This article contains spoilers for Imperfect Women Episode 6
While there is much to enjoy about Imperfect Women – its reveals alone are enough to sustain you for the week while waiting for another episode – the women at its centre are the show’s greatest strength. If early episodes centred on Eleanor’s (Kerry Washington) perspective of the final months and evening of Nancy’s (Kate Mara) life, the middle stretch shifted focus to Nancy herself. This week, Episode 6, titled “Mary”, unfolds from the perspective of its titular character.
Elisabeth Moss narrates much of the episode in the third person as we learn that, from a young age, Mary understood how ugly the world could be and taught herself how to construct a more palatable version of reality to escape. It does not take long for the focus to turn towards her perception of Nancy, whose social ascent is the kind many would envy, more so if you are in Mary’s shoes.
From the moment they met, Mary recognised that befriending Nancy would become the most interesting thing about her. She understood exactly how she measured up beside an effortlessly glamorous blonde with radiant skin – a comparison that feels almost cruel to Moss. Mary has no interest in the world’s idea of perfection; with enough imagination, she can alter reality to suit her needs.
Given Howard’s (Corey Stoll) affair with Nancy, it is easy to see how that instinct for self-delusion sustains her. That, and the addiction she slips back into here, placing both herself and those around her in danger.
The episode excels in stripping away Mary’s carefully constructed illusions, piece by piece. Howard returns early from Ohio with a job offer that should represent stability, but instead exposes the issues at the centre of their relationship. He frames the move as a necessity, while belittling her ambitions, reducing her years as a stay-at-home wife and mother to little more than an obligation. When Mary suggests it might be her turn to return to work, the conversation turns sour. Howard paints himself as a victim, a man unappreciated despite everything he claims to do for his family. Stoll is excellent, portraying a villain many will know well.
Later, Detective Ganz (Ana Ortiz) arrives to question Mary and Howard, further destabilising Mary’s already fragile grasp on events. Mary insists on Scott’s involvement, only for Ganz to reveal that he has had no contact with Nancy for 20 years. Howard knows otherwise, having seen Nancy communicate with her stepfather, yet he remains silent to protect himself. The suggestion that Mary drank more than she remembers on the night of her birthday – and Nancy’s murder – paired with Howard’s convenient version of events that places him at home looking after a drunk Mary, plants a crucial seed of doubt.
However, the truth does not lie in Mary’s supposed unreliability. A discovery involving Howard’s translation proves pivotal, providing Moss with some of her strongest material. “Mary” then reveals the origins of Mary and Howard’s relationship as yet another example of his predatory behaviour. Mary’s visit to his ex-wife stands as one of the episode’s most chilling sequences. Removed from his influence, the truth becomes unavoidable. Still, Mary is not free – and where Imperfect Women takes her is as devastating as it is enraging. Moss is no stranger to an award-worthy performance; while her role as June in The Handmaid’s Tale remains her strongest work, what she delivers here – and in the episodes that follow – comes remarkably close.
Writer Kyle Warren crafts an episode that matches its revelations with tension you cannot break away from. His depiction of Mary is particularly effective, elevating her into the series’s most compelling character. The episode depicts her as a victim of both her husband and her own narrative, a woman who has survived by rewriting the truth until it becomes unrecognisable. As it all comes crashing down, she’s stuck in a position of compliance as she fights to protect herself and her family. While she is not blameless when the episode ends, your heart will break for her.
“Mary” is Imperfect Women at its most incisive. If you weren’t watching before now, this is your cue to catch up. This is Apple TV at its best – and a show that deserves far more than to be buried within its ever-growing catalogue.
