Why Women Kill Recap: Now We’re Getting Somewhere

This recap of Why Women Kill Season 1, Episode 5, “There’s No Crying In Murder”, contains spoilers. You can check out our thoughts on the previous episode by clicking these words.

CBS’s dark comedy Why Women Kill continues to improve in its latest episode, “There’s No Crying In Murder”, finally injecting some life into its present-day storyline while also fleshing out its characters across each timeline. And no show on TV — except, obviously, HBO’s Succession — delivers a higher quantity of zingers in a single episode. There’s increasingly more and more to like here, and if the weak link can at least try and keep pace with its superior timelines, the back half of the season could be something way above-average.

Let’s start with the 2019 thread since despite still being by far the weakest it genuinely managed to incorporate some interesting wrinkles in Why Women Kill Episode 5. With Taylor (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) away visiting her sisters, Eli (Reid Scott) and Jade (Alexandra Daddario) are left alone; the former to work on his screenplay, which his agent demands he finish ASAP, and the latter to strut around the house looking gorgeous. She also offers him both creative advice — his female protagonist doesn’t have enough agency, surprisingly — and pills to keep him going, which is a problem since as Taylor’s sisters make clear he’s a recovering drug addict.

This is all works out well for Eli in “There’s No Crying In Murder”. He finishes most of the screenplay on time, and his agent declares it his finest work. He also sleeps with Jade. For once, he’s taking some agency of his own, knowing that Taylor — despite moving her fling into the family home — won’t like it. I still don’t like anyone involved in this storyline, but for the first time I like where it’s going, with some genuine complexity rather than Eli simply whining about not being man enough for his wife.

In the ’60s and ’80s, it’s business as usual in Why Women Kill Episode 5, and that business is typically lavish production design and a neverending stream of zingers from Simone (Lucy Liu) and Karl (Jack Davenport) — the latter is fast becoming one of my favorite characters on TV. In “There’s No Crying In Murder” he figures out Simone is having an affair, though not immediately who with, prompting a smug investigation as she cavorts around the neighborhood with Tommy (Leo Howard), meeting up for random liaisons in the various houses he’s supposed to be looking after while the occupants are away. (Desperate times call for desperate measures — in an earlier scene while trying to find a motel, Simone was arrested for being a prostitute.)

When Simone finds herself trapped in one of these homes with Tommy’s mother (her best friend) on the prowl, she’s forced to talk Karl into providing a distraction, thus giving away who she’s sleeping with. He, of course, thinks the idea is hilarious, which devastates Simone — she can’t believe that he can be aware of her affair and not be remotely jealous, but as he explains, he’s gay. For all the great comedy in this timeline, here was a snatch of real character, especially having seen Simone open up earlier about her childhood.

The 1963 thread sees Beth Ann (Ginnifer Goodwin) continuing to grapple with both her husband’s infidelity and her increasingly genuine friendship with his mistress, April (Sadie Calvano), who in “There’s No Crying In Murder” declares to Rob (Sam Jaeger) that she has fallen in love with him. There’s a faint air of tragedy surrounding April, and Beth Ann can see it; she’s a naive wannabe showgirl who has fallen for a married man — and as she overhears from the bathroom while April and Rob argue, her husband has no intention of leaving her. My earlier prediction that Rob wasn’t really having an affair was proved wrong in Why Women Kill Episode 5, but I have another: I think it’ll be April who kills Rob, and Beth Ann who helps her cover it up. I’m sure I’ll be wrong about that too, though.

Either way, I’m sure I’ll have fun finding out.