REVIVAL Recap: (S01E02) Keeping Up Appearances

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8 hours ago

Revival Season 1 Episode 2, 'Keeping Up Appearances,' effectively builds on that jaw-dropping cliffhanger from the series premiere. It fleshes out core character dynamics, introduces a few new supporting players and lays the groundwork for what's to come. I'm digging the Wynonna Earp / Preacher vibes I'm getting from this series. Bring on more narrative weirdness (and the not-zombies).
RELATED: Read our recap of the previous Revival episode, 'Don't Tell Dad' Revival, 'Keeping Up Appearances'
We open with a flashback — Em (Romy Weltman) wakes up on Revival Day. She's near a waterfall. She coughs up water and the same wedding band we saw in the series premiere. Bewildered, Em returns to the bridge. She discovers one of her boots and her coat. Then, Em returns to her dorm. Her roommate, Kay (Maia Jae), is watching the news, which so happens to feature Sheriff Wayne Cypress (David James Elliott). Em makes a beeline for her room.
Three days later, Em emerges from her room. She heads into the bathroom, crushes up some pills and snorts them. However, she can't get high. Em does this repeatedly and gets the same result — zero high. Frustrated, Em punches the bathroom mirror. Kay reveals her plan to stay with her parents and ride out the quarantine. Regeneration
After she leaves, Em notices the gash on her hand from punching the mirror has healed. Weird. She grabs a Swiss Army Knife and cuts her palm, only for said cut to close almost instantly. The news segment on the screen features Wayne getting increasingly irritated as May (Katharine King So) asks questions he doesn't — or perhaps can't — answer.
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Now, we're back in the present. Dana (Melanie Scrofano) is in full-on panic mode. Em is still holding the scythe while looming over Arlene's (Nicky Guadagni) corpse. Backup has arrived. Dana and Em attempt to get their stories straight. Dana urges Em to tell the officers that she killed Arlene, not her. Arlene just so happened to be a violent Reviver.
Meanwhile, Cooper (Hudson Wurster) stumbles upon a peculiar display in the woods. He also trips on what looks like a premeditated trap. However, someone helps Cooper to his feet. This is Blaine Abel (Steven Ogg). He's an enigma. Blaine encourages Cooper to find his way back to civilization. He eventually reunites with Wayne. REVIVAL — 'Keeping Up Appearances' Season 1 Episode 2 — Pictured: (l-r) David James Elliott as Sheriff Wayne Cypress, Hudson Wurster as Cooper Cypress — (Photo by: Lavivier Productions/SYFY) Anxiety
Outside the Dittmans' barn, paramedics check out Em. She has a panic attack, so they take her to the hospital. Dana chats with J.P. Brissett (Glen Gould). Both agree it's best to keep the sheriff far away from this situation. Upon discovering the ambulance with Em is en route to the hospital, Dana makes a beeline for it. They can't discover Em's a Reviver.
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Next, Ibrahim (Andy McQueen) and Carla (Paige Evans) prepare to perform an autopsy on Arlene. What makes her different from the other Revivers? After Ibrahim and Carla step out of the room, we see Arlene isn't exactly dead. In fact, the top of her head is already regenerating, and her eyes are open…
Meanwhile, the Cypress family reunites. Wayne chews Dana out for taking Em with her on the job. Of course, Dana gives her father a taste of his own medicine when she learns he temporarily lost Cooper. Em is fed up with both of them and storms off. REVIVAL — 'Keeping Up Appearances' Season 1 Episode 2 — Pictured: (l-r) Melanie Scrofano as Dana Cypress, Romy Weltman as Martha 'Em' Cypress — (Photo by: Naomi Peters/Lavivier Productions/SYFY) Red Alert
Then, Wayne orders Ibrahim and Deputy Rogers (Aryelle Morrison) to keep a lid on the Arlene thing. Oh, and no one talks to the press. He also orders Dana to take Cooper home. May enters the room. Dana urges Rogers to take Cooper to the cafeteria while she handles May. We know how Wayne feels about the media. May asks Dana for the truth. What's going on?
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Elsewhere, Wayne and Ibrahim discover that Arlene is MIA, and the guard stationed outside the room is dead. Wayne calls for reinforcements. The alarm blares. Dana makes a break for Wayne's location, with May hot on her heels. Dana spies Arlene as she kills a hospital employee. Her head is in one piece again. Dana urges May to get the hell out of Dodge before she's next on Arlene's murder list.
Then, Arlene wanders into the maternity ward. Wayne finds her with a baby. Unfortunately, she speeds away with said baby before Wayne and his officers can react. They give chase. Wayne and the others wind up in the parking garage, guns raised. However, there, they discover Blaine, who's holding the baby. Arlene is nowhere to be found. Wayne asks about Arlene, but Blaine recites some vaguely ominous, apocalyptic-esque language. REVIVAL — 'Keeping Up Appearances' Season 1 Episode 2 — Pictured: (l-r) Carla Morel as Carly Morel, Andy McQueen as Ibrahim Ramin — (Photo by: Naomi Peters/Lavivier Productions/SYFY) The Truth
Later, Wayne and Ibrahim chat with Mayor Dillisch (Conrad Coates) about Arlene. Wayne believes this supports his case for locking up all the Revivers. Ibrahim reminds Wayne that the cops have a history of mistreating and abusing marginalized people. I love that Revivers are a clever tool to explore this, and how underprivileged or even those deemed different are ostracized by society. Not all the Revivers are like Arlene. However, Ibrahim concedes that they should pool their resources to capture Arlene.
