As we were watching Episode 5 of “Rabbit Hole,” we were reminded of an Indian movie by the name of “Race 3”, which took itself so seriously that the audience refused to. This episode was a lot about spinning in circles, yet the big reveal was not as impressive as the makers would have us believe. In fact, we would argue that this episode added nothing to the narrative. The makers could have just said that the intern was responsible for blowing up the office, which was the initial suspicion, and it could have saved us an episode. “Rabbit Hole” has been close to impeccable so far, but tunnel vision can affect the best of the lot, and a good idea on paper can turn out to be meh in its execution. Maybe this is just an anomalous episode of the season. Either way, this is how “Rabbit Hole” Episode 5 plays out.
Spoilers Ahead
Who Was The Last Person To Call Miles Valence?
At the end of Episode 4, John told everyone that his team was alive. Turns out that John had planned for them to fake their deaths all along. He had arranged for cadavers to take their place and taken out his members’ teeth and hair for DNA evidence. The plan was for them to live under fake identities for a while and hide from Crowley because if he discovered them, he would try to harm their families as well. All three of his members had something going on that they had just started. One had bought a lot of wine, another had gotten a lease, and the third had developed some new personal relationships. Now, they had a week to take care of their business. John knew that the intern was a plant right from the beginning, and he told his team the same. They didn’t know if he was working for the FBI or Crowley, but they considered him harmless. This is contrary to Ben’s modus operandi, who believes in taking out any unknown factors. But John refused to kill Kyle.
In the present day, John is obsessed with finding who was the last person to call Valence. When Valence had jumped to his death, he had been speaking with someone on the phone. John believes that person could have something to do with Valence’s suicide. As he is desperately trying to call all the numbers he has found from the communications data, Hailey comes to speak with him. She apologizes for hiding her theft from him and also gives him a bit of therapy. John had to cut all contact with Valence when they had separated companies for the sake of their mission, and though it was a professional commitment, it had deeply affected him as he literally had nobody else he could talk to. We had initially thought, during “Rabbit Hole” Episode 1 and Episode 2, that Hailey might be the comic relief of the series. Turns out that she is just John’s tagalong who “brings out the softer side of him” since she convinces him to trust her 80%.
As for Edward Homm, he has done some work of his own, and he tells John more about “gettugether.com.” He finds that the Intraverse media makes a lot of donations to every possible organization: left-leaning or right, centrist, and even ecological. He takes some time to find something useful in it and hits the jackpot a while later. Instead of the organization’s donations, he traced the individual executives donations and found that they all led to one PAC (Political Action Committee), which was the America SOS Committee. This PAC only contributed to Senator Nora Evers of New Jersey, and this leads to the conclusion that she planned on running for President soon enough. She was the one being set up by Crowley to be his puppet in power. Homm has barely gotten this information out when they are attacked. They barely manage to escape, but Homm is temporarily deaf and has been shot. Once they are safe, John tries to figure out how they were traced, and Ben tells him that Valence must have sold them out.
The father and son have not seen eye to eye on these issues. Ben doesn’t trust that Valence kept their secrets, and he is also against John’s team coming on board, as he thinks it is too many people. But John is adamant about doing things his way. In their new safe house, he continues his hunt for the number that last called Valence. While he is on that, Hailey comes and speaks with him. She tells him that though she initially stayed with him for protection, now she was doing it because she felt attached to him. We find that shady, especially when she says that he shouldn’t take his father too seriously. We wouldn’t be surprised if she turns out to have something to do with Crowley after all.
While she is out doing chores, John finally figures out that the last person to call Valence was Ben. He hears the ringtone and runs to see that the phone belongs to his dad. John is furious, but before he can confront his dad, they discover that they have been found again. As they escape, Ben starts telling him the truth.
Jo Madi’s Investigation
Jo Madi has always thought that there was more to the case than Rasche was willing to believe. Despite Rasche not giving approval, Jo decides to meet Liv, John’s ex-wife. She pretends to be selling something on behalf of her daughter, and Liv agrees to buy it. Jo Madi takes the chance to get inside the house and spots a bottle of wine, which she thinks is familiar. She also uses the bathroom, taking her time to think. When she leaves the house, she remembers that the wine was brought by Cara, one of John’s employees. The question Jo has is, why would Cara give away her wine a week before she died? She tells the same to Rasche, but he doesn’t bother with her. Meanwhile, Anna informs Jo that a burner phone called on Cara’s mobile. Jo asks to trace Cara’s phone, which takes her to the building John’s office was in.
‘Rabbit Hole’ Episode 5 Ending Explained: What Happened To John’s Team? Did Valence Betray John?
At the end of “Rabbit Hole” Episode 5, Ben explains to John that he kept the facts hidden from him because John did not trust him. Ben tells John that he had not been able to shake off the suspicions regarding Kyle and had followed him. He had discovered that Kyle was an abusive boyfriend, and from the way he was operating, it looked like he had issues with control. Ben probably decided that it amounted to nothing, but it turns out that Kyle had discovered that he was being followed. He had stabbed Ben and would have probably killed him if not for others who came to the scene.
Once Kyle left the scene, he called up someone, telling them that his cover was blown. He is told to clear his traces. Kyle goes back to the office and shoots down the members, and dumps them down the elevator shaft. When he comes back, he sees the setup for the explosion, and before he can react, the place blows up. Ben was a witness to that, and that is why he was against John’s team joining them. He did not want his son to go through the heartbreak so that he could be focused. Ben knew that Valence had betrayed them because, when he called him, he had said to tell John that he had no choice. This is why Ben was behaving the way he did.
It is possible that Valence betrayed John, but maybe he also left some clues for John to salvage the situation. In the present day, the four of them figure out that their location is being discovered because the whiskey they stole had a tracking chip in it. They do away with it and find another safe place for themselves, one where they wouldn’t be discovered. Meanwhile, Jo has found the bodies in the building.
Final Thoughts
We were kind of disheartened at the turn of events. To think that John had an ace up his sleeve only for it to end up in a tragic revelation of facts is gut-wrenching. Also, Ben and John need to work on their communication. It seems to us that if he hadn’t followed Kyle, the team might have been alive still. As twisted as “Rabbit Hole” Episode 5 was, it was entertaining enough, and we look forward to Episode 6.
