We get alternate versions of the same day in back-to-back episodes, but because the focus of each episode is different not much repeats, although the family ticking off Vanya (Ellen Page), once again by excluding her, remains a constant. After a brief look at Klaus‘ (Robert Sheehan) time in Vietnam, much of “The Day That Wasn’t” focuses on Number 5‘s (Aidan Gallagher) new job with the Temps Commission as the bides his time, and puts out a couple of poison pills which force Cha Cha (Mary J. Blige) and Hazel (Cameron Britton) into difficult decisions, before bombing the fuck out of the commission and heading back home with a lead.
Along with reseting some of the day’s events thanks to Five’s actions, “The Day That Was” offers up the backstory of Vanya’s boyfriend (John Magaro), who wanted nothing more than to be special and now only wants to hurt those that denied him his chance. In both episodes we see the result of a family argument that shows off Vanya’s powers and the boyfriend’s attempt to convince her to focus on her gift (although in the reset timeline in will take her much longer to learn to question his motives). While the second outcome is far more brutal for him, it does provide Leonard exactly what he’d been hoping for as Vanya finally taps in to her gift to save his life from some drunken fools kicking the shit out of him.
While the original version of the day doesn’t get them closer to preventing the apocalypse, it does offer a happier ending for Luther (Tom Hopper) and Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman), and the episode also offers a glimpse of the pair’s relationship as children. The reset offers a much different path for Luther who reacts badly to discovering the truth about his moon research and without Allison to cheer him up goes on a bender that even impresses Klaus. It will also push Allison to the rash decision of finding Vanya on her own which will turn out to have dire ramifications for both her and the rest of the world. And neither day turns out well for Diego (David Castañeda) who becomes the prime suspect in Patch’s murder.
