting. I liked how each of the team members showed how much they care for Mara. Reverie hasn’t been renewed for a second season yet, but I really hope NBC renews. I think the writing and acting continue to improve, and I genuinely look forward to watching.

Reverie’s season one finale airs Wednesday at 10 p.m. on NBC.