The final episode of Revival is here! And while most of the mystery is solved, the final scene leaves enough room for speculation. In the previous episode, Blaine had abducted Em, and he’d come to the conclusion that by ‘exterminating’ her, he would successfully close the door to hell. Ibrahim seemed a little too confused in episode 9, but thankfully in the final episode, he proved that his heart had always been in the right place. He tried to talk sense to Blaine, but the preacher was delusional. He’d pretty much waited his entire life to live up to his father’s prediction, and finally he’d found the opportunity to prove to the world that he was the chosen one. So, did Blaine torch Em? Let’s revisit the highlights of Revival episode 10.
Spoiler Alert
What was the connection between the creeps and the revivals?
When Blaine spoke about his angel, Ibrahim laughed at his conviction. He went on to narrate how one of the ‘angels’ and Jordan merged into a glowing beam of light and transformed into specks of dust. It was nothing like Wade’s painful demise, and that proved that the ‘angel’ was not sent to exterminate the Revivers. When Ibrahim asked what Wade’s last words were, Blaine’s young recruit quickly responded that she had repeatedly said, ‘It’s not mine.’ He begged Ibrahim to explain the meaning of her last words, because it had become pretty evident to those in the room that Ibrahim knew more about the Revivers and the Creeps than Blaine did.
Ibrahim was of the opinion that, just like it’s believed in Islam that after a person dies, their soul is separated from their body, something similar had happened in Wausau. The soul enters an intermediate state that acts as a transition between the present world and the next. According to Ibrahim’s theory, the strong beam of light Blaine saw on Revival night was actually Em’s soul, and for an unexplainable reason, her death broke the barrier between the mortal world and the afterlife. The reason Wade’s last words were ‘it’s not mine’ was because the glowing creature she was introduced to didn’t have her soul. Only when a Reviver was introduced to their soul and they willingly reunited with it did they finally die a peaceful, permanent death. Blaine didn’t believe in Ibrahim’s theory; after all, there was no way to prove that he was right.
Meanwhile, after Dana and Wayne arrived at the church, Blaine’s militia captured them, all thanks to Lester, who enthusiastically called out to the pair just as they were approaching members of the militia. They were brought inside the church, and Dana begged Blaine to let go of her sister. She explained that Blaine had completely misunderstood Revivers. They were not evil creatures; rather, they had magical healing power, and Em was the reason why she was still alive even after being shot. Blaine refused to believe Dana. He shot Wayne and challenged Em to prove that she had the power to heal. Even though Em was weak, she managed to break free from her shackles. She rushed to be by her father’s side, and she placed her palms on the bullet wound. But this time, she didn’t emit the golden beam of light that she did when Dana was injured. Wayne rapidly started to lose blood. He bid his final goodbyes and lost consciousness. Dana noticed that Em was bleeding from the eyes, and she felt there was a glimmer of hope. Em was devastated, and she was trying to revive her father with all her will, and magically, once again, her palms started to emit light, and Wayne’s wound was healed. Blaine witnessed the magic firsthand, but he didn’t know how to react to it, because accepting that Em was capable of giving life would defeat his entire purpose.
Em was extremely weak, and she lost consciousness. Ibrahim begged Blaine to let go of them, but he didn’t listen. As the soldiers started attacking Blaine’s militia, Dana, Ibrahim, and Wayne carried Em to a room inside the church. Ibrahim made her drink the creek water, but it was not enough to completely heal her. She needed to soak herself in the healing water, and the only way to do so was by taking her close to the water body. Lester offered to help take Em to the spot. Since Dana had to pick up Cooper before leaving Wausau, they decided to accept Lester’s help. Wayne decided to stay back and face the military. Even though he was temporarily arrested, the commander was unsuccessful in finding Em.
Who had murdered Em and Rose?
