Public Disorder (2025) – Season 1 Episode 5 Recap & Review

Episode 5

Episode 5 of Public Disorder begins with Salvatore finding Lena’s place. A stranger opens the door and insists she is the only one who lives there. He calls Lena’s phone and when it rings, he realises the stranger is Lena and she has been catfishing him. He is about to kill her but he sees her kid and runs off.

Stefano suddenly asks for joint custody of Agata. Marta is upset that he manipulated her but agrees to it. She goes home to find Salvatore drunk. She cleans him up and tells him to get his act together.

Meanwhile, Francesca, the cop on Emma’s case reveals that the culprit, Salis, the mutual friend, Anita and her brother all claim it was consensual. They were drunk and high at the party. To normalize the interaction, Emma also tried to play it cool and texted him the next day. Unfortunately, it has given ammunition for Salis to win if they go to court. Nobili is furious and starts stalking Salis in person.

As for the latest mission, unit 3 needs to accompany two Moroccan traffickers to prison. Marta worries about Salvatore as he is out of it the whole time. One of the kids takes her hostage and Salvatore calms him down and saves her. He spots a razor blade on the floor and realises the boy had two. He is unable to stop the boy as he swallows it and starts choking on his blood.

Elsewhere, Anna and Mazinga are plant shopping. She invites him over for Christmas and he buys a plant for her. Pietro watches as they arrive and set the plant. He confronts Mazinga and wonders if he wants to steal Anna. Mazinga tries to deflect and Pietro tells him to leave.

At home, Nobili goes through Emma’s phone and finds photos she sent Salis. He wonders if she is confused about the incident and she is shocked. Daniela questions his motive and he claims he believes Emma but it is complicated. Daniela kicks him out.

Anna shows up at Mazinga’s for an impromptu dinner. He tries to break up with her and tells her about Pietro finding out. She calls him out for prioritizing Pietro’s “respect” over her own and storms off.

At the precinct, the DA wants to have an off-the-record meeting with Nobili. He brings up his past testimony and tells him to do the right thing by coming forward should he know something. Right when Nobili is about to show Mazinga’s bodycam, the DA sarcastically hopes unit 3 hasn’t changed him. 

On her way home, Marta listens to Franco’s mother berating the culprit for being free. She shuts off the radio and looks overwhelmed. She heads home and confesses to Agata that she is the one who beat up Franco.

Meanwhile, Salvatore finds Nobili crashing at the precinct and consoles him about his daughter. Nobili tells him about Salis and how he has a hotshot lawyer dad. 

As the unit drinks and drives around, Salvatore is lost in thought. At the end of Public Disorder Episode 5, he picks up Nobili. Buccini claims they have a present for him and gives him a mask. Once they are all masked, they take Nobili to an empty trailer where Salis has been tied up.

The Episode Review

As the penultimate episode, Public Disorder Episode 5 keeps the energy high while tying up most of the storylines and opening up fresh ones for the final confrontation that will arise in the finale. Complications in Emma’s case finally give Nobili that push he needs to turn to the dark side as he takes matters into his own hands.

Marta’s storyline finally makes sense as it is revealed that she is the assaulter. And the little hints finally make sense – Salvatore going out of his way to threaten Pignarelli, Mazinga bringing up Agata when Marta has doubts, and even Marta’s abusive ex. If Salvatore’s comment is true that she only hooks up with abusive people, she may have taken out her frustration on Franco.   

However, Mazinga and Anna’s argument is quite strange. Sure, the show is heavy on morality and how there are two sides to every story. But her reasoning that Mazinga should prioritise her over the friend they have cheated on isn’t a strong argument. There is also one loophole – how does Salvatore know about Emma?