Here is the thing about Big Little Lies: I’m not watching for the plot. Whenever we arrive at a moment where the narrative needs to be hurried along, it feels almost beside the point. Episode five is filled with these moments. We are first reminded that we’re nearing the end of the season by an eerie meeting of The Monterey Five at a car park beside the beach.

Celeste (Nicole Kidman) is about to go to court to fight for custody of her kids, and is letting them know she thinks Mary Louise’s (Meryl Streep) lawyers are likely to use it as an opportunity to ask them about Perry’s (Alexander Skarsgård) death. Can’t they just all stick to their story and lie, Madeline (Reese Witherspoon) asks the group. “No,” clips Renata, “that’s perjury, babe”.

The second involves Jane’s (Shailene Woodley) new love interest. He is a curly mopped, awkward man who has been gently pursuing Jane for the last few episodes. Even when she’s cried into his lap, this guy has persisted. I honestly thought his sole purpose was for us to watch Jane try to navigate intimacy again. I didn’t pay him much attention. He seemed boring.

But at the end of this episode, Bonnie (Zoe Kravitz) catches him striding out of the police station late at night. Is he an insanely committed undercover cop? A concerned civilian ratting them out? Do we even care that much?

Here are three more thoughts on episode five.

Big Little Lies season 2, episode 5 recap: silence isn’t golden