Instead of taking Em to the healing water body, Lester brought her to an old abandoned mill. Em was too exhausted to even process what was going on. Meanwhile, when Dana informed Lester that she would meet them soon, he warned her that there were soldiers down by the creek and advised her not to leave yet. He promised that he would look after Em and inform Dana when the coast was clear. Dana was at Jeannie Gorski’s house at the time. She had left Cooper there, who’d been struggling emotionally after his best friend Jordan disappeared (she was absorbed by one of the glowing creatures). While casually going through Jeannie’s collection of books to kill time, Dana noticed something crucial. She found a book titled ‘Banks of the Broken Creek’ by Aaron Weimar, and when she asked Jeannie about it, she discovered that it was Lester who had a strange obsession with the creek water. Jeannie and Lester shared a romantic relationship, and he even tried to introduce her to his obsession, but she wasn’t as intrigued. Jeannie also mentioned that she had a recording of one of Aaron Weimar’s lectures. Dana watched the video, and she figured that Aaron had theorized that the creek water had healing properties. The tape was overwritten with an intimate video of Lester and Jeannie, and while Dana was about to immediately turn it off, she noticed something that left her flabbergasted. Lester had a large overlapping triangles tattoo on his body similar to the one Em had mentioned seeing before she was killed. Dana joined the dots—Lester was deeply invested in proving Aaron’s theory that the creek water had healing properties, so they teamed up together to perform experiments/rituals, and her sister was one of their victims. Dana left in a hurry; she’d realized she’d made a terrible mistake by leaving her sister with Lester.
Meanwhile, Em woke up to the shrieking call of a creature. She followed the sound, and she discovered that a creature, emitting a purple glow, was trapped there. Lester greeted Em; he was in ritual attire, and his tattoo was on full display. He was also carrying the animal mask that he had on when he’d killed Em. When Em accused Lester of murdering her, he corrected her, stating that her professor had killed her, or at least he was the one who’d attempted to choke her to death at first. Lester added that she could either kill him or find out the reason behind the revival phenomenon. He went on to explain how the creek water had the thinnest membrane between oblivion and awareness, and he had the knowledge to explain everything that Em was going through. Lester was afraid of aging and dying, which was why he took a serious interest in understanding the healing properties of the creek water. He claimed that killing Em was not a part of his plan; Aaron wanted to get rid of her, fearing that his infidelity would damage his reputation, and he was also hopeful that the discovery would help heal his wife. He planned on making Em’s murder look like a suicide, but Aaron was, according to Lester, a ‘sloppy’ partner, and he made the silly mistake of leaving his car on Lester’s property. When Lester contacted Blaine to tow the car, he got thinking. He figured that Aaron was probably planning something on his own, and he intended on cutting Lester out to use the discovery for his personal benefit. Even after the revival phenomenon, Lester continued to suspect Aaron, and that was why he employed Deputy Brent to get rid of him in exchange for money.
Lester believed that their ritualistic experiment could completely transform the idea of life itself, and a few sacrifices were nothing compared to what they were about to achieve. They needed a young woman who could give life, and they’d initially chosen Rose as their vessel. Lester and Aaron drugged her at first, then they drowned her to death in the creek. Just as she was dying, they noticed a golden glow in the water, and they realized that it was coming from within her. But it soon faded, and Rose passed away. Even though they didn’t get the desired result, the golden glow made them believe that they were on the right track. Lester bought the abandoned mill and hoped to continue with their research. But then Aaron betrayed him and went on to kill Em on his own. Lester was deeply offended by his desperation, because he strongly believed that the ritual demanded respect and patience. But then Lester intervened in the experiment, and that was possibly the reason why the dead came back to life in Wausau, because the energy Em emitted was not trapped and used for a single purpose (to cure Aaron’s wife’s cancer or to help Lester reverse aging). The energy was dispersed, and that probably explains the revival phenomenon. While Lester didn’t have an explanation for it, he knew that Em was special and that she was the key that opened the door between life and death. We also discover that the man who’d killed members of the militia in the previous episode was Lester, and he did so to trap the glowing creature (creep) because he knew that it belonged to Em. When Em came face to face with the purple creep, she felt the urgency to unite with it. She knew it was the part of herself that she had been missing since she’d revived.
What happened to Lester?
