As the fifth episode of The Wives begins, Beth (Jo Joyner) and the others search for Sky. The women return and tell Charlie (Jamie Bamber) that there is no sign of her. Natasha (Angela Griffin) barges in to say Sky (Catriona Chandler) took her car. Frankie (Ben Willbond) believes Charlie should’ve brought Sky back with him. They argue until Frankie punches Charlie. After the intro, Beth follows Frankie outside to talk to him about his outburst. She questions whether something happened when he went back home. He claims they’re just anxious about Sky. Sean (Jonathan Forbes) tries to find out what is going on with Natasha. He says they can talk later if she’s willing to do it rationally.

Sean finds the evidence board when he returns to their room. Natasha admits they think something suspicious happened to Annabelle. They’re trying to find out who has something to do with it. Jade (Katie Clarkson-Hill) and Sylvie (Tamzin Outhwaite) follow Charlie. Jade urges them not to fight. Natasha tells Sean why she’s suspicious of Charlie. Sean says Charlie told him and Frankie that Annabelle set up a secret account to leech money from the business. He wanted to look at the accounts to see if there was a logical explanation. Sean says there is an account that’s been receiving money from the business. Charlie says she set it up because she was gambling. Sean doesn’t buy that or that she set up the account. Tom doesn’t either. Tom tries to get in touch with Sylvie. Sean tells Natasha that the business is a mess. If Annabelle wasn’t putting cash in to prop it up, it would’ve gone bust a couple of years ago.

Charlie will inherit everything and that also gives him a clear motive. Natasha looks at Annabelle’s will. Jade and Charlie argue about Jade leaving Sky to go out and enjoy herself. Charlie claims the women are dripping poison in her ear. He doesn’t think she understands what he’s had to do so they could be together. Jade argues that his wife died and he let his mistress step up. She tells him he doesn’t have the balls. Charlie gets upset and suggests she doesn’t know what he’s capable of. Sean can’t believe he’s a suspect. Natasha reminds him he lost the plot when Annabelle called the loan in. He says the money was meant for Alice’s education and Annabelle knew it. It made him mad that she demanded it back without giving a crap. Nico calls Luca (Louis Boyer) to tell him to bring him what’s his. Natasha tells Sean that someone paid her to keep a bag for them.

It’s in the boot of the car so Sky has it. Charlie calls Natasha to say there’s been an accident. Beth tells Frankie about the accident. At the scene of the accident, Natasha gets a call from Luca. They learn that Sky fled from the vehicle which is going to be impounded. The women decide to search for Sky since the police won’t release the vehicle. Before long, they decide to stop for a drink. Charlie, Frank, and Sean keep looking for Sky. Natasha tells Sylvie they were right to suspect Charlie. Natasha thinks it’s a good thing that Sean saw the boards because he agrees Charlie is up to his neck in it. Beth talks to Jade about why they came there. Beth asks if money came into it. Jade says money always comes into everything for people like her. Beth asks if her dad has been asking for money. Jade admits he’s an alcoholic. She says her dad isn’t bad although he is weak.

Her mom took off years before. The women see Sky who tries to get into a white van. The van flees and Sky blames the women. Sky returns to Charlie. Beth argues Sky can’t go off with some stranger she met online. Sky says Ocean Magic knew about her mother’s death. She’ll never find out what they knew because of them. Sylvie keeps ignoring calls from Tom. Sean tells her that the family loves her. Sylvie says they’re all lies. Sean doesn’t think Tom would hurt Annabelle because he’s a coward. Tom went back to the apartments for an hour to make sure Annabelle knew she had to pay the business everything she owed. Tom didn’t see her. Charlie didn’t want anyone to know about Jade so they lied. Luca can’t get in touch with Natasha. Jade checks on Charlie who learns the police have arrived. Natasha asks Sky about the bag. Sky didn’t open it.

Natasha tells Sean that Luca keeps calling. Charlie speaks to the police. Natasha asks when she can get her car. It still has to be processed and it’ll be difficult to know when she can pick it up. Sylvie tells Beth she doubts Ocean Magic knew anything about Annabelle. She wonders what’s going on between Charlie and Frankie. Beth suggests it’s just stress. Jade tells Sky that the police will want to talk to her. Natasha worries she’s lost the bag. Sean reminds her there is no law against having casino chips. Natasha tells Sylvie and Beth about the bag. Jade comes into the room and learns about it too. Jade looks at the messages from Ocean Magic. She thinks they should pretend to be Sky and meet OceanMagic22. Sylvie doesn’t think they should, but she’s overruled by the others. Once Jade contacts Ocean Magic, he arranges for them to meet again tomorrow by the old radar tower.

In the morning, Sean tells Natasha he’s going to see Frankie. Meanwhile, the women argue about whether meeting Ocean Magic is a good idea. Natasha finally answers Luca’s call. He wants the bag. Natasha says she’s not home and can’t go there. Sean tries to get information from Frankie. Natasha says she thought Luca was nice when she first met. Sylvie thinks Jade should stay with Sky because Charlie can’t be trusted. Sylvie lets it slip that Charlie isn’t a dad. Natasha has to say that Charlie is firing blanks. Charlie has raised Sky like his own and that’s all that matters. Beth pleads with Jade not to say anything. Jade wants to know if Ocean Magic gets in touch. Sean asks Frankie what is eating him up. Frankie believes he is Sky’s father.

Natasha shows Beth and Sylvie the will which confirms Charlie will get everything. Beth is the guardian if anything happens to Charlie. Frankie is not mentioned. Beth admits she believes Frankie might be Sky’s real father. The others try to convince her otherwise. Jade approaches Charlie who says they need to talk. Charlie believes what they have is magic and they need to hang onto it. He thinks Sky wants to have Jade around too. Jade says Sky is lucky. She asks why he didn’t just tell her the truth. Charlie suggests it was pride because the family thinks being successful is so important. The women go to the old radar tower to meet Ocean Magic but he hasn’t contacted them. Jade and Charlie are busy in bed. Beth and the others hear a vehicle approaching. Beth and the women quickly go over their plan before Luca arrives. Beth tells him they know who he is and that he arranged to meet with their niece. Luca denies it.

Beth keeps questioning him until Luca pulls out a gun. He wants to go and get the bag. Frankie tells Sean he can’t say anything about Sky. Sean deletes something on his phone when he’s alone. Natasha tries to explain what happened with the bag. Luca takes their phones. When Luca’s not looking, Beth uses Sky’s phone to call Jade for help. Luca threatens to shoot. The women tell him the police have it. Luca says he has to deliver the bag in one hour or they’re going to shoot his brother. A white van arrives and runs down Luca. Annabelle (Christine Bottomley) gets out of the van.

 

The Wives Review

The fifth episode of The Wives was pretty lame although not really unexpected. It was pretty easy to see from the very beginning that Annabelle was still alive and was going to show up at some point. That pretty much throws away almost everything that has happened up until this point because no one killed her.

It was also equally dumb that Sky took the vehicle and lost the bag full of poker chips. Again, that was obvious the moment Natasha took the bag. The series really needed a strong script with more authenticity. The good news is that this is on Channel 5 and most viewers are probably expecting very little anyway.

With the right expectations, The Wives is watchable. However, it would be easy to hate the series because it’s unbelievable and it’s gone on a bit too long. This episode scores a 4.5 out of 10. Recaps of The Wives can be found here. Learn more about supporting our independent voice at this link.

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