The Last Thing He Told Me – Season 1 Episode 4 “Witness to Your Life” Recap & Review

Witness to Your Life

Episode 4 of The Last Thing He Told Me sees us witness the first time that Bailey and Hannah met each other. The former was cold and indifferent, the latter warm and appeasing. “She is her own person,” quipped Hannah at the time referring to Bailey.

Cut to the present, Bailey and Hannah discuss Owen’s lies to them over the years. Bailey has a sense of crisis; her identity isn’t her own, but more devastatingly, Owen lied to her for more than a decade. She also suggests they stay in Austin to discover more of who Owen really is and Hannah agrees.

The next morning, Hannah decides to call US Marshall Grady’s office. His secretary informs her that Grady is “on vacation.” Hannah gets his contact and calls him directly. Grady is presently with his son, Marco, but it seems like the mother isn’t in the picture. The conversation is a start-stop affair, and both of them are reluctant to tell each other the whole truth, and neither has been able to inspire trust in the other.

From Grady’s tone, it does seem Hannah and Bailey are not safe as it is. Grady seems to be an old friend of Owen’s as he tried protecting him against Hannah.

Hannah remembers the time she received a letter from Carole, her mother. Carole was with her new partner in Montreal and wrote a postcard to her. But Hannah was upset over the fact that Carole did not know what grade she was in. Her grandfather, Andrew, took care of Hannah and taught her the craft, as she mentioned in episode 1. “You choose what you pay attention to” seems like sage advice that might have some bearing on what Hannah does in this episode. And she does put it to good use.

Owen used to tell stories about his past to Bailey and Hannah. She theorizes that Owen couldn’t have made up “all the details” and some of them must be true. They remember the name of a professor from Princeton, Tobias Cookman, who might have something to tell them about him. He is at the University of Texas so they decide to visit.

Jules informs Hannah that the key she found in the piggy bank in episode 3 opens a fire-proof safe, but Hannah doesn’t know of one in the house.

Grady reports back to work and gets his team on Hannah’s trail, as he wants to know where she is. Grady’s boss pulls him up and reprimands him for harassing Hannah, but he explains his case.

The boss does not believe this is in their jurisdiction and asks Grady to drop it. Hannah and Bailey are able to talk to Cookman though, but he does not remember a lot about Owen until Hannah tells her story. He still does not know Owen’s previous name but decides to help them.

Jules does not find the duffel bag of cash underneath the bed, as Grady had found it in the previous episode. She tells Jake this, who instantly gets agitated as it could mean more trouble for Hannah. It is also revealed he wanted to marry Hannah but she turned him down. Cheryl, Cookman’s assistant, is able to figure out the year Owen took his class. It’s 1997.

But looking at the list, he isn’t able to remember the name clearly. He starts to look for the “young woman” whom Owen blamed for failing midterm. He had fallen in love with her and couldn’t focus.

Hannah decides to look through the yearbook from 1997 to get his name. Grady finds out that Bailey and Hannah are in Austin and worriedly heads out to track them down. Before they see the yearbook, Bailey confides in Hannah about her identity crisis.

Hannah remembers how Bailey and her circumstances – when she was young – are so similar. When Carole came to visit them once, Hannah chose not to see her. She suddenly realizes that the safe might be in her wood-turning workshop. Owen knew she wouldn’t sell some pieces and the safe might be there.

While further consolidating her bond with Bailey, Hannah receives a call from Eleanor. She is the lady from the church where the two went in the last episode to see if Owen attended one of the weddings. Eleanor says a parishioner suggested she check the pre-season weddings from the year, where such ceremonies are held in the stadiums.

She finds one such wedding between Andrea Reyes and Charles Smith, but these names are not on the list of Cookman’s roster from 1997. There is someone called Katherine Smith in there and Bailey and Hannah look ghastly when they take a closer look at her photo.

The Episode Review

One can speculate that the girl in the photo was Olivia, Bailey’s biological mother, but the mystery still remains as to why Owen and her married under different names. Also, the roster did not have their names when it should have.

The creative decision to integrate Hannah’s childhood memories and her likeness with Bailey must be appreciated. That definitely added some legs to the story, along with progressing the bond between Hannah and Bailey. Such choices always give layers to the narrative that make shows more rewarding for the viewers.

Bailey and Hannah made long strides in figuring out Owen’s real identity here too. The investigation in Sausalito isn’t going all that well and it would have been nice to see more of it.

Grady’s connection to Owen’s past also remains a point of tension and intrigue for now. This series is a step closer to cracking the code but it’s not quite there just yet.