Burn The House Down – J-drama Episode 5 Recap & Review

Episode 5

Episode 5 of Burn The House Down starts with Makiko joining Yuzu and Mr Mitarai on their meal. Mr Mitarai is silent and Makiko does all the talking as she tells Yuzu that the jacket she had told her husband about was not there in the closet. She warns Yuzu and Anzu about trying to mess with her and passive-aggressively threatens Yuzu.

Yuzu claims that it was all her doing and adds that Anzu had moved away a few years ago. Makiko offers Yuzu money in exchange for her silence but the young girl replies that she’s not doing this for money but to prove that her mother is innocent.

Meanwhile, Kiichi hands over the laptop to Shizuka, believing that it will have clues about Makiko’s past. He tells her that he had retained the laptop because he knew something was suspicious about his mother’s sudden remarriage with Mr Mitarai. Shizuka wonders if Kiichi was also suspicious of his mother being the arsonist.

Claire tells Shizuka/Anzu that the blog they originally thought belonged to Makiko was actually Satsuki’s. She also tells Shizuka that Satsuki’s last entry on the blog was a depressing thought and that it was posted on the day of the fire.

A flashback shows how Anzu saw her mother struggle to keep up with the Mitarai family as well as the hospital trustees.

Anzu also recalls how Mr Mitarai was always silent when his sisters mistreated Satsuki. That night, Mr Mitarai apologises to Makiko about Yuzu’s actions on their way back home. Makiko tries to brainwash him into thinking that Yuzu was just jealous. Mr Mitarai confronts Makiko and asks her to be honest about setting the fire.

Makiko rubbishes his thoughts, claiming that there is no jacket in the closet to prove that. That night, Nurse Ichihara tells Makiko about Satsuki’s illness and adds that there’s no information about Anzu yet. Makiko asks the nurse to continue to keep tabs on Mr Mitarai like she always did.

Before going back home, Makiko takes the jacket from her car trunk and burns the piece of clothing to destroy the evidence that could incriminate her. On her way back, Yuzu runs into Shizuka. The younger of the two sisters apologises for blowing their cover and telling Makiko about the jacket.

Shizuka is glad that Yuzu is safe and is pissed about the fact that their father trusted Makiko to confront his youngest daughter. That night, Makiko talks to Shinji about Yuzu and her sister trying to use him to blame her for causing the fire. She asks her son to be wary of the sisters and Kiichi overhears their conversation. He gives Shizuka a call, concerned about her but she claims that she’s on her way to confront Mr Mitarai.

Kiichi and Shizuka bid farewell to each other because she would never be allowed back into the Mitarai House after she confronts her dad. Shizuka goes inside Mr Mitarai’s room and talks to her father about Makiko’s hand in the fire. She tells him that she had taken a picture of the jacket in Makiko’s walk-in closet just a few days ago.

Mr Mitarai is shocked about the revelation but tells his older daughter to cause chaos about things from the past. He tries to call Makiko, in order to escape the situation, but Shizuka/Anzu yells at him. She demands that he answer her instead of running away from the problem.

Mr Mitarai confesses how he had once slapped Satsuki for going out to a meet-up instead of staying home to tend to his sister. She blames her father for not having the arson case investigated and the old man replies that he doesn’t want the cops digging into their family as it would tarnish their reputation.

Anzu is shattered that their family was broken because of Mr Mitarai’s pride. She gets angry when Mr Mitarai claims that Satsuki is mentally unstable and is about to hit her father when Nurse Ichihara walks in. She tells Mitarai and Anzu that Makiko had kept various recording devices around Mr Mitarai to track him.

She reveals that Makiko had put her on duty to track Satsuki, Anzu and Yuzu along with Mr Mitarai. Nurse Ichihara tells the duo that she’s grateful for Satsuki’s help and reveals Mr Mitarai’s ex-wife was with him at the time of the first. She believes that Satsuki’s alibi checks out and that she’s not responsible for the fire.

