Reverie Review: Point of Origin S01E10

Reverie comes to the end of its season, with Episode 10: Point of Origin.  (Warning! The following review contains SPOILERS!)

Reverie has been a mixed bag so far and this final episode is no exception.  On one hand it has had some interesting concepts, but on the other there has been too many times were it has gone for broad strokes, when a more nuanced, detailed approach would have been better.  I know they are aiming for a primetime popular audience, but that shouldn’t be a reason to dodge the hard questions.

In this season finale, as the title would suggest, they are getting to the bottom of some significant issues for the main protagonists.  These storylines have been started in previous episodes, and the plot this time seems more like an epilogue than a fully formed story.

REVERIE — “Point of Origin” Episode 110 — Pictured: (l-r) Sarah Shahi as Mara Kint, Dennis Haysbert as Charlie Ventana — (Photo by: Chris Haston/NBC)

For Mara (Sarah Shahi), she gets to say goodbye to her issues with Ray (Christopher Redman), after having discovered the truth during the last episode, of what happened when he shot her sister.  This seems to be swept up and dealt with very quickly, and doesn’t feel very satisfactory.  Bearing in mind the final twist in this episode, it looks like they’re just clearing the decks quickly for next season’s issue, without any baggage.

REVERIE — “Point of Origin” Episode 110 — Pictured: Jessica Lu as Alexis Barrett — (Photo by: Greg Gayne/NBC)

The bulk of this episode is based around the Oliver (Jon Fletcher) plotline, despite him never really appearing as a real threat throughout the whole season.  When he has appeared, he seems to be able to waltz in and out of Oniratech, and defeats their security easily, through the most mundane of methods.  Because of this, you never get the feeling that he’s the genius he’s cracked up to be, and he seems more a tragic comic figure, than a proper threat.

REVERIE — “Point of Origin” Episode 110 — Pictured: (l-r) Jessica Lu as Alexis Barrett, Sarah Shahi as Mara Kint — (Photo by: Chris Haston/NBC)

What this plotline does raise is more information about Alexis’ (Jessica Lu) past and what happened to her brother.  Through the somewhat pointless escapade in the reverie designed by Oliver, that he traps Alexis in, we learn a lot more about what happened to Dylan (Kai Scott), but also much more about Oliver’s derealisations.  This seems to serve the Oniratech gang much more than Oliver, so I’m not sure why he sets that in motion.

While the flaws in this episode do seem quite glaring, the actors do a fine job of making it entertaining, and at least it does clear away a lot of this dead wood for a second season.  As I’ve stated in previous reviews, there is the core of a good show here.  The cast is excellent, and they’ve made it engaging, when the material didn’t entirely hang together.

REVERIE — “Point of Origin” Episode 110 — Pictured: (l-r) Kathryn Morris as Monica Shaw, Dennis Haysbert as Charlie Ventana — (Photo by: Greg Gayne/NBC)

Mostly, the issues are first season ones, where they’re finding their feet with the characters, and figuring out the dynamics.  Most shows have this issue, and there are numerous examples of great shows that started out quite shaky, or not as strong as they would become. (e.g. Star Trek TNG, Buffy etc..)

It will be interesting to see where they take this now, and how they are going to expand their horizons with their more solidified cast.  There are a number of intriguing possibilities, which will hopefully allow some of the supporting cast to have more of an impact, and make sure it doesn’t become a ‘troubled reverie user of the week’ procedural.  Let’s hope for a more in depth second season.