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Then, Dana searches Em's dorm. She discovers a bevy of creepy drawings adorning Em's bedroom walls. She also finds Em's stash of pills. Dana confronts Em about it. Em discloses that she's clean — she can't get high anymore since coming back from the dead. Dana wants to know how Em got her hands on 1,000 pills. Em claims she bought them from the pain clinic.
The conversation pivots to Em's death. Dana tearfully asks if Em overdosed. Em knows she didn't. However, the other details are admittedly fuzzy. Dana urges Em to tell her something . Em reveals she went to the bridge on Revival Day because it was their mom's birthday. Then, she woke up near the waterfall. To Solve a Murder
Dana really wants to solve her sister's death. Well, it's looking more like murder. She persuades Em to join her at the station for a hot minute. Dana plans to show her face before the pair can go to the bridge to retrace Em's steps. Em reluctantly agrees to this plan.
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At the station, Dana encourages Em to get them both chocolate from the vending machine while she joins Wayne in a meeting. Instead, Em takes Dana's keys and steals her vehicle. Meanwhile, Dana approaches Deputy McCray (Nathan Dales) — and his rat tail — with questions about Em's pill stash. McCray identifies them as oxy. One would normally deal them or steal them. He gives Dana a file on those in Wausau arrested for drug possession before returning to his game. I can't believe Daryl and Mrs. McMurray work together now.
Later, Dana realizes that Em stole her car. The only one available in the parking lot is Ibrahim's vehicle. At the same time, Nithiya (Gia Sandhu) gets ready to go out to eat with her husband, Aaron (Gianpaolo Venuta). So, he was cheating on his wife, who has cancer, with his student? Ew. Anyway, they head into Nella's. We see Em follow them inside. REVIVAL — 'Keeping Up Appearances' Season 1 Episode 2 — Pictured: Andy McQueen as Ibrahim Ramin — (Photo by: Naomi Peters/Lavivier Productions/SYFY) The Bridge
Ibrahim drives Dana around town as they search for Em (and her car). Dana explains that Em has a rare disease — her bones break very easily. Because of this, she's lived a sheltered life. At Nella's, Em follows Aaron to the bathroom. He tells her that it's over. Em isn't there to rekindle their affair. She wants to know what happened at the bridge. She doesn't remember, well, anything.
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Aaron reveals he blocked her phone and email after she inundated him with texts, calls and emails. He didn't want her to blow their cover. Em doesn't recall sending those. Aaron learns that Em is a Reviver, and, like Dana, he jumps to conclusions about her death. He assumes she took her own life based on the aforementioned texts, calls and emails. Oh, and the wedding band she coughed up? It's not his. Em apologizes before leaving him.
Next, in the bar, Em overhears a patron talk smack about Revivers. She declares that they were supposed to die, so they should've stayed dead. Em whirls around and punches her. The woman retaliates. She proceeds to beat the snot out of Em. Em asks her if that's all she's got … with a face covered in blood. Be My Escape
Elsewhere, Dana tells Ibrahim about the accident. Two years ago, she and Em were in a car accident with their mother. Unfortunately, their mom died, and Em was behind the wheel. The family hasn't recovered from it.
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Then, Nella (Lanette Ware) calls Dana. Dana learns about Em's bar fight. A man named Rhodey (Kaleb Horn) escorted her out of the pub. Outside, Rhodey reveals he knows she's a Reviver. Why? Because he's one, too. Rhodey gives Em a flyer for an upcoming show with his band, November Dismember (sick moniker). REVIVAL — 'Keeping Up Appearances' Season 1 Episode 2 — Pictured: Kaleb Horn as Rhodey Rasch — (Photo by: Naomi Peters/Lavivier Productions/SYFY)
Em asks if he can get her out of here because she's trying to avoid law enforcement (for reasons). Em grabs a black hoodie from Dana's car and leaves behind a chocolate bar with the November Dismember flyer. She also discards her phone before Rhodey drives them away. I Know Who Did It
Ibrahim drops Dana off at the bar. She tells him they should do this again — hang out. These two are cute together. Dana discovers a note from Em along with the chocolate. Em claims she needs space for a while, but she's okay. She'll reach out in due time.
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Later, Dana pays Kay a visit after finding her in the drug files McCray gave her. At the same time, Wayne has drinks with Nella. Nella gives Wayne a pep talk. He's doing what he feels is best for Wausau. Wayne calls the governor and asks for a favor.
Dana learns that Kay helped Em score the pills. Kay knows Em is a Reviver. More importantly, she knows who killed Em.
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Revival airs new episodes every Thursday at 10/9c, only on Syfy.
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