Nurse Ichihara tells Mr Mitarai and Anzu that the meet-up was Satsuki’s way to keep the hospital trustees pleased and win their favour so they would elect him as the director of the hospital. The nurse asks Anzu to continue to pretend to be Shizuka in order to prove Satsuki’s innocence. She threatens to expose Mr Mitarai and asks him to keep this a secret.

A flash-forward shows that Shizuka/Anzu was now Makiko’s personal manager alongside being her house help. She drives Makiko to and from her photoshoots and interviews. On their drive, Makiko tells Shizuka all about Yuzu and Anzu, the daughter of her husband from his first marriage.

She claims that Yuzu was not someone that worried her as much as Anzu did. Shizuka gets back home and starts her work as a housemaid. Later that night, Shizuka/Anzu talks to Nurse Ichihara on the phone, telling her that Makiko was the fake reports about Satsuki, Yuzu and Anzu’s whereabouts the nurse was sending her. She thanks the nurse for her help.

Meanwhile, Yuzu meets up with people that used to follow Makiko to try and get more information about the woman’s past. Makiko joins Mr Mitarai for the family dinner and takes a position at the head of the table. His family members are pissed at Makiko for disrespecting their tradition and for publicising their lives in front of the media.

Makiko claims that the world is changing and it’s important for them to stay relevant on social media. She continues that it was her and her husband that were responsible for the hospital since it was named after the Mitarai’s. Makiko asks Mr Mitarai’s sisters to back off.

That night, Makiko thinks about how she’s very different from Satsuki and how she’s enjoying the glory of the life she has created. The next day, Claire and Yuzu discuss the fact that Makiko held fan meet-ups with the followers of her blog. Shizuka asks Yuzu to be safe when she meets Makiko’s fans.

At college, Nanami confesses her feelings for Shinji and confesses that she hates people like Yuzu who used Shinji for his money and reputation. Shinji is still moping over Yuzu when the latter thinks back about him. Later that night, Makiko hounds Shinji for going to a movie with his friends instead of studying for his tests.

Shinji yells at Makiko and asks her to back off, claiming he’s capable of making his own life choices. Makiko is angry and immediately adds a tracking device to one of Shinji’s coats.

The next day, Yuzu meets up with another one of Makiko’s fan club members and learns that Makiko was with them on the night of the fire for an in-person fan meet. She also learns that Makiko had prohibited any type of photography at her fan meetings and that Mujina, the fan club manager, is the only person who can contact Makiko.

Yuzu tells Claire all about it and the latter asks Yuzu to try and find Mujina. In the meantime, Claire looks through the old laptop to try and find any information about Munjina. Yuzu is on her way home when she recalls the day of the fire. She remembers having a fever and looking for Satsuki in her walk-in closet. Yuzu sees a woman in the closet but cannot recall the face of the woman.

Meanwhile, she spots Shinji with Nanami and is heartbroken. Shinji sees Yuzu and abandons Nanami to talk to her. Shinji grabs Yuzu by the arm to stop her in order to talk to her.

Right then, Shizuka drives Makiko from under the bridge where they see Shinji with Yuzu. The episode ends with Claire finding a hidden document on the old laptop, one that used to be Makiko’s old private diary.

The Episode Review

This episode had me furious because Mr Mitarai is the worst kind of person. Aside from not taking responsibility for his actions and rectifying his mistake, he just moves on from them and looks for someone – Makiko in this case – to rectify it. It seems as if Makiko is just using Mr Mitarai’s weakness to her advantage knowing he will always depend on her.

It seems like Nurse Ichihara is not as trustworthy as she seems and I feel like trusting her is a mistake on Shizuka/Anzu’s part. As much as we hated seeing Kiichi and Anzu (Shizuka) together, their connection is definitely missing in this episode. As for Shinji and Yuzu, I hope that Makiko does not harm Yuzu in order to protect her prized possession of a son.