The Flight Attendant Review: Drowning Women (Season 2 Episode 5)
The Flight Attendant Season 2 Episode 5, “Drowning Women,” pulls back the veil of lies that Cassie has been parading around all season. We’ve reached the point where we find out that her perfect, and stable, life is a lie, and watch it implode.
“Drowning Women” is an emotional episode. It’s heavy with anxiety, seduction, and strife Cassie wrestles with the path she’s going down.
Her confrontation with Marco at the top of the episode is just the beginning, and it’s not unwarranted. When we watched Cassie sleep with her handler at the end of The Flight Attendant Season 2 Episode 4, “Blue Sincerely Reunion,” it fit a pattern. Things seem to be going well, but Cassie knows that deep down they aren’t. So she’s sabotaging them.
It’s different to Cassie on The Flight Attendant Season 1 Cassie who just, did things haplessly. However, it’s still a pattern that we’re familiar with. When we see Cassie start to snap at her training and then ultimately fall off the wagon it’s not a surprise.
The mindscape aspect of this series gives it a unique opportunity though, to show exactly how alcoholism calls to those in recovery. The use of synchronized swimmers and the giant vodka glass all present this luxurious side of drinking that feels on-brand for Cassie, but it leads to something darker.
“Drowning Women” handles Cassie’s relapse with poise. While it’s a dark episode that really explores Cassie’s demons and pulls them to the surface, it also isn’t afraid to talk about the work that goes into recovery.
Yes, it’s disheartening to think about never leaving square one, but other series have dealt with relapses before and acknowledge that it’s just important to get back on track. The Flight Attendant follows suit when Brenda and Cassie have their conversation on the beach, but it goes a step further when Brenda points out that Cassie never left square one. She’s just been constructing a perfect narrative for herself.
We are just over halfway through the season and this is a pivotal moment for Cassie. While the double may be the big mystery, we couldn’t watch Cassie spiral down that path until the very end. It makes more sense for her to acknowledge the fallacies in her thinking about sobriety now and confront whoever might be after her head-on.
Cassie’s talk with Brenda on the beach is the tipping point. It’s the serious moment we need before the show can get back to its usual dark comedy.
Balancing Cassie’s darker storyline is Megan’s trip back to Long Island. Her attempts to get back her lockbox show exactly how much she has and hasn’t changed over the past year.
While it’s now clear how far Megan will go to get back to her family, she also hasn’t stopped caring about other people. The fact that she slipped someone psychedelic mushrooms, but only enough to give them a bad high, and then mentions calling the paramedics is evidence of that.
While we, as an audience know that Megan has committed treason, Rosie Perez makes it hard for us not to root for her in these moments, and I am curious to see where the final episodes take her and exactly what she’ll be up against.
Lastly, we have Max and Ani. Their relationship struggles have been interesting to watch, but I am starting to worry about them. It’s starting to seem like they’re growing in two different directions. Max wants to settle down and start a family, and Ani is in flux.
The way she attempts to get involved with Max’s skillset is endearing. It also makes me think that Ani’s future is definitely not in a big fancy law firm but more along the lines of what Max does; investigating. She just can’t see that right now, and that’s making her pull away whenever Max mentions the ring or a future.
When Max gets the ring back, it seems like Ani should be happy, but she pushes it down again.
Regardless of what happens, these two need to work their issues out soon and see if they are actually on the same page. I, personally, think they’re cute and good for each other, but I think it all depends on Ani deciding what she wants.
“Drowning Women” is the episode that needs to happen, and it needed to happen now. While we don’t get answers about the double it is an important character-driven episode that takes off the rose-colored glasses of the past year.
What did you think of this episode of The Flight Attendant? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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The Flight Attendant airs Thursdays on HBO Max.
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Lauren Busser
Lauren Busser is an Associate Editor at Tell-Tale TV. She is a writer of fiction and nonfiction whose work has appeared in Bitch Media, Popshot Quarterly, Brain Mill Press Voices, and The Hartford Courant.