Fatima wakes up with Jeff next to him. He asks her to meet again but she says that she can’t do this again. They kiss and she leaves. The fifth episode of Bombay Begums starts with Shai’s monologue about Eve eating the forbidden fruit.

Rani gives a Rolex watch to Zuravar to bribe her way back into his good books but she isn’t successful.

Fatima and Arijay learn that the fertilization of their baby is successful.

Haider comes to meet Lily in Mumbai and they spend time together. Haider has a wife and kids in Dubai.

Imran invites Shai to his birthday party.

At the bank, Ron and Ayesha communicate only through mail. Ayesha receives a reply from a girl on her online post about the incident with Deepak. The girl has gone through the same experience as Ayesha. This empowers Ayesha and she declines her transfer to Deepak’s department.

In the next scene, we see Ayesha speak up about what happened between her and Deepak on the night of the party. Rani, Lily, Fatima and HR are present. We learn that there is more to the story than what we already know. Fatima cross-questions her as if Ayesha is at fault. Rani assures Ayesha that a fair investigation would be conducted. Fatima strongly believes that Deepak is not a sexual predator.

In her office, Fatima asks Ayesha to rethink her allegation on Deepak as it could be harmful to his career and family. However, Ayesha says that knows what she is doing.

Deepak is suspended till the investigation is complete. He reminds Rani about their deal due to which he withdrew from running for CEO. Rani says that this is a new case and she will try to cover it up. It seems that Rani is aware of Deepak’s predatory ways and she used it against him to gain power.

Haider asks about Vaibhav’s studies and gives him a laptop as a gift.

Arijay decorates Fatima’s office with balloons, dolls and baby pictures to surprise her. However, she doesn’t appreciate it and rather says that she is swamped with work and doesn’t have time for all this. Upset, Arijay leaves. Jeff texts Fatima to meet him if she changes her mind.

Fatima meets Jeff and they hook up again.

Naushad hosts an event at home to showcase his artworks. Mahesh and his wife are also invited. As part of their PR strategy, Rani and Naushad greet them normally with smiles and hugs and they pose for pictures together. Rani and Mahesh kiss at an isolated place.

Fatima and Jeff talk. She says that she feels less angry at her body when she is with him.

Sanjay, a board member of Royal Bank, orders Rani to make the complaint against Deepak disappear and get Deepak back at work.

Rani invites Ayesha for lunch in her office. Cunningly, Rani discourages Ayesha to pursue her complaint against Deepak stating the risks involved which include Ayesha losing her job. Ayesha is disappointed.

Ayesha confides in Lily about this. Nalini, Deepak’s wife, texts Ayesha.

Shai watches make-up tutorials online.

Deepak’s wife and daughter meet Ayesha. Nalini tries to gaslight Ayesha and “forgives” her for having eyes for Deepak.

Ron apologises to Ayesha and they patch up.

Vijay Sathe sends a group of goons to Lily’s son’s school with posters saying “son of a whore”. The principal asks Lily to get Vaibhav’s admission done elsewhere.

Shai’s make-up package arrives. She applies a face mask from it.

Ayesha comes home to a party at Chitra’s place. Chitra is busy with another woman and this makes Ayesha jealous.

Shai gets rashes on her face from the face mask that she applied. Rani performs damage control by applying Multani mitti on Shai’s face.

Vaibhav is angry at his mother and cries in his room because of the cancellation of his school admission.

Ayesha again moves back to Ron’s place. They share a sweet moment and eventually hook up.

Arijay suggests that he and Fatima go for a holiday before the baby arrives but Fatima dismisses his idea.

Rani is at an event with Pradyuman, the man who played a major part in shaping her career. He says that Rani always said yes to everything and this is why he picked her. I may be wrong, but I sniff some sort of a messy history between Rani and Pradyuman.

Jeff asks Fatima to come to see him in London. She says that she can’t. She also tells him that she and Arijay are having a baby through surrogacy.

Shai reaches Imran’s party in a shimmery dress with high heels and sparkling make-up. She gives Imran a sketchbook full of sketches conveying her feelings for him. He doesn’t appreciate it as much as she would have liked. She feels out of place at the party. Looking at Imran dancing with other girls and mocking her sketchbook, she becomes furious and starts drinking alcohol. And now comes the scene which got the show into controversy. Shai spots a group of boys snorting drugs and joins them. In her pain, she snorts not only with the boys but also alone in the washroom while tearing the sketchbook she gave Imran.

The next morning, Shai lies unconscious in the washroom. Oh god, did she overdose?

In this episode of Bombay Begums, I felt angry at the higher authority of Royal Bank for trying to suppress Ayesha’s voice and felt a bit uneasy watching Shai snort drugs. Other than that, this episode highly bored me. I guess we'll see the 5 Bombay Begums get their lives together in the next and the last episode of Bombay Begums.

Episode Rating: 2/5