Undone season 1, episode 4 recap: Moving the Keys

Undone fills in some blanks with “Moving the Keys.” Who had a motive to kill Jacob? How far did Becca go with Tomas? Is Sam found out? We’ve got the recap!

As Alma (Rosa Salazar) continues to hone her skills with her dad, Jacob (Bob Odenkirk), she starts to see things more clearly. At first, it’s jarring. But, by the end of “Moving the Keys,” Alma starts to put things together. She’s not remembering as much as she’s reliving the past. Meanwhile, Becca (Angelique Cabral), Sam (Siddharth Dhananjay), and Camila (Constance Marie) emotionally manipulate Alma for their own benefit. It makes me wonder how long that’s been happening to Alma. Is her whole character on Undone simply trying to break free from the stress of all the mind games?

Try. But, try not to try.

Jacob is trying to teach Alma how to move objects. But, he stresses that you can’t do that with your mind. “Minds are nothing.” Instead, Jacob suggests that Alma manipulate time. There are keys on a counter. Alma tries for an entire day to move the keys, but it all seems to happen in a matter of seconds.

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First, the keys disappear when Camila catches Alma staring at them. They return at night when Sam returns home from moon gazing. The fact that Jacob let Alma focus on the keys for as long as he did was a little cruel. But, his manipulation of time makes it all happen quickly. So, to him, the wasted day of life means nothing. I guess Alma could go back and fill it with activities. Or maybe Jacob is planning for this reality to never happen at all if Alma can prevent him from dying.

Before any of that can happen, Alma must investigate. She asks Jacob, point-blank, if he was having an affair with Farnaz (Sheila Vand). He denies it but seems to know a lot about her skinny-armed boyfriend. His name could be Gerald, Harold, or Derald. Alma playfully pokes at her dad over the relationship. He insists the relationship was merely teacher and student.

Jacob thinks his killer was Charlie (Brad Hall) from the America Freedom Corporation. They are the ones who gave Jacob a generous grant.  Jacob wanted to dissolve the partnership. He would have surrendered his research to the American Freedom Corporation. Jacob just wants to be free going forward to do more research. Charlie says no. Farnaz calls him out for being a weapons manufacturer. Charlie smiles, shakes his head, and tells Jacob that this is not the way their relationship will end.

The Fight

Alma keeps returning to a fight that Jacob and Camila had about a week before his accident. She also keeps flashing back to a particular scene of her 3-year-old self (Kristalyn Harley) learning ASL from Jacob. Jacob tells her that she will return to places that were filled with emotion. Those could be her emotions or those of her family. The reason she needs to keep playing the handheld blackjack is partially to keep her emotions in check. Alma must remain calm or she’ll keep phasing in and out of emotional pasts and futures.

Alma and Sam meet Becca and Reed (Kevin Bigley) at the bar. They are gathered under the guise of a wedding emergency, but Alma just wants to talk to Becca about their dad. Alma makes dreamy eyes at Tomas (Nicholas Gonzalez) while Becca makes nervous eye contact with the bartender stud. While Sam and Reed hit it off over sharing a veggie Frito pie, Becca goes to talk to Tomas. They had done more than kiss during their game of truth or dare. They had drunken sex at Alma’s the night before her crash. Becca apologizes for not calling him back. She holds up her right hand and says it’s obvious she’s engaged. Tomas pouts and says that he’s been a lot of drunk girl’s one nightstand. That’s both a vulnerable moment and a humblebrag.

Sam, on his way to the bathroom, runs into Becca and Tomas. He correctly guesses the two had sex. Becca makes him promise not to tell Alma. When Sam claims he can’t lie to Alma, Becca (and me from my recliner) immediately called him on lying to Alma. In a sad turn of events, she promises not to tell Alma that they’re broken up if he doesn’t tell Alma about Tomas. Poor Alma. Her sister is relying on the fact that she doesn’t remember that drunken night in order to allow Sam to continue to capitalize on her trauma-induced amnesia. Gross.

Dream State

For some reason, Jacob held back the fact that he could contact Alma in a dream state up until this point. He doesn’t even tell her when she’s in the dream state. Alma is just all of a sudden thrust in front of the kids at the daycare stark naked while trying to explain that pubic hair is totally normal. Still, the dream state leaves Alma looking less catatonic when she phases in and out of timelines. That’s important because her mom wants her to see a therapist.

Alma makes a deal. If she goes to a therapist, Camila will let Alma keep all of the boxes from her storage. Alma is using those to investigate Jacob’s death. Camila agrees. Dr. June (Christine Avila) comments on the handheld blackjack. She says that objects like this are often used by people suffering from PTSD as a means to make people not notice them. It’s an isolation mechanism. Alma does not deny this. She’s prescribed blue and white pills that look like Cymbalta. Her mom tricks her into finding the prescription and gets it filled for Alma. Noble, yet shady.

Later that night, Alma is making dinner. While slicing a carrot, she deeply cuts her index finger. Relying on her dad’s training, which is wishy-washy at best, Alma reverses the timeline to repeat it. No matter how many times she restarts the timeline, Alma always cuts her finger. Jacob did say that it’s very difficult to alter your own timeline. That’s why he needs her to undo his death.

Alma gets emotional and phases to another timeline. She gets thrust into the backseat of her car the night she’s driving her and Sam home from Becca’s engagement party. When she said they had to talk, we knew they broke up. Now we get the full convo. Alma makes Sam admit that he loves her and that he wants to be with her forever. It’s a touching moment. But, Alma tells him that she will never feel that way about him. She asks him to move out. That was heartbreaking and made me cry. But it was honest and the most loving thing she could do for Sam. I believe Alma. She’s just not that into Sam. When one person’s feelings become so obvious in a relationship and the reaction to them is not a mirror image, the relationship has to end.

So. Alma now knows about Sam’s big lie. We knew she found out, already. But I want to see the reaction. Also, does this mean sam will spill the tea on Becca? Only one way to find out. Keep watching Undone. Rosa Salazar rules!