'The Outsider' Episode 5: Gibney is convinced of Terry Maitland's innocence, the 'tear drinker' is a suspect
This article contains spoilers for the released episodes of 'The Outsider'
Episode 5, titled 'Tear-Drinker', was available early on HBO streaming platforms but still made its broadcast premiere on Sunday, February 2nd, 9 pm EST on HBO. In the last episode (episode 4), we saw PI Holly Gibney (Cynthia Erivo) continue to explore the possibilities behind the 'doppelganger case' she's been working on.
Terry Maitland (Jason Bateman) who was arrested on a charge of murdering a young boy named Frankie Peterson, claimed he was innocent. Maitland passed away before he had a chance to prove his innocence, and Detective Ralph Anderson (Ben Mendelsohn) must find out the truth behind why Maitland seemed to have been in two places at once.
Gibney, who was asked to be on the 'doppelganger case' because of her impeccable skills, left us in the last episode considering a supernatural force as a suspect to the Maitlands case, and other cases that had eerie similarities. This episode runs on the narrative of three characters, PI Holly Gibney, Detective Ralph Anderson, and his wife Jeannie Anderson (Mare Winningham).
The episode begins with the death of a man that has been shot, but his neck bared 'burn marks' just like Officer Jack Hoskins (Marc Menchaca) had when he started on the case early on. Jack's behavior has become intense when he offers a deer to what looks like a junk pile but was angry that it wasn't enough, screaming to the skies. He's then knocked out.
We then fade into Jeannie's life, who's ushering patients at a drug counseling office into the room when she sees a 'hooded man' that's still and silent. Upon taping to get his attention, she finds the man asleep. At home, the situation takes a bloody turn when the 'hooded' figure's night visit results in Jeannie having bloody feet from broken glass and no memory of how it happened. She asks Ralph to stop the investigation and tells him something broke into their home, but he doesn't believe her. Later, she gives him an eerie sketch of the man she saw.
Meanwhile, Gibney makes her way to the Hofstadter household, home to Heath Hofstadter who had been charged with a case similar to Maitlands. She also then visits the graveyard to find a man over a grave and he tells her "he ruined the family" implying that "he" is El Coco, a boogeyman that feeds off the grief of people.
When Gibney and Ralph take a visit to Maitland's grave to take pictures, they notice that it is close to the barn where Maitland's clothes were found. Office Jack was sent to this same barn, where he sustained that burn like a rash. When questioned by Ralph about what he may have found when he visited, he freaks out and leaves.
Gibney makes her decision and is convinced that Maitland was indeed innocent and she was not surprised that the clothes were found close to the gravesite. This "thing" that feeds off the grief of people may need to stay close to the victim's loved ones as they go through their loss. She believes that having 3 cases that are similar to the point of it being creepy happening 20-25 days apart is not a coincidence, and since enough time has passed, does "The Outsider" need to hunt again?
The midpoint of the ten-episode thriller of the adaption of Stephen King's novel of the same name saw increased tension that deepened the daunting plot in the episode. With 5 more episodes expected to release, we're hoping the jolt of surprise surfaces when they crack the case. We saw more of the strange man that keeps popping up and causing hell, so we're keeping our fingers crossed. As of now, though a slow pace, the episodes are fantastic, that leave you with interesting ideas of the creepy reality of El Coco, the "tear drinker."
‘The Outsider’ airs on Sundays, 9 pm EST on HBO.