Contains discussion of sexual assault.
Warning: Contains SPOILERS for episode 7 Disclaimer.Disclaimer episode 7 finally reveals what really happened between Catherine Ravenscroft and Jonathan Brigstocke, but the truth was hiding in plain sight the whole time. DisclaimerCatherine’s ending allows Catherine to tell her version of events over Italy – and there is no doubt that this is the TRUE version. Jonathan began stalking her on the beach and at the hotel, and after she returned to her hotel room, he entered and sexually assaulted her.
It’s a shocking and horrific twist, but it makes sense in the broader context of the series. After all, this was a story in many ways about as a story is told, who will see it and how people will believe what they want to hear. Disclaimer not only explores Catherine’s trauma as a survivor, but how everyone around her – particularly her husband, Robert, as well as Stephen Brigstocke – ignored the signs of a truth more palatable to them, regardless of their pain. And those signs of truth about Catherine and Jonathan in Disclaimer they were there from the beginning.
How Disclaimer Teased Its Twist Before The Show Started
It was an important part of the show’s storytelling and narrative
Each episode of Disclaimer it started the same way: with a content warning advising viewer discretion. And each one was for the same specific reason:
“This series contains strong sexual content and depictions of sexual, physical and emotional violence.”
Of course, Disclaimer did not portray sexual violence until episode 7, and so These content warnings were a clue to what really happened: that all the events that Catherine was forced to relive were something violent and traumatic. But these warnings are also a revealing part of the show’s narrative form, about how we can ignore the signs that are right in front of us, and the way a story is told can make you focus on certain elements at the expense of others.
It is particularly interesting that a program called Disclaimer should use another type of warning in this way, highlighting how creator Alfonso Cuarón was so interested in playing with the narrative and perception of the series. At the beginning of the first episode of the series, Christiane Amanpour (playing herself in Disclaimer(cast), is presenting Catherine with an award. What she says fits very well with the use of the content warning and the methodology of the program as a whole:
“Be careful with narrative and form. Its power can bring us closer to the truth, but it can also be a weapon with great manipulative power. In a career that spans almost 20 years, tonight’s recipient of this award has cut out narratives and forms that distract us from hidden truths to tackle some of the most difficult contemporary issues, allowing us an unflinching view of their themes as they really are.”
This is exactly what the series does, distracting characters and viewers from the truth through the power of storytelling. – in that case, The perfect strangerbut also the lack of violence making us forget the content warning. It is Catherine herself who has to overcome all of this, discovering the truth that was hidden from the beginning, forcing Stephen and Robert to take a hard look at Jonathan, Nancy and, above all, themselves.
Other Clues to Catherine and Jonathan Twist from the Disclaimer
There were some signs along the way
In addition to DisclaimerContent warning — and indeed, Amanpour’s words — there were a few other clues along the way to the show’s twist. One of the biggest is when Catherine reads The perfect strangerand realize what story is being told. She’s not just shocked, sad, or scared that Robert will find out she had an affair. She is sick; your body has a visceral response to trauma, which immediately suggests there’s something beyond an illicit vacation tryst here.
Similarly, in episode 2, when Robert confronts Catherine with the photographs and begins to piece together what happened, his emotional response is also greater than it likely would be if she had just had an extramarital affair.
Similarly, in episode 2, when Robert confronts Catherine with the photographs and begins to piece together what happened, his emotional response is also greater than it likely would be if she had just had an extramarital affair. The language is also quite revealing, as Robert discusses how they never have sex, with Catherine saying “It’s not that I don’t want to” suggesting an even deeper trauma. She tries to tell him it’s not what he thinks, and even when he mocks that she is the victim, she openly says “Well, yes, I am.” But he’s not even listening.
The very existence of The perfect stranger itself is also a clue, along with how the show frames it. Events from the past move in and out through an iris, as if we are watching a story unfold rather than flashbacks to an actual event. And, well, how could it be anything else? The perfect strangerIt is clear, it was written by Jonathan’s mother, Nancy, a woman who was mourning the loss of her son, yes, but could not have known any details of what had happened. And if this were fiction, then it should be clear that there was a darker fact.
Disclaimer only starts to let Catherine tell her side of the story in episode 6, when she starts talking about what Jonathan was really like, and even then it’s only to Nicholas: the only person she can hear is her unconscious son. The show purposefully clued us in and offered many signs of the truth, as a means of further highlighting that how a story is told and what a person is willing to believe will overshadow it.
All episodes of Disclaimer are now streaming on Apple TV+.