Even though Sonny stood up to imposter-mom Ellen at the end of last week's episode, most of Phony season 1 episode 4 was a dead end for his investigation. Shovel's party was a bust, but the series let the audience in on a major development: the mysterious burial of a body behind a cabin in the woods. But, we still don't know whether the body was Sonny's real mom, why Ellen made a large cash payment in a dark parking lot, or how this imposter came to be in the first place!
Now that we're halfway through the season and still left with very few clues about what's going on, Phony fans are pitching their theories on social media about the mystery. Some theories lean heavily into science-fiction with talks of alternate dimensions and aliens, but others are convinced that this Ellen is an evil twin sister (though I guess that doesn't explain why the rest of the town doesn't notice). But in Phony season 1 episode 5, titled "House of Dog," Ellen looks to be investigating Sonny just as much as he's investigating her.
Sonny skips school to work the case
Sonny does stay over at Vogel's for the night, but he's quick to check in at Sharla's place and learns about Ellen paying the mystery man in the bar parking lot. Sharla says the car is registered to someone named Tracy Marks, but Sonny doesn't recognize the name. Taking Sharla's advice to just rent out a motel room and get some rest, Sonny leaves, but Mallory (who came by to pick up Weldon) convinces him to join her instead.
Mallory drives them to an old church called "House of Dog," and as they are walking in, we see the same blue van from the burial site driving past. The church turns out to be a memorial site for pet dogs, and it's covered in photos and messages from families. With no discussion about the mystery, Mallory and Sonny head back to the car, but she clocks the same blue van parked nearby. Not wanting to go to school, the two of them waste the rest of the morning sharing a joint in the car and getting high.
Sonny's able to let his guard down and embrace some silliness, but he may have overshared when he tells Mallory that he slept with his girlfriend, Chloe. Mallory wraps up their school-skipping adventure and drops him back at home. As Mallory drives away, he finds a can in the driveway that presumably fell off the roof of a car after being forgotten about — and it leads Sonny to have a nostalgic afternoon reading his mom's journals.
Ellen investigates Sonny's burner phone
Ellen is focused on making sure Sonny's ok and trying to figure out where his "burner phone" came from. She had intercepted Sharla's call the night of the party, and Ellen doesn't know who Sonny's in contact with or why she's speaking with her son. She even convinces Jason at school to help her track down the phone's owner, but it leads them to a dead end.
Meanwhile, Sharla and Weldon are able to connect throughout the episode, and their dynamic together really works. At the top of the episode, Sharla thought Weldon had followed her to an AA meeting, but it turns out he was convinced he needed to be there for his own addictions. She helps him understand that he's not untrustworthy and seems to be the unconventional role model that Weldon needs (but she is still actively drinking throughout the scene). I'm looking forward to seeing how these two come back around to help Sonny reunite with his real mom.
Back on Sonny's journal journey, the new clues from this episode are woven together when Sonny spots the name Tracy on the page about Ellen's dad's funeral. He immediately remembers Tracy as the name of the person who owned the car, and as he keeps reading, he realizes Tracy is not someone Ellen trusts. The episode ends with a fun cliffhanger and a big lead in the case: Ellen has an estranged near-identical sister!
New episodes of Phony drop Tuesdays on Hulu and for subscribers with Hulu on Disney+. We're officially more than halfway through the season, so you better tune in for the final three episodes to find out just what happened with Sonny and his mom, Ellen.
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