Imperfect Women Recap ‘Monster’: In Your Head

Imperfect Women Recap Episode 3

I recently came across a YouTube video where the guy read Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None for the first time, and tried to guess the murderer(s). I started reading mysteries in my early teens, and for most of my reading life, I don’t really make an effort to guess the murderer. Sometimes, I would think a certain character looks suspicious, or a guess would pop into my mind, but more often than not, I would simply enjoy the book and allow the writer to reveal the mystery. On the few times that I made guesses, I usually didn’t get it right, so this is not a skill I am particularly good at. 

When I watched the first episode of Imperfect Women, without really any effort at all, a guess came to me on who may have been involved in Nancy’s death. It was after that that I came across that YouTube channel, where the guy, once he was comfortable enough, would lock in his prediction. I’m not going to tell you what my guess/ prediction is, but at this point, three episodes in, if I were the locking in kind of reader/ watcher, this is where I would lock in. 

But, haven’t you read the book? The guess came to me before I even started reading the book. As of this writing, I am about 30% into the novel. I don’t yet know for sure what will happen. This is something I would like to return to once the show has finished airing all its episodes. Structurally, how did the show unveil the mystery? What were the clues? It should be a fun exercise! 

I am focusing on that, because this episode is still mostly about Eleanor and Robert, and this aspect of the story, I am not really into. I love Kerry Washington. I love Joel Kinnaman. Their characters’ relationship is still not working for me. I am trying to find it in me to care that Eleanor has been in love with Robert since she was 18 years old. I want to believe her, that her deep love for Nancy was real, and carried for over two decades with her not so secret love/ lust for Nancy’s husband. I understand the changes to the adaptation that were made regarding Eleanor, including changing her story up to someone who could go toe to toe with Robert, family wealth versus family wealth, lawyers versus lawyers, private investigators versus private investigators. I get it, but Eleanor being this wealthy woman with an annoying but supportive brother almost insulates her from the consequences of her actions. So what if people found out she was sleeping with her project manager? She did not need the money to support herself. Her lifestyle would not take a hit should she be forced to withdraw from her position, a charity that she ran and was mostly financially supported by her own family. So what if her affair with Robert was made public by a furious Cora over a Tiktok video? The eyes of the police were now firmly on her (and Robert), and all she did was hire a law firm to build her defense. Money is an incredible cushion. There are plenty of shows focused on rich people that are still fun to watch. The writing of Eleanor and Robert isn’t there yet. 

All right, let’s do a quick recap. Robert found Eleanor with Nancy’s notebook and his letter, and they had a mild confrontation. Eleanor straight up asked Robert if he killed Nancy, and he denied it. He, however, could not deny lying to her. He did know about Nancy’s affair before her death. He never knew who the guy was, because Nancy refused to tell him. She admitted the affair and told him she would end it.

At first, Eleanor tried to distance herself from Robert. She ignored his texts and did not return his calls. But, following a society affair where a magazine gave Eleanor a fancy award for her charity work, Eleanor drove to the Ojai house and ended up in bed with Robert again. They were laughing and having fun in the pool when Cora walked in with a friend from school.

Bear in mind that Cora has been leaning on Eleanor through her grief. Imagine the betrayal that she felt. Robert and Eleanor both lied through their teeth, but Cora was no fool, she understood what was happening. Eleanor drove off the next morning with a smile on her face. It was not until she was at work that she found out what Cora did; she posted a Tiktok about her mother’s best friend sleeping with her father. Eleanor was not named, but everyone figured out who it was. To make matters worse, her lover Jordan called the police tip line and told them Eleanor was with him the night Nancy died, but she did not arrive until around one in the morning. Nancy’s estimated time of death was at around midnight.

Eleanor drove to Mary’s house, a place of normalcy amidst all the displays of wealth. Mary’s husband Howard was in Ohio interviewing for a job. Her daughter Artie was wetting the bed, and I wanted to make sure to mention this, because stress is a major trigger of bedwetting past toddler age. Eleanor finally told Mary that she was sleeping with Robert, and that he lied, he knew about Nancy’s affair before her death.

Mary wanted to take Robert’s letter to the police as evidence but Eleanor refused. Their argument was that of two friends who had known and loved each other for so long, but Mary especially had reached a point of exasperation. She pointed out that Robert did not choose Eleanor. Eleanor countered that Robert chose her now. Eleanor threw the fact that Mary’s marriage began with an affair to her face. Eventually, Mary threw Eleanor out of her house.

