Sex & Grief Engulf a Second Double Helping of 'Disclaimer'

AppleTV+’s Disclaimer arrives with two more episodes in its second week, which are all about grief and sex. But mostly grief... and also a lot of sex. We see Stephen and Nancy on the day they learn Jonathan has died. They are going about their casual lives grilling in the backyard when two police officers come to their door and inform them that Jonathan has drowned. “Destiny doesn’t knock on any door,” Stephen narrates. “Destiny doesn’t ask permission. It crashes in without calling.” They have to go to Italy to identify the body. “The sun was shining as if nothing terrible had happened,” Stephen says, truly capturing how surreal it is to go through something like this as the world continues around you. 

Nancy wails when she sees her son in the morgue. The police take them to the beach where Jonathan died, where they learn that the lifeguards were attending to a child who had cut his foot, and that is why they weren’t quick to respond. Nancy wants to talk to the woman whose son Jonathan saved, but she learns she has already returned to England. She wonders why her son, who has always put himself first, risked his life for someone he didn’t know. Stephen and Nancy wade into the water almost as if they are looking for their son or think they can perhaps save him. It is devastating.

Back at home, Nancy never truly recovers from the loss. She tries to drown herself in the bathtub, not because she wants to die but because she wants to know what her son feels. The police had told her he most likely passed out before he died and felt no pain. But is that true?

Stephen and Nancy’s story is juxtaposed against Jonathan and Catherine’s romance in Italy as he walks Catherine and Nicholas back to their hotel. Catherine puts Nicholas to bed (did he even have dinner?) and then meets Jonathan in a hotel bar for a drink. Catherine is extremely flirtatious, telling him she is jealous of his freedom. He tells her he has a crush on Kylie Minogue, and she, in great and seductive detail, asks him what he would do to Kylie. Jonathan nearly has an orgasm right at the table. She invites him to her hotel room, but he wonders about Nicholas. “Don’t worry about Nicholas,” she tells him. “He sleeps like a log.” 

(I mean, I’m glad *someone* is worried about Nicholas.)

Jonathan and Catherine embark on an extremely sexual (and loud!) relationship. He’s besotted with her, and we see how the provocative pictures are taken. Who is to say where Nicholas is in all of this? Jonathan tells her he wants to return to England when she flies home so they can be together. 

We then abruptly cut to the beach and the day of Jonathan’s death. Catherine asks a stranger (?!?!) to watch Nicholas while she and Jonathan have sex in the bathroom. When they return to the beach, Catherine falls asleep, only to wake up and find Nicholas missing. He has taken his blow-up raft and gone deep into the sea. “He can’t swim,” she screams. So, just to recap, she left her child, who CANNOT SWIM, alone on the beach. 

Jonathan immediately goes into the water. Eventually, the lifeguards swim out and bring Nicholas back safely. But in the chaos, no one notices that Jonathan is still out there. Catherine knows he is there and SAYS NOTHING. Eventually, the lifeguards see him and head out to rescue him. But it is too late. He is already dead when they get him back to land. Catherine and Nicholas leave the beach and don’t look back. 

Catherine comes across as utterly horrific in these scenes. She cares nothing for her child, uses Jonathan for her sexual pleasure, and then apparently lets him drown because if he’s dead, he can’t pose a problem for her.

But here’s the thing: Is this take on Catherine what actually happened? Or is this all just from Nancy’s book, which Robert is reading? Are we seeing Nancy’s version of how she thinks the events leading to her son’s death unfolded? We see the Jonathan and Catherine scenes as Robert is reading the book. So, is this really what happened? Or is it just a product of Nancy’s heartbreak? Is she an unreliable narrator? 

Back in the present day, Catherine tries to stave off Stephen by calling him and leaving a message on his answering machine (which still features Nancy’s voice). She tells him the book is “an exquisite work of fiction, and I wish you well.” This truly doesn’t seem the way to play it. Stephen is playing some kind of long game here. His plan, whatever it is, is “flowing seamlessly.” He tells his friend he wants to create a fake Facebook page for a fictitious teenager. “That’s seriously creepy,” his friend tells him. 

Meanwhile, Robert is ghosting Catherine and won’t return her calls. He goes to work and goes through the motions but is barely present. “She is a woman who has always gotten her own way. Always done as she pleases,” Robert thinks (according to the narrator). 

Catherine comes home to find Robert and Nicholas there having dinner. Robert informs her that he knows she has to leave on an extended assignment, so he’s packed her bags for her. “I should call you a cab so you’re not late for your flight,” he tells a shocked Catherine. “Robert wonders if you blame Nicholas for your lover’s death. And if that is why it’s always been so difficult between you and your son,” the narrator intones. 

Robert is basically kicking Catherine out of the house. “This is about integrity, right? My parents said you had absolutely none of it, but I chose you over them,” he tells her. As they continue to argue, Catherine confesses that she wants Jonathan to die. So maybe the version we see of Catherine and Jonathan’s relationship is true? 

Truly, the only redeeming creatures in this show so far are the adorable cats. Disclaimer continues with weekly episodes every Friday on Apple TV+ through November 2024.