Devs Review: Episode 4 (Season 1 Episode 4)

Variables matter, even the smallest of them, and even when they make magic happen.

On Devs Season 1 Episode 4, Lyndon manages to recreate Jesus speaking.

Yeah, THAT Jesus.

Somehow though, it’s not good enough because of the variables that Lyndon uses to dispel the noise. This is where I don’t completely understand why, as I’m not familiar with mathematical theories or authors of quantum principles.

What I understand completely is that Lyndon did something fantastic.

Let’s define fantastic because I think it’s important to truly break down this word that gets commonly thrown around when things are great.

Merriam-Webster defines fantastic as, “so extreme as to challenge belief.”

Lyndon literally revives sound-waves of Jesus speaking. This should be a feat that calls for champagne or something. There should be a parade or a news conference. 

THIS IS FANTASTIC, by definition.

Instead, Forest fires Lyndon. (Also, a ten-million-dollar payout for keeping the secrets of devs? What? How do I get that kind of severance pay?)

Forest is unnecessarily cruel when he fires Lyndon. Even Katie tries to hold him back, which is an emotion that hasn’t been seen thus far from her. (By “emotion” I mean that she makes an actual facial expression and doesn’t sound like a robot. She’s still Katie.)

The most heartbreaking part of Lyndon’s departure from Devs is the goodbye scene with Stewart.

While we don’t know a lot about these characters on a personal level, we’ve seen enough of a bond between them to understand that they mean a lot to one another.

It’s like Norm and Cliff on Cheers. They just go together, and the idea of seeing one without the other makes me sad. Who will watch Marilyn Monroe porn with Stewart now?

Stewart’s final reminder to Lyndon, of course, is that if a single secret is spilled, Forest will ensure the Lyndon is killed.

This leads me to question exactly how many people Forest has dismissed from devs; and exactly how many people he has murdered.

If its common enough knowledge around the water cooler (or in this case, the giant computer?) that one wrong step will literally get you killed working for Forest, wouldn’t this be something you’d tell the new guy on Day 1?

Something as simple as, “Hey Bill. Nice to meet you! Our boss will literally light you on fire if you so much as take dust particles from work. Why do you think Carl isn’t here anymore…”

All of that is to say, why did no one make this completely clear to Sergei on his own first day at devs? (Poor Sergei.)

A moment that affected me, more than I’d realized it would, is seeing Forest watch Amaya blowing bubbles with total light clarity, and hearing him say to Katie that every hair on Amaya’s head matters when using variables for clear sound.

Maybe it’s my own consideration of my daughter, but in those moments, I understand everything that Forest is desperate to use this technology for.

While on some grand level the ability to revisit the past, and see the future through determinism and computers could change the way humanity functions, all of that pales in comparison to getting one more glimpse of your deceased child. To hear your child giggle. To seeing them pop a tiny bubble on their leg.

Forest’s intentions and his motives are despicable, there’s no doubt about it. Somehow though, on a parent-to-parent level, I understand it completely and sympathize with him. Watching Nick Offerman break down in tears is weirdly beautiful in that moment.

Is this Katie’s weapon to use against Forest? Is her showing Forest what he CAN have if he’s willing to take that one small variable how she punishes him for firing Lyndon? If so, she’s brilliant. I wonder, now that Forest has seen what Lyndon actually accomplished if this will change his view of variables.

All of this aside, the most important variable that Forest has to deal with, currently, is Lily.

Although we’re told right up front in “Episode 4,” that in 48 hours Lily Chan will be dead, one has to wonder if her ability to confuse and deflect Kenton and Forest will change that future.

Lily doesn’t get a win in this hour, but her actions also don’t completely make sense, based on what we know of her.

She’s shown that she’s brilliant enough to handle Sergei’s Russian handler. She’s brilliant enough to trick Kenton into gaining security footage and to make him believe that she’s schizophrenic. She knows when she’s being followed, and she knows that she’s being watched. She knows that the psychiatrist she’s speaking to is not real.

So why on earth, even after her declaration to Jamie that dealing with Amaya is like dealing with the mob, does she just pick up a phone and call 911, assuming that the cops can help her?

Lily already knows that they can’t. 

Does the clue to this lie in the way she looks in the mirror and says, “guess this is it,” almost as though she knows exactly what is about to happen? That she’s about to be taken into police custody under a psychiatric breakdown farce?

I can’t possibly fathom that Lily doesn’t know that calling the police is going to lead to Amaya turning the tables on her. Of course, it is. Of course, she knows that!

Right?

Until Devs streams “Episode 5,” next week, I’m going to wonder if Lily has accounted for her own variables, as Forest accounts for his. 

Because as we’ve learned, a single variable can change the course of history.

What did you think of this episode of Devs? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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