Episode 4 of "Disclaimer" kicks off with the tender aftermath of Catherine and Jonathan's intimate union, her plea lingering for him to prolong their moment, despite the urgency of his departure. Relenting, he indulges in a fleeting escape, capturing her essence through the lens as she gracefully reattires.
In parallel, Robert's world is turned upside down as he stumbles upon the details of their encounter, arousal stirring within him amidst a caffeine-fueled jitter. The realization dawns on him that Catherine has always been a force of nature, unyielding in her desires.
Arriving at work rejuvenated, yet internally tormented, Robert takes charge of the latest meeting, assigned with the formidable task of scrutinizing every move of those seated around him. But his vigilance falters, haunted by the specter of Catherine's photographs, jealousy gnawing at his sanity. The innocence of Nicholas weighs heavily on his mind, as he ponders the extent of his inadvertent involvement and the possible horrors he might have witnessed.
At Catherine's workplace, the atmosphere is fraught with tension. Unable to penetrate Robert's silence through unanswered calls, she unravels before her colleagues, lashing out in frustration and seeking solace in solitude, sequestering herself in the bathroom. In a desperate bid for validation, she ventures into a bookstore, only to be confronted by the omnipresence of "The Perfect Stranger," driving her to flee in haste.
Elsewhere, Stephen's narrative takes a somber turn as he relives the harrowing moment when he intervened in Nancy's tragic attempt to end her life. Her anguished struggle in the bath, drowning in despair, is a poignant spectacle as she chides him for disrupting her escape, mimicking the serenity of the sea's vastness, echoing Jonathan's alleged painless release. This scene etches a heart-wrenching portrait of despair and the devastating consequences of unchecked anguish.
Nancy experiences a fleeting moment of revival as she delves into Jonathan's belongings. She stumbles upon a vast array of photographs, each one capturing her essence, and the realization dawns on her that Jonathan held his mother in the highest esteem. This profound adoration stands in stark contrast to Catherine's callous actions, who blithely dispensed with her son's wellbeing by entrusting him to strangers in Italy, merely to indulge in her own illicit affair with Jonathan.
But as their lustful encounter subsides, Catherine's fleeting joy turns to fear when Jonathan's possessiveness overshadows their connection. He clamors to accompany her on a flight, tickets already secured, triggering a fiery quarrel. In a moment of impulsiveness, Catherine abandons their discord on the shore, under the cover of night, a move that inadvertently propels Nicholas into peril, venturing out in his inflatable dinghy, marooned at sea.
Undeterred, Jonathan braves the waves, fueled by a herculean desire to rescue Nicholas. As lifeguards swiftly intervene, salvaging the young boy and his flimsy craft, Jonathan's valiant effort leaves him engulfed in treacherous waters. The tide turns when Catherine, an eyewitness to Jonathan's dire straits, chooses to remain silent, her apathy deafening.
Flashing back to Nancy and Stephen, the duo finds themselves imprisoned in the caverns of their sorrow, years passing like an unyielding twilight. Secluded from the world, Nancy ultimately finds solace in inhabiting Jonathan's sanctuary, where she's diagnosed with a malignancy that she greets not with resistance but with an embrace, akin to reuniting with an old, familiar companion. Her surrender to the disease unfurls in excruciating pain, culminating in her quiet passing mere months later.
In the present, Stephen relentlessly pursues Catherine, weaving a sinister scheme to craft a facade of a teenage boy on Facebook. Disguised as an intellectual pursuit for his latest novel and a quest to comprehend the lingua franca of Generation Z, it belies a more sinister trap set for Catherine.
Catherine's eventual return home brings little solace. Robert, her pillar of support now gone, chastises her with an icy detachment, packing her belongings in haste, signaling her imminent departure. His harshness echoes the cosmic irony encapsulated in Arthur Fleck's infamous phrase, leaving Catherine reeling under the weight of her own karmic harvest: "You get what you f**king deserve."
