'I Know This Much Is True' Episode 5 Preview: Like grandfather, like grandson?
Spoilers for 'I Know This Much Is True'
The last episode saw Dominick Birdsey (Mark Ruffalo) not only hurt himself quite badly and miss Thomas's (Mark Ruffalo) hearing, but he also ended up getting his grandfather's novel back from Nedra Frank (Juliette Lewis), the translator he had given the set to. She had warned him not to read it and we're speculating that Episode 5 will take a deep dive into the Birdsey family past as Dominick learns about his Sicilian grandfather firsthand.
With Thomas sentenced to Hatch Forensic Institute for a year after he was taken advantage of at his hearing - the show sparked up a great debate about the injustice people with mental illness face. While we know that the series will continue to bring awareness to the topic, it has now freed up space to bring Dominick as the central part of the story. Who is he when he's not taking care of Thomas? The trailer sees Dominick all healed and back home reading the novel his grandfather had written all those years ago. All we know about Dominick and Thomas' grandfather is that he was very loved by his daughter, the brother's "ma" (Melissa Leo). Dominick's mother had given him his grandfather's novel scripts as a gift and now, it was finally translated. What will Dominick find out about his grandfather that is so jarring to read it came with a warning? The trailer seems to be yet another disturbing one as we're taken back in time to Dominick's grandfather's life.
The last episode saw Dominick reluctantly free himself from Thomas as he healed in the hospital but we speculate that his fight to bring Thomas home isn't over yet. His loyalty to always putting himself last and Thomas first has not only been admirable for years but he had also promised his mother on her death bed that he would always take care of Thomas. In the trailer, we see Dominick call his grandfather's book a "personal history" while we hear Dr Patel telling him "if you keep reading, you may learn something about yourself." We speculate this episode will be one that involves a lot of self-reflection and acceptance of a family whose key members are now all gone. What do you think Dominick's reply will be when Dr Patel asks him, "Do you think you're like him [grandfather]?"
You can watch the preview released by HBO here.
The synopsis as reported by Cartermatt reads, "Upon learning the details of his Sicilian grandfather’s arrival in the early 1900s to Three Rivers, Dominick becomes convinced his family is cursed; a startling update on Thomas from an unlikely source prompts Dominick to take drastic action."
'I Know This Much Is True' airs on Sundays at 9 pm EST on HBO.