Episode 5 of Harlan Coben’s Shelter Season 1 dearly missed the Bat Lady’s presence. However, there are some major character development moments here that compensate for the lack of plot progression. A few major revelations here include Mickey realizing that his father and mother might have, in some way, been involved with Octoface. Ema’s secret is also revealed, which kind of gels with the episode’s overall arc of trust and belief.
Harlan Coben’s Shelter (Season 1), Episode 5 “See Me Feel Me Touch Me Heal Me” Recap:
Episode 5 of Shelter begins with an altercation between Mickey and the Tattooed guy as he tries to go to the pool House to get Ashley. However, when the guy sort of overpowers him, and Mickey is unable to fight him off, Rachel fires the gun that is in her possession, leading him to run away instead. When Mickey then goes into the Pool House and frantically searches for Ashley, she is nowhere to be found.
The next morning, Spoon and Ema sneak into Mickey’s basement room, where he tells them about what happened. They, in turn, tell him about what they had discovered about Dr. Kent and Dylan Shakes before leading to the follow-up that Dylan, Mickey’s father, and Mrs. Friedman (who was the head coach of their little leagues team) might have some more to add to the overall mystery.
Spoon goes to Mrs. Friedman to confirm if she was the one who took Dylan to see Dr. Kent before he disappeared. However, when Friedman starts doubting that Spoon might be up to something suspicious, so he leaves.
Meanwhile, Hannah and Shira meet up again, and Hannah tells her and shows her about the space she has bought for starting a restaurant.
Meanwhile, at the school, the prep for The Phantom of the Opera rehearsals are in full swing. Backstage, we see Whitney doing Ema’s makeup as they talk about uDOu and how everyone around them is basic and fake as fuck. Whitney tells her that she got to the social media platform in order to get some kind of identity for herself beyond her brother’s shadow, but the popularity is sometimes equally dehumanizing. The two of them have another flirty moment when they appreciate each other’s raw talent and energy. It is almost as if they would burst into a makeout session if people were not around.
At the basketball tryouts, just when Mickey is doing really well, Troy elbows him, and a fight breaks. Ema takes off her shirt to help Mickey with his nosebleed, and Mickey gets a look at her magic butterfly tattoo that she has been hiding so far. However, before he can inquire about it, Mickey and Troy are summoned to the office, and their respective guardians are called as well.
On the other hand, we see Spoon’s messenger, Gemma (a little weird kid), who helps him out with Dr. Kent’s update in return for a key to the pet store. She tells him that Dr. Kent has woken up from the Coma he was in.
Spoon and Mickey meet up in the locker room to share their respective gossip, but before Spoon can tell him about Dr. Kent, Mickey throws in a major allegation about Ema for having the same tattoo on her back as the trail they have been following.
Mickey then decides to spy on Ema to know the truth, but Spoon is completely against it because he knows of Ema’s family history, which involves really traumatic things that also involve drugs.
In spite of Spoon’s reluctance, they follow Ema into the woods, leading to a huge mansion of a house that Ema claims to be hers. This is where they learn that she is actually Angelica’s (the local celebrity we saw in the previous episode) daughter. Both of them are dumbfounded but soon realize why Ema wants to put herself in secrecy and not have people know that she is the daughter of a famous person. Mickey tells her about the tattoo he saw earlier, and Ema comes in clean by saying that Agent, the tattoo artist, gave her that, claiming it to be some kind of spiritual connection she has with the goddess that saves children.
The three of them decide to sneak into Agent’s tattoo parlor to get some other clues about the butterfly tattoo. So, Spoon distracts Agent by getting a tattoo, while Mickey snoops into his studio, stumbling on an image that has his father with Octoface (the octopus tattoo guy). We also briefly learn through Agent’s rambling that Spoon suffers from some kind of loss in his life that he hasn’t gotten over.
Mickey is more frustrated by not having any answers, so he approaches Rachel to coax Troy and get him to run a license plate that he saw in the picture at Agent’s parlor. Rachel is equally disturbed for getting involved in all this mess when she has nothing to do with it. She confronts Mickey about him having a hero-savior complex towards Ashley and getting himself involved in something that is far beyond his ability to comprehend.
Things get heated at the Taylor residence when Hannah talks about leasing the restaurant, and Troy deliberately elbowing Mickey. Just then, Rachel arrives at Troy’s doorstep, asking about the favor of running the license plates. Troy gets mad at Rachel for blowing him off and then asking a favor, so she sort of tells him that she is trying to help find Ashley, and she can’t let him know more details. They both make up.
Ema comes clean about his mom to Whitney, and the two of them confess their likeness to each other. They finally kiss.
Mickey and Spoon visit Mickey’s father’s grave as he confesses that he has just felt empty all this while and has been unable to process this loss like everyone else around him.
When Ema and Spoon reach the hospital to try talking to Dr. Kent, they see that someone else is already taking him away. The sunglasses guy is seen driving the vehicle they try to run towards.
Rachel and Mickey tail Octoface after getting through to his license plates, reaching an underground den of sorts where Rachel sees the other men who tried to kidnap Ashley.
Harlan Coben’s Shelter (Season 1), Episode 5 “See Me Feel Me Touch Me Heal Me” Ending Explained:
Why does Whitney reveal Ema’s secret to Buck?
The ending of Harlan Coben’s Shelter Season 1 Episode 5 drops us a few more clues. Dylan Shake’s father, Billy Shakes, is still an alcoholic, and he is still tailing around Mrs. Friedman, who we see putting up posters about an event on September 15th, marking the continued search for the little boy. A younger Billy can be seen threatening Mrs. Friedman about her calling child services on him. There is more history there that we can’t read right now, but it’s possible that Friedman knows more than she lets on.
Hannah reaches Shira’s home for comfort, hinting at another possible extramarital stint between the two. Additionally, we also see Whitney telling her brother Buck about Ema being Angelica Wyatt’s daughter, breaching her trust. Is it possible that Whitney’s feelings for Ema are fabricated, and she is just doing all of this on being pressured by her brother? Is Ema set up for a heartbreak that will further put her down a rabbit hole of not trusting people? We don’t know yet and need to wait for Episode 6 to find out.
