‘The Pact’ Recap: ‘Episode Five’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Five of ‘The Pact’.
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One thing that we can all agree upon, is that crime has quite the powerful impact upon everyone involved within its unsettling realm. For there are consequences for those who choose to break the law and the victims of their choice, suffer in unique ways that few of us will ever understand. But when it comes to the impact that crime has upon people, one particular aspect of it that we don’t discuss enough… is how it affects those who are directly related to the criminal in some capacity. Because they have emotional ties to said criminal, and there is undoubtedly emotional fallout that would accompany the discovery and reality of the fact that a loved one crossed a horrible line.

Instead, we focus on the facts or the crime in question, leaving those loved ones to languish in silence and that does leave one to genuinely wonder how they process this and what they do with the new reality surrounding them and it just so happens, that the next episode of The Pact on Sundance Now… saw an opportunity to explore that aspect of crime in a fascinating manner. A feat that it accomplished, by way of Nancy’s arrest. For the police were quite curious as to whether or not Anna and Louie and Cat would have more to say about that night, following Nancy’s admission that her car was indeed on the road at night, and they were quickly rounded up at work and brought to the station for further questioning. 

Wherein, Max was able to get a snippet of truth that the group were indeed hiding some facts about Jack’s death and that led to an explosive moment between he and Anna. Where she finally explained the situation at hand and that’s precisely where the exploration in question got underway. For Max was simply beside himself and broken and shattered over the reality that his wife had lied to him and was involved in the potential murder of another human being and well… that put Max in a rightfully dark place. Where he simply didn’t have a clue what to do and while this writer can’t speak to this experience firsthand, this felt real and raw and showcased how hard it would be for someone to reconcile the fact that their loved one did something awful. 

But while that alone could have carried this episode through and through, this is of course a crime drama and needs to push the story along and it did just that, by having Max make quite the decision. Because in essence, he was forced to choose as to whether he should risk it all and get involved in finding Jack’s killer against orders, so that his family life would be saved and that was an easy call for him to make. One that sadly, brought about some horrifying truths. Since he and Anna came to learn some interesting truths about Jack. The kind that added a stunning wrinkle to the case that we honestly cannot spoil here. Because this one is huge, and you need to experience that in real-time.
 
Outside of that however, this really was quite the quality episode for certain. One that really did a wonderful job of hammering home how crime shatters far more than just the aggressor and the victims… it rips families apart and ruins lives and that made for some poignant moments for certain. The kind that genuinely provided us with pause and now that this fascinating exploration has come to a close, the time has come to turn our attention to the finale. Wherein the truth is about to revealed and nothing will be the same and that will make the wait for next week’s season finale, as difficult as it gets. Until next time.  

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