Disclaimer – Season 1 Episode 6 Recap & Review

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Episode 6 of Disclaimer begins with Nicholas dumped outside the A&E department after taking heroin. As he’s brought in for treatment, Catherine arrives back home. She finds the place a mess, and wakes Robert up. She’s frazzled after the earlier call with Nicholas sobbing, and they both remain desperate to get to the bottom of this. Catherine though, has interpreted this as Nicholas knowing everything about the alleged affair.

Catherine and Robert’s life turns upside down when they receive the call, bringing them to the hospital. Nicholas has had a stroke, causing neurological damage. The pair are shocked, trying to find a solution. After being saved once already, Catherine is worried that lady luck may not shine on him again.

Meanwhile, we see more flashbacks with Nancy and Stephen, They receive a call from Sasha’s mum, Emma. She brings up how Sasha is back in London, claiming she and Jonathan had a big argument. Apparently the story about her aunt dying is a work of fiction. Nancy constantly complains about the fridge… which is something Stephen hasn’t fixed, even in the present timeline. It also explains the humming and why that’s significant.

With the damage done, Stephen works to try and erase all his fingerprints online. He deletes Jonathan’s Instagram account and answers Robert’s call about Nicholas. Stephen can’t help himself and manages to obtain the location where Nicholas is in hospital. Catherine is there and she receives a call from HR, pointing out she’s being signed off from work for a week for her behaviour. She eventually hangs up, knowing her life is in tatters and everything will be different from here on out.

Around this, we have a very different tale surrounding Jonathan interwoven through the story. This time, from Catherine’s perspective. She’s alone, wanting to spend time with Robert but finding their relationship completely cold and somewhat indifferent.

On the beach, she wipes sand from inside her bikini but when she looks up, she finds Jonathan on the beach watching her. She doesn’t know when he snapped photos but Catherine feels she hasn’t done anything out the ordinary. She smiles at him but admits that there seemed to be some sort of connection. She can feel his eyes on her from behind when she walks away.

Nicholas always stayed asleep once he nodded off and alone in their hotel room, Catherine finally feels like she can relax. She finished the evening with a glass of wine on the terrace. We then cut to her down in the bar and Jonathan is intensely interested in conversing, encouraging Catherine to come and join him.

Back in the present, Stephen tests his various accents while also sorting a syringe out full of drain unblocker. He heads to the hospital, with the intent of “restoring balance”, while also wearing Nicholas’ deodorant. He heads on in while Catherine is outside, introducing himself as Nicholas’ grandfather.

However, as he looks set to inject Nicholas, Catherine shows up and pushes Stephen over. He ends up getting patched up and Robert shows to apologize for what’s happened. He also encourages Stephen to show up again sometime to see Nicholas. Stephen is dead-set on killing Nicholas to make Catherine pay.

As she’s taken outside, we cut back once again to see more of this story start to crack and take shape. Remember that postcard Jonathan wrote from Pisa? Well, he writes in this that the tower was closed for refurbishment, but the flashbacks showed him there with his camera.

Anyway, Nancy rings Sasha’s mum and breaks the news about Jonathan. This is the last time that they heard from Sasha and Emma, as they remain confused over exactly what caused that angry phone call. What happened in Italy?

Back in the present, that night Stephen hears a glass smash and the front door wide open. Armed with a cricket bat, he heads downstairs and finds the backdoor open too. Out in the garden is none other than Catherine, who turns to stare at him, armed with a knife.

She heads inside, and encourages him to sit down. Catherine brings up the story Nancy wrote. She mentions how the places are detailed but the details themselves? Of this affair? Well, that’s all woven together through these pictures and not much else. Catherine is angry and slaps Stephen across the face, before she decides they should start. “It’s time for my voice to be heard,” She says, as the episode comes to a close.

The Episode Review

So it now becomes clear that this story crafted by Nancy, and through the flashbacks we’ve been seeing, isn’t necessarily the full tale. But of course, it’s also a thriller whose true story is difficult to decipher and know who’s telling the truth. The idea of Catherine being this lustful mother desperate for attention definitely holds some weight, and there are parts of her story here that don’t hold much weight either. She decides to have a glass of wine on the terrace… but then the next scene shows she’s down in the bar? While Nicholas is asleep upstairs?

Meanwhile, Stephen is completely unhinged and through the 7 episodes, we’ve seen him very slowly start to let the madness and anger take hold. The end goal here is to destroy Catherine’s life as much as possible, but has this been done for the wrong reasons? Based on Nancy’s desire to only see Jonathan as this angel? After all, something must gave happened between him and Sasha for it all to play out this way. Could it be that the story we’ve been fed has been completely distorted all this time?

The dialogue in this show has been solid, and the narration, while a bit hit or miss at times, works incredibly well to add context and dramatic weight to what’s happening. It’ll be interesting to see where the finale goes but based on what we’ve seen, it’s going to be an absolute must-watch.