The Woman in the Wall – Season 1 Episode 5 “Ex Gratia” Recap & Review

Ex Gratia

Episode 5 of The Woman in the Wall begins with a joyous interaction between Lorna and Akande. We saw Akande in the previous episode bringing his death certificate to Lorna. The possibility of Agnes – and many other newborns at the convent – being alive has substantially increased. The duo sits down to follow this new hope with tangible leads. Akande has procured considerable evidence from Percy’s house. He preserved all personal materials like letters and birthday cards from the families he “helped.”

Among the materials, Lorna finds one addressed to Breda. Her mind instantly goes to the puncture of Clemence’s daughter, who has the same name. It doesn’t take Lorna long to find Breda’s death certificate from the pile she recovered from the wailing woman’s house. Akande and Lorna head next to “11 Mill Road,” the address they found on the envelope with the card. They deduce that the house must be near a church, as found in the background of the photo.

James Coyle delivers good news to Niamh and her partner. The judge has ruled in favour of the women and has directed the State to recognise the convent as a Magdalene laundry. This will mean justice for their suffering, even bringing monetary compensation from the State’s side. Massey is reinvigorated after Lorna’s confrontation. He remarks to Skelly that he is “tired of being useless” and starts working on the case with new energy. Niamh and the other women celebrate their victory, although Lorna is a noticeable absentee. 

For convenience’s sake, they pick the closest location and hit the road. They ride their luck to find that particular church and the house nearby. Breda answers the door and Lorna’s heart melts. Despite Akande’s suggestion not to reveal their true motive, Lorna tells her the truth. After processing the shock of learning about Clemence’s death, Breda invites them in.

Her adoptive parents told her quite young about her history. So this isn’t news to her. Breda explains how her parents were deemed “too old” to adopt by the State. Percy helped them out and presented Breda as an “abandoned child.” Akande and Lorna are shocked when they learn that Breda’s adoptive parents gave Percy money to get her custody. Alarm bells ring in their heads as Akande thinks it can be a case of child trafficking.

Breda also tells them about St. Alma’s, a house where all the kids who weren’t picked were sent. Akande cross-checks the dates on the death certificates with entries in Percy’s diary…and there is the evidence. All such dates are marked as “private donations” or “repair work” in the diary. The duo head on to Akande’s house in Dublin, where they enquire his adoptive mother more about the process. She confirms that they made a donation to the church, but they had no idea what it really meant. 

She gives them Akande’s adoption file, where he finds a card with the name Ignacious McCullen. This was the agent who handled everything in the process. Lorna picks up Niamh’s call and learns the news about the convent. However, the reality behind this “victory” is splurged on the ride back to Kilkinure. If the ladies sign the letter, the perpetrators of the trafficking ring get away with everything else. They will only be charged with exploiting the ladies for labour, which isn’t nearly close to the heinous nature of their crimes.

Lorna waltzes in and informs the other women about the repercussions of signing the letter. As she is clarifying the trafficking angle, Akande is explaining the same to Massey at the station. Massey, who has been working through the case files again, informs Akande that a phone call was made to a hotel in Dublin from Percy’s house the night he died. Maybe it was his last cry for help? Meanwhile, at the bar, the other women resist Lorna’s plan. They want this chapter of their lives over with, not to mention that fighting another battle will take a long time.

She levels with Amy, who looks like she can be convinced to join Lorna’s fight…but to no avail. The group signs the letters, much to Lorna’s dismay. However, they are interrupted by Thomas, the stable owner whom the police questioned in Episode 2 and who was seen fighting with Amy Kane. We finally learn why…

Thomas keeps blurting out expletives and insults against the women. As the ladies ask him to get out, Amy takes the lead. Thomas, who was married at the time, is revealed to be the biological father of Amy’s child. She lambasts Thomas for his ignorant and neglectful behaviour, referring to her apathetic suffering at the convent. When Thomas compassionately touches her shoulder, Amy angrily punches him and Massey takes him into custody. She breaks down in Lorna’s arms, who encourages her to sign the letter.

Akande reaches a horrifying conclusion after inquiring with the hotel in Dublin and asking Skelly to search McCullen’s name through the police database. The hotel was hosting a big conference by the Eadrom group the night Percy died and McCullen’s photo resembles James Coyle. Akande firmly believes Coyle changed his name from Ignacio McCullen.

At the bar, as Niamh goes into labour and the EMT arrives on the scene, Carmel, who worked at the Kilkinure convent, remarks how Aoife “Came back from the dead!” The final scene shows that Aoife performed that miracle again and woke up after Lorna buried her behind the wall. 

The Episode Review

The storytelling has been so topsy-turvy until now…but in a good way. The plot keeps changing directions and as the layers are peeled back, there is plenty to like. Episode 5 sets up an exciting finale for next week with many unresolved issues. The makers have handled all these moving parts superbly until now. The weight of drama is near perfect in this episode, even though the perspective isn’t nearly objective enough.