After getting shot in the previous episode, Dana ended up at the hospital. She had to undergo surgery, and while her situation was serious, thankfully the bullet had not damaged her organs. Before she lost consciousness, Dana begged Ibrahim not to disclose to the cops that Em was at the scene when he arrived. Ibrahim had no idea what was going on, but he ultimately chose to respect Dana’s request. Lying was not easy, but Ibrahim somehow managed to stick to Dana’s version of the story. In episode 5 of Revival, Wayne prioritized finding the gunman, and since Ibrahim was the only one who made it out of the situation alive, he was considered a suspect. Did Wayne track down the actual perpetrator? Also, what happened to Aaron Weimer?
Spoiler Alert
Why was Ibrahim replaced as the head of the Wausau Project?
Myles Miller, a notorious criminal who had served his sentence, was arrested after Dana raised suspicion. But instead of merely investigating if Miller was involved in any of the recent crimes, he was used as a guinea pig by the CDC. They were working on a solution that could be used on the Revivers to slow down their healing properties. They’d injected Miller with a high dose of snake venom, and they found out that it indeed helped slow cell division. The process was excruciating for Miller, and the minute Ibrahim learned about the inhumane practice, he chose to put a stop to it.
Dr. Morelle, the researcher working on the experiment, was of the opinion that since they didn’t know if Revivers could pose a danger to society, it was important to consider the worst possible outcome. She was confident that by injecting a low dose of the chemical, they could slow down the Revivers and bring back ‘normalcy.’ Ibrahim was not okay with the direction the research was heading in. He refused to approve an experiment that didn’t take into account the trauma it inflicted on the subject.
Wayne had been supportive of curbing the rights of Revivers, but even he thought this was a new low. While he believed that the information they now had could come in handy, he suggested that Dr. Morelle put the experiment on hold. Ibrahim was a little relieved, but soon he had to face the governor, who had a completely different take on the whole incident. Governor June Harris was not happy with the way Ibrahim was dealing with the situation. She understood his moral apprehensions, but she believed that they had to do whatever was necessary to keep the Reviver situation under control. Since the CDC was brought onboard the Wausau Project to help understand what resulted in the strange event, she thought it was their duty to come up with an explanation. Since Ibrahim had failed to do the job, she decided to remove him as the head of the Wausau Project and encouraged Dr. Morelle to continue with her research. The governor requested Ibrahim to surrender all his samples and data to Dr. Morelle and declared her the head of the project. Ibrahim was devastated, and he wondered if he could continue working on a project that considered a segment of the population as second-class citizens. Ibrahim was making progress in his research; he’d figured out that the Moore Creek water was contaminated, but he couldn’t really put a finger on what it was and how it resulted in the revival phenomenon.
Why did Em leave the bullet at the crime scene?
After discussing the case with her father, Em realized that the missing bullet from the scene could be crucial to solving the case. She was stunned when Wayne mentioned that there was a working theory that suggested Dana could’ve been the one responsible for the shooting. Since both the victims (Aaron and Dana) were shot through and through, Wayne hoped that they would come across the bullets, and that could help them find their shooter. The problem was that the bullet that had pierced through Dana’s body had entered Em’s, and it was stuck there. She needed to pull it out, and she asked her best friend, Kay, for help. The blood made Kay nervous, but she managed to pull the bullet out with a knife and her bare hands. Em cleaned the bullet; after all, according to Ibrahim’s testament, she wasn’t at the scene. Next, she managed to slyly enter the morgue, and she found Aaron’s dead body. She made a small incision, and she coated the bullet with his blood to make it look convincing. The next morning, she visited the crime scene with Kay, and she placed the bullet on the ground, hoping that the cops would find it and the investigation would head in the right direction.
Who Was Arrested? And Why?
One of the residents, Lester, was eagerly waiting to have a word with Wayne. He’d mentioned seeing someone suspicious on the night of the shooting. He was walking his dog in the woods when he heard two shots, and soon another two. And he noticed a man dressed all in black—he had a black ski mask on, and he was wearing pants with a lot of pockets, along with tactical boots, and had a flashlight, probably a Phoenix TK16. When Wayne showed Lester his flashlight, he confirmed that was the one the mysterious man was carrying. Wayne realized that the man in question was a police officer. He had one of the officers working on the case collect the firearms of everyone at the department to run ballistics. The bullet and Dana’s gun were not a match; therefore, she was no longer considered a suspect.
At the end of Revival episode 5, we learn that after running the ballistics test, the cops discovered that the firearm of Deputy McCray, the head of the local drug task force, matched the bullet found on the crime scene. They became all the more suspicious of him when they discovered a mutilated human foot stored in the trunk of his car in a plastic bag!
In episode 5, the mystery man made a brief appearance. He sneaked into someone’s house (possibly a police officer’s) and went through the ‘Blackdeer’ evidence box. He was deeply bothered seeing Rose Blackdeer’s missing report, and we also discover that Jesse Blackdeer was one of the suspects in the case. Clearly, the case was too personal for him, and he ended up taking the case file with him before leaving. Since McCray was not the one who’d pulled the trigger on Dana and Aaron, it’s likely that the man in the black ski mask had framed him. But why did McCray have mutilated body parts in his car? We don’t know! Meanwhile, Blaine’s influence on the people of the town is growing stronger. He had gathered a bunch of men, ready to wreak havoc on his commands. The mob threatened the Revivers because they thought they were an abomination. Towards the end of episode 5, one of Blaine’s disciples performs the rite of passage to become a part of the tribe. The ritual involves walking into the basement and touching a light source with bare hands. We do not yet know what is in the basement—but the creature seems to radiate heat and light. Maybe it was a byproduct of a scientific experiment gone wrong that Blaine interpreted as divine/demonic presence. The mystery is getting more and more convoluted with each episode; hopefully we’ll soon find answers to all our questions.
