Losing Alice Review: The Paranoia (Season 1 Episode 5)

For the first time in the series thus far Losing Alice Season 1 Episode 5, “The Paranoia,” feels as though it chooses a side in the tense dance that’s taking place between Alice and Sophie — over their relationship, over the film they’re making together, over David himself — but it’s also difficult to fully believe in the twist.

After all, a central question the series still hasn’t really answered for us is who exactly we’re meant to believe in and trust within this story.

So the question becomes: Does the paranoia of the title refer to Alice, who clearly seems simultaneously upset and turned on by the prospect of Sophie and David having an offscreen affair to go with their onscreen one?

Or does it refer to us, as viewers, who are so desperate to understand who the good and bad guys are of this story that we, like Alice, latch onto the idea that Sophie is guilty of…well, something?

To be fair, it does seem like there’s more going on with her character than meets the eye. But that’s been true since Losing Alice’s first episode. Is Sophie a master manipulator or a girl that’s simply excited by her own power – as an artist, as a young woman – one that others are all too eager to project their own fears and fantasies onto?

In many ways, that’s what Alice does. For whatever reason, she’s turned on by the idea of this young woman who represents so much of the person she herself used to be. And that’s translated into a bevy of unhealthy behaviors, from obsessing over her Instagram to fantasizing about Sophie and David together. 

But, there’s also the fact that Sophie’s behavior is — and has been — extremely shady. She’s shown up without asking at Alice’s home and has ingratiated herself with her husband and family. We’ve already seen how she managed to push the original leading actress out of the film, Facebook stalking her to her job and seducing her. She’s clearly got some issues with her boyfriend at home — and likes to play disturbing games with other men.

And, at this point, Alice’s insistence that Sophie’s script is inspired by real-life events is starting to make a lot of sense. 

Alice’s investigation into Sophie’s missing friend Nomi Alfissi is the sort of propulsive throughline that earlier episodes of this series have sometimes lacked, and the tension is palpable in multiple scenes. 

The idea that this girl just disappeared with no warning also feels like an uncomfortable mirror to the way Sophie’s original director just vanished in the series’ first episode when she needed a reason to find a new person for the job and makes it virtually impossible not to wonder just what this girl is truly capable of. 

Of course, Nomi also seems to be remembered by most that knew her as strange and difficult, so perhaps this is just Alice — and by extension, us — looking for a salacious twist when the truth of the matter is that a young woman was simply depressed and struggling. 

But, then again, Sophie’s life seems to be full of so many weird coincidences like this. At some point, you have to start thinking they can’t all be just accidents of timing.

Is it a little too neat that the mother of the supposedly dead girl is also the crazy lady that yelled an offensive slur at Alice in the series’ first episode? Probably. But it’s difficult to really care about the convenience of the plot twist when it feels as though we might finally start getting some answers. 

Where exactly David’s head is in all this? We know he’s fantasized about Sophie himself before, and he certainly didn’t seem to mind getting slapped during their table read. And his reluctance to admit to his wife that he’d been at Sophie’s apartment — despite Insta evidence — feels damning. 

But somehow the question of whether he may be thinking of cheating on his wife is somehow the least interesting aspect of Losing Alice’s story.

Perhaps that’s because David is a character we’ve all seen before: A middle-aged man attracted to a talented younger woman, a husband who resents his wife’s creative skill when it’s put next to his own, a father who seems to think that it’s a mother’s job to manage everything at home on her own. 

And it’s a lot harder to care about him when it feels as though we might finally get some clarity about what’s happening with either of the series’ leading women. 

Stray Thoughts and Observations

• It feels as though the extended sequence of Alice leading her all-male production team around on a location scout was meant to be seen as some sort of remarkable moment, a girl-power sequence in which a remarkable woman is rightly given the control her sex is so often denied. Instead, it just reminded me of how few women there are in Losing Alice outside of Alice and Sophie themselves. Other than David’s mom, Alice’s assistant, and, now, the crazy homeless lady that lives in the car park, there really aren’t any others, are there? 
• David’s mom, by the way, needs like decades of therapy. 
• Did anyone else get the feeling that Alice was not entirely aware of her husband’s foot fetish until he just decided to up and wake her up with it? I don’t blame you for not being into that, girl. 
• I get that Alice’s creepy neighbor has a role to play in this episode, but in what universe do you talk about such sexually explicit things with a random man who lives next door to you even if you are vaguely friendly?? Maybe it would be less gross if he hadn’t also spent so much time leering at Alice in previous episodes, but just…ick. 

What did you think of this episode of Losing Alice? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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New episodes of Losing Alice stream Fridays on AppleTV+.

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