Aayush Sharma
‘Demascus‘ is a sci-fi comedy series from Tubi that chronicles the journey of an African-American man trying to rediscover himself and find his true purpose. The show, created by Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm, follows a 33-year-old man named Demascus (Okieriete Onaodowan) who wants to know the true purpose of his life and what he wants to be. However, it is hard for him to focus on anything, and he takes the help of therapy to seek answers. His therapist tells him about an experimental immersion therapy, which could assist him in understanding his identity by placing him in alternate realities where he experiences different versions of himself. Initially, he hesitates to try it, but curiosity slowly pushes him to take a leap of faith. During his journey, he comes face-to-face with his deepest fears and regrets, forcing him to confront what it truly means to evolve. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Demascus Recap
The story begins in a version of 2023 where Demascus is talking to his therapist, Dr. Bonnetville (Janet Hubert), about his life. His primary concern is that he doesn’t know who he is, and that question arises in his mind when he sees his co-workers laughing at him. When he realizes he doesn’t know what to do, the doctor tells him about D.I.R.T. (Digital Immersive Reality Therapy). This experimental therapy follows the path of a person’s conscious and subconscious impulses and allows them to visit their alternate realities. At first, he is skeptical about trying it, but ultimately, he gives it a try. A few moments later, Demascus is in his house when his sister, Shaena (Brittany Adebumola), tells him about his boyfriend, Drew, hitting him. Moreover, she reveals that she is pregnant and Drew is the father. However, she wants her brother’s help to instill fear in Drew’s mind so that he will never lay his hands on her again.
To do that, Demascus contacts one of his friends, Redford, aka Redd (Caleb Eberhardt), and asks him if he can help him teach Drew a lesson. Redford confirms that he will be there, and to make this even better for them, he says he’ll bring a goon. On the other hand, Demascus asks Uncle Forty (Martin Lawrence), who might be suffering from cancer, to come with them. They reach his place, and although they try to act tough with him, Drew reveals that Shaena hit him first and even stabbed him. However, he accepts his mistake of being ignorant and expresses his desire to be a better person. As a result, he asks Demascus to help him because he is the most positive person Drew has ever seen. Just as everything starts to calm down, things take a tragic turn. Drew gets accidentally shot and killed by a bullet from the goon’s gun. However, it turns out that the entire scenario happens in an alternate reality because Demascus doesn’t have a sister in real life.
As the story progresses, Demascus meets his girlfriend, Budhi Banks, who believes they met due to algorithm compatibility. She wants to spend the night with him, but he doesn’t want to do anything exciting. As such, Budhi decides to meet Dyanne, who is Redford’s partner, and have some fun. Later, Demascus receives a call from his friend Redford, who wants him to attend his art event, and he does. There, he meets a girl named Naomi (Shakira Ja’nai Paye), and she instantly becomes his fantasy. The following day, he visits the therapist and tells her about Budhi. When she asks why he initially didn’t tell her about Budhi, he doesn’t have an answer, making her realize that he fears commitment in response to an overbearing mother. Although his mother passed away, the therapist believes that it can still happen. After hearing this, Demascus wants to look at his compatibility in the alternate realities.
By the end of the season, Demascus realizes that commitment always leads to heartbreak. Consequently, he wants to find his mother in any alternate reality. The therapist lets him try the D.I.R.T. one last time to find her and the answers to the questions that haunt him. Nonetheless, things turn upside down when the technology malfunctions and traps him inside the alternate reality. While trapped inside the alternate reality, he tries everything and anything to come out of it alive. Yet, it’s not easy as he comes face-to-face with the consequences of his choices and the painful truths he has long avoided.
Demascus Ending: Did Demascus Return to His Primary Reality?
The narrative of ‘Demascus‘ primarily revolves around the titular character visiting the alternate realities and seeing himself navigating situations in those realities. Whether it is relationships or professional life, he learns more about himself. In certain realities, he finds himself going through rough patches in his love life, while in others, he is just trying to figure out why his co-workers keep saying, “Well, he’s Demascus.” When his therapist tells him that he is using D.I.R.T. and the alternate realities to escape because he is afraid to live in his real life, he knows what his therapist is trying to tell him. Even so, he still wants to try it for the last time, so he can finally meet his mother and get the answer he wants. He enters the alternate reality, and before he can meet his mother, he suffers a seizure. As a result, Demascus, who works as a graphic designer in the art department for a government organization in Washington, D.C., goes on to meet his therapist in the alternate reality.
