Major spoilers are ahead from Imperfect Women episode 5!
Imperfect Women might have started off slow, but the fourth episode definitely picked up the pace. Episode 4 was basically one big flashback centered around Nancy's last New Year's Day party before her death. In the episode, we learned a little about what led Nancy to have a secret affair.
But it's that last scene that really had our jaws dropped. Nancy and Mary's husband, Howard, is shown having a friendly conversation by the pool. Nancy helped Howard get a new temporary job for an upcoming ballet production because she serves on the organization's board.
When Howard comes to thank Nancy for her help, he mentions that the guy over the production (Phil) keeps calling him by the wrong name. He explains to Nancy that he keeps calling him "David." As viewers, we know that the guy that Nancy said she was having an affair with was named David. David is also believed to have murdered her. Nancy and Howard's conversation by the pool seemed slightly flirtatious.
Could Howard be the real David? Could he and Nancy have been having a secret affair that ultimately ended in her murder? Follow along to our recap of Imperfect Women episode 5 to see how the story continues to unfold!
Nancy and Howard have an affair
The fifth episode of Imperfect Women takes place in the past just like the previous episode. It picks up just a few weeks after Nancy's New Year's Day party. Nancy and Robert are still struggling in their marriage. She recently discovered an email exchange between Robert and a lawyer discussing divorce papers and the division of assets. Now, Nancy fears that he’s planning to leave her.
As she prepares to leave the house in the morning, Nancy notices an empty alcohol bottle in the trash. She confronts Robert and even suggests he consider therapy, but he dismisses her concerns. Afterward, Nancy heads to Mary's house to pick up Howard.
They then head to the LA Metro Ballet together, where she works as a creative consultant on the ballet production. Howard, on the other hand, helps with the program notes. While Howard is excited about the opportunity, Nancy kind of ignores him due to her own personal struggles with Robert.
After the first meeting with the cast and crew, Nancy speaks with Phil about her suggestions for the show. Phil then asks her to provide him with a lookbook and tells her he'll take a look at it later. The episode then cuts to Nancy meeting with Davide in his loft to get her portrait taken. While there, she starts receiving multiple text messages back-to-back from Scott.
Remember, Scott is Nancy's late mother's former boyfriend. When Nancy was a teenager, she used to secretly sleep with him. If you recall from the fourth episode, she was browsing his social media page while at her New Year's party. It looks like Nancy might have actually reached out to him since he's suddenly sending her messages.
The episode then cuts to a new day. Nancy is watching the ballet dancers practice when Howard approaches her with a new journal for her to write and draw in. They start to bond after this and even form a friendship. They connect over their similar backgrounds and even attend a movie together.
As they leave the movie theater, Nancy receives a call from Scott. She walks over a bit and answers the call. She tells Scott to leave her alone, and Howard hears the entire conversation. However, Nancy doesn't really give him any details of who she was talking to once she ends the call. All she tells Howard is that it's someone from her past. She then asks Howard not to tell Robert or Mary about the call when they all have dinner later that evening.
Following dinner at Mary and Howard's, Nancy and Mary speak in the living room. Howard and a drunk Robert then enter the room, and Robert offers to get his friend to represent Mary and Howard's son, Marcus. Remember, Marcus is having legal troubles.
While Mary is down, Howard doesn't want his help and would rather figure out their son's problem on their own. Robert continues to press his offer and ignores Nancy's subtle hints to back off. In fact, he even makes a hurtful comment towards Nancy that sends her rushing into the kitchen. Howard follows after her and tries to comfort her, but the gesture borders on too intimate when he gently touches her hand. Mary then suddenly enters the kitchen and tells Nancy that Robert's in the car, and Nancy leaves.
The next day at tech rehearsal, Nancy and Howard stay after it's over to share a bottle of wine. This leads Nancy to open up about her past with Scott before she and Howard sleep together for the first time. She then meets with Eleanor and Mary on another day to hang out, but she's unable to concentrate after what she did. As she gets up to leave, Eleanor stops her. This is when Nancy comes clean to Eleanor about having a secret affair, but all she provides about the mysterious guy is that his name is David.
Nancy returns home later that night and finds Robert getting ready to leave for a week-long business trip. This sends her spiraling, and she immediately calls Howard after he leaves. We're then shown a few scenes of them hooking up in various places. They even attend a party together. This is the same party that Davide mentioned seeing Nancy at in a previous episode.
Nancy breaks things off with Howard
The fifth episode then cuts to another day. Davide has finished Nancy's portrait, and she has someone hang it on the wall in her home. Suddenly, Robert enters the house. He's back from his work trip, and he tells Nancy that they'll be meeting with his father and sister later that evening. During this dinner, we learn about the real reason that Robert's been so distant from Nancy. No, he wasn't cheating or anything like that.
Apparently, Robert had convinced his father to acquire a company that ended up being a financial disaster. To avoid a lawsuit, his father then made him use his portion of the trust to pay off investors. After Nancy and Robert leave the dinner and make their way back home, Robert breaks down in the car. He explains to Nancy that all of their expenses will be controlled by his father going forward.
Robert even suggests to her that she can leave him if she wants, admitting that he doesn’t want her to feel trapped in a life controlled by his father’s demands. However, Nancy is more shocked than anything. She brings up to Robert that she thought he was going to leave her because of the email she saw. Robert then tells her that he was only going to divorce her to protect her.
That way, she can stash her settlement money in an offshore account so his father can't get it. Now, Nancy feels really bad. She's been cheating on her husband this entire time, and the weight of her actions hits her harder knowing that Robert’s distance wasn’t about a lack of love. It was about protecting her. However, she doesn't come clean right away.
The next evening, Nancy and Robert attend the official ballet production along with Mary and Howard. While Nancy and Robert seem to be as close as ever, Howard is confused by the sudden switch-up. Nancy then leaves to touch up her makeup, and Howard follows her.
He confronts Nancy about ghosting him, and Nancy tells him that their affair is over. As she tries to leave the room, Howard forcefully grabs her arm. He tells her that maybe he'll tell Robert about everything, but Nancy doesn't seem worried. Instead, she basically tells Howard that Robert likely won't believe him before walking away.
Following the ballet production, Nancy and Robert head home. Nancy knows she needs to tell Robert about the affair right away, and she decides that night is the right time. However, she's unable to tell him first because Robert reads all the text messages suddenly being sent to her phone. One of the messages is a photo of her naked in the backseat of her car.
Nancy begins to apologize for cheating, but Robert has an angry outburst that scares her. She then quickly grabs her things and rushes to her car. As she drives off, another car follows her. It's Mary! This is where the fifth episode wraps up. Dun dun duuun!
Wait, so was it Mary who sent the text messages to Nancy's phone? Has she known about Nancy and Howard's affair the entire time? If not, what is she doing camping outside her so-called best friend's house and then following her? Mary's facial expression while trailing after Nancy looked suspicious. Could Mary and Howard possibly have planned this together? We have so many questions and are looking forward to seeing how Imperfect Women continues to peel back its story!
Imperfect Women is streaming on Apple TV.