Casseroles – As the fifth episode of Apple Cider Vinegar begins, Natalie (Essie Davis) talks about mothers and her daughter. Belle (Kaitlyn Dever) confronts Hek (Phoenix Raei) who is with his wife. She complains about the interview. Natalie says Belle is just a silly girl who has had ideas above her station. She told her daughter that the world online is not real. Belle decides to call 60 Minutes and that Hek won’t get a commission. Natalie says they’re ashamed of what Belle has done. She’s told the hotel called about the minibar bill and room service charges. Natalie reminds Anais (Amelie Mendoza) that she told her to order dinner and breakfast. As Natalie leaves, she complains about being offered two grand by the magazine company. Justin (Mark Coles Smith) tells Chanelle (Aisha Dee) that he’s been thinking about Clive. He wonders what Clive (Ashley Zukerman) gets out of this.
Chanelle thinks he’s getting money from this. She doubts Clive will ever speak to them. Clive tells Belle to get up so they can go to the hospital. While they’re out of the room, Chanelle calls Milla (Alycia Debnam-Carey) to say she just heard. She’s there for her if she wants to talk. Belle enters and learns that Milla’s mom just died. Chanelle is going up there to see them. Belle tells her to go. On her way to the hospital, Belle makes a post about Tamara’s passing. Clive grabs her phone and tells her to see a doctor because she just had a seizure. He says her son was shaking and terrified. Clive thinks she needs help. Belle claims his parents put that in his head every time he goes back to Adelaide. Clive tells Belle that she’s in his head all the time. He says he’s done unless she goes into the hospital. Belle argues they have such a beautiful family. She reminds Clive he wouldn’t have any parental rights to the boy. Belle apologizes and promises to make an appointment.
Clive gets upset and gets out of the car. When he gets back in, he tells Belle to never do that in front of him again. Arlo (Chai Hansen) sits down with Joe (Matt Nable) and Milla. They talk about the funeral service for Tamara (Susie Porter). Joe believes Tamara died in agony. Milla admits she did. Joe decides to go to bed. Later, Milla unwraps the bandages to check the wounds on her arms. Justin asks her if she’s still using the black salve stuff. He thinks she should stop using it. Milla agrees to do so before getting upset. Bella asks Chanelle if she saw Julie’s office. She says they’ve sent a guest list for the book launch and it’s a little underwhelming. Belle asks her to add some more interesting names. In the present, Chanelle speaks to Justin about why she kept working for Bella. Chanelle says Belle started to repulse her after a while. In the past, they’re served by Lucy (Tilda Cobham-Hervey). Belle receives a note from Lucy who is a fan. She steps away to speak to Lucy.
Chanelle contacts Milla who is with Arlo. She tells Milla that she sent flowers. Milla says they asked for donations. Chanelle asks how Joe is holding up. Milla gets emotional and says she needs to go. Chanelle feels like she has so much to apologize for. She admits she told Belle about Tamara and she went and posted it. Belle comes outside to tell Chanelle she invited Lucy to the launch. The call with Milla ends. In the present, Chanelle says she was done at that point. Chanelle messages Belle to say they need to talk. When she arrives, Belle tells her she has a surprise for her. She shows her that she got a tattoo like hers. Chanelle eventually asks her if she has brain cancer. In the present, Chanelle says it was a river of “white girl tears”. Belle says she heard that Milla’s cancer is back. Chanelle asks for one piece of evidence that shows she has brain cancer. When Belle refuses to talk about it, Chanelle turns her attention to Clive.
Belle calls Jules to ask if she’s heard any rumors about her cancer. Chanelle returns and the conversation continues. Chanelle and Clive agree that Belle’s son deserves to know she isn’t dying. Belle claims she just wants to enjoy the time she has with her family. Chanelle believes Belle is a good person. If she didn’t believe that, she’d be talking to the media. Chanelle tells her that she can survive this. Belle asks Chanelle if she’ll be there. Chanelle agrees to be there, but she thinks Belle should cancel the book. Belle isn’t sure if it’s possible, but she claims she can try. Eventually, Belle tries to write the truth. Instead, she wants to claim she was misdiagnosed. Then, she suggests claiming she was diagnosed with a third and fourth cancer. She says she has cancer in her brain, liver, spleen, uterus, and blood. Belle says she’s going to hand over her work to the others at TWP. Clive and Chanelle read her statement. Julie reads it as well. Milla complains to Arlo that Belle’s post has 90,000 likes even though she doesn’t have spleen cancer.
She thinks she should call out Belle. Arlo doesn’t think that would be a good idea. Milla ends up getting in touch with Belle. Milla asks her about her symptoms. Belle says she might try Hirsch again. They talk about going together and sharing a room. They get into a brief spat before the call ends. Belle sends Milla a video of her complaining at a restaurant. The video shows the bandage on her arm. Milla gets upset when she reads the comments on the video and leaves in a van. Milla visits her father. She finally shows him her arm. Milla questions why her mom listened to her. She says she doesn’t want to die. Belle speaks to Julie to say she thinks the book is stronger without the cancer element because it’s more inclusive. Poh (Jillian Nguyen) is sent away. Belle thinks she should stay. She suggests taking her name off of The Whole Pantry. Julie says they book the books for the story. She thinks Belle is a young single mother who has beaten cancer. Julie wants to do an interview with her for homework.
