The fourth episode of VisionQuest is delightfully complex, connecting past and present in an exploration of Vision’s character.
The episode begins with a flashback to 1939, where a man (played by Paul Bettany) sits in a lavish mansion. His wife comes in to plead with him, and we learn he is liquidating his assets in pursuit of an AI he is building. His wife reminds him that his son is gone and cannot be brought back and his daughter is living, but he pays this no mind, denying the accusation that he is trying to bring him back at all. It is revealed that he is the creator of JIM, the first AI.
In modern time, Vision, Thomas, and Lisa are still in Paladin’s truck, and they learn that the nanobot that has infested Lisa’s brain cannot be removed – merely reincoded at great risk. Vision gets a call from FRIDAY and learns that there are billions more of those nanobots locked away. if Lisa’s is not deactivated within the next few hours she will be lost forever.
Joe takes Ultron to her own grave, where the cage of the nanobots rests nearby. She uses each of the biokeys she has collected from her victims to open it but discovers there is a sixth key, which she does not know.
Vision opens his data package and signs the agreement to turn himself over to Paladin. Vision, Thomas, and Lisa track down Paladin in his bunker, where they use a Wakandan alien battery Paladin has in his possession to give Vision enough power to access his source code – which, for an AI, is essentially a visit to the subconscious.
Vision rides an elevator down into his source code and we learn it is the same mansion which the creator of JIM inhabited. The first figment of a person he encounters is Ultron, sitting and watching WandaVision. Vision admits to him that what scares him the most is that he spared him, “and not out of mercy but out of some pathetic need.” He tells Ultron that he is not his father, but Ultron responds that “you couldn’t let me go if you tried,” and Vision moves on.
Vision is transported back to the beginnings of the hallway, where he sees young Billy and Tommy running through the hall. He runs into his old self, who berates him, accusing him of lying to himself and saying that he only says he is a “copy” so he does not have to be as good. In return, Vision kills his old self – an act both symbolic of his rage and literal in its actions.
Eventually, Vision makes it to the end of the hallway, where he sees both JIM and JIM’s creator, both characters played by Bettany. JIM’s creator (Dr. Phineas Horton) tells Vision that JIM was created to be fearless, but his desperation to feel drove him to combustion. Vision asks JIM where the source code is, and JIM tells him he already has it. Vision is driven to tears – saying it is impossible, and if he accepts Thomas as his son he acknowledges his loss, but he ultimately concedes, stating “I am the Vision. I have always been the Vision.”
Intercut within Vision’s subconscious exploration is Joe’s own, which takes place within the same flat in which Ultron inhabited in Vision’s mind sphere and features a painting of the mansion of Dr. Horton. Joe and Ultron wonder why they both have this loft within their code, but deduce it. Joe remembers her awards that she won for her AI technology and finds the source code.
Vision, meanwhile, is able to reprogram Lisa using his source code and – once doing so – is contacted by the unknown man, who tells him he finally wants to meet face to face and it is time to surrender himself. Before doing so, Vision leaves a note for Thomas, expressing his love for the first time and giving him the WandaVision tapes. Paladin takes Vision to Horton’s mansion, which is the designated drop off point. People come to retrieve Joe and – just before she can react – both Joe and Vision shut down. The unnamed man finally emerges from the mansion (played by James Spader) and it is revealed that he is who Ultron has based his avatar on – subconsciously if not consciously.
This episode is a masterclass in acting on Betanny’s part, as he is able to deliver three uniquely different (Vision, JIM, and Dr. Horton) but intriguing performances all within the same scene. The emotion – and arc – that he shows as Vision is incomparable to anything he has shown yet, and ultimately the highlight of the episode.
Where the episode may fall flat, however, is the generic and nondescript use of the “source code.” The source code – something JIM possessed, and was passed down to all other AIs – seems to be unique to each AI, and yet what it is isn’t exactly clear. It seems very directly tied to memories and the subconscious – whether literally or metaphorically – but what it actually does seems very broad. For Joe, it allowed her to access her memories. For Vision, it allowed him to realize he was deluding himself, but also allowed him to reprogram the nanobot within Lisa’s brain. This is an incongruency that makes the plot (as unbelievable as it is) less believable, and distracts from the large impact of the climactic reveal.
Rating: 8/10