Demascus’ alternate version asks the therapist about D.I.R.T., and she lets him try it. However, the system malfunctions as soon as he tries the technology in the alternate universe. Now, he controls his alternate reality. Consequently, the real Demascus knows in real-time what’s happening. So, two scenarios are playing: one finds him inside an airplane, while the other sees him inside an asylum. While in the asylum, the doctor tells him his real name is Demarcus. However, he stops the doctor and tells her his real name is Demascus. Meanwhile, on the airplane, he learns he is the only one present and checks out the cockpit. The artist sees that the pilot is no one, but a version of him. He takes control of the plane and tries to land it safely. On the other hand, in the asylum, Demascus meets fellow patients, including a version of his friend, Redford, whose name is Bluu in this alternate reality. He tells them about D.I.R.T. and how he doesn’t belong in this place.
Soon, Demascus realizes that his brain is rearranging things, and in the chaos, he begins to gain a strange sense of clarity. Moreover, he confirms that his name is Demarcus. With that clarity in his mind, he is also able to land the plane successfully. Meanwhile, in the asylum, he realizes that he has everything in his life and has avoided it. But now, it is time for him to get better. In the end, while sleeping inside his cell in the asylum, he takes out his journal and writes his details, saying his name is “Demascus Haynes.” While writing this in his journal, he is in the asylum, and it is unclear which is his primary reality and which one is an alternate. By embracing both realities, he understands that identity is not fixable; it’s something a person shapes through awareness and acceptance. Writing down his name as “Demascus” becomes a quiet act of reclaiming himself, not just who he was, but who he chooses to be. This shift allows him to throw away the confusion he once had in his path. However, whether he returned to his primary reality remains a mystery. Alternatively, another explanation remains that the reality he experiences in the asylum is his actual reality.
Who Stabbed Demascus?
When Demascus decides to look for answers one final time, D.I.R.T. takes him to an alternate reality different from everything he has seen. He wakes up in an asylum and learns that he has been in a vegetative state for 18 months because of a non-traumatic brain injury. After knowing this, he sits beside fellow patients and talks about his reality. Everyone sitting around him is someone he knows from his primary reality or someone he has seen. He tells everyone that this is not his primary reality, and he is currently in D.I.R.T., which allows him to travel to other realities. However, he always travels as a voyeur and can’t control the narrative of that reality. But here, he is somehow managing it. By listening to his talks, Bluu, the other version of Demascus’s friend Redford, asks the graphic designer if there are different renditions of him in these realities. Demascus says yes and tells him that they are friends in his reality. Consequently, he talks about Budhi, and as soon as he mentions that name, everyone starts saying Budhi’s name in unison.
After that session, Bluu and Demascus talk to each other. Bluu wants to know if he exists in different timelines and starts conversing with him. He tells the graphic designer that he is in the asylum by choice and wants to get out of here. On the other hand, Demascus realizes why everyone sang Budhi’s name during the session. In this reality, his girlfriend is a famous TV personality with a show named after her. At night, Demascus is reading a book when Bluu taps him on the shoulder because he wants to talk. When the artist says that he is busy reading, Bluu gets violent and punches him in the face. They start fighting each other, with Bluu saying that Demascus doesn’t know him. In reply, Demascus says that he does and that no matter the reality, he has never hurt. He calms his fellow patient and informs him that he has a daughter. In the end, they both hug each other.
Yet, when it seems that everything is perfect, Bluu stabs Demascus in the left abdomen. Luckily, the injury is not fatal, and Demascus remains stable. The argument and fight between “friends” in every reality is more than just a physical altercation; it is a raw confrontation with a broken self and the desperation to feel real. For Demascus, calming his friend and reminding him of his daughter is a moment of empathy, showing that compassion can go through even in chaos. Meanwhile, the stabbing, though shocking, doesn’t feel like a betrayal; it feels like Bluu needs healing, and the talks of being a perfect father figure in Demascus’s reality make him realize what he is missing. Surviving the attack makes it clear to Demascus that things aren’t easy. But in choosing to stay grounded, he shows he’s no longer running. He is finally ready to face everything.
Did Demascus Find His Mother?
