'Little Fires Everywhere' Episode 5 'Duo': Elena investigates Mia while unraveling her own past
Spoilers for 'Little Fires Everywhere' Episode 5
'Little Fires Everywhere' Episode 5, more than anything, proves that both Elena Richardson and Mia Warren have secrets that they'd rather not dig into. After seeing Mia featured in New York Times, we see Elena lose her sh** more than ever and why? Because being associated with the New York Times was Elena's dream. A dream that she gave up on, along with the man that she had been in love with at the time. So to see Mia, of all people, featured in the arts section of the paper is an insult that Elena is unable to talk of.
If Mia had enough resources to support Bebe's custody lawsuit, why did she go about looking as if she couldn't afford to rent a house or a meal for her daughter? Elena continues to rant about how much Mia has invaded their lives and the only way she sees a solution out of this situation is to investigate Mia and find the truth about her.
She decides to head to New York late in the night because she couldn't get answers from anyone over the phone. Despite her husband Bill trying to stop her, Elena continues to ramble and rant about how she has to figure out who Mia is as if finding this truth is the only way Elena could move forward in her life. While Elena is busy getting obsessed about someone else's personal life because she is unable to let go of her belief that Mia is not someone who belongs in the New York Times, her daughter Lexi goes through something tragic.
After the school dance, Lexie and her boyfriend had decided to go all the way and have sex. Turns out, they did not take the necessary protection and Lexie is now pregnant. When Lexie approaches her boyfriend to talk about it, he freaks out at the word pregnant, and that doesn't instill Lexie with the confidence she needs. When Lexie approaches her mother to talk about it, Elena is too busy obsessing about Mia to even talk to her daughter. So in the end, Lexie ends up getting an abortion with Pearl's help.
Not because Pearl is a friend that she trusts, but it is because Lexie believes that Pearl wouldn't reveal her secret to others and because Lexie could borrow Pearl's name while getting her abortion as well. She also forces Pearl to take her to Pearl's home instead of hers because she is worried about her father finding out the truth.
It is Mia who is present for Lexie when she arrives, and it is Mia who deals with Pearl's disappointment. Mia had always known that Lexie was the kind of girl who would use Pearl for what she had to offer more than anything. Now that Pearl has realized, Lexie and Pearl's relationship also goes through a wringer.
The consolation here is Trip's apology to Pearl for being the grade A as***le that he was when the two had ended up having sex.
Meanwhile, we see Elena find an important truth about her past through her contact at New York Times — her ex Jamie from way back when she was still in college. She and Jamie had taken a gap semester to tour France, but at the end of it, Jamie had wanted to stay back longer. The two had dreamed about working together at New York Times, but when Jamie did not want to return as planned — and we all know how much Elena loves plans — the two seemingly go their separate way.
Until Elena decides to call for a favor.
After Jamie pulls up everything that he can about Mia, Jamie and Elena end up going out for dinner and they take a walk down the memory lane. But then Jamie brings up the past, asks her why she came to meet him. He realizes that needing a favor was an excuse and we see that all Elena wanted to do was see if Jamie was happy with his choice. She also tries to initiate a nightcap or what we call an affair by inviting him over to the hotel that she stays at.
Jamie surprisingly declines and it is a hard decline at that because Elena seems to have done something in the past that really hurt him. What did she do and why is something that we will have to wait and watch.
Meanwhile, Elena leaves New York and ends up visiting Mia's parents after learning that Warren was the name of her brother who died when he was 17. She also learns from Mia's parents that the child that she was pregnant with was not hers and the way the episode ends, we cannot wait to learn whose baby Mia carried to term and if that is the reason why she has been on the run ever since she gave birth to the child.
New episodes of 'Little Fires Everywhere' drop on Wednesdays on Hulu.