“VII”

• Creator: Alfonso Cuarón
• Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Sacha Baron Cohen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, HoYeon Jung, Louis Partridge, Leslie Manville, Leila George

Grade: B

Warning: This review of episode 7 of Disclaimer will contain spoilers.

After last week’s reveal of Catherine’s version of the events in Italy, a number of questions remained. But the biggest question for Disclaimer lies in how much of her retelling is actually the truth. The show has dealt with a number of ideas throughout its run, especially in the second half, but it’s primarily concerned with the unreliable nature of storytelling. What one person recalls could be totally accurate, or it could be only half true. As the season finale, “VII”, begins, we see more and more of Catherine (Cate Blanchett in present day, Leila George in the past) retelling her truth to Steven (Kevin Kline), and the result is a powerful piece of storytelling and direction from Alfonso Cuarón.

“VI”

• Creator: Alfonso Cuarón
• Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Sacha Baron Cohen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, HoYeon Jung, Louis Partridge, Leslie Manville, Leila George

Grade: B+

Warning: This review of episode 6 of Disclaimer will contain spoilers.

I have an embarrassing confession to make when it comes to Disclaimer: For whatever reason, I hadn’t realized until recently that the flashback segments, which were so prominent in episodes 1-4, were gleaned from the fictionalized novel, which was originally written by Nancy (Lesley Manville) after Jonathan (Louis Partridge) died. Therefore, what we saw wasn’t necessarily the gods-honest truth; rather, it was whatever Nancy had gleaned from her knowledge of Jonathan, and his photographs. This extra layer of fictionalization calls into question not only what happened in Italy between him and Catherine (Cate Blanchett present day, Leila George in the past), but how much we can trust Nancy and Steven (Kevin Kline).

“V”

• Creator: Alfonso Cuarón
• Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Sacha Baron Cohen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, HoYeon Jung, Louis Partridge, Leslie Manville, Leila George

Grade: B-

Warning: This review of episode 5 of Disclaimer will contain spoilers.

Voiceover narration is a tricky artistic choice to pull off, even for the most astute director. I don’t know if it’s beginning to wear on me, or if the narration in “V” in particular has gotten lazier, but I found the writing within this week’s installment to be lackluster overall. It’s likely no coincidence that the best moments to be found are the stretches in the second half of the episode where the narration is absent entirely.

“IV”

• Creator: Alfonso Cuarón
• Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Sacha Baron Cohen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, HoYeon Jung, Louis Partridge, Leslie Manville, Leila George

Grade: B

Warning: This review of episode 4 of Disclaimer will contain spoilers.

I’m not sure if it’s better or worse for Catherine (Cate Blanchett) that her time with Jonathan (Louis Partridge), which we see more of in “IV”, was simply a casual fling, rather than a case of star-crossed lovers who simply met at the wrong phase of their lives. I get the sense that younger Catherine (Leila George) saw it as nothing more than a one-time thing that was never meant to leave Italy, or which she would ever really think about again – and that’s even before she has the argument with Jonathan on the subject. Maybe that’s why she’s so desperate to get back into Robert’s (Sacha Baron Cohen) good graces.