Devs (1.5) Episode Recap - Which World is Ours, Again?

Storytelling tends to follow a specific structure. Conflicts move stories forward. There is rising action, a climax, and falling action. Obviously not every story fits that mold, but stories do tend to follow that flow whether they try or not.

How do stories tie all of those parts together though? This is a particularly difficult task in an episodic television show. Each episode must stand on its own while still connecting to what came before it and what may come after it. It must serve as both the whole and part of the whole.

In this week’s episode of Devs, the Everett Interpretation of quantum mechanics guides the structure of this episode, tying together moments from multiple character’s lives. The episode literally takes us into a classroom (specifically one of Katie’s classes in her past) to introduce it to us. Hugh Everett asserted that, for lack of space (and frankly understanding), all possible outcomes of measurements at the level of quantum mechanics are physically realized in the world. Perhaps not our world, but they do exist. And if it exists at the quantum level, that means that it exists at the level of our existence. This is at the crux of the Everett interpretation. There is a realization of near infinite quantum possibilities that occur across various worlds, hence the more widely known term for Everett’s interpretation: the many-worlds theory.

The first instance of the guiding force of Everett’s interpretation in this episode that we see is Lily’s life in the opening before the credits. At this point though, we don’t know that is what we are viewing. There are Lilys, Sergeis, and Jamies all walking around Lily’s apartment. At first it feels dream-like. We pan from Lily’s hospital bed to this imagery. It feels like a montage of victims of Amaya. Then the opening credits come and we move on.

When we move into Katie’s college classroom for the explanation of Everett’s interpretation of quantum mechanics, it occurs again. As Katie exits the lecture hall, the image split her into a multitude of different reactions, all just slightly different from one another. Here is the connection to the beginning of this week’s story. We were not watching what could have been with Lily. We were watching what is happening to Lily. Just not here. Just as we watched a number of other Katies (so to speak) not have the conversation she had with Forest about going to work with him after she graduates.

What the episode builds to is a devastating feat. We spent the whole episode learning various things about different character’s pasts based on the work of the projections (a notably clever way to use that as a vehicle for flashbacks in the show too). It cuts to Forest on the phone with his wife as she is driving home. He sees her driving toward him. The camera cuts to a long shot of her car approaching. We hear a horn and suddenly a loud crash as their car goes careening off the side of the screen. Forest starts sprinting toward their car, screaming. On the way there, we see all of the other possibilities. Again, most of them changing just minor details. The car honk works and his wife stops the car. It doesn’t work but the timing is a split second different and they just get clipped instead of rolled. Because that’s the difference. That is where we exist. In the split seconds.

As Everett’s interpretation ties each of Devs’ protagonists together, we are left deciphering what this means. Jamie makes the decision to break Lily out of the hospital, which means that they are going to confront Forest, Katie, or Kenton at some point. But this opens up more questions than it answers. If Forest and Katie ascribe to the belief of the many-worlds theory (which would be interesting considering Lyndon’s firing last week) and determinism, what are they actually trying to achieve with the projections? How will Forest get his daughter back if her path in their world is set? We also finally get a glimpse of Lily’s death, which the projections foresaw in last week’s episode. She dies in Devs at Amaya. But does she die in that world, or was Katie projecting into another world? One thing is for certain in a television show filled with uneasiness and uncertainty: Nobody is going to find what they are looking for.