Episode five opens with Dee Dee singing a chant: “Forever Be The Shining Truth.” She holds a specific pose in front of a painting of a man as she sings. A man calls her to follow him. There is a title card: Three Weeks Earlier. Dee is presented with an envelope with pictures of people. Two of the people were killed by her and Ash. The people within the cult call her Holly, and they let her go on her mission to kill the photographed people, and they make sure she knows the shining truth.
Released from prison, Elena confronts Lou about the fact that she knew about her son, Joel, and her granddaughter, Maria. Lou denies knowing anything, but Elena doesn’t believe her. She then visits Simon in the hospital and explains how she believes that the other two men she is researching were adopted from the same agency. Because they connect to Paige, Elena asks Simon to see if she had any relation at all to an agency. She then leaves for a task while Simon looks through Paige’s credit card purchase history and finds a purchase for an adoption agency membership.
Elena goes to the agency, but they refuse to share files with her as it’s against the law. She explains one man is missing and another is dead, all in the span of a month. They threaten to call the police, so she gets up and leaves. She takes a piece of candy and sneakily leaves an AirPod in the jar as the man at the front desk makes a phone call. She overhears the whole conversation and writes down the name Alison. Elena tracks down Alison and confronts her with the fact that she used to work for the agency. It is revealed that Aaron was adopted. Alison knows she has said too much, and she makes a run for it.
Ash and Dee drive to Dee’s cult , arguing the entire way there. Ash is concerned about Dee and her safety, but Dee believes everything that they tell her. Dee begs Ash to be respectful, but Ash knows something bad is going to happen. When they arrive at the cult, Ash and Dee are separated. Ash is led to a dark room within a tent by a muscular guard. There is a star in the middle of the ground with the words: “Forever Be The Shining Truth” written around it. A woman in a cloak approaches him and asks him about the mission. Ash yells at the woman and demands to see Dee. The woman accuses him of being in love with her. As Ash prepares to put up a fight, the guard knocks him unconscious. Ash wakes up on a stone. He is surrounded by members of the cult, including Dee Dee. The woman in the cloak approaches him, bows to his feet, and apologizes. Dee tells Ash that “he” wants to meet them. It is the man in the painting at the beginning of the episode. Ash explains how they have to finish the mission and that he’s only in it for the money. The man urges him to “spread the truth.”
Simon feels the need to tell Sam and Anya that Ingrid went into critical condition the previous night. He kept it from them as he didn’t want to worry them. When he reveals the truth, Sam gets furious. He yells at Simon, explaining how he got them into this mess in the first place and how he’ll never forgive him if his mother doesn’t make it out of this alive. Simon and Anya are shocked and speechless. Simon agrees to start telling Sam and Anya everything that he knows related to Paige. However, he doesn’t tell them about Ingrid’s alleged affair with Jay or that he’s running DNA tests to check their paternity. He then gets a text from Katie, Paige’s ex-roommate, to meet. Simon meets up with Katie, and she tells him about the professor from the previous episode confronting Paige. She also feels like the drugs were her fault after the big fight they had. Simon thanks Katie, and they go their separate ways.
The episode ends with multiple scenes. Lou and Maria are seen together; Maria asks her if she is okay. Ash and Dee are driving. Ash has a memory of the woman in the cloak slipping a tiny letter into his shoe when she bowed to him: “Don’t Kill Them. Don’t Trust Dee Dee.” Issac puts in an alibi for Cornelius behind Ruby’s back. And we see Cornelius drop a bloody knife into the river, the same knife suspected as the weapon used for Aaron’s murder.
This episode was a bit slower-paced than the previous two. While there is more unraveling, it seems like more characters are being introduced when it’s not necessary. That being said, the most interesting storyline is Ash and Dee. The previous episodes show the two of them sharing everything and being inseparable. One little note could change Ash and their entire relationship. More about the cult is learned, but not in its entirety which could come up in future episodes. What is the truth? Simon’s character arc seems to involve opening up to the people around him and having the feeling of trustworthiness. So much has happened in his life in just weeks, and other characters seem to know more about his wife and daughter than he even does. He is willing to learn the truth, no matter the cost.
Rating: 7/10