The fifth episode of The Miniature Wife starts with a flashback to a couple’s therapy session that happened a year ago. Dr. Carmichael wants to know about Les and Lindy’s childhoods. Les says he had a happy, even perfect childhood, but Lindy says hers was cold and far away. Les won’t budge when the therapist tells them to dig deeper, but Lindy pushes back, saying that he is delusional and protected by a mother who is too protective.
Lindy asks Richard for help in her quest for independence in the present day. While the house is being decorated for Christmas, the two of them move in. Les is putting tape traps around the house so he doesn’t accidentally step on Lindy. Les’s mother, Nancy, is worried about how he is acting, but he lies and says he is secretly remodeling and tells her to stay downstairs.
Lindy, who still has her phone, finds out that her story has gone viral when she sees that Terry has called her several times and not answered. She didn’t really write the piece, but she is proud of the attention it has gotten. Terry tells her to stay put and not do anything until she knows how to deal with Jackie and the growing media buzz when she calls Terry back.
Lindy gets an invitation to be on the Today Show not long after that. Richard tells her to do the interview over Zoom so she looks normal size on screen. Lindy agrees and sets up the appearance.
Richard and Lindy watch Nancy and Les talk to each other at the house. Richard says he misses his mother, and Lindy wishes she could have had the same kind of love and support that Nancy gives her.
Lulu wakes up at Stephy’s apartment with a hangover and is annoyed to find Stephy’s roommate there. Before she leaves, she sees Lindy’s book, which Stephy left for her to read. Lulu tells Nancy when she gets home that she dropped out of college and hates science. Nancy tells her to read Lindy’s work.
Les lies to Martin about where Lindy is, and later, at the lab, he confronts Bob for talking to a reporter. Bob says he was only talking about business with Nils, specifically Hilton’s purchase of a company that may have involved stolen technology. Vivienne cuts him off before he can say more.
Lindy gets ready for her interview in the dollhouse when she gets back to the house. Another flashback takes us back ten years, to a dinner party where Lindy and Les are fighting. Les thinks it’s his turn to work on his career because he hasn’t won a Nobel Prize yet. Lindy, on the other hand, says she needs time to work on her book because she helped him with his GMO tomato project. The fight gets worse, but in the end, they make up.
Les and Lulu both have moments of realization right now. After reading Lindy’s book, Lulu starts to see her mother in a new light. She is shocked to find out that her mother has written something when she hears about Lindy’s upcoming interview. Lulu is suspicious and looks into it. She finds the real draft from Jackie in the office.
Les starts to fall apart from being so tired at the lab. Les rushes home to confront Lindy when Martin talks about her interview. Nancy finds out about Lindy’s condition while they are arguing about the traps he set, and she faints from the shock. Lulu rushes in as the chaos starts.
Nancy confronts Les as soon as she wakes up. She admits that she may have helped him become controlling, like his father, by being too protective of him. She tells Les that he must tell Lindy the truth about why he shrunk her, or else he will lose her.
Les breaks down in his car after Nancy leaves and leaves Lindy a voicemail saying that he made her smaller on purpose because he didn’t want her to leave him. Later, Lulu finds him crying and thinks Lindy has left them. Les doesn’t tell her she’s wrong.
The truth breaks Lindy’s heart when she hears the message.
Review of the Episode
This episode shows how Lindy and Les’s actions are having more and more of an effect. Lindy lies more and more in an effort to get her career back on track, even though she knows that the truth will come out eventually. Lindy ignores Terry’s warnings and gets herself into more trouble.
Les is also under a lot of stress because his marriage is falling apart and he might be betrayed by his company. If Bob’s claims about Hilton are true, Les could lose everything he’s worked for. But he is still too focused on his personal life to deal with the professional threat that is coming.
The biggest change happens when Les finally admits that he shrunk Lindy on purpose to keep her from leaving. This is a disturbing discovery, but not completely surprising given how the show has been going.
But Les’s confession doesn’t mean he’s grown. He is still avoiding taking responsibility because he didn’t correct Lulu’s assumption that Lindy was leaving. Even though he has moments of clarity, he is still stuck in the same patterns that have almost ended his marriage.