Summary
“Reflection” hones in on some key relationships between the various characters, but also deploys a huge last-minute twist with many implications.
This recap of Amazon Original series Breathe: Into The Shadows episode 5, “Reflection” contains spoilers.
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It’s only fitting that “Reflection” opens with Avinash making a very questionable decision since that seems to be the only thing he’s capable of doing. His bright idea now is to work alongside and around the police, visiting Kabir in the hopes of… well, who knows what he’s hoping for, really? The kidnapper’s fixation on the deadly sins suggests plenty more themed murders to come, though, and getting a sense of where the police are with the case makes, I suppose, some degree of sense. But only some.
It’s a race against time for Avinash, really, since his blood on Pritpal’s pen is going to foil his nice-guy act, though he works with Abha to give himself an alibi. Returning to Siya and Gayatri’s escape plan, Breathe: Into the Shadows episode 5 finds their hole close to discover, though they’re able to continue obscuring it for now.
“Reflection” makes a pretty big deal of relationships. The obvious one is Abha and Avinash’s, but we also see the development of Kabir and Meghna’s, while Abha spends a good chunk of the episode warming up to Natasha. That’s made slightly more complicated by the revelation that she has some kind of history with Avinash, which throws her a little, but it’s a pleasant façade that she’s going to have to keep up, for now, even knowing this information. This is for a couple of reasons. The first is a snag in their primary plan which causes an improvisational detour up to a motel, and the second is Avinash being summoned to the station by Kabir to view an urgent video of a man the police believe to be the killer.
You can see Breathe: Into the Shadows playing the long game here. Abha has been put in a position where her curiosity and jealousy are getting the better of her – we see her go through Natasha’s phone and dopily create evidence of having done so – but the need to remain inconspicuous is still paramount. But just when you think we’re in for an interminably lengthy ride here, “Reflection” closes with a pretty major development, as the kidnapper returns to his hideout and turns out to be Avinash himself.
This is a bizarre reveal, and unveiling it now is an equally bizarre decision. The implications are plentiful, especially in an episode titled “Reflection”, but in all honesty, I don’t trust the show to do much with them.
