VisionQuest Episode 7 Review: Vision Finally Faces His Past as Ultron Makes His Move

This episode takes us all the way back to 1939, where we meet Phineas Horton, played by Paul Bettany. It looks like Horton has just signed his life away, and his wife is clearly not happy about it. Their conversation revolves around their dead son, even though they still have a living daughter. She finally tells him that they are leaving, and she hopes that one day he builds something that knows how to love him back. What Horton is building is Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch.

Back in the present, Vision informs Thomas that they can't risk removing the technology from Lisa because it could kill her. Friday contacts Vision and the others with some troubling information: Jo doesn't even know how she became synthetic.

Jo and Ultron head to her final resting place, where she has hidden her bigger plan. She uses all the bio-keys she has collected, including the scan Ultron gifted her. And they keep kissing... gross. The final key appears to be a voice scan, or at least that's what Jo thinks. It turns out to be a password lock, and she starts freaking out.

That's when the mysterious figure appears to Jo and Vision. He leaves them a scroll containing source code and tells them both to come back and see him. Ultron later finds Friday and tells her that he covered for her. He also makes it clear that Jo isn't the real threat. Meanwhile, seeing Lisa briefly come around and watching Thomas desperately try to save her pushes Vision to open the scroll and access the source code.

Things get really trippy from here. Vision finds himself walking through Phineas Horton's house, where he comes face-to-face with the original Vision. This version tells him that he has been reduced to nothing more than a memory, and that the Vision standing before him is the real one. But our Vision doesn't want to accept that. He's afraid, and rather than face what he's feeling, he destroys the original Vision.

In the real world, the code has taken control of Lisa's body again, leaving Paladin and Tommy to deal with a murder bot.

Vision's journey continues, and we finally get to see Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch! He's the first synthetic man, and he looks almost exactly like Vision. This gives Paul Bettany another chance to act against himself, playing Phineas Horton, Jim Hammond, and Vision in the same episode. I really enjoyed seeing him take on all three roles.

Jim tells Vision that he doesn't actually have the source code. It already lies within him. The real question is: where is the Vision? Vision keeps refusing to feel, and he refuses to accept that he has a son. He can't bring himself to accept it because doing so means admitting a truth that comes with an unbearable amount of pain. Jim asks him who he has lost, and Vision finally breaks down. He names Billy, Tommy, and Wanda.

This is the moment he finally admits that he is the Vision and that he has always been the Vision. There has only ever been one. He is impossibly broken, but Jim tells him that he is healed and that he envies him. It's a powerful moment, and it leads to one of the coolest visual changes in the series. Vision transforms into his original colors, but with a fresh paint job. This look is even more comic accurate than the first version we saw. He finally gains access to the source code and wakes up just in time to purge the technology from Lisa.

The mysterious figure then tells Vision to surrender himself to Paladin and hold up his end of the deal. Tommy wakes up to a message from Vision, while Jo finds her source code chip as well. Vision leaves Tommy the Westview file. It's interesting that Vision still seems to believe Billy is lost, especially considering everything we've seen. He also finally admits that he loves him. That moment says a lot about how far Vision has come and how much he is finally willing to acknowledge.

The AIs discover that their original programmer predates Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. In that moment, Jo remembers everything, and both she and Vision are powered down. Then we get what looks like the big reveal: Ultron is the one behind it all?

He has Paladin taken out, and in the final moments, he throws Friday's code over the balcony. There is a lot packed into this episode, but Vision's journey is easily the highlight for me. His struggle to accept who he is, what he has lost, and the fact that he has a son gives the episode its emotional center. Paul Bettany does some great work here, especially having to play three different characters during Vision's journey through Horton's house.

And that updated classic Vision look? I loved it. Seeing him finally embrace his identity and accept the pain he's been carrying makes for one of the strongest moments of the series so far.

But that ending raises even more questions. Ultron seems to have been playing a much bigger game than we realized, and Friday's fate is now another thing to worry about. With the finale approaching, there is still plenty left to figure out. This episode gives Vision a major emotional breakthrough while setting up what could be the biggest threat yet.

What did you think?

• Loved it
• Hated it
• So/So