Before: Season 1 Episode 7 “The Power of Belief” – Recap and Review

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Originally Aired	November 26, 2024
Network	Apple TV Plus
Director(s)	Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr.
Writer(s)	Howie Miller
Character	ACTOR’S NAME
Cleo	Ava Lalezarzadeh
Eli	Billy Crystal
Noah	Jacobi Jupe
Dr. Jane Wilkinson	Hope Davis
Lawrence	Lenny Venito

Storyline Recap

You’re Too Close To This – Cleo, Eli

After the events of the last episode, Eli finds himself trying to stick to science despite staring in the face of the supernatural. Cleo sees this and questions if Eli has lost the plot and is too close to this. If not creating layer upon layer for Noah’s case to avoid what else is going on in his life.

Eli rejects this, despite his own psychosis leading to a steady increase in visions, which are starting to get beyond seeing Lynn.

Exposure Therapy – Eli, Noah, Jane, Lawrence

At this point, Noah is a week away from being shipped to a facility able to handle him and Eli is desperate to use what time is left. Jane isn’t really for it, especially as Eli advocates for more unorthodox ways to treat Noah. He tries getting him to tap into his trauma and now Eli wants to take Noah out of the hospital, and do exposure therapy by have him in Benjamin’s old home he shared with Lawrence.

Jane, against better judgment, humors this, and there are some strange moments like Noah and Lawrence connecting over a song and Lawrence being called by Noah “Lonny,” which was Benjamin’s nickname for him. But, after a certain point, enough is enough for Jane, but it is never enough for Eli. He wants to go to the farmhouse, especially after finding negatives amongst Lawrence’s things.

However, between Noah’s strange vision and Eli vomiting water profusely, it is hard to say if this will be enough to change Jane’s mind or confirm her beliefs that Eli should be off this case.

Other Noteworthy Information

• Barbara and Sue Ann get a psychic to cleanse Eli’s house.

Review

Trajectory (77.5/100): Plateau

Highlights

Lawrence’s Moment Connecting With Noah

While Lawrence isn’t a major character and was just introduced in the last episode, I found myself emotionally affected by him connecting with Noah and his memories of Benjamin being triggered. You can see a man who dearly misses his brother, even if there are a lot of bad, if not traumatic, memories attached to their relationship.

I’d even say that while we see Noah act possessed or like something out of a horror movie, Jacobi Jupe’s best performance probably came out of that scene.

On The Fence

The Constant Feeling That It Waits To The End Of The Episode To Get Good

Once again, Eli pushes Noah psychologically past the point that seems ethical. Paired with his methods being questioned and him trying to avoid how Lynn haunts his life, it’s all part of a routine that “Before” shouldn’t have in its first season. This isn’t a medical drama with new cases every week, so why is there an episodic formula?

But the most frustrating part is that everything is loaded onto the backend from Noah’s scene with Lawrence, the visions, which include a girl who I can’t identify, and then we see Eli vomiting a massive amount of water. I get that cliffhangers are meant to get people excited for the next episode, but considering how “Before” struggles to maintain the highs after the cliffhanger, the frustration may not be worth it.

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