DEVS S1E7: We’re In The Endgame Now

As you may recall, last week of Devs was a slower one, mostly building anticipation for the climactic two episodes. Lily (Sonoya Mizuno) and Jamie (Jin Ha) spent much of the episode at Forest’s (Nick Offerman), where Lily discussed the end of times with Katie (Alison Pill) and Jamie played frisbee with Forest. When they left, none other than Kenton (Zach Grenier) was following them. Let’s see what happens next!

What is Happening?!

The start of episode 7 of Devs is perhaps the strangest yet. We first hear the line “open the bruise up, and let some of the bruise blood come out to show them,” followed by some raspy breathing sounds, all while we glimpse what appears to be an indigenous camp, someone sitting by some water, and the San Francisco skyline. By the time the title screen comes on, the opening lines are repeating at such a fast pace that it is a cacophony of sounds. Well ok then!

We then see Lily and Jamie waking up from their night together. Lily tells him to make this “normal,” and the two pretend to argue about chores the way a couple would. It’s a cute moment. After this, we see Katie at Forest’s house. In a projection similar to a few episodes ago, she sees traces of Amaya, Forest’s daughter, playing around the room.

Next scene finds Stewart (Stephen McKinley Henderson) in the Devs projection room along with some of the staff. They are staring at Earth from a billion years ago, before Stewart switches it to one second in the future. The Devs crew are upset, as they see themselves in projections before repeating them. “The box contains everything,” is Stewart’s response.

Forest and Katie are then preparing for the day, which they seem to know by heart, including Lyndon (Cailee Spaeny) waiting in Katie’s car, wanting a chat. The two proceed to a local dam. Meanwhile, Lily discusses with Jamie what the Devs group has predicted: that she will somehow come to Devs that night. She is determined to stop their plans by just not going. I’m thinking something could happen that will provoke her, though.

At the dam, Lyndon essentially discusses with Katie that he wants his job back. He has to do something daring first, though: climb over the rail of the dam and trust his faith in the many-worlds theory that he won’t fall. In a series of time lapses, we see versions of Lyndon repeatedly fall, until only Katie remains, who slowly walks away. It’s a devastating loss of one of the show’s key characters.

Back at Lily’s, she is still playing house with Jamie. Yet, Kenton lurks outside their apartment. He breaks in, quickly shooting and killing Jamie before attacking and attempting to choke Lily in the next room. It almost looks like the end, but then none other than Pete the hobo (Jefferson Hall) comes in to save the day, strangling Kenton while counting in Russian. Good riddance to Kenton, but what a sad end for Jamie!

Pete then reveals himself as a Russian agent who was hired to protect Sergei. He tells Lily that he chose to save her even though it wasn’t part of his job and that she should either tell the CIA what happened, leading to complications, or leave at once for Hong Kong and never return. Forest and Katie are then watching a Devs projection of an ancient tribe in France, the same we had seen at the start of the episode. They anticipate the end of times in just a few hours.

Lily, back at her apartment, wanders around her apartment of death. She grabs her passport, before stopping for a moment to caress the deceased Jamie on the floor. She then arrives at Devs after all, claiming that she had no other choice.

Highlights and Observances

-Yet another excellent episode! Things have definitely picked up since last week, such as here the loss of both Lyndon and Jamie, the ending of Kenton (thank god!), the revelation of Pete the hobo, and Lily’s final journey to Devs. Yet it’s also a perfect setup for just one more episode, which will hopefully bring everything together in a meaningful way.

-The opening quote and subsequent repetition start the episode off in a chaotic manner. The sounds are from a piece called “Come Out” by Steve Reich, which was written in response to the Harlem Six, a case where six black men were accused of the murder of a Hungarian refugee. The quote itself is by Daniel Hamm, a witness, who is stating that he opened up his bruise in order to show how the cops had beaten him. In Devs, what it seems to refer to is the idea that Lily had to be seriously wounded by losing yet another lover, in a way, “opening her bruise up,” in order to surrender to her fate of coming to Devs as had been predicted.

-Lily has a significant quote early on when she talks to Jamie in reference to the Devs program, stating that: “They’ve reduced everything to nothing.” It’s a good callback to the first episode, where Sergei says “This changes everything,” and Katie’s response was: “It changes nothing.”

-Stewart had some standout moments this episode, including this quote in reference to the projection screen of Devs. He states that the projection box is: “Not even a clone of reality. The box contains everything.” So many references to everything in this episode, I’m starting to think that “everything” might actually be nothing.

-Lyndon’s death scene, coupled with Stewart quoting “Shakespeare or something,” as Katie mentions later, was a fitting, though also clearly sad ending for the character. The poem Stewart quotes, though, was actually Aubade by Philip Larkin, which couldn’t be more appropriate since it is about the certainty and fear of death. It also remarks on the show’s oft-repeated theme of determinism, in that the future is set in stone. Lyndon was always going to die in that moment.

-Jamie’s death scene was even more shocking, since it happens in an instant. A nice touch is when he adds a perfectly sliced lemon to the glass of water he is bringing to Lily, showing how he cares for her. It makes it all the sadder when he dies only moments later. Also, I totally called it that Pete was someone important!

-Besides the opening track, the other standout needle drop here is “Sweet Little Mystery” by John Martyn, a song that very ironically plays over the scene where Jamie is killed and Kenton then tries to strangle Lily. It takes a tender moment and makes it tragic.

-The scene where Forest and Katie are watching the ancient tribe was incredibly soothing. Forest also makes a significant remark about the people they are watching, stating that they were “5,000 years in the same place, making the same images.” It alludes to the idea that maybe we’re still making the same images, they’re just more advanced now.

-Final significant quote: “I don’t think I can turn around.” – one of Lily’s final statements this episode, showing that she truly has accepted her fate.

Questions

-The final time to ask this before we finally know: what will happen to Lily? How does she die if her biggest enemy, Kenton, is now deceased?

-Is the Devs program really just a cover for nefarious activity? For example, when Katie lures Lyndon onto the edge of the dam, knowing that he would fall, it almost just seemed to be a way of getting rid of him. A bit too convenient, if you ask me.

-What will really happen at the supposed end of time moment? Is it just the end of Devs, or is it the end of the world?

-Is Forest still trying to bring back his daughter?

-If all of time is predetermined, as it is in the context of the show, then was the Devs program’s determining of time also predetermined? How will that fit into the supposed final moments in the next episode?

Conclusion

That about concludes yet another stellar episode of Devs. This one was a quicker pace than the prior two, and it sets up the eagerly-awaited conclusion. I’ve really loved the show so far, and it hope it ends on a high! I have faith in Alex Garland.

What are your thoughts on the latest episode of Devs? Are you excited for the conclusion of the show?