Unbelievable – Season 1 Episode 5 Recap & Review

Changing Fates

Episode 5 of Unbelievable sees Grace and Karen continue to investigate one of the victims, who believes that her attacker may have been a police officer. Given the way he raised his flashlight at the door, it’s consistent with the way her attacker raised his knife on the day of the attack, and it may just hold some credibility against Grace and Karen’s theory.

At Lilly Darrow’s house they pull up a print and it matches that found at the other suspect’s floor. They may not know who it is but one thing’s for sure – they’re getting closer to finding out.

Back in 2008, Marie is moved to work in the loading bay thanks to her picture being shared everywhere. As she heads down to work in the darkness, Colleen approaches Judith with what she’s found and shows her the news report on TV about another rape victim. It’s here she learns about the court date and that the police are charging her with creating a false report. Deciding to take matters into her own hands, Colleen makes a move that may prove to bring more attention to Marie than she may have wished.

However, in the loading bay she’s antagonized by her fellow worker who suddenly changes his demeanor and tells her it was all just a joke. Not a very funny one at that either, as it rattles Marie enough to freak her out and storm out of work. After pushing Connor away and fighting outside, he leaves which prompts her boss to come and speak to her, eventually resulting in Marie quitting and hiding out in her room.

Back in 2011, Elias asks whether to separate out files that suspect police, prompting Taggart asks whether it’s an angle that has merit. Cornered, Grace has no choice but to admit the truth that each rape was in a different district and may have been committed by one of their own, thanks in part to the pristine crime scenes and mounting evidence.

In the middle of their heated debate, Mia arrives with good news – she’s found the same boots and gloves that match that of the attacker. Eventually, this leads them onto Marie’s case where they find her file back in 2008 that matches what they’ve all been pursuing.

While Karen heads off to Kansas, the rest of the group make fun of Elias’ idea about women’s underwear before having an idea – with stalking being thrown around perhaps someone saw something from a passing vehicle. As the team get to work, Karen finds a book about rape forensics and begins reading in Kansas while eyeing up a suspicious man at the bar who creepily watches a group of girls. Flashing her badge in a not-so-subtle way, she passes him slowly on the way out while Grace concocts a story to get her fellow policemen’s phone numbers, leading her closer to the truth.

As the pieces of the puzzle begin to slot into place, all the clues appear to point to a policeman as the one who’s behind the rape cases. Just who that may be remains to be seen but I’d imagine it’ll have something pretty profound to do with 2008, given that appears to be the catalyst for where everything began. With more investigative work and the police theory finally out in the open, Grace’s play for the phone numbers at the end may just be the catalyst needed to push our characters into the final home stretch of this investigation.