The Gloaming Season 1, Episode 5 recap: Beyond the Veil

Somehow we’re already halfway through The Gloaming Season 1 already, and things are getting intense. The Gloaming Episode 5 is all about Molly’s suspicions regarding Gareth and Jacinta in the wake of Jacinta’s death. Her immediate theory is that Gareth had something to do with it. Of course, we know she’s right, but others aren’t inclined to believe Molly for reasons that become more clear as the episode unfolds.

As for Alex, he’s fascinated by the strange convict bible he found in Dorothy Moxley’s possession. Could the bible be the key to unlocking some of the mysterious elements happening in this show?

The Gloaming Episode 5 begins with a creepy nightmare sequence courtesy of Freddie, who is still in a coma in the hospital. Shortly after, we see Freya visiting Molly to tell her about Jacinta. Molly wastes no time in pointing the finger of blame at Gareth. She tells Alex her theory that Jacinta was colluding with Gareth and she thinks they were together at a local restaurant called Peppermint Bay before she died.

In return for her theory, Alex offers one of his own regarding Dorothy’s bible. It ties her to a former missing kid named Ricki Jones, who drowned.

For now, Alex and Molly go poke around Peppermint Bay. One of the workers confirms Molly’s theory about Gareth, saying that he saw them arguing in the parking lot and he saw Gareth get aggressive.  Molly guesses that Jacinta felt the cops breathing down her neck and tried to terminate their agreement. She thinks Gareth followed Jacinta and then waited for Jacinta to die before calling the cops and playing the part of “concerned citizen.”

The Gloaming Episode 5 recap: Molly’s snooping catches up with her

Molly later admits to Alex that she broke into Gareth’s house (way back in the first episode) and that’s where she saw the housing development plans, which he had way before the proposal ever happened. And yes, Alex chastises her for breaking the law but considering he keeps a drug stash on hand in his car, he doesn’t really have the moral high ground.

The problem is, Gareth is one step ahead of Molly. Remember that footage he spotted after seeing something from his house left on a chessboard? He recognized Molly and took it to Louise. Needless to say, he’s pissed that Molly would risk jeopardizing their entire investigation by going after Gareth off the books.

We finally learn that the main reason Molly keeps going after Gareth is that she believes he was responsible for the death of her friend Elizabeth, despite her death being ruled an accident. Louis advises Molly to get the best legal team she can because if Gareth pursues charges against her, she’s screwed.

Alex is still on Molly’s side though, even if he isn’t fully sold on her Gareth theory. He offers to drive her to Daisy’s funeral and on the way, he tells her he’ll help her get legitimate proof to pin on Gareth if she really is 100% sure he’s guilty –– which, she is. He assures her they’ll figure this out so she doesn’t lose her job.

Things get even weirder at Daisy’s funeral. Grace, of course, is there, and then they have the wake at Daisy’s foster parent’s home. Molly slips into Daisy’s bedroom and pockets a photo from the wall while Grace leads a creepy prayer circle outside.

The Gloaming Episode 5 recap: Alex learns the legends about Crofters

Grace is up to her usual weirdness in this episode, starting with a visit to Shelly Hopkin’s fish and chips shop. Grace introduces herself as a friend of Daisy’s and forces Shelly to admit that Freddie did kill Dorothy, but she doesn’t know why and Grace won’t tell her. Before leaving, Grace warns Shelly that when Freddie wakes up, he should keep his mouth shut. “If the cops don’t get him, the Devil surely will.” Then she leaves Shelly with a phone that shows a horrific clip of Freddie murdering Dorothy.

That evening, Eileen shows up on Grace’s doorstep because she wants to see Stephanie. She starts rambling on about how “bloodline is everything” and that both she and Eileen are part of an important chain remembering the “old days and the old ways.” For some reason, Eileen seems blocked from entering Grace’s house, as if it’s spelled.

While all of this is going on, Alex is running his own side investigation into Dorothy’s bible and the ties to Jenny’s murder. He looks deeper into the Ricky Jones connection and discovers another dead girl named Valerie Gowdie. Ricky was convicted of murdering Valerie in 1995, so why does Dorothy have a clipping of Ricky’s obituary?

Eileen approaches him at the precinct and asks him for a favor, which turns out to be sending Alex to Grace’s house for Stephanie since Eileen can’t get in herself for whatever reason.

But before diving into that, let’s recap Alex’s meeting with the priest since it explains a lot of significant things about the darkness in this show. A priest recognizes the bible as a Crofter novel. The Crofters originate from the 17th century, they’re a group borne from fusing Christianity with superstitious belief, black magic, paganism and folklore. Basically, they’re witches, but with much darker ideologies.

Crofters saw the paradox of God and evil and came to the conclusion that evil exists because God wants it to, so they saw God as an evil being. They didn’t believe in the separation of life and death, “the living and the dead are never parted.”

Of course, the priest says this is all just Scottish folklore, but Alex isn’t so sure.

At Grace’s house, Stephanie says she’s been expecting Alex to show up. There he notices one of those little trinkets, identical to the one they found wedged in Dorothy’s mouth. Stephanie tells him they’re used to prevent spirits from crossing, a tradition from the old world. Then she reveals that Grace and Eileen are actually sisters!

That night, Grace wakes suddenly and hears a child calling out for her. She walks into the nursery and notices Stephanie’s baby in the crib, but Grace calls her Valerie. So it sounds like this Valerie Gowdie was Grace’s daughter?

And in the final moments of The Gloaming Episode 5, Freddie wakes suddenly and starts reciting lines from the Book of Revelations, which is… never a good sign. “Out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth and the power was given unto them.”

As Freddie recites the words, the camera returns to Grace’s land and pans down deep beneath the earth –– it’s full of bones.

What did you think about The Gloaming Episode 5? Whose bones are in Grace’s yard? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

New episodes of The Gloaming air Sunday nights on Starz at 8:00 p.m. EST.