Being part of a supportive community helps with dealing with life’s hurdles, especially when we are younger and pressure is high. In this episode, Nora (Malia Pyles), a young student, is cutting off herself from her sorority at the university. If the reasons seem unclear, one thing is sure: she’s very sick. Oliver (Zachary Quinto) and his team will have to find the root of the problem, and will discover how a new addiction in our society can cause major harm. And this episode tackles the very relevant issue with AI chatbots and the way they invade people’s lives to the point of harm.
While working on this case, Oliver is still unraveling his father’s life thanks to Sofia (Sarah Steele). I’ll say it right now, Sofia seems…strange. She’s oddly convenient for Oliver, she knows everything about his father, doesn’t have any reserves, Oliver can stay at his father’s apartment, no question asked. It’s so convenient that I wonder if Sofia is real at all. Which could be what makes Oliver be admitted to Hudson Oaks.
Dana (Aury Krebs) is looking for a mentor to supervise the work she can achieve thanks to the grant she earned to research the mental health space. Her assigned mentor is Carol (Tamberla Perry), but with what happened in the past, Dana is not comfortable working with her. She asks Oliver, but he refuses, forcing her to deal with her own action and its consequences. And it’s not even that bad. Carol is a smart woman, and she knows she’s the one who made a mistake.
On Josh’s (Teddy Sears) side, things are a bit tricky. He never told Beau (Marco Pigossi), his ex/new boyfriend, about his past relationship with Oliver, which is not only not very nice of him, but could create issues. And we’re not even talking about the fact that he’s not being honest. Josh and Beau are planning for the future, and being transparent and honest are two very important things when you commit to someone.
Is this the end for Josh and Oliver? At this point, it seems to be the case. Josh really wants to build a family, but his hesitation to be honest with Beau could hide something. It’s unclear, and his behavior doesn’t completely align with his words. Josh could also be lying to himself. It doesn’t even seem to be about Beau, it’s more about who fits into Josh’s life the best for him to get where he wants, or thinks he wants, to be at this point in his life. Josh chose Beau because “it’s easy”, as he said it himself. With Oliver, things weren’t as easy, but Josh was falling for him. I think Josh is making a mistake, but time will tell.
The other catastrophic non-couple of the show, aka Carol and Thorne (John Clarence Stewart), are still dancing around each other. After Thorne invited someone else to the gala, Carol took a step back. They still get along, and this episode brought them closer a little bit more, but it’s definitely not a done deal yet.
Then things shift when Oliver learns from Silva (Al Calderon) that Dana was the one who reported Carol. Just like us, Silva assumed Oliver knew, but he didn’t, and thinking about it, we never saw him address it, which is not like him. Oliver takes it very personally, which annoys Carol, because while Dana is Oliver’s intern, it’s not about him. Oliver and his abandonment issues… Now he feels like his trust has been betrayed.
The episode ends one week after the current events, with Oliver already admitted at Hudson Oaks, where Sofia seems to be too. And, yeah, this is strange. Very strange. Which supports my feeling that Sofia is not real, Oliver’s brain could have made her up to cope with his father leaving a second time and with the lack of answers. Let’s see what the next episode will unveil!
