Constellation Episode 7: After following events primarily through Jo’s perspective, the sixth episode of “Constellation” on Apple TV+ followed Paul’s perspective – in a world where Paul is alive. In this reality, Paul had to leave Jo in space and return to find his life quite different from what he pictured. Unlike him, NASA executives and other astronauts know nothing about the CAL experiment. So, bewildered, Paul meets Bud Caldera at his LA apartment and gets shot. Meanwhile, Alice cannot accept Jo’s loss. On the day of the funeral, she sees Jo and Alice from an alternate universe. Later, at their family cabin, she sees Jo once again.
Now, “Constellation” episode 7 shows Jo realizing the truth about Alice she left behind. Henry also contends with his complicated past, entwined with Bud Caldera.
Spoilers Ahead
Constellation Episode 7 “Through the Looking Glass” Recap:
The penultimate episode of “Constellation” begins right where the sixth episode left us. Alice (Rosie/Davina Coleman) hears a car arrive outside their family cabin. She goes to the window to see Jo (Noomi Rapace) walk out of the car. So, she puts on her shoes and calls ‘Mama.’ Jo hears it but cannot see her. So, Swedish-speaking Alice walks out, looking for her mother. On the other hand, Jo speaks with Alice about their video call before the collision. Alice says Jo spoke about the CAL experiment in English. But Jo cannot remember knowing about CAL before the accident.
Based on her informed understanding, Jo explains how CAL is supposed to capture a quantum superposition, i.e., the idea that one thing can simultaneously exist in two places. Then, she and Alice listen to another tape where Paul (William Catlett) tells Michaela (Chipo Chung) about Jo’s lacerated body. Jo immediately turns it off and decides to stop listening to any more tapes. Alice finds it all too confusing. ‘Is this Jo really her mother?’ she wonders. Jo empathizes with the root of her confusion. Meanwhile, Magnus (James D’Arcy) heads to the cabin with Frederic (Julian Looman) and Henry (Jonathan Banks).
What does Jo experience around the cabin?
On their way to the cabin, Henry reveals that he also experienced dissonance as Jo did. By then, Jo leaves the cabin with the CAL machine. Once again, she hears the other Alice calling out for her but cannot see her. By then, the other Alice notices a light in the distance. She reaches there to find an almost identical cabin. Alice enters it, reaches the second floor, and enters a cupboard. Somehow, she ends up locking herself inside. She shouts for help, and within a few moments, Jo shows up.
Jo takes Swedish-speaking Alice to her cabin and offers her a bath. The next moment, in another room, she sees Alice lying in bed. For a few moments, she sees both versions of Alice exist in the same space. Moments later, Alice in the bath calls Jo. Since Jo doesn’t respond, Alice walks out but doesn’t find her. Magnus notices that and worries Alice went out in the snow. Alice tries to explain that she saw Jo, but Magnus does not believe her. On the other hand, Jo walks out with Alice to find the other cabin.
How does Alice meet the other Alice?
Jo leaves the cabin with Alice to meet the other her. Alice thinks Jo is imagining seeing the other Alice as an aftereffect of her space travel. Jo tries to explain the complicated nature of her reality, but it doesn’t help. Alice gets upset and starts running away. Jo starts following her and forgets to take the CAL machine with her. On the other hand, Swedish-speaking Alice leaves her cabin to meet Alice. She sees signs of Jo’s presence, which leads her to discover the bag with the CAL machine.
Coincidently, both Alices walk into the cabin, reach the second floor, and enter a cupboard with a tape recorder. It allows them to communicate with each other. After locking the doors, they manage to see each other through a mirror. On the other hand, Jo reaches the cabin and can’t find Alice. But she finds the tape, which lets her listen to the conversation between both the Alices. That’s how she learns that the other Jo is dead. The Alices discuss the possibilities of what happened to their mothers. Alice, who was told that Jo is dead, misses her mother. She naively asks if she can have her back. Hearing that, Jo feels a pang in her heart.
Constellation Episode 7 “Through the Looking Glass” Ending Explained:
What does Henry experience near Jo’s cabin?
Magnus and others arrive near the cabin to find heavy snow. By the time it gets cleared, Henry reveals something peculiar about his experience with the Apollo 18 mission. People considered him a hero for saving other astronauts. But he thought they were dead. Only when he returned from the Moon he found out that they were fine. Magnus asks how he coped with it as a way to help Jo. Henry says he took his pills and resumed his professional duties, i.e., stopped actively thinking about what went wrong.
Right after Henry walks out of the car, he starts feeling uneasy. He walks through the snow toward a light and finds the CAL machine. It starts messing up with his head, bringing up things that Bud saw. Henry walks toward the burning cabin while realizing that Bud shot Paul. Right after, Henry and Bud swap places. Meanwhile, Jo notices a burning cabin and drives there. The moment she enters it, the fire magically disappears as if it didn’t exist. However, she sees a burning room in the glass frame. On the second floor, she finds Alice, who doesn’t speak Swedish. However, even if she can hear the other Alice speak, Alice can’t hear her.
What happens to Henry and Bud?
Alice tells Jo to use her as a vessel to communicate with the other Alice. After a brief conversation, Jo realizes that their cabin is burning. So, she carries Alice to the basement and finds Henry there. She asks him to get her out of the cabin while she saves the other one. What she doesn’t realize is that he isn’t Henry but Bud. Bud carries Alice out of the cabin and leaves her in the snow. Unlike Henry, he seems apathetic. Meanwhile, Henry finds himself in Bud’s LA apartment, with Paul’s wounded body on the ground. He immediately calls for help.
Jo keeps searching for Swedish-speaking Alice in the cabin but can’t find her. So, she walks out to find Alice in the snow. Somehow, the other Alice appears just a few steps away from her. Magnus from her universe comes looking for her. Next to Alice, he notices a silhouette and believes it to be Jo. But moments later, they disappear from each other. Later on, in the hospital, Alice asks Magnus where Jo is. He tells her that Jo has gone to seek help with Irene Lysenko (Barbara Sukowa). Alice realizes that Irene is the Valya she sees in her dreams.
