Disclaimer Episode 5 Ending Explained: What Happens to Nicholas?

WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Disclaimer episode 5.

The end of Disclaimer Episode 5 leaves Nicholas’ fate ambiguous after his struggle with heroin addiction is revealed. Cate Blanchett leads a talented cast of Disclaimer as Catherine Ravenscroft, an acclaimed and hard-working television documentary journalist from London, England. Catherine’s world unravels when a mysterious novel titled The perfect stranger arrives at your doorbringing back memories of one of his deepest, darkest secrets. Disclaimer also stars Sacha Baron Cohen as Robert, Catherine’s husband, Kodi Smit-McPhee as Nicholas, Robert and Catherine’s son, and Kevin Kline as Stephen Brigstocke, a local Londoner who lost his wife and son.

Disclaimer is based on the 2015 book of the same name written by Renée Knight. After four episodes of Disclaimerthe affair between Catherine and Jonathan is revealed to Robert after Stephen gives him the photos as evidence. Robert is furious and throws Catherine out of the house, but doesn’t tell Nicholas anything. During the first half of Disclaimer, Nicholas intentionally remained out of Catherine’s reach, as their relationship had evidently been strained long before the series’ current timeline. Disclaimer scored an impressive Rotten Tomatoes critical score of 78% and consists of seven parts with the final episode releasing on November 15.

Nicholas dies of drug overdose in disclaimer?

Nicholas often uses heroin behind his parents’ backs

At the end of Disclaimer episode 5, it is unclear whether Nicholas died of an apparent heroin overdose. It was only discovered in these same episodes that Nicholas had a substance abuse problem, as throughout the first four episodes of Disclaimerthe audience only sees Nicholas through the lens of Robert or Catherine. Nicholas is shown purchasing and using heroin several times in Disclaimer episode 5even bringing your own sanitary injection kit. The voiceover states that Nicholas has assured himself that he has the habit under control, which may not actually be the case.

After an already fragile Nicholas discovers the truth about his mother and Jonathan in Italy through Stephen’s cunning Internet catfishing scheme, he begins to become worse than ever. It’s interesting that Jonathan, who throughout the series couldn’t care less about Catherine, is so deeply affected by Catherine’s affair with Jonathan and the raunchy photos Stephen sends him of her. It is evident that Nicholas is most affected by the part of the story where Jonathan drowns trying to save him after he takes his inflatable boat out to sea. This becomes the last straw for Nicholas, who already lacks self-esteem and emotional stability.

Why does everyone turn against Catherine so quickly?

For starters, this proves that Catherine never had any trustworthy friends

Catherine continues to suffer blows to her family life and reputation in episode 5 of Disclaimer, after Stephen shows up at her workplace with copies of The perfect stranger. All it took was a book and a few images sent by a stranger to destroy a marriage, a shaky mother-son relationship, and Catherine’s career, the last of which didn’t even require the images. The scene where Catherine is confronted by her subordinates at work is clearly some kind of commentary on cancel culture. It also shows how none of these professional relationships were healthy, as evidenced by the way the people she worked with were so ready for any opportunity to bring her down.

The scene where Stephen talks to Jisoo (played by an underused Hoyeon) further demonstrates that Catherine had admirers but not friends. The moment Stephen mentions the possibility of something scandalous about Catherine, Jisoo makes sure to sit down with him and gather as much information as possible in order to potentially use it to make her own career change. This turns out to be the case, as Jisoo hands over copies of The perfect stranger to the entire office in just one day, without bothering to talk to Catherine about it in private first. This reveals that while Catherine May Have Been Respected, She Wasn’t Necessarily Liked by its employees.

What does Stephen’s meeting with Robert mean?

Robert also wants revenge on Catherine

Stephen meets with Robert at the latter’s request, although Stephen is initially unsure if it is a good idea. Once he discovers that Robert is bent on revenge on Catherine after her unforgivable betrayal, Stephen realizes he can trust Robert as they share the same main goal. What Robert will certainly disapprove of are Stephen’s actions against Nicholas, which may have led to his death or overdose, although Stephen never revealed his real name to Nicholas during their online communication. It doesn’t appear that Stephen wished Nicholas any harm, but his trickery will certainly leave an indelible mark on the end of Disclaimer.