Mrs. Davis (Season 1), Episode 5: Recap & Ending Explained

Mrs. Davis (Season 1), Episode 5: Alright, the threads are a bit untangled now. Last week, we were dropped into the craziness of this exciting new show called “Mrs. Davis,” helmed by eccentric genius Damon Lindelof and super successful Tara Hernandez. Four episodes came all together, and while it was a fun ride to take, we experienced a lot of head-spinning by the end of it. I am sure that is exactly what the Lindelof-Hernandez duo aimed for, and they pretty much had their mission accomplished.

With one episode this week and from now on, we can take things slow, process it, and talk about it for the whole week. And by now, you and I both know that this show is one of those where we will have a lot to talk about. So without further ado, let us get into it.

Mrs. Davis (Season 1), Episode 5 Recap:

A confrontation was due between Simone and Jay, aka Jesus, and we get that right away. But that’s not it, someone has apparently beaten up Jay, and he is not going to reveal who that is. While being concerned as well as empathetic, Simone doesn’t waste any time asking about Clara. But Jay doesn’t reveal anything as he is unable to. When Simone asks if he loves Clara, Jay replies that he loves everyone. Simone tells Jay that she is going to find Clara anyway.

That’s where she is heading with Wiley—the island, where we met Dr. Schrodinger. Given where things ended last week, that was bound to happen.

Hello again, Dr. Schrodinger

It is not at all surprising to find Dr. Schrodinger and his cat back on the Island again. However, him knowing both Lizzy (that’s the name he is familiar with) and Wiley and frantically stating how “it” has sent them to him despite him trying to avoid it is something you were probably not expecting. And yes, after initial hesitation, he does acknowledge Clara and the commercial, especially when Wiley points at the cat, which was clearly in it.

So where is Clara?

Instead of answering the burning question straightaway, Schrodinger gives Lizzy, Wiley, and us a much-needed backstory which clears out a lot of things. Here we go.

Mother, daughter, and The Holy Grail

Alright, first, the most essential thing. Clara is Mathilda’s daughter. And Mathilda (played by Evil’s Katja Herbers) is the woman with whom Simone had the altercation while snooping around.

There is indeed an organization, referring to themselves as Sisters of the Coin, who have taken upon themselves the responsibility of protecting THG, aka the bowl. We go thirty years back, and Mathilda is a member of the Sisterhood but posing as a banker in front of the society and her daughter, little Clara. But Mathilda’s secret is soon discovered by Clara thanks to her infinite curiosity, and Mathilda has no choice but to include the little girl in the sisterhood.

Years go by, and the Sisterhood is looking for financial assistance in order to do their job, which is protecting THG and moving it around (coming into that part in a while). Mathilda proposes to make “the commercial” for the British Knight shoe company and air it during the Superbowl. But how will the money for that come? Enter Hans, aka the mysterious priest, who is Mathilda’s right-hand man. So the plan is for Hans going to infiltrate the Vatican, become a priest, and steal some much-needed money to fund the commercial. Mathilda plans to write, direct and act in it, but the Sisterhood authority asks her to take someone younger, i.e., who else but her daughter Clara? Mathilda is visibly not happy with it, but she goes along, given there’s not much of a choice anyway.

Three more years pass by, and Mathilda is ready to shoot the commercial. Hans has managed to collect all the money, as per the plan. But he has also developed a personality beyond being Mathilda’s errand boy and wants to break free on his own. So he shows Clara a collection of shoes and hidden carefully in the middle of that is a decoy of THG he has made. Hans asks Clara to change the actual THG with the decoy so that they can destroy THG together, which will free them, as well as Mathilda, from the burden of serving for “a bowl.” When Clara asks why she would believe him, he claims that he is her father. Clara doesn’t believe that and storms off.

While shooting, Mathilda seems to be extremely hard on Clara to get things right. When Clara breaks down thanks to her mother’s inhuman treatment, Mathilda privately tells Clara that she is dying due to some vague brain disease. That does bring out the required emotion from Clara, which makes the commercial what it is. While shooting the running on the water with the shoe on and THG in hand, Clara runs through the plank hidden under the water (to make it look like she is running on the water). But then she dives right into the water and eventually emerges with THG in her hand. Yes, we know what Clara did, but when Hans confronts her, she blows him off. Hans leaves the sisterhood and goes to the Vatican, where he “actually gets the respect.”

