'The Time Traveler's Wife' Episode 5 Review: Knowing what the future holds isn't always good news
'The Time Traveler's Wife' on HBO is a love story at the end of the day. It's not exactly a normal relationship between two people, but despite the complexity of it all, it's about how much you can love a person that makes the tough part a lot easier to deal with. Oh, and the tough part is knowing how your future works out for you. The latest episode sees Clare Abshire (Rose Leslie) and Henry DeTamble (Theo James) still having trouble dealing with friends and family. The latter surely plays a key role in helping the duo understand the nature of their relationship.
The episode begins with Gomez and 28-year-old Henry grabbing a drink at the local bar. Their meeting takes place after the funny-yet-awkward dinner party. Despite Gomez's denial that he has the hots for Clare, Henry still manages to tick him off even as the truth was out there. He also stresses that he couldn't believe that Gomez would end up as his best friend. In the past, Clare draws a naked picture of 41-year-old Henry sitting on their favorite rock in the clearing. The series then switches to the present where Henry (28) and Clare (20) are on their way to meet her parents.
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Safe to say, the formalities go in without a hitch, but Clare's constant comparison to the old Henry drives a wedge of sorts between the two. Things take a turn for the worse when he time travels to 2022 and end up getting beaten up by a biker gang before Gomez rescues him again. This time around, his supposed best friend comes clean saying his feelings for Clare will never be fixed because of her drawing of a man whose two versions he meets in life. Back at Clare's house, she and Alicia (Taylor Richardson), whose arrival causes Henry stress and triggers him to time travel, stall lunch hoping Henry can make it back in time.
He does come back looking in worse shape than he left which also takes the family by shock, but his past makes a good impression on Clare's parents. Things turn sour when Clare's brother Mark decides to be a prick of chap by grilling Henry about his injuries and Clare, but she storms out after lashing at her entire family. Soon after, Alicia shows him the drawing that Clare had made of the 41-year-old Henry and that's when he realizes that the woman he loved always loved the older version of him more, and asks Alicia to give him a makeover. He looks like his future self with the new hairdo and that convinces Clare enough to say yes to the marriage proposal the old Henry made.
There's still enough story to be told on 'The Time Traveler's Wife' but for now the episode was all about acceptance and love, and that surely comes as a welcome change after a rather perplexing and awkward previous episode. The series is poised for a tight finish and only time will tell how this love story ends.
'The Time Traveler's Wife' airs Sunday nights at 9 pm ET on HBO.