I reached my point of exasperation with Eleanor when she drove up to Robert’s Pasadena home, with all the reporters just outside, taking photos and videos of her and her car coming up the driveway. These are people with phones and multiple properties where they could meet discretely but no, even with the press, the public, and the police (Detective Ganz was there) looking into the possibility of Robert and Eleanor conspiring to kill Nancy so they could be together, Eleanor gave them the visuals they could use in furthering the story. Eleanor was a professional woman with a public facing career; she understood optics. Going to the ballet with Robert was bad enough. I’m not sure I can buy that the Eleanor who could manage the press, who admonished Jordan for bringing their relationship up whilst a reporter was in their office, would thoughtlessly behave this way.

After ignoring Kit’s snooty greeting, Robert guided Eleanor to an empty room, away from a team of what I would assume were lawyers, investigators, and public relations professionals. Eleanor asked about Cora and said she could explain, and I was stress-eating cookies and strawberries, because an explanation is necessary when something has been misunderstood. Cora perfectly understood what she saw. 

The one person who has sadly misunderstood what has been happening was Eleanor. She thought she and Robert were in this together. She thought she and Robert were a couple. She proposed that she and Robert issue a joint statement denying the rumours. Their attorneys could craft the statement, and they could go public when they were ready. Robert told her his attorneys advised him to cut all communication with her. He also needed his letter back.

Eleanor was aghast. She accused him of making her feel their relationship was real. He literally told you he still loved his wife. You watched how he showed his love for Nancy for over two decades. He is grieving. I am turning into Mary. 

Just as Robert had turned toward the umbrella of his family’s protection, Eleanor turned toward her own. She summoned Donovan to her apartment and presumably told him where she was the night Nancy died. But did she tell him everything?

In a conference with her lawyers, Eleanor told them that dinner ended just after 9pm. She texted Jordan to let him know she was coming over. She got to his place at around 10:15, but she did not go in. She received a text from Marcus, Mary’s son. He was in trouble; he owed some bookies money. She went to pick him up. Afterwards, she returned to Jordan’s place and went in; this was around one in the morning. Robert called a few hours later. She asked the lawyers to keep Marcus’s name out of the case, because he was on probation and could not afford to get in trouble again. 

Near the end of the episode, the show finally decided to shift from being inside Eleanor’s head to the mystery at hand. Mary showed up at her apartment and told her she knew who David, Nancy’s lover, was.

Eleanor’s speech as she received her award felt like her outwardly processing her internal conflict. She spoke of how she was willing to show up, even when she felt like a fraud or a monster. There were flashbacks of two things she felt particularly guilty about, her sexual relationship with Robert and that night that Nancy died. As Eleanor was getting into her car following their dinner, Nancy begged her to come with her, to help her end things with her lover. Nancy looked scared, desperate. Eleanor refused and got into her car. Nancy got in as well, and continued to beg, even invoking Mary’s name. Eleanor started speaking of how Nancy had an amazing marriage, and Nancy quickly understood. Eleanor disapproved of her affair not because she particularly disapproved of affairs – as Nancy pointed out, Eleanor was not monogamous – but because Eleanor could not imagine wanting someone else when Nancy already had Robert, the decades-long object of Eleanor’s not so secret desires. The conversation ended with the two friends yelling at each other, and Eleanor threw Nancy out of her car. About three hours later, Nancy was dead. 

Rating: B

Strays

🏠Nancy’s notebook that Eleanor found amongst the things Robert boxed up was filled with her drawings and art works. Mary asked to keep it, and she found a pencil sketch of a man she thought Nancy was terrified of, because of the way she drew him. The only person that scared Nancy that much was Scott, her stepfather. Eleanor thought the drawing looked like the man she saw at church.

🏠Young Marcus seemed to be doing well in his volunteer work at Eleanor’s office. Eleanor assured him she would not say anything to his mother about what happened that night, but that he needed to let go, to try and get it out of his head. 

🏠Eleanor ended things with Jordan before Cora found out and announced her relationship with Robert.

Episode Title: Monster

Episode Writer: Kay Oyegun

Episode Director: Nzingha Stewart

Original Release Date: March 25, 2026

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