TELEVISION EPISODE REVIEW: Reverie S1 Ep 1 "Apertus"

Sometimes we all need help finding our way home.

Reverie
Airdate May 30, 2018 NBC Wednesdays 10:00 pm
Created by Mickey Fisher
Production Company Universal Television and Amblin Television

(MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD!)

What You Should Know:

Reverie is a hybrid police show/science fiction created by Mickey Fisher (Extant). It revolves around an immersive VR experience called “Reverie” where users can recreate their memories.

What You’ll Find Out:

The show follows Mara Kint (Sarah Shahi), a former FBI Hostage Negotiator who becomes a college professor after experiencing an unimaginable personal tragedy.

Her former boss Charlie Ventana, played by Dennis Haysbert, is operating his own security company and asks her to come work for him. Ventana has one client, Onira-Tech, which has developed a virtual reality simulation called Reverie which can recreate a person’s memories by feeding the program photos, videos, and social media history.

Sendhil Ramamurphy (Heroes) as Paul Hammond is the chief scientist in charge of Reverie and Jessica Lu as Alexis Barrett is the primary programmer responsible for creating Reverie. She also created an AI interface called Dylan which manages Onira-Tech’s systems and speaks with people much like Gideon on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.

In the pilot episode “Apertus”, people are enjoying Reverie too much and are refusing to leave. Charlie asks Mara to undergo the Reverie implant and, using a new multi-person interface, retrieve a man who has gone into a coma and won’t leave Reverie. She uses her people empathy skills to determine the man is suffering from guilt from his wife’s death. The episode ends with Charlie talking to a woman from the government who is interested in Reverie’s applications.

What This Means For The Future:

Presumably, each week Mara will enter someone’s Reverie-scape and try to drag them out while trying to overcome her own personal trauma with her family.

Final Thought: I found the show watchable though not entirely engrossing. There have been so many Virtual Reality shows like this and none have really caught on. The last one, Stitchers, managed to squeeze out 3 seasons but it was on a cable network. This show reminds me a little of Second Chance as far as the Onira-Tech was concerned. It also had the AI you could talk to and a similar pair of people running the place. It was also a better show and didn’t get renewed. I may check out another episode for lack of shows on at the moment that I’m interested in.

Rating: 6/10

REVERIE airs Wednesdays at 10pm on most NBC stations. Check your local listings.