The Peripheral episode 5 recap & review: What About Bob?

The Peripheral episode 5 sees Cherise send another hitman to finish the job and sort the Flynne problem out, while the siblings step up and get the authorities involved in the drama.

Recap

The Peripheral episode 5 opens with a flashback to a year ago in the future London timeline. Aelita meets a now-dead Grace and it’s revealed that the two used to be lovers before bad blood drifted them apart.

Grace is not keen on interacting at all, but Aelita asks for the bygones to remain bygones. They go to a bar and kind of reconcile by moving on from the bitter past which Aelita doesn’t want to talk about.

Instead, she’s interested in what Grace does now at the Research Institute. Grace shows her the same room Aelita took Flynne in the first episode.

Grace shows Aelita how the RI is manipulating people’s psyche in the stubs. Aelita finds this manipulation of real people disconcerting.

In the present day in Flynne’s timeline, the show introduces an old man named Bob who turns out to be a former hitman.

Daniel hires him to do Cherise’s bidding and make quick work of Flynne, sending $2.5 million of the eventual ten in his bank account and also a phone and the sonic wave weapon.

A reluctant and stubborn Bob is eventually compelled to take on the job after Daniel blackmails him by insinuating a threat to his daughter.

Bob sets off to catch Flynne and Burton on their way back from the hospital. However, before he can meet them, he’s encountered by Billy Ann, who offers him to repair his “broken down” truck.

He refuses to take her help because the jig will be up, but an already suspecting Billy Ann insists continually. Eventually, Burton arrives at the spot as well, with Bob approaching the siblings with the sonic gun that Flynne recognises.

Burton and Flynne are saved by the bravery and quick actions of Billy Ann, who shoots down Bob with a shotgun; Bob survives thanks to his bulletproof vest.

Tommy arrives at the scene and he’s perturbed by the highly suspicious turn of events that have again transpired surrounding Flynne and Burton.

Flynne again keeps things from him while reassuring him that they’re not doing anything wrong. That’s not enough for Tommy though, who’s later rammed into by one of the invisible cars while escorting Bob to custody.

Some man that an inverted and injured Tommy can’t see from inside the car drags Bob out and takes him away. Flynne puts on the headset and goes to meet Wilf, giving him a telling-off about what just happened.

She then heads off to confront Cherise, who greets her with her own peripheral. She asks Flynne to hand her back the data she stole, something that the latter has no clues about.

Flynne asks to leave her family alone but Cherise, who’s not really keen on believing Flynne’s cluelessness entirely, refuses to not act upon the wish to kill her.

She tries to physically outclass Flynne’s peripheral but the latter eventually emerges as the victor of the physical brawl, snapping Cheris’s neck after giving her a warning.

Review

• The Peripheral episode 5 doesn’t have any peculiar or high-octane stuff but the action is thrilling nonetheless. Bob and the trio’s confrontation is nail-biting as the impact of the bullets and the chase is felt prominently throughout the fight.
• Bob is one of the most formidable foes the Fishers have come across and the hitman does seem to be a promising new addition to the cast.
• The Peripheral ‘What About Bob?’ ends with just as thrilling of a sequence in Flynne and Cherise’s confrontation. It’s great to see how the mighty Nuland is taken out by the seemingly much smaller and less powerful Flynne, even if it’s only their peripherals who throw them down.

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Also read: What is Jackpot in The Peripheral?