Nine Perfect Strangers Episode 6 recap: Motherlode

There are just a few more episodes left of Nine Perfect Strangers, and things are certainly taking a turn for our guests — a turn for the romantic, a turn for the tragic, and a turn for the just plain wild for some. The vivid dreams plaguing the visitors of Tranquillum House continue in Nine Perfect Strangers Episode 6 and only gotten stranger and more intense. And the tricks of the imagination aren’t limited to asleep hours anymore, as many people are starting to experience hallucinations.

Let’s break down what happened this week as we prepare for the penultimate episode.

Nine Perfect Strangers Episode 6 recap: Francis gets her own romance story

Francis can’t seem to get away from memories of Paul Drabble, the man who scammed her, dreaming of him taunting her about giving him money and the fact Ari wasn’t even his son.

Fortunately, however, her mind is taken off of this quickly when Tony kisses her after a few awkward moments of misunderstanding. (Finally!) Although it’s a sweet moment, the mood quickly turns more serious when Tony alludes to the fact he was suicidal before he came on the retreat. He tells Francis that being here and meeting her has given him hope. Before, he didn’t think he could go on, but how he feels like he has things to live for. His speech is so romantic it might as well have been ripped straight from one of Francis’ novels.

Nine Perfect Strangers Episode 6 recap: Lars and Jessica’s dreams become more intense

Francis isn’t the only one still experiencing dreams she’d rather not be having, as Lars has a nightmare about himself as a child behind called homophobic slurs. He’s woken from his slumber by Masha, who admits that she controlled his dreams with a combination of drugs and audio. Lars is unsettled but slightly intrigued when Masha tells him she’s giving him the chance to nurture and grow something by telling the world about her methods. She gives him a camera to record the events of the day.

MORE: Nine Perfect Strangers Episode 5 recap: Sweet Surrender

Jessica’s hallucination comes in the form of thinking her nose has fallen off after picking at a small blemish on it in the mirror. It takes Ben a few minutes and constant reassurance that her face is still fully intact to calm her down. (Ominous!)

Nine Perfect Strangers Episode 6 recap: Carmel’s motivations come out

Although everyone at Tranquillum House seems to be pretty on board with the drugging now, Carmel is hesitant, as she’s worried the drugs may interfere with the psychotropics she’s on. Masha reassures her she already knew she was on medication due to her bloodwork and that everything would be fine.

However, Masha uses this private moment between them to talk about the elephant in the room: Masha had an affair with Carmel’s husband. Masha alludes to the fact that Carmel may be sending her the threats because of this, but Carmel says she just wanted to come and study Masha in hopes that she may become more like her so her husband will want her back.

Masha apologizes for her part in the affair, promising Carmel that this happened before she changed into the better person she is today and would never hurt Carmel now. Carmel accepts her apology, saying Masha has given the nine of them a family of sorts.

As the day goes on, however, it’s clear that not all is well with Carmel. She confides to Lars that she’s nervous about what she will do if she ends up hallucinating her ex like Francis did. She also talks to Francis directly later that night, saying the two of them are alike in that both of their exes made them feel terrible about themselves. Francis agrees but gently says that while she seems to be getting through it, Carmel may actually be getting worse being here.

Nine Perfect Strangers Episode 6 recap: Masha has a proposition for The Marconis

A bomb is dropped on both the audience and Napoleon this week. The entire Marconi family becomes euphoric after getting a glimpse of Zach in the woods. However, the good mood quickly turns sour when Heather asks Zach why he took his own life. Zach grows frustrated, telling her that she knows why — suicidal ideation was a side effect of his asthma medication, a fact she read, knew, and ignored.

Overwhelmed by guilt, Heather falls to the ground and starts screaming to the point she has to be taken into a medical room by Delilah and Yao. When she wakes up, she starts crying and asking where her son is, completely devastated when she realizes none of it was real. Masha apologizes for how painful this must be for the Marconis but says this memory needs to come back.

Napoleon is particularly devastated by this revelation, blaming Heather for what happened. After all, she obsessively reads the labels of every food she buys; she should have been more careful with the medication. He’s not sure he’ll be able to forgive her for what happened. Masha tries to reconcile the two, bringing Napoleon and Heather together and telling them about the possibility of creating an alternate reality with psychedelics — an alternate reality where Zach is still alive.

Nine Perfect Strangers Episode 6 recap: Delilah makes a big decision

Delilah is extremely disturbed by Masha’s proposal to the Marconis, as she thinks they’re in no state to be deciding something like this. She tells Yao that the two of them need to leave immediately, so they’re not complicit in Masha’s plan, which has gone completely off the rails.

Masha, meanwhile, spends this episode trying to connect with her inner child. At the end of the episode, it seems she succeeds, as she has a flashback of a young girl riding her bike into the street and getting hit by a car.

What did you think of this episode? And what do you think will happen next? Comment below!