WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Devs, now streaming on FX on Hulu.
To this point, Alex Garland's Devs has been secretive over Amaya's coding project. The tech company run by Forest (Nick Offerman) is very much dedicated to its craft as its mysterious devs team digs deep in quantum coding, which has piqued the interests of the U.S. and Russian governments.
Forest and his security chief, Kenton (Zach Grenier), are so protective, they kill a programmer, Sergei (Karl Glusman), who tried to smuggle out the code. And while the third episode doesn't give much more insight into Amaya's endgame, there are some intriguing cameos throughout history that are sexy, scandalous and downright scary.
When Katie (Alison Pill) comes into the golden cube in which the devs team operates, she finds her colleagues watching the equivalent of a time sex tape. Lyndon (Cailee Spaeny) is going over code, sneaking peeks, at what the older and more perverted Stewart (Stephen McKinley Henderson) is watching: Marilyn Monroe having sex with Arthur Miller. Katie becomes upset because they're breaking the rules by invading someone's privacy. Lyndon and Stewart shrug off Katie's seemingly hypocritical stance, as they imply she's breaking one of the other rules, looking forward in time with the code.
It's never confirmed what her plan is and if she's indeed predicting history using quantum computing but Katie just doesn't want people's bedrooms invaded, no matter the point in time. However, that's not the only "celebrity" cameo, as Abraham Lincoln giving a speech is shown to reveal that the devs have an eye on the politics of the past. It gets a bit scarier when viewers see and hear Jesus in pain on the cross, as well as him dragging it prior to the crucifixion.
It doesn't stop there as Joan of Arc is shown being burned at the stake. And this is probably one of the most disturbing scenes, with the hologram showing her facial expressions in agony from the flames engulfing her body. While this event cameo visible, Katie tells them to go look up "the grassy knoll murder," they indicate they're two steps ahead because they've already watched the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The duo also confirms the culprit was Lee Harvey Oswald so clearly, no secret's safe, whether you're a Hollywood star, politician or an assassin in a compromising situation.
Katie's worried because she doesn't think they're being responsible with their power and sees them as kids in an ant farm. Still, she can't help but understand this basic human instinct for such depraved moments. Nonetheless, Katie wants them to improve for the mysterious big mission to come. It's unclear what it is but seeing as Forest is still looking at his dead daughter, Amaya (who died in a car crash), using the code, it might be a matter of time before they perfect a time machine and are able to pluck people out from history. Chances are it won't be these historical figures so all they can do in the meantime is watch and prepare for the real subjects of their program.
The first two episodes of Devs, entirely written, directed and edited by Alex Garland, is streaming on FX on Hulu. It stars Nick Offerman, Alison Pill, Sonoya Mizuno, Jin Ha, Zach Grenier, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Karl Glusman and Cailee Spaeny. New episodes will be released every Thursday.