The purple creature walked into a pool of creek water, and Em followed it. She imagined her mother calling out to her from the pool. She walked into the pool and held her mother’s hand. She believed that only in death would she find the peace she’d been searching for. When her mother held her and asked her to come with her, Em didn’t protest. She was simply glad to have her mother by her side. Just as Em entered the pool, Lester once again attempted to strangle her. But this time, he planned on absorbing Em’s energy all by himself. But his ritual was interrupted after Dana entered the mill and shot him. He had partially grown immune to bullets, but since the ritual wasn’t completed, he failed to absorb all of the Reviver qualities. He clasped Dana’s neck and attempted to choke her; his eyes had turned purple, and it was impossible to stop him. But then Em came to save Dana once again, and this time she pulled out Lester’s heart to stop the madness. The purple faded from Lester’s eyes, and he collapsed to the ground. Dana grabbed hold of Em as she watched her sister gasp for air. Dana helplessly repeated that she didn’t know what to do. Em resigned herself with a smile on her face, stating that they finally got to have an adventure together like they’d always wished for. Dana watched a strong beam of purple light emit from Em’s eyes and mouth, and she simply held onto her sister, hoping that her warmth and desperate cries would heal Em. But then there was a sudden burst of energy, and when Dana woke up, she found Wayne next to her, and he asked her where Em was.
Revival episode 10 fast-forwarded to thirty-five days later, and we discovered that Em’s possible death didn’t result in the disappearance of the other Revivers. After the failure of the military, the governor planned on introducing a new bill to ensure the rights of Revivers. It was evident that in an attempt to wipe Wausau clean of Revivers, the military had done more damage than good. Apparently, the extreme measures that General Kale had taken were unsanctioned, and therefore an investigation was underway. Dana was alive and well, though Em’s absence often left her heartbroken. She’d found a friend and (probably) a lover in Ibrahim, who’d decided to stay in Wausau to study the creek water. Wayne lost his job after failing the citizens of Wausau with the way he tackled the reviver crisis. He always knew that it would come to that, and it was only a matter of time. His job was pretty much his entire life, and coping with this sudden change was quite the challenge.
Who was Em’s secret friend?
Dana met Em’s roommate, Kay, to collect the last box of Em’s belongings. Kay mentioned how deeply she missed her best friend. Dana couldn’t help but ask her why she’d advised Em to go to the bridge the night she was murdered. Kay was startled; she made it very clear that she was not the one who’d asked Em to find closure at the bridge where her mother died. Dana looked at her in disbelief, because Em had mentioned that a friend had asked her to go to the bridge, and she assumed it was Kay. Kay mentioned that Em had online friends on a forum, and it was probably one of them who’d advised her. When Dana returned home, she turned on Em’s laptop and checked her messages on the online platform. She discovered that an anonymous person had advised Em to visit the bridge on her mother’s death anniversary. They seemed quite persistent as well, suggesting that they had some vested interest. And it was likely that the person who’d texted Em had some connection with Aaron and Lester, because clearly they knew about the ritual, which was why they’d lured Em to the bridge.
Dana contacted May and asked her for a favor. May managed to trace the IP address of the person who’d messaged Em, and as it turned out, the texts were sent from the Weimar house. Dana assumed that it was Aaron who’d texted Em from a fake account, but May had an inkling that the anonymous friend was Nithiya Weimar. May explained that even though Nithiya was Em’s court-appointed therapist, she was not initially assigned the case. Nithiya went out of her way to ensure that she was appointed Em’s case. Dana immediately decided to confront Nithiya, and she headed to the Weimar house. But no one was in there.
Is Em alive?
In Revival season 1’s ending, Nithiya stitched the torn bits of Em’s iconic skull hoodie together and handed it to a woman, who turned out to be Em. The ending essentially opens a whole can of possibilities. Since Em’s body was not found at Lester’s mill, it was assumed that she’d died or was perhaps absorbed by a glowing creature like some of the other Revivers who’d also disappeared willingly. But the ending confirms that Em didn’t merge with her soul; she likely retained her Reviver powers. Nithiya possibly found Em before Wayne and the cops arrived at the scene. They had moved to a remote village, probably far away from Wausau. In the season two theories article, we’ve delved deep into what possibly will unfold in the upcoming season.
