The fifth episode of Breathe: Into the Shadows opens at the crime branch. Kabir is thinking about Meghna when Prakash tells him that someone has come to meet him in connection with the Pritpal murder case. That ‘someone’ is none other than Dr. Avinash Sabharwal. Since Avi has worked with the crime branch earlier on several cases, Jaiprakash is familiar with him. Kabir asks Avi the purpose of his visit. “I may know who the killer is”, says Avi and the intro plays. What is going on in Avi’s mind?

After Avi is back from the Ramleela, he tells Abha that anger and lust are just two of the ten heads of Ravana. This means that Natasha is only the kidnapper’s second target and there are eight more killings to go. Therefore, Avi feels that he should be a part of the investigation to derail the cops and get all the insider information on the case.

Back at the crime branch, Avi tells Kabir that a man has been calling on his clinic’s landline number asking for psychiatric assistance. The man is a kind of a vigilante. Further, Avi says that the man called again after Pritpal’s murder and said something that directed Avi to believe that he could have some connection with the murder of Pritpal at a dump yard. Avi assures Kabir that he will offer the crime branch any assistance they need in this case. Of course, Avi has cooked up this whole story and he makes Abha call on the landline from different SIM cards to validate his claims.

Gayatri and Siya continue their escape plan. Siya tries to look into the small shaft but she can’t see anything. Gayatri comes out of the bathroom to check the pyramid of cards and to her surprise, finds it crumbled. She immediately signals Siya to get down from the shaft and quickly screws its cover back to the wall. Meanwhile, the kidnapper is back and sees that the girls aren’t in the room. When the girls don’t come out of the bathroom for a long time, he grows suspicious and enters their room. In the bathroom, one of the screws gets lost and the girls frantically search for it. The next moment, the kidnapper opens the bathroom door and we see Gayatri shampooing Siya’s hair. The audience breathes a sigh of relief. The kidnapper exits.

Avi prepares a report on the suspicious man he talked about and hands it over to Prakash.

Abha reaches Natasha’s house for the photography work. Abha sees a photo of Natasha and her girlfriend, Divyanka who is away for work. Natasha shows Abha the photographs she has clicked. Abha tries to come close to her. Some photographs fall down and as Abha picks them up, her eyes fix on a picture. She takes it back with her.

Abha shows Avi the picture. It has a 13-year-old Natasha with her grandfather and in the background, we can see 13-year-old Avi. Avi recalls that when he was studying in a boarding school in Nainital, he had met Natasha who had come for her summer vacation. The two formed a close bond which was like a sweet teenage romance. Then the vacations ended and Avi never met Natasha after that.  

Kabir instructs his team to call all psychiatrists in Delhi and ask if they have received similar calls as Avi has. Meghna calls Kabir and they fix up a meeting at the Surajkund mela.

Natasha calls Abha to meet her at a restaurant. Natasha is charmed by Abha’s look as she enters. While they talk, Abha tells her that she is in an unhappy marriage and her husband is cheating on her. She is only in the marriage because of her 6-year-old daughter. Natasha is surprised to know that Aarti (Abha) is married but is relieved when she hears that she isn’t happy in her marriage. Natasha tells Abha that she is going to Jodhpur to surprise her girlfriend, Divyanka. Natasha will be back in 5 days. This worries Abha as there are just 3 days left to kill Natasha. Abha makes an excuse to go to the washroom and talks to Avi about it. Next, we see Abha convincing Natasha to come with her on  a road trip to Jodhpur. Aarti (Abha) has some work for her article in Jodhpur and thus, both of them can go together. After a little hesitation, Natasha agrees.

At Surajkund mela, Kabir and Meghna talk and eat. They sit on a Ferris wheel and Kabir is happy seeing Meghna enjoy herself. Is this the beginning of a new relationship?

Natasha and Abha set out for their road trip. Natasha drives while Abha sits in the passenger seat. Avi follