Angela Black – Season 1 Episode 5 Recap & Review

Theo

Episode 5 of Angela Black begins with Angela confronting Ed at the football. Only, his name’s not actually Ed, it’s Theo, and he doesn’t seem to recognize Angela at all.

After an eventful day, Angela tries to remain enthusiastic through her arranged meeting with the kids, fully supervised of course. After, her lawyers warn Angela against doing something stupid. So what does she do? Yep, she watches the boys from the end of the playground. Thankfully she doesn’t greet them but Angela is in danger of becoming unhinged.

That’s only made worse by Angela’s card being declined in the shop, leading her  to set up a new account for herself at the bank. She changes her name (which wouldn’t fly in a bank as everything needs to be official) and begins checking social media. In doing so, she notices Theo (aka. Ed) standing outside a shop called Diva with his ex girlfriend.

Angela shows up and speaks to the young woman, learning that Theo has a history of money problems. He’s also pretty clingy and is really needy. I mean, they only had a few dates and he rocks up with flowers, essentially professing his love. “Do me a favour, avoid Theo,” She says eventually.

Angela deliberates over her mentioning Theo’s business going up in flames and decides to head over and take a look. Theo is there too, but he doesn’t register who Angela is. When she leaves, Angela runs into Olivier whom she confronts over the controlled sessions with the boys. She wants more access but all Olivier can muster is a “behave yourself.” What a d*ck.

The next day Angela shows up with a police officer back home, intending to check Olivier’s things for clues under  the pretense of packing her things to move out. With Olivier waiting impatiently by the door, Angela hurries to Olivier’s office and begins rooting through his documents, including bank statements. Realizing her time is limited, she rips several sheets out and hurries back.

Olivier is wise to this and demands Angela open her bag so he can check to make sure she hasn’t taken anything. Angela knows all too well what her husband is like and outsmarts him, stuffing the papers in her back pocket.

Checking through the figures from Halloween, Angela deduces that Olivier and Theo are working together. Specifically, she finds a receipt for £90 worth of petrol at the local station. Now, that’s a lot of petrol and it could have been used in connection with the arson attack on Theo’s business.

That’s what Angela thinks too but she’s caught off-guard by Theo asking to meet. He doesn’t show but apologizes for his behaviour. He also tells her to drop everything for her own good.

Realizing she’s been duped, Angela shows up at the petrol station. Now, earlier in the episode she asked to see their CCTV footage and received a stern “no”. This time though, the place is a mess. The cashier is tied up and the cameras have presumably been wiped.

Angela heads back to confront Olivier, who feigns ignorance and shuts the door in her face. Realizing Angela is onto him, Olivier rings none other than Theo, worried that their scheme is about to be unveiled.

The Episode Review

Alas, I was wrong. And I’m guessing a fair few other watchers were too. It turns out Olivier and Theo (aka. Ed) are working together after all. Although that changes part of the game, the rules still remain unchanged for the most part.

I still think Theo is working rogue, especially with a history of becoming obsessed and clingy. If that story about his ex girlfriend is anything to go by, it could well be that Theo is the one who’s unhinged. He may have taken a fancy to Angela and wanted to be her savior, adopting the name of Ed Harrison because of the book. The book that he himself read.

However, this thriller has done a great job highlighting domestic violence and the horror surrounding Angela’s ordeal is something that other men and women have suffered from too. The manipulation, physical violence and making Angela believe all of this is normal are all part of that psychological cycle of destruction.

Angela Black has been a great watch from that perspective but the actual plot components have been a little muddled over the weeks. The show has, at times, become a little too preoccupied with its artistic shots and mystery that it’s in danger of dragging on too long.

This chapter, for example, certainly took its sweet time to get to the point. Eventually, with 10 minutes of the episode left, we learn about Theo and a little more about Olivier’s motives.

With next week’s finale coming up, it would appear as if we’re close to finding out what’s really going on. It hasn’t been the best thriller of the year, but Angela Black has certainly been enjoyable nonetheless.