American Gigolo – Season 1 Episode 5 “The Escape Wheel” Recap & Review

The Escape Wheel

Episode 5 of American Gigolo begins with Michelle arriving at Julian’s place. It’s awkward, especially when Michelle points out about the pictures and how she wanted Colin to know who his father was. His real father that is. Julian is shocked as he realizes he has a son. Michelle tries to explain her reasoning. Apparently she tried to tell Julian  a long time ago, but for Julian this is personal. He never had a father himself and believes he’d be a bad influence on Colin.

So why is Michelle there? Well, she’s enlisting his help to try and find Colin. He’s still missing, and with flyers up all over town, someone is bound to report him in. Someone like the motel worker keeping him hidden?

Julian heads off to see Lorenzo, asking for his advice in what to do. He basically reiterates what Michelle said, telling him he needs to get out there and find his child. That’s enough motivation for him, as Julian traces Colin’s steps from the Costello Motel. Whilst there, he notices the Missing Person poster and realizes that Colin is actually 15. He’s shocked that Michelle didn’t tell him sooner.

Julian does the rounds in the area, finding an old friend in Penelope. After exchanging some pleasantries, he admits he’s looking for his son. P’s demeanour instantly changes, telling him it’s going to be okay. The trouble is, Julian’s not the only one out looking. Panish is also doing the rounds.

Detective Sunday rounds out this trifecta of people searching, with her showing up at Julian’s apartment. She finds Michelle there, and there’s a lovely framed shot of Sunday at the door and Michelle in the mirror which is worth pointing out. Anyway, Michelle agrees to go with her but gets changed in private beforehand. Sunday though, snaps pictures in her absence.

Down at the station, Michelle admits that Colin was inside the motel room when his lover was killed, and that Julian knows about this too. Unfortunately this doesn’t fly with the police, who are fed a paid witness from Panish to incriminate Julian and claim that he was the one in the room.

Outside, Julian notices Colin being bundled into a car and taken off to parts unknown. It’s certainly not Panish or his men either, who show up at the motel and notice a ransom letter telling him to pay up 3 million or everyone will know about Shannonhouse. Julian attempts to give chase but they speed off before he can catch up. A strange tattoo on the man’s hand could be a big clue here.

At the same time, Sunday brings in Richard Stratton after ringing him about Colin. She points out Michelle’s extra-curricular activities with Julian and promises to find Colin. Off the back of this, Richard confronts Panish about Michelle’s affair and the secrets he’s been keeping. As a result, he forces him out the house.

Unfortunately the worst possible outcome occurs. While Julian and Michelle are out in the street, cops show up in their numbers and arrest Julian.

The Episode Review

Poor Julian is arrested again, and right off the back of him finding out the truth about Colin too. This reveal is certainly surprising but it’s a lovely way of tying all these different story threads together. There’s a nice ebb and flow to a lot of this now and you can see all the separate plotlines come together in a consistent manner.

Although a few of these episodes could have been beefed up a bit, there’s enough to enjoy with this one and if you’ve been following this over the weeks, you’ll undoubtedly be intrigued to see where this one goes next. Will Julian get out of prison? We’ll have to wait until next week to find out!