Loveday Writing

The episode kicks off with Luke taking the AI Guy into the Grey Zone for reward money from a gangster, Zalan, the reveal that Nora officially works at Holden’s firm, and Holden’s dog getting into the pills the download doctor gave Nathan.

Moments after Nathan finds out Holden’s dog got into his pills, Luke calls asking for help as he felt guilty for taking the AI Guy to Zalan and tried to run away, only for Zalan to lock him up. Whilst Nathan is on the phone, Backup Nathan calls. After the call ends, Backup Nathan asks Ingrid if she knew about the other Nathan, but she denies it.

Nora goes into Lakeview to meet with Backup Nathan to take him to the Grey Zone. Back at the Horizen office, Karina and Lucy have Aleesha guide a downloaded copy of the AI Guy into a clone of the actor he’s based on, through New York City from the Regen Centre to a hospital for reupload into the AI system. Aleesha’s first attempt ends with the clone being hit and killed by a car within minutes. Her second attempt has the clone get into mishaps with another person, a mailbox, and even masturbating at a charging station, however it ends on a high note when he gives a homeless man his hat to protect his skin from the sun. When the staff point out to Aleesha that the camera in the hat was the only way they could track him, Aleesha decides to let him go and be free.

Meanwhile, Nora helps Backup Nathan catch up to current events, unaware that Ingrid has spotted them walking and talking together from a distance. Ingrid then decides to go on a Goggle Cleanse and calls her friend, Mersaydeez, asking her to hang out. Mersaydeez sends Ingrid an invitation to join her at an exercise class, only to find it takes place in VR, so she can’t fully participate without her goggles. When Ingrid points out that they didn’t actually talk to each other, Mersaydeez dismisses her by saying she’ll just go back to Nathan and that her loyalty is her worst quality. Ingrid says it’s her best quality, insults Mersaydeez and walks away.

When Nora and Backup Nathan get to the Grey Zone, he and real Nathan lock eyes for the first time. Nora tells both Nathans to work together, as she’ll go back to the real world and get more pills from the download doctor for Nathan. When Nora returns, Holden tells her that the vet scanned the pills and they turned out to be Gas-X, which makes Nora question why the doctor would give Nathan over-the-counter pills in the first place.

Both Nathans dress up as AI Disney princes to try and free Luke, only for real Nathan to give Backup Nathan up to Zalan. Nora goes to the doctor’s house, only to find two suspicious people there and runs off. Ingrid then returns to Lakeview, telling the AI Guy it’s her home now.

As Luke and Backup Nathan walk through the Grey Zone, real Nathan comes along, revealing that they switched places, so when real Nathan took his goggles off in the real world, Zalan was left with no-one. The episode ends with Nora chased into an alley by the conspiracy and waking up in Lakeview, being welcomed by Aleesha.

Overall, I felt that this was a good but not great episode, more of a filler. The download doctor giving Nathan Gas-X pills was a great twist, however it hasn’t been made clear as to why he would do this. While I’m glad that Backup Nathan is finally aware of the real one, I felt that the Luke subplot was a little over-the-top and ridiculous.

I appreciated Ingrid’s attempts to stand up for herself and when she told the AI Guy that Lakeview is her home and she’s not going anywhere, I did wonder whether she “suiscanned” but this wasn’t made clear. The ending did shock me a little though, is Nora really dead now as well, and what does this mean for hers and real Nathan’s relationship?

Stray Observations:

-The brain holds 2.5 million GB of data.

-The hologram librarian warning Nathan that books can contain information that contradicts the opinions people currently hold and to accept exposure to uncomfortable facts, is honestly a sad commentary on our world today, even though the series is set in 2033.

-A mental breakdown is referred to as a “menty-b.”

-Nathan describes Luke as a “US Army man, brown hair, rescue mutt vibes, best taken in small doses.”