It has been 6 days since the murder of Elizabeth Shannonhouse. Colin has been missing since then. Not knowing where she can find some solace, Michelle has come to Julian’s place. Meanwhile, Panish is now Michelle’s representative to the police. This enables him to tell the police any story, and they are deemed to consider all the information as evidence. “American Gigolo” Episode 5 takes Julian and Michelle deeper into the murder case, and a huge truth comes to light.
Spoilers Ahead
‘American Gigolo’ Episode 5: Recap Summary
McGregor, one of the two personal aides of Richard Stratton, has been putting up posters of a missing Colin. Julian brings Michelle inside his room, not knowing why she has come to him. Meanwhile, in some other corner of the city, a woman sees a missing person poster on a pole and takes it with her. She seems to know where the person is. Back in his rented room, Julian finds out from Michelle that Colin is his son. He is completely taken aback. She also tells him that Colin was with a woman in a motel room where she was murdered. And now Colin is missing. Michelle needs Julian’s help to find Colin, their son.
It is 5.30 in the morning. With Michelle asleep, Julian leaves his room to find answers. Besides Michelle is her phone, which rings for a bit and then goes back silent. On the other end of the line, Richard Stratton appears tense and worried as he thinks about his son. Julian meets his friend from prison, Bojangles, and tells him about his problem. Bojangles reassures him of his job as a father and that he has to do whatever it takes to save his kid. Julian makes up his mind. He goes to the address Michelle gave him where Colin was last spotted, i.e., the Costello Motel. Room number 206 is locked. On the way back, he comes across a missing poster with Colin’s face on it. He calls Michelle to ascertain if she has been putting them up. She hasn’t. Completely lost as to what’s going on, Julian questions her further about Colin. This is when Michelle tells him about the night more than 15 years ago when they both pretended to be strangers at a bar and ended up making love.
While going places and making inquiries about Colin, Julian meets an old friend, Penelope, from business and tells her about his situation. She promises to help him and takes him to a guy who is usually aware of such scenarios. But unfortunately, it turns out to be another dead end for Julian. Back at his place, Michelle is up and has brought back a sunflower. As she stares at it, wondering about her time with Julian all those years ago, detective Sunday knocks on the door. Michelle can’t hide as Joan has already recognized her through the open window. Michelle opens the door, and Sunday tells her about Olga Desnain, Julian’s former boss, who had “her head blown off.” She needs Michelle to join her at the police station so that she can show Michelle all the information she has gathered on the case. Michelle’s input could be very useful in helping Julian to avoid facing criminal charges for the murder of Olga. Michelle agrees and goes to the bathroom to change. Sunday uses this opportunity to snap some pics of the file on Lisa Beck (left in Julian’s car by Guy, Olga’s lover, at the end of “American Gigolo” Episode 2) she noticed lying open. Both then arrive at the police station and inside Sunday’s cabin. She shows Michelle the figure she has drawn on her board, relating to the different people connected to the Olga Desnain murder case. This includes Michelle’s husband, Richard, who may have tried to pin Olga’s murder on Julian after finding out about Michelle’s past with Julian. But Michelle finds no sense in this explanation. She is visibly distressed. She gives Richard’s contact number to Sunday but doesn’t want her to call him. This is when Sunday realizes that Michelle is “protecting someone.” Michelle then reveals about her son Colin and the murder of Elizabeth Shannonhouse. She shows Sunday a picture of Colin and asks for her help to find him. Colin has been missing for 6 days.
Panish sends the manager of the motel, where Colin had stayed with Elizabeth, to the police. He corroborates that it was Julian Kaye whom he saw with Elizabeth Shannonhouse. While waiting in his car outside the police station, Panish receives a call from McGregor, who tells him that he knows Colin’s location: Woodman Motel, room 109. We see McGregor talking to the same woman who found Colin’s poster towards the beginning of the episode.
‘American Gigolo’ Episode 5: Ending – Who Kidnaps Colin Stratton?
Penelope and Julian are sitting and talking when they observe a kid being taken by a man who forces him inside a car. As Julian runs towards them, he realizes that the kid is Colin. But he is too late, and the car drives away. Richard receives a call from detective Sunday and is asked to come to the police station. Inside her cabin, Sunday tells Richard about Julian Kaye and his relationship with Michelle 15 years ago. He is also told that his son Colin is one of the suspects in the Elizabeth Shannonhouse murder case. He, too, like Michelle, asks Sunday for her help to find his son. Panish arrives at the address McGregor had given him. After entering the room, he finds an anonymous note that asks for $3 million, which, if not provided, will lead to Panish’s secret about killing Elizabeth Shannonhouse being spilled to the world. But Panish has no time to vent out his anger and frustration as he receives a call from Richard, who wants to see him at home. As soon as the line is disconnected, Panish receives a 911 alert on his phone about a missing minor named Colin Stratton. Back at home, Richard yells at Panish for not doing what he is paid to do, i.e., looking into Colin’s case. But before Panish could answer, Richard orders him to “get out.” Sunday receives a call from his senior and is told that an eyewitness has corroborated that Julian was with Elizabeth Shannonhouse around the time she was murdered. Julian Kaye is about to be arrested for the murder of Elizabeth Shannonhouse. Julian returns to his room and tells Michelle, who is already there (she has returned from the police station), that he has seen Colin being taken away by a man in a red BMW. Michelle apparently knows who it is, and it is not good news. But before they can talk about it further, two police cars arrive and arrest Julian Kaye, and he is taken into custody. “American Gigolo” Episode 5 ends with Julian back inside a police station, only a handful of days after being exonerated.
The man who took Colin seems to be McGregor. It seems that greed has made him turn his back on Richard (and thus Panish). And with Julian behind bars, it is up to detective Sunday to find out who the real culprit is and to save Julian from yet another wrong accusation. Moreover, Panish has to figure out a way to get back to Colin without telling Richard, which could otherwise compromise Panish himself. With help from Sunday, “American Gigolo” Episode 6 will probably bring Richard and Michelle together in a quest to find Colin. This might thus lead them to help Sunday in return by stating that Julian Kaye is innocent.
See more: ‘American Gigolo’ Episode 4: Recap And Ending, Explained – Is Julian Kaye Back in Business?
