Revival season 1 episode 2 ending explained: What does Mathurin tell Dana about Em's death?

Revival season 1 episode 2 was released on June 19, 2025, at 10 pm ET on Syfy in the United States and the CTV Sci-Fi channel in Canada. The episode, Keeping Up Appearances, is directed by Amanda Row and co-written by Aaron B. Koontz and Luke Boyce.

The series takes place in the town of Wausau, Wisconsin, where the dead mysteriously came to life or became 'revived' on Revival Day. The police officer Dana Cypress is shocked to discover that her younger sister, Em, is also among those revived. In Revival season 1 episode 2, Em sets off to figure out how she died, as she has no recollection of the events that led to her death.

By the end of the episode, Em's roommate, Mathurin, tells Dana that she knows who killed Em.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for Revival season 1 episode 2.

Dana and Em search for answers in Revival season 1 episode 2

An image of Dana and Em from Revival season 1 episode 2 (Image via CTV)

Revival season 1 episode 2 flashes back to Em's first moments as the revived. She wakes up dazed at Bull Falls and pulls out a wedding ring from her mouth. Back at her apartment, Em realizes that she is revived after noticing how quickly her physical injuries heal.

The next scene opens in the barn where Em had killed the aggressive reviver, Arlene, and, in the process, revealed herself as a reviver to Dana in episode 1. But the sisters don't have time to dwell on it as police officers arrive soon, prompting Dana to claim that she killed the reviver to protect her younger sister. Em has a panic attack and is taken to the hospital, with Dana following closely behind.

At the hospital, Dana questions Em about her situation, but they are interrupted by Wayne and Cooper, who are relieved to see that Em is fine. Later, Dana visits Em's apartment and discovers a bag of pills, confirming her suspicion that Em has relapsed. But the latter shares that she is clean as the drugs don't work on her since she has revived.

An image of Ibrahim from Revival season 1 (Image via Instagram/@syfy)

She opens up about the events of the night she died. Em reveals that she was overwhelmed on her mother's birthday, which fell on Revival Day, and visited the bridge where she died.

She remembers seeing bright headlights before everything went blank, and woke up at Bull Falls as revived. Em insists that she didn't end her own life, but Dana is convinced that she must have overdosed on drugs.

The sisters decide to revisit the bridge to search for clues about that night's events.

Dana confides in Ibrahim that Em was born with osteogenesis imperfecta, a medical condition that made her bones extremely brittle. As a result, she led a restricted life and felt isolated from her peers while growing up. Things became worse when their mother died two years ago, leaving Em to turn to drugs to cope with her loss.

Dana figures out that Em could only have access to the high quantity of pills by either stealing them or dealing drugs. She confronts Em's roommate, Mathurin, about her sister's drug addiction. Mathurin accepts getting Em hooked on weed, but denies knowing about the extent of her drug addiction. Also, Mathurin shares that she is aware Em is a reviver after overhearing the sisters talk about it.

Suddenly, something clicks in her head, and she blurts out that she knows who killed Em, just as the episode draws to a close.

What does Em learn from Aaron in Revival season 1 episode 2?

An image of Rhodey from Revival season 1 episode 2 (Image via CTV)

Meanwhile, Em runs into her secret lover, Aaron Weimer, and his wife, Nithiya, at Nella's pub. She confronts him about the events of the day she died, as the wedding ring prompted her to think she had spent her last moments with him. Aaron discloses that she had called him several times that day, but he didn't answer and blocked her number for the sake of his marriage.

Frustrated, Em gets into a bar fight and is brutally trashed until a stranger comes to her rescue. He introduces himself as Rhodey, a musician who is also a reviver. He invites her to attend his music performance at the November Dismember, which Em readily agrees to.

What happens to Arlene and Blaine in Revival season 1 episode 2?

An image from Revival season 1 episode 2 (Image via CTV)

The police send Arlene's corpse to the hospital, where Ibrahim prepares to conduct an autopsy to get a better understanding of the supernatural phenomenon. However, minutes later, Wayne and Dana are alerted to an emergency. Turns out Arlene has resurrected again and killed the guard before escaping.

After searching the hospital, Wayne finds her in the maternity ward, gently cradling a newborn. She refuses Wayne's orders to surrender and escapes again, killing several staff members along the way. Wayne and his team find the baby in the parking lot, not with Arlene, but with Blaine— the same man who found Dana's son, Cooper, in the woods at the start of the episode.

Upon questioning about Arlene, Blaine cryptically replies, "The gates of Hell have opened."

American audiences can watch all episodes of Revival season 1 on Syfy.

About the author

Deepti is an entertainment writer at Sportskeeda. She comes with more than 6 years of experience in the creative writing field and has written extensively for the entertainment and travel domains.

She holds a degree in Chemistry, but her true interest always lay in the creative field. A passion for reading from a young age fueled her desire to make a career change later in life and take up writing as her profession.

Apart from reading, her hobbies include watching movies, listening to music, and going to the beach. In her free time, she can be found looking up reviews of new and old films to add to her watchlist. She also enjoys watching foreign language films that help expand her knowledge base regarding different cultures around the world.

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Edited by Ahana Mukhopadhyay