Episode four, entitled “The Writer’s Wife,” opens on the morning of June 17, 1972, at 3:53 a.m. E. Howard Hunt (Woody Harrelson) and G. Gordon Liddy (Justin Theroux) deal with the aftermath of the rest of their team getting arrested in their own unique ways. When Liddy gets home, he nonchalantly tells his wife he might be going to prison, then tells her to relax and go to bed before the kids wake up. Hunt has a different approach to dealing with this problem; he wakes up his son, St. John (Liam James), and has him help get rid of the potential evidence. Both approaches taken by Liddy and Hunt in dealing with this issue are very accurate to their characters. Liddy is usually the careless one who doesn’t seem to be bothered by the possible consequences they might face, while Hunt is the one who doesn’t get overwhelmed but always tries to problem-solve.
Later in the morning, Liddy ambushes Richard Kleindienst (Corbin Bernsen), the acting attorney general, while he is golfing with friends. He asks if Kleindienst could try to get James Mccord (Toby Huss) released because he is head of security for the reelection committee for President Nixon. Liddy tries to convince him by reminding him that Mccord is an ex-FBI agent, and soon the police will realize that he is working on the committee and that Nixon was behind this scandal. Liddy’s request to only get Mccord released continues to prove that he doesn’t care about the other men Hunt added to the team. Also, Liddy going alone to talk to Kleindisenst without Hunt implies that he is aware of how he is treating Hunt’s friends that got arrested.
As the episode continues, the audience can sense we’re getting closer and closer to Hunt and Liddy being caught as well. Hunt and Liddy’s paranoia grows more and more as suspicions of their guilt come to light. Two FBI agents come to Hunt’s house to question him, and he pretends he is not home. Then, he gets a call from a journalist asking questions about how Hunt is involved. Hunt gets frightened by this and hides in his bomb shelter. Meanwhile, Liddy goes to the reelection committee office and shreds the traces of Hunt and Liddy working there, as well as the money and soap they took from The Watergate Hotel. Even though they got rid of any potential evidence, Hunt and Liddy were identified by workers at The Watergate Hotel.
Hunt and Liddy decide to get separate lawyers; Liddy chooses to go with one of The White House’s lawyers while Hunt gets a private lawyer. During the meeting with Hunt’s lawyer, Hunt’s wife Dorothy (Lena Headey) gets upset and tells the lawyer to send a message to The White House and remind them that loyalty goes both ways. Her message gets through to someone who refers to himself as Mr.Rivers. Mr.Rivers pays Hunt’s lawyer and agrees to help Hunt and “The Cubans” but not Liddy. This is ironic because, during the whole show, it seemed Liddy only cared for himself, and Hunt not only cared for himself but also cared about the well-being of “The Cubans”. Mr. Rivers requests to speak to only Dorothy and always on a secured phone. After Dorthoy’s mysterious call with Mr.Rivers, he has her move money for him and then pay Hunt, Liddy, and Mccord in multiple installments however, eventually, the payments stop and it’s time for the arraignment.
Rating: 5.5/10