‘Parish’ Episode 5 Recap & Ending Explained: What Did Anton Reveal To Horse?

In the previous episode of Parish, we saw that Horse provided H2B visas to all the illegal immigrants he got from Africa. The political landscape of the country was changing, and Anton wanted to make sure that he had control over the scheme of things. At the end of the 4th episode, we saw that Gracian told Horse to let him be, as he just wanted to live a normal life and didn’t want any harm to come to his family. But things were not going to be so easy, and deep down, he knew that he wouldn’t get out of the mess until he actually dealt with it. So let’s find out what happened in Parish episode 5 and if Gracian was able to do what he wanted. 

Spoiler Alert

What did Gracian plan to do? 

Gracian went to his family, and though he was trying to calm them down, deep down, he knew he was in a mess, and he was petrified. He told them to pack their bags as it was no longer safe to stay in their house. He requested that Rose and his daughter listen to him one last time, and he promised them that he would tell them everything about his life. Gracian became nostalgic as there were so many memories attached to that house. He knew that probably he wouldn’t get another chance to come back to his house, so he just stood and reminisced about the good old days. He had spent some beautiful time there with Michaela and Maddox, and all those memories kept flashing in front of his eyes. Had it not been for the safety of his family, he probably would have died fighting in that house. But this time, it was not about what he wanted, and he had to prioritize the safety of his family. The Parish family went to a motel, and that’s when Gracian revealed to Michaela how his past life had been and how he had promised himself to never go back there again. Gracian told his daughter that he stole his first car when he was just 16 years old, and after that, there was no stopping him. Gracian said that soon, he started getting big jobs, and he made his name known in the crime world. It was only after he had children and got married that he realized that putting his life at risk on an everyday basis was just not worth it.

Before coming to the hotel, Horse sent a package for Gracian. He didn’t open it for the longest time, but then later, when he reached the motel, he mustered all his courage and found that there was a recording device kept in that package. Gracian switched it on, and what he heard stirred him from within. Gracian never expected things to turn out the way they did, and after he heard the recording, he knew that he would have to go back to Horse and get some clarity. 

What did Anton reveal to Horse? 

As we saw in Parish‘s previous episode, Horse went to meet Antonio, and that’s where he was met with a shocking revelation. Horse got to know that his own father had set him up, and his brother Zenzo conspired against him. Horse’s father didn’t like how he was acting on his own whims, and he wanted to put Zenzo in charge of the entire business. Horse felt betrayed, as his own family members had acted against him. He felt like he had made a fool of himself, and he didn’t know what to say. He stood there as Anton made a call to his father in front of him, and the old man told him to come back to his hometown and let Zenzo handle things there. Anton had the future attorney general, Laura Abidemi Smith, with him, and the lady declared in front of everybody that she was going to push a bill that didn’t allow illegal residents to enter the United States of America. It was a huge blow to Horse, as his entire business was about providing labor to people like Anton. Horse brought these native Africans to America through illegal channels, and then he charged money from people like Anton. Now that a new bill was going to be passed, Horse knew that the entire landscape was going to shift. Horse didn’t know who was on his side and who was not, and he felt kind of alienated. He had a lot of things going through his mind, but he knew that, for the time being, he needed to stay quiet and formulate a new strategy. 

What will Horse do next? 

Zenzo was clearly insecure about his brother, and he knew that he was walking on thin ice. If every move he made didn’t pay off, then he would have to face the consequences of his actions. Zenzo had betrayed his brother, and Shamiso didn’t appreciate that one bit. Shamiso knew that even her father wanted the same thing, but deep down, she favored Horse, and she was aware that whatever was happening was not right. Horse met Shamiso, and he asked her whose slide she was on. Shamiso was in a tight spot, as she didn’t want the family to break up like that. She knew that their strength was when they held a unified front, but as of then, things had changed, and she couldn’t do anything about it.

At the end of Parish episode 5, Gracian came to meet Horse, and he asked him if whatever he heard on the recording device was true or not. The recording was of a man who confessed to having killed Maddox, Gracian’s son, and he said that he had done so because of some misunderstanding. Gracian was fuming with anger, and he just wanted to know if whatever he heard was right or not. In the subsequent episodes, we would see Gracian and Horse joining their forces and working together. As much as Gracian would have liked to, he won’t be able to escape from the crime world. He had to fix a lot of things, and until that happened, he wouldn’t be able to rest in peace.