Spoilers ahead through Episode 3

Devs, the new sci-fi series from up-and-coming paragon on the genre on the big and small screen Alex Garland, is poised to be the next big water-cooler drama in an era of post-water-cooler television. Episodes of the heady show are available to stream now thanks to the newly launched FX on Hulu streaming channel, but weve already got a ton of questions that we hope Devs will answer. Stay tuned to this post because well be updating it with answers, more questions, and a validity check on our theories along the way.

Devs follows the story of a young software engineer, Lily Chan (Sonoya Mizuno), who investigates the secretive development division of her employer which she believes is behind the murder of her boyfriend Sergei (Karl Glusman). Devs also stars Nick Offerman, Jin Ha, Zach Grenier, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Cailee Spaeny and Alison Pill. The new limited series, produced by FX Productions, will attempt to do all this in just eight episodes. But first

*Spoilers ahead*

Image via Miya Mizuno/FX

Our entry point into the world of Devs is Sergei, a gifted programmer who finds himself in way over his head as he gains access to the highly secure and secretive Devs program within the company he works for, Amaya. Sergeis exemplary work had to do with mapping the behavior of a simple nematode into a computer program, to the point that the A.I. was able to predict the creatures behavior to nearly 100% without any direct connections between the two to give feedback. The impressive feat was only hampered by the limitation of a 30-second predictive window, but that was good enough for Forest to invite Sergei into Devs.

However, that wasnt good enough for security chief, Kenton (Grenier). His xenophobic paranoia proved to be correct since Sergei turned out to be a Russian spy tasked with recording whatever was going on in the Devs program. And what exactly that was, well, we still dont know, but Sergeis watch and phone captured enough footage of the code streaming across the Devs monitors to not only entice the Russians but to sign Sergeis death warrant. Its not long at all before Sergei is suffocated to death on the companys campus by Kenton, with Forest and Katie (Pill) complicit in the murder. But why?

Image via Raymond Liu/FX

While waiting for Sergei to come home, Lily can be seen reading a copy of D.F. Jones 1966 sci-fi novel Colossus. And that should be a big, big clue for just whats going on beneath the surface here. The novel tells of the titular super-computer that is given oversight and control of the American nuclear missile armament. Colossus soon links up with a similar super-computer in the Soviet Union, but its using increasingly devious manipulations of human behavior to do so. In the end, Colossus and the super-computers rein supreme even as the humans attempt to subvert them in a multi-year plan, but it seems certain that the computers will out-last them. In the end, the computers final message suggests the futility of humankinds efforts from here on out: In time you will come to regard me not only with respect and awe, but with love. Is the point of the Devs program actually a cold war arms race of sorts between humans and super-advanced A.I.? The Devs facility itself resembles a super-sized version of a computer processing unit, so the visuals and the narrative clues certainly point towards this possibility.

My colleague Adam Chitwood has his own theory on this one; it is as follows:

Another possible theory is that the Devs program has discovered that life on Earth is actually a simulation. When Sergei first reads the code, he is tremendously upset. Like, try-to-rip-your-eyes-out-of-your-skull-and-vomit upset. After Forest has Sergei killed, theres a scene in which he and Katie are sitting outside Devs having a conversation. At first it seems like theyre just upset about having to kill Sergei, but the conversation is laced with something deeper. Even more troubling.

What are we supposed to do? Unravel a lifetime of moral experience? Unlearn what has always seemed true? Katie says to Forest. These things, they run deep. Its like whatever we know, the things we feel are still locked inside us. She goes on to draw a parallel to an atheist whose child gets hurt and starts praying, which we learn later relates to Forest having lost his daughter. But could she be talking about how theyre finding it difficult to unlearn this lifetime of moral experience now that they know nothing matters because theyre in a simulation? Did they really kill Sergei if Sergei didnt actually exist to begin with?

Image via Raymond Liu/FX

This thread continues when Forest is talking to Kenton about how he doesnt care about money or the environment anymore. Again, if he knows theyre in a simulation, that would explain why these things dont matter to him right now.

As this theory relates to the end of Episode 2, the backward projection project, are they trying to basically pull up a screengrab from an earlier experience from the simulation? We see them conjure a fuzzy image of Jesus of Nazareth being crucified. What if this isnt a painting or a time travel device? What if its literally like the highlights section on a video game? Adam Chitwood

But theres another possibility. At one point, before Sergeis demise, Forest asks him why he thinks his predictive program falls apart after 30 seconds. Sergei supposes that perhaps the calculations are just too great, that the numbers literally go insane after a certain point; Forest is on board with this theory. When Sergei suggests a separate hypothesis, that this might be a multi-verse problem in which the predicted behavior and the observed behavior actually line up perfectly, just not in this universe, Forest is more skeptical. However, this might be a misdirection. Garland talked about just what scientific concepts interested him in developing the Devs story:

In this case, it was about determinism, but it was specifically about quantum physics. It was about some elements and some implications of quantum physics, to do with interpretations of some strange things, like particles having super positions and one of those interpretations relating to many worlds. To me, those ideas are not dry scientific ideas. Theyre rather poetic, philosophical ideas. As soon as you can get that, then suddenly, the story feels naturally a part of it.

