The Dark Backward

"**The Dark Backward**" is the seventh episode of the first season of *The I-Land*, and the seventh episode of the series overall.

## Synopsis

Close to freedom, Chase must first navigate prison politics, face a devious warden and endure rude awakenings.

## Plot

**SPOILERS AHEAD**
This episode of The I-Land begins with Chase awakening to Doctor Wyss telling her she’s been exonerated for her crimes, thanks in part to her husband’s confession. Her husband, of course, being Cooper. Bonnie and Clyde were rogue agents messing with the game and for now, she’s off Death Row and a free woman. As the Warden approaches her cell, he’s warned against antagonizing Chase.

Despite being weary about leaving, Chase agrees to follow the guards, where she learns her last name was Chase and that her actual name is Gabriela. As she discusses her feelings toward the simulation, she’s brought before the Warden who tries to nonchalantly wave away his behaviour earlier before telling her there’s nothing for her out in the real world. He admits to trying to sabotage the program because of how horrible the rest of the inmates are and it’s here he tries to make a bargain with her, telling her not to mention him or the sabotage. However, she offers a counter-deal – to break Cooper free of the experiment so she can tell him how she feels.

Bonnie and Clyde are faced with jail-time but despite being told they could give up an official in exchange for going free, the Warden watches them like a hawk and they refuse to play ball, telling them it was their own plan.

Meanwhile Chase is debriefed whilst being asked more about the gun and the number 39. It turns out 39 is the number of steps from the end of the cell block to the electric chair. It’s a sadistic reveal and it prompts Chase to bite back against the morality of the entire experiment. The Warden chirps up at this point and agrees with her, only to see them recess as the talk turns to that of Bonnie and Clyde and their possible boss.

As they take a short break, the Warden manages to take Chase away, but Doctor Wyss catches him in the act. With him now investigated for the murders inside the game, Chase tells them the truth about the Warden, who openly admits what he did and that the cannibal was “a pretty great idea”. Breaking down the veil around them, the Warden tells Chase that Doctor Wyss is hiding the truth from her, which prompts her to ask her outright what it means later on after the tense encounter. As it happens, everything around them is true except for her own appearance, which happens to be a lie.

As she’s injected with something in the back of her head, Chase’s appearance changes to an older and visibly aged version of herself. She’s been in prison 25 years and her younger persona is simply an avatar. When the cohorts arrive on the island, they go at the age they commited the crime.

We now see Chase as her true self, taken outside where she finds the world has changed completely. Meanwhile, the Warden awakens on the island to find K.C. and Cooper, who welcome him to One-Land.

## Cast

* Kate Bosworth as KC
* Ronald Peet as Cooper
* Sibylla Deen as Blair
* Gilles Geary as Mason
* KeiLyn Durrel Jones as Clyde
* Clara Wong as Bonnie
* Dalia Davi as Dr. Wyss
* Victor Slezak as Dr. Dafoe
* Caroline Hewitt as Nurse Golding
* Bruce McGill as Warden Wells
* John Earl Jelks as Professor Verne
* Subhash Mandal as Doctor Conrad

### Minor

* Chad Krowchuk as Matthew
* Rachel Luttrell as Brooke
* Mercedes Colon as Older Chase
* Blake Banbury as Prison Worker

## Gallery

### Images

* Screencaps
* Behind the Scenes