Episode 4 of “The Time Traveler’s Wife” takes us to the time when Clare turned 18 and had a romantic encounter with Henry when he was 41. Both Henry and Clare continue to discuss their lives on camera. Even though they knew they were meant to be, they could not help falling in love. While Clare waited for the grown-up Henry, she met with his younger self and fell in love with him, even though he was not what she was expecting him to be. Henry was a time traveler, but there were some things beyond his control, and falling in love with Clare was one of them. Clare, now 20, prepared lunch for Henry, 27. They are in their initial dating stage when they are visited by Henry, 41, who appears in their reality all of a sudden.
‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’ Episode 4: Recap Summary
Clare introduces Henry to her friends Gomez and Charisse; they are in a relationship. Gomez does not think highly of Henry, and it is only later that we get to know the reason why he feels that way. Clare tries her best to cook a decent meal but fails, and Henry decides to help her. As they were getting to know each other’s lives, a doorbell changed the evening. It was the older Henry, who had landed in their timeline and wanted shelter at Clare’s apartment. Even though Henry was not too fond of the idea, he allowed his older self to enter after learning that he was being chased by the police for appearing naked in a public place.
Before interfering with Clare and Henry’s lunch gathering, old Henry had traveled to the time Clare was 18. She had dressed in a pretty dress and kept a suit ready for Henry. She reminded Henry that it was May 24th, 2006, the last day that they would spend in the clearing according to the dates mentioned by Henry. She wanted to make it memorable, while he was scared of taking the wrong step. Henry did not wish to spoil what was written in time, and even though Clare desired intimacy, he thought it was a bad idea. He had promised himself to not engage in a physical relationship before the time it was meant to be, but young Clare had been fantasizing about the day for too long. She wanted to be with him one last time before she had to wait to meet his younger self. Even though Henry tried to stop himself, he fell for the charms of Clare and gave in to temptation.
The absurd romance of Clare and Henry results in a certain moral dilemma. How he imprinted on his lover from a young age might have taken away from Clare the independence of making her own decisions. Henry had only known Clare at the age of 27, whereas Clare knew him from the time she was 6. After falling in love with Clare, he traveled to her past and influenced her throughout her childhood and teenage years. She grew up knowing him and waiting for him.
‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’ Episode 4: Ending Explained – What Happened At The Dinner?
After spending the night with young Clare in the clearing, he left, promising to meet her in two years. He left a note asking her to have mercy on him. He then traveled to the time of Clare and Henry’s lunch gathering with friends. With two Henrys in the house now, Clare tried to keep the truth from her friends. To make matters worse, Henry’s current girlfriend, Ingrid, entered the apartment as well. Charisse thought her to be a friend of Henry’s and allowed her inside. Ingrid was aware of Henry’s genetic issue, so she was not surprised to meet old Henry. Though the jealousy between Clare and Ingrid was evident, they tried to maintain a code of conduct. Ingrid was in love with young Henry, while Clare admired old Henry, yet they were both lovers of the same man. While the gathering was getting interesting with time, we also got to know about Clare’s relationship with Gomez and Charisse.
When she was 19, Clare and Gomez spent the night together. Though she was not proud of her decision, she did it out of self-hate and the fact that she was waiting for someone desperately. Clare’s misery during the time Henry was absent can be felt in such moments; she was clueless without him. At times, she made decisions solely out of loneliness or out of the absurd love story she was now a part of. Even though Gomez admitted to loving her more than he loved Charisse, she made it clear that she was in love with a man named Henry, whom she would meet after a year. After leaving her apartment, a heartbroken Gomez tried to drink away his sorrow. After leaving the bar, he came across a couple who were fighting in the street. The girl asked the guy to leave her alone as he was following her. Gomez interfered and asked the man to leave the woman alone, and that was when he met Henry for the first time. It was this encounter that made Gomez think that he had met Henry before. Charisse and Clare also shared an affection that can be described as being more than friends. Charisse knew that Gomez had a liking for Clare, but he also thought her to be a lesbian since she was alone and assumably single. Charisse laughed at it, and Charisse kissed her on the lips. Clare explained that she was not prepared to ruin their friendship and that she was trying to stay away from any romantic relationship. But they did end up spending the night together.
Old Henry declared that it would be best for them to explain their situation to Clare’s friends. All five of them sat together as Gomez and Charisse attempted to comprehend Henry’s complicated life. Henry declared that he was a time traveler and that at one point in his life, Gomez would be his closest friend. They discussed how science fiction films often get the whole time-traveling idea messed up, and Henry even helped Gomez by providing him with a list of stocks to invest in. Old Henry explained that he and Clare could afford their lavish lifestyle in the future by winning lotteries. Young Clare asked Henry to save the world if he could. He had an opportunity to go back to the past and stop mishaps from occurring, but Henry was reluctant about it since he could not memorize the dates, and he might not end up at the right place at the right time. Henry knew that changing life events was impossible in time, and he wanted to stick to it. He did not consider himself a superhero, but rather a man with a genetic disorder who experienced life in haphazard order. During their discussion about the future, Ingrid asked him how she was in the future. Henry had no answer to her question, so she asked if she was still alive. He did not reply to that. She did not have much time is all that he could explain. He added that everyone in the room would be dead in the future, and that was the truth. No one could survive forever. He knew that his life would perhaps be over by the time he was 42 because that was the oldest he had been. But just because he knows his time will soon end does not mean that he will stop experiencing life. That is what he asked Ingrid to remember.
Old Henry traveled back to his timeline; he was greeted by Clare, who was lying on the bed. He expressed his surprise about their moment of intimacy in the clearing; she had kept that a secret from him. Meanwhile, young Clare held on to the blanket that Henry had left behind. It was the same blanket from the time that they had been together in the clearing. She remembered how Henry had asked her to have mercy. She hugged young Henry, trusting the future and what life had in store for them. The episode once again hints at the deadly event that is yet to occur in Henry’s life. The video recording that plays in all the episodes released so far perhaps indicates their message for their daughter.
See More: ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’ Episode 5: Recap And Ending, Explained – How Did Henry Win Over Clare?