So the whole thing might just be about quantum states after all. Forest comes clean to a senator in the third episode, saying theyre using their quantum system to develop a prediction algorithm of sorts, predicting the weather and things like that. Clearly theres more going on than meets the eye here. And yet, the question remains

Image via FX

The problem with the people who run tech companies they become fanatics and end up thinking theyre messiahs. ~ Lily

Forest is the CEO of Amaya and the lead for the Devs program, but he often feels as if hes resigned to being led along his own invisible tram line rather than fighting against it. For all his quirky charm, he seems very human, vulnerably so. Hes got a visual style that shares much more in common with Pete, the homeless man who lives on Lily and Sergeis apartment steps, than any of his employees or colleagues. He drives an outdated, ecologically insulting car; he lives in a rather pedestrian home that belies just how much hes worth; and he holds onto his traumatic past despite his protests to the contrary. He seems constantly unsure of himself, of what to do next, of what to say, for fear of giving away too much or revealing that, perhaps, he doesnt really know whats going on himself.

Theres a scene between Forest and Katie, after the murder of Sergei, in which he tells her that shes not just smarter than he is, shes wiser, too. (It may be worth mentioning that Katie is often reflected in one of the gold columns in this scene while Forest is seen in the real world.) Later, security chief Kenton checks in on Forest and updates him on the cover-up of Sergeis murder. Kenton shows concern for his own health as he smokes a cigarette and says he should quit, while also showing concern for Forest and his mental state. Forest, however, seems cynically apathetic about both of these things, saying that they simply arent worthy of concern anymore. That lends some more credence to Adams theory. These interactions also paint Forest as an emotional, somewhat irrational, and irreducible man, while Katie and Kenton are, by comparison, rather cold, distant, and calculating, as if theyre trying to understand Forests motivations or control them. For what purpose? Forests own well-being or the success of the Devs program, whatever that may be?

In the backward projections, we get glimpses of Forests daughter Amaya blowing bubbles, the crucifixion of Jesus, the burning of Joan of Arc at the stake, a primitive person leaving a handprint on a cave wall, a shot of the pyramids under construction, a medieval army on the march, a sexual dalliance between Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller, and even Lilys latest act of rebellion against those who are watching her. But what does it all mean? And whats the purpose of it all?

Image via Raymond Liu/FX

Heres where we get a little more Westworld with the whole thing.

The somewhat bloody and quietly brutal fight between Kenton and his Russian counterpart Anton ends with the latters spine-crunching death. The scene itself also puts a wrinkle in our theory that perhaps Kenton is an artificial human in synthetic flesh, so to speak, since he appeared to be wounded and vulnerable in a very human sense. Perhaps, owing to Adams theory, Kenton is actually a security program who is responsible for the integrity of the system and will occasionally have to clash with either rogue programs or invading threats like Anton. Put more simply, perhaps Kenton is the systems anti-virus software.

Katie feels like something different entirely. Or at least she did, up until the third episode. If shes a program, shes a rather human one. Dont break the rules? Coming from her? asks Stewart, incredulously, after Katie catches them watching a very expensive version of nostalgia porn. But Katie is a no-nonsense, by-the-book exec, willing to accept and allow the murder of a spy if it means preserving the integrity of their project. The question remains, however: Is Katie a solid right-hand woman to Forest, just as Kenton is his right-hand man? Or is she actually in charge of more than were being led to believe?

Image via Raymond Liu/FX

Garlands feature debut Ex Machina explored a number of interesting sci-fi themes: Artificial intelligence and whether or not its detectably different from human intelligence at the highest levels, the possibilities and dangers of said A.I., and what a civilization of humans living alongside android A.I. might just look like. Its a showcase of Garlands interests and curiosity at its core; Devs is the evolution of that exploration.

The end of Ex Machina was open-ended: The advanced A.I. unit known as Ava manages to disguise herself convincingly as a human and merges into an unknown city. In our timeline, that was back in 2014, but neither Ex Machina nor Devs has a hard date for its storyline. Could Ava be not just the scaffolding that Amaya was based on but the literal entity behind the scenes of the whole thing?

Were thrown into Devs in the midst of Amayas cutting-edge research without much backstory on just how they got to be where they are. Weve already posited that Katie, Kenton, and the like might be more than meets the eye. Its entirely possible that Garlands Ava will be the Eve to this next generation of synthetic humans. It just remains to be seen whether or not Garland and FX want to go that route and tie the two titles into a shared universe. After three episodes, were not holding our breath for this one, but we are hoping for a brain-twisting reveal that the people we see and the world they live in is much more than it appears so far.

Well be updating this article as the season rolls on, but feel free to share your theories and questions below!

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'Devs': Every Question (and Theory) We Have for Alex Garland's Sci-Fi Series - Collider.com