Mathilda suffers the biggest blow of her life when the people from the shoe company decide not to air the commercial even for free. It turns out the person named Brian she contacted regarding the commercial happens to be a mere intern who has no say whatsoever in matters like this. With all their effort gone in vain, the Sisterhood disowns Mathilda, and so does her daughter. Clara leaves, telling her mother that she caught on her illness bluff and still went along with everything out of love and respect. While leaving, Clara takes THG with her without telling her mother about the decoy.

Father, daughter, and The Holy Grail

After leaving the sisterhood, Clara goes to see her real father, who happens to be a scientist, and he is none other than our storyteller himself, Dr. Arthur Schrodinger. Clara has always known about him because she found the letters he sent to Mathilda pretty early on in life and kept them to herself. Arthur obviously had no idea about having a daughter, and he is pleasantly surprised to see her all grown up. Arthur tells her that he has settled into the life of a single man whose only passion in life is science and beyond, and he is very much happy with how things are.

While he honestly admits that being a father to Clara is not possible for him, he does tag along with her in order to help destroy THG out of scientific curiosity. Clara seems to be very much okay with the proposition as well. To throw Hans off her tail, she shoots the part with the cat and an infamous pair of sneakers which she gifts to Arthur as those are not her size.

Ten more years go by, and Arthur and Clara haven’t managed to destroy THG despite trying every possible thing. In these ten years, they’ve grown really fond of each other as well, although neither of them directly admits that. While Arthur is planning to go on a vacation, Clara suddenly has the Eureka moment of sipping from THG as “thou shall not sip” is scribed into it. Arthur is skeptical and then wants to try it himself, clearly indicating that he is worried something will happen to his daughter.

But Clara goes ahead and does it anyway and instantly suffers from a nosebleed and a moment of going senseless. When she comes back from wherever she went inside her head (yes, that’s where Jay comes in, Simone now knows), Arthur notices a kind of peace that he has never seen on her face. The next moment, Clara calmly says, “Whatever it takes,” and HER HEAD EXPLODES.

Mrs. Davis (Season 1), Episode 5 Ending Explained:

How to destroy The Holy Grail?

HER HEAD EXPLODES!!!!

That’s how Wiley reacts, understandably, while Simone tries to be respectful towards the man who has just told them about the most traumatizing experience one can have in life.

Arthur finally reveals where Clara is, and she is literally inside the bodies of two of our main protagonists, Simone, aka Lizzy, and Wiley. That happened because of Arthur’s decision to do a liver transplant on the two kids he happens to find at the hospital (remember how Lizzy and Wiley met?).

The theory, as described by Arthur, is if someone injests somebody who has sipped from THG, then the “someone” develops the power to destroy THG as he or she automatically becomes a sort of antivirus. And Arthur does have proof to support his theory. His cat is actually thirty-five years old, twice the usual lifespan of cats. That happened thanks to the cat instinctively eating a dead mouse which died because of accidentally drinking from THG. So given both Wiley and Lizzy have technically consumed dead Clara, they also possess the power of infinite lifespan and, most importantly, destroying the treacherous thing.

Where is The Holy Grail?

The obvious question. But this is where things get a little (actually a lot) dicey. For some inexplicable reason, the bowl has to be continuously moved. Otherwise, it produces some terrible odor. After doing the liver transplant thing, Arthur still wanted to shield the kids from all kinds of trouble, so he takes THG with him and goes on an expedition with some of his Marine biologist friends. Deep in the middle of the sea, he fed THG to a whale, and the whale reacted exactly how it should. As a result of that, a shipwreck makes Arthur end up in an island until he gets rescued and meets Mrs. Davis, who tells her the names of Preston Wiley and Elizabeth Abbott. Arthur goes back to the island in order to protect Wiley and Lizzy.

But as the algorithm would have it, Wiley and Lizzy still end up on the island with Arthur. So now comes the big deal. They now have to find a whale, which is lying deep inside the sea, then find THG from inside it, and one of them has to take a sip from it which will probably destroy the bowl. But there’s a possibility of heads exploding as well. While Wiley utters the actual words, Lizzy/Simone seems to make up her mind. Of course, they’re gonna do it. Because,

WHATEVER IT TAKES. Yes, Captain America would be so proud.

Mrs. Davis (Season 1), Episode 5: Recap & Ending Explained – Where is The Holy Grail?