Warning! This article contains spoilers for The Institute episode 4.
A lot happens inThe Institute’s episode 4 as Avery and Luke get close to learning about a secret recovery room in the central facility’s back half, while Tim wonders if Annie was murdered. Before revealing the truth about Avery and Luke’s discovery, however, the episode ends with a massive cliffhanger that raises many questions about the recovery room’s purpose.
Before the cliffhanger ending,theStephen King adaptation’s episode 4 walks through a series of familiar events where Luke shows resistance against the facility’s rules. The new installment even confirms that Luke is well aware of his growing telepathic abilities, but he intentionally refuses to tell Dr. Hendricks about it.
This eventually lands him in a lot of trouble, and he is also tortured to force the truth out of him. However, Luke manages to stand his ground, paving the way for him to come up with a plan to escape the facility with the other kids. While only time will tell whether his plan will work, it is hard not to believe it will have something to do with the recovery room from episode 4 of theStephen King TV show.
What Avery Sees In The Recovery Room In The Institute Episode 4’s Ending
Kalisha Shows Luke & Avery The Door To The Recovery Room
When Kalisha graduates to the back half of the facility, Avery initially struggles to establish a connection with her. This forces others in the front half to fear that she might be dead. However, to Avery’s relief, he eventually manages to telepathically connect with her before he connects Luke to the same mental network.
With this, both Avery and Luke are able to see through Kalisha’s eyes as she gives them a tour of the back half. Many things about the back half seem incredibly off. However,what stands out is a loud buzzing sound that makes all three of them feel uneasy. The characters soon realize the sound comes from a room labeled as “recovery.”
Despite being in the back half for quite some time, Kalisha claims to know nothing about the recovery room. When Luke asks Avery to look beyond the door, Avery, too, gets scared and refuses to see what is in the room. Towards the end of the episode, however, Avery gets a glimpse of the room’s interior by looking into the cleaning staff member’s head.
Avery sees that the young girl was taken to the recovery room, hinting that it is a crematorium of some sort.
Previously in the episode, three new kids were brought into the facility: two twin sisters and one boy. The boy had struck one of the twins in the head and killed her, but Ms. Sigsby lied that the young girl was still alive. Avery sees that the young girl was taken to the recovery room, hinting that it is a crematorium of some sort.
The characters also previously saw thick black smoke emerging from the back half’s chimney,suggesting that those who are eventually of no use to the facility’s authorities are killed and incinerated in the recovery room.
What The Institute’s Authorities Are Doing To The Children In The Back Half
They Are Using Extreme Methods To Establish Control Over Them
Luke and all the kids have always been surprised to know that the facility does not restrict them from doing anything. As long as they have access to reward points, which they earn through compliance, they are free to even smoke and drink inside the facility. In the back half, however,Kalisha reveals the kids have endless access to cigarettes.
She also reveals they are all asked to watch strange movies almost throughout the day. The nature of these movies remains unknown,but they are likely designed for psychological conditioning to help the children improve their TP and TK powers. They are all allowed to freely smoke because the Institute’s authorities want them to comply.
The people running the place seemingly realize that chaos could ensue if the children joined forces and planned an escape. Therefore, to keep them compliant,they get them hooked on many addictive habits. Given how Lukas, too, was forced to watch something disturbing on a screen in his latest meeting with Dr. Hendricks, it seems likely the kids in the back half are also exposed to something similar.
Previously, Annie also claimed that the people at the Institute were responsible for orchestrating plane crashes and other real-world events. This suggests the Institute is connected to a government body that is using the kids as weapons to control various events in the real world.
Why Luke Lies About His TP
Luke Does It To Buy Himself More Time
The Institute’s early moments established that, apart from having supernatural powers, Luke is also incredibly smart. Therefore, when he learns about his telepathic powers, he intentionally hides them from Dr. Hendricks because he understands that he will be sent to the back half if he honestly reveals everything.
He also realizes that once he is sent to the back half, it will become much harder for him to formulate the escape plan. Owing to this, to ensure he has more time to plan the escape,Luke lies about his powers inThe Instituteandends up extending his stay in the front half. His act, however, gradually starts crumbling as Hendricks and Tony see right through his lies.
Should Tim Trust Wendy In The Institute?
Wendy Seems Unreliable
The fact that Annie was murdered soon after she started spewing the truth about the Institute’s suspicious activities suggests thatmany people from the outside world are trying to protect the facility’s secrets. While Wendy’s involvement with the facility has not been confirmed, she, too, could secretly be working as one of its agents.
The Instituteseason 1 is scheduled to have a total of eight episodes.
If she is also protecting the facility, Tim might have made a mistake by telling her the truth about his opinions on Annie’s death. She might even try to divert Tim away from evidence and eventually try to kill him before he can uncover the facility’s dark secrets. Owing to this, Tim will have to tread carefully and trust no one inThe Institute’s future episodes.
The Institute
A kidnapped prodigy with special abilities, Luke, ends up at The Institute, while Tim, a former cop, seeks a new life in a nearby town. Their fates are inevitably linked.
