The fourth episode of Disclaimer shows how not one but two main characters die, with 'IV' coming out on Friday, October 18 to fill in some blanks in the Apple TV Plus drama's story.
Episode 4 of Disclaimer charts the last days of Jonathan Brigstocke, as well as how his parents Stephen and Nancy dealt with the loss in the following years, and also how Robert reacted to finding out his wife Catherine was at the center of the mystery.
If you've seen the previous episodes, you'll know that the show jumps around a lot between its main characters and to different events within the story's 20-year span. So it can quickly get confusing.
To ensure that you haven't missed any story beats, this Disclaimer episode 4 recap will go through everything that happened, to simplify things. I've largely kept things in the order we see them, but have combined a few elements for brevity.
Of course, spoilers ensue so if you'd like to watch the show first, sign up for Apple TV Plus in order to check it out.
The affair continues
We begin in our earlier timeline: young Catherine (Leila George) continues her affair with Jonathan (Louis Partridge), and we see him taking the later-important pictures of her. She's returning to London in a few days, and asks him to postpone his trip to Rome until then so that they can spend time together. In the modern day, Robert (Sacha Baron Cohen) reads about this in the book.
Two months after Jonathan's death, Stephen (Kevin Kline) has finally convinced his grieving wife Nancy (Lesley Manville) to leave the house and go for a walk. When he looks for her, though, he finds her trying to drown herself in the bath. She says she just wants to know what it was like for Jonathan to drown.
Back in the modern day, Robert goes into work for a meeting relating to one of the charities he manages. However he's too focused on his personal problems to pay attention.
At her own work Catherine (Cate Blanchett) is told by her assistant about a lead regarding Stephen: he used to be an old uni friend with the person who's now his publisher. However Catherine tells her to stop investigating Stephen, as she wants to drop the story. Catherine then calls Robert's office to see if he's in but doesn't want to speak to him. She reflects on how her secretive personality may be why Robert is so angry at her now her secrets are out.
Back to a younger Stephen and Nancy: the latter finds pictures Jonathan took on his new camera, and is pleased that they're all of her, while Stephen's inner monologue implies upset that there are none of him. Stephen also speculates that this is when Nancy decided to get Jonathan's holiday pictures developed.
The death of Nancy
In Italy, Jonathan goes to the beach and sees Catherine, who previously stated that they should treat each other like strangers in public. However she begins to pose for him across the beach, quickly forgetting Nicholas, and Jonathan takes pictures of her.
Eventually she goes to the bathroom and indicates Jonathan to go with her. They fool around but we see as they do, Nicholas playing around on his dinghy on the beach.
Robert thinks about this from the book, and wonders where Nicholas was during his wife's affair; he decides he needs to look after his son. He also reflects on his own relative absence from the book, only being referred to once as "the husband". Around the same time Catherine goes into her local bookshop and is disturbed to see that The Perfect Stranger is on offer.
Modern-day Stephen contacts his publisher friend as he claims he's writing a new book. He asks for help in creating a Facebook profile for his new character, to help him understand the online world better, and the publisher puts him in contact with the man who designed his website.
Five years on from Jonathan's death, Nancy is still grieving and she tells Stephen that she's moving into Jonathan's old room. Over time the house becomes squalid, and when Stephen brings her dinner, she won't let her into the room. She's typing something and they both know she has cancer; a few months later she dies.
The death of Jonathan
Back to Italy: Jonathan tells Catherine that he's decided to return to London with her, much to her alarm, and she tells him not to do so. He's insistent as he wants more, and eventually sees her leaving her husband for him. The two argue and Catherine returns to the beach. She takes a nap and tells Nicholas to stay put.
Modern Catherine returns home to find both Robert and Nicholas there; the latter has moved back home temporarily. Robert has told his son that Catherine has to leave the country to cover a story, not telling him about their issues. He's packed her bag for her, and calls her a taxi to 'the airport'.
As she leaves Robert chastises her for her actions 20 years ago and for not telling him. She tells Robert that she wanted Jonathan to die.
And now we go back to Italy. Catherine wakes up to a windier beach and Nicholas is gone, but she quickly pots his dinghy far out into the ocean. She runs after it but it's foo far out so she calls for help. Jonathan is out there first and he swims out to the dinghy; he begins to pull it back to shore but he's struggling to keep a head above water.
Eventually locals recognize what's happening and come to help; two swim out to relieve Jonathan and eventually those two are relieved by lifeguards, who get Nicholas back to shore. They return him to Catherine, and everything is okay... except that Jonathan is still in the water, and everyone seems to have forgotten.
Catherine hasn't forgotten, and she can hear his cries for help, however she says nothing. Eventually the locals realize that he's out there and lifeguards go to him, but he drowns before they can reach him. On the beach, a lifeguard tries to revive Jonathan, but doesn't manage to. A teary-eyed Catherine leaves without ever acknowledging the death.