One of the key elements in Demascus’ story is his relationship with his mother. Even though his mother is dead, Dr. Bonnetville, the therapist, believes that Demascus’ fear of commitment and intimacy stems from his relationship with his overbearing mother. Additionally, he pushes people away even when they want to be a part of his life. He talks about his mother and how he misses her in every alternate reality. In one of the timelines, while searching for his mother, Demascus ends up inside a reality TV show called “Let’s Get Married,” where he and Naomi, pretending to be strangers, get married. Upon their return from their honeymoon, the crew follows them into their house. The host wants them to be problematic because that will increase the viewership. In that entire sequence, Demascus keeps talking about his mother and how her death brought darkness into his life. However, he still can’t find her in that timeline.
As a result, Demascus requests the therapist to give him one more chance. He goes into D.I.R.T. and sees himself in a future where his mother is still alive. She has been a teacher for decades, and it is her retirement day. As a result, the school has organized a program for her, and Demascus will give a speech. But he is not alone in this, and his friend, Redd, is also there. While listening to other speeches, Demascus talks to Redd about not knowing much about his mother. Consequently, he believes that his mother, Therease, did so much for her students, but when it comes to him, she didn’t do enough. This shows that Demascus had a bittersweet relationship with his mother. A few moments later, it’s his turn to give the speech, and his mother is seemingly excited to hear him. However, before he can say anything, he suffers a seizure and goes to his therapist to talk about the moment. Interestingly, the series never shows Therease’s face, even when she is in the frame.
In the ending moments of the final episodes, Demascus, while sitting in the asylum, acknowledges how he avoided everything by not addressing his mother’s death. Nonetheless, he needs to let these feelings go because he needs to connect with his authentic self. At last, by confronting the truth about his mother, the graphic designer is forced to figure out the emotional voids he has been carrying for years. By admitting that he avoided talking about her death and how it affected her, he finally begins to pull out the parts of himself he buried long ago. This moment is not about letting go of that grief; it is about the silence that shaped him as a person. In doing so, he takes the first authentic step toward healing. He might be navigating an alternate reality, but he is finally discovering his true nature.
Does Demascus Have a Sister?
Demascus’ story begins with his sister, Shaena. She tells him that her abusive boyfriend, Drew, hit her. On the other hand, she reveals that she is pregnant and wants her baby’s father to understand that he cannot continue such abuse. For that, her brother employs the help of his friend, Redd, and Uncle Forty. Redford, who is a public defender in the District of Columbia, believes they need at least four people in this situation to help Drew understand what he did. As a result, Redford, aka Redd, brings a goon named Lil Spoona with him so that everything goes well. When they reach his place, Redd, Lil Spoona, and Uncle Forty take out their guns, and as soon as Demascus sees their weapons, he tells them they should leave their guns in the car. A few moments later, they reach his house and make him realize the gravity of his actions. Drew acknowledges his mistakes and says that he wants to be better for his child. As a result, he wants Demascus to be his mentor and guide him.
When everything seems to be going perfectly, a freak accident kills Drew inside his apartment. However, all of that happens in an alternate reality, and when Demascus opens his eyes, he tells the therapist that he doesn’t have a sister. Dr. Bonnetville tells him he visited a reality where one of his parents married twice. Demascus says it was his mother because he and his sibling, Shaena, had different fathers. Surprisingly, he knows everything about their lives because she resented him for how her father never saw her. Also, he realizes it isn’t real, but it had felt so real. Meanwhile, his sister makes a comeback in the final moments of the last episode when she visits him in the asylum. Shockingly, she is with Drew and is in a relationship with him. Shaena wants Demascus to come back and be a part of her life. When he tells her this is not his reality, Shaena gets frustrated and wants him to stop talking about the multiverse.
In Demascus’ primary reality, he is the only child. However, Shaena seems to be an integral part of history. This moment blurs the line between what he is imagining and feeling, revealing just how powerful Demascus’s emotional reality has become. Even though Shaena doesn’t exist in his primary world, her presence feels so real to him. For the protagonist, this conversation also makes him realize how he needs to let go of all the fantasies he has been having about alternate realities. Although for him, they are true, for his loved ones, they aren’t. Shaena wanting him back in her life signals that, somewhere, love and forgiveness still exist, even if it’s not in the version of reality he calls home. It’s a bittersweet reminder that healing doesn’t always come from clarity; it often comes from embracing the mess of it all.
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