Unbelievable Recap: Cops With History

By Daniel Hart
Published: September 14, 2019 (Last updated: December 4, 2023)
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Netflix Series Unbelievable Season 1, Episode 5
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Summary

Unbelievable Season 1, Episode 5 digs deeper into the theory that it could be someone involved in law enforcement committing these crimes.

This recap of Netflix Series Unbelievable Season 1, Episode 5 contains significant spoilers. The series is based on a true story. You can read the recap of the previous episode by clicking these words.


Grace Rasmussen (Toni Collette) and Karen Duvall (Merritt Wever) apply more theory than “sure” leads in Episode 5. Grace speaks to another victim; one that threw herself off the balcony to escape the rapist. The victim claims she believes it was a police officer because the night before a cop arrived at her door and flashed a torch at her outdoor camera.

But everything feels wishy-washy in Episode 5 — the detectives have a story, a theory, a logical connection, but they are not landing it. In terms of Marie, Judith dismisses the idea that the rape story in the media may be connected and claims a plea deal for the false statement is the best outcome for Marie. At work, Marie is asked to work in the warehouse due to the story getting out and being customer-facing would be detrimental to the business. Marie is approached by a warehouse worker who creepily stands in her way as a joke. It’s not getting any better for the young woman.

Grace and Karen are keen to nail the FBI down with their theories, but it is not forthcoming. Grace is irritated by how many male police officers are allowed to abuse their partners but still stay in the force. It’s a personal and professional gripe of hers, and Karen is equally as frustrated that their colleagues are raising eyebrows at their theory without any clear evidence. There is a new suspect though, a similar rape, but in a completely different state, so Karen has been tasked to travel.

There’s an interesting scene in where Karen is reading a book about “forensic rape” and her colleague explains that men on online forums use that book to help them evade the police. Karen spends time reading the book in a cafe, while also having to deal with a man perving on her.

Grace Rasmussen (Toni Collette) decides to do her research manually; looking at male cops who are ex-military and have been accused of domestic abuse. She finds a person of interest and begs her partner yet again, saying it will be his conscience on the line if another woman is raped. Unbelievable Season 1, Episode 5 ends with Grace deciding to pretend to set up a fake baseball team to get in touch with certain police officers, and gets the number of the person of interest.


You can read the recap of Episode 6 by clicking these words.

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