Belle asks about a man in the background. Julie says Michael (Bryn Clapp) is her friend. She asked Michael to compile everything he could about her. Julie is going to fire off a lot of questions and help Belle figure out what she wants to say. Immediately, there is a discrepancy in Belle’s birth year. Julie asks about Brisbane. Belle doesn’t feel comfortable mentioning the suburb because her mother still lives there. Belle says Natalie was a single mother with health issues. Julie asks Belle about running away when she was 12, but Belle claims she never said that. Instead, Belle says she moved out. In a flashback, Belle is told they are unable to find any reason for her chest pain and shortness of breath. During the interview, Belle insists she didn’t just run away in the middle of the night. A flashback shows that Belle told her mom the doctors think she might need heart surgery. Natalie tells her she doesn’t look sick.
Julie tries to find out who Belle stayed with. Belle doesn’t want to speak about that. As Belle leaves, she checks the fundraising campaign and says they’re almost there. Milla goes back to Dr. Xiu (James Huang) who learns she’s been treating it with black salve. Xiu says the sarcoma has metastasized via the lymph nodes. It is in her right lung and in the rib. Joe asks what they do now. Xiu says Milla is no longer eligible for the trials because it’s too far progressed. He is going to refer her to a good palliative care specialist. Xiu says she’s not there yet, but it might feel comforting to be prepared. He suspects it’ll be under three months before she reaches that level. Joe gets upset and says Xiu is going to help her. He asks if Xiu is punishing her because she didn’t listen the first time. Xiu says it’s medicine and doesn’t have personal opinions. Joe apologizes and pleads with Xiu to save her if he can. Milla tells her dad that he can’t do anything. Belle’s book is released. Back in the interview room, Julie asks Belle about her stroke.
Belle claims she was at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. Belle still doesn’t give concrete answers. Julie speaks to Jeremy at the party. Belle briefly speaks to Poh before approaching Chanelle. She insists she asked them to take her name off of it, but they wouldn’t take her name off it. Chanelle says she’s just there to watch her lie. Julie begins speaking to the crowd. She invites Belle to the stage. Belle thanks her mom, Clive, and her son. Then, she decides to pay her respects to her friend and mentor Milla. Belle reads what Milla wrote previously. She begins singing Katy Perry’s Roar. Chanelle steps outside to ask Milla what she wants her to do. Milla says she wants to destroy Belle. She admits she isn’t sure whether she means that. Milla tells Chanelle about the kitten Arlo brought home. As for Belle, Milla tells her she knows what she needs to do. She just doesn’t want to think about it anymore.
Chanelle lets her know she’s going to come see her soon. She tells Justin that she didn’t want to see Milla like that. Later, Sean returns and asks Justin about Lucy. Justin shows him Lucy’s Instagram. Sean says he has noticed that Justin has filed a good story in weeks. Justin talks about taking some time off. Sean mentions that Chanelle said Belle didn’t pass on the frozen food to the little guy with cancer. He thinks she might’ve been engaged in charity fraud. Belle claims that 100% of sales would go to Hunter for life-saving treatment. They can write the story without mentioning Belle’s health. Justin visits Fiona (Edwina Wren) who says she met Belle in a hospital about a year ago. Belle offered to raise money for surgery for Hunter. Pete (Stephen Phillips) asks what the angle is. Fiona gets the documents for Justin to look through. She mentions a neurosurgeon, Dr. Teddy Mac, who takes on cases no others will.
He asks for $60,000 before the surgery and $60,000 after the surgery. Fiona claims whatever he heard about Belle couldn’t be further from the truth. The money isn’t in her account because they haven’t booked the surgery yet. Justin realizes Belle hasn’t paid the family anything. Sean contacts Consumer Affairs and learns The Whole Pantry isn’t a registered fundraiser. He believes she could be facing criminal charges. Belle goes home and finds herself alone since Clive and her son are out. She calls Clive who refuses to speak to her. Belle goes outside to read Milla’s post. Milla admits she is unwell and would be returning to conventional medicine if it was an option. She thought it was her fault when she was diagnosed with cancer and she believed it was up to her to cure herself. It wasn’t. Milla admits she was wrong. She reads the comments before shutting her computer.
Chanelle finally visits Milla who is outside with Arlo. They hang out and talk about the day Chanelle wet her pants. Chanelle tells Milla that she’s fearless. Milla admits she’s scared. Chanelle reads to her. Sean and Justin prepare to send questions to Belle. She receives the email while on an airplane.
Apple Cider Vinegar Review
The fifth episode of Apple Cider Vinegar was mainly fabricated with lots of things that didn’t actually happen. That may not be a bad thing for viewers who have enjoyed the series up until this point. However, it is disappointing that the show took a serious story about cancer and multiple deaths only to create something entirely different.
It’s questionable why they even bothered using Belle Gibson and Clive Rothwell’s names here. Netflix is pretty much just creating clickbait while exploiting people as was the case with Baby Reindeer. Netflix might actually face some repercussions for that. Netflix made subtle changes to avoid a repeat here, but it really doesn’t feel like enough.
The crazy thing is that the show is significantly worse because of all the little changes to try to avoid legal repercussions. That’s likely why the series has never really mentioned Belle’s child and instead calls him “bubby”. The series could’ve been much better with a narrower scope focusing on one or two stories.
It could’ve probably done without the Milla character since so much of that has been turned into some type of competitive cliché anyway. The core story here is interesting, but it’s certainly not executed well at all. It’s another show in Netflix’s portfolio for viewers primarily playing on their phones and listening from time to time.
It’d actually be more tolerable just watching bits and pieces instead of the whole thing. The best part of the episode was the performance from Matt Nable even though it was short-lived. The episode scores a 4.5 out of 10. Recaps of Apple Cider Vinegar can be found here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Join the discussion here.
Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.