Lana
Episode 2 is the first time we meet Nova’s sister, Lana. Lana comes back into Nova’s life loudly and unexpectedly and that is how she does most things in her life. They haven’t seen each other in a long time and Nova has learned how to “take care of herself” in the time that Lana has been gone. They’re still sisters but that bond has been lost a bit and I think that is the driving force for Lana going and talking to Reese at the end of episode 2. She was under the impression that everything was fine and when she actually sees firsthand what Nova has been going through it’s natural for Lana to decide this is her problem to solve. Lana did that a lot in their childhood. She was Nova’s protector and problem solver and it’s natural for her to slip back into that role.
Lana wasn’t supposed to be all that important to Nova’s story either but, just like Hayden, as I wrote AIMH I realized the show needed her more than I initially thought. Lana is sort of the comedic relief for this show as you all will see more in later episodes but she is also her own person and this story is as much about Lana figuring out herself as it is about Nova, it just happens in very different ways.
The Sleep Center
So the sleep center is this weird place that doesn’t actually exist that I sort of made up. There are places you can visit that actually do these sorts of tests but you’d rarely stay there for longer than a night or two and would go home in the morning. The sleep center in AIMH kind of functions like a rehabilitation center for people with various sleep issues like paralysis, night terrors, narcolepsy, and insomnia. We’ll be spending a lot more time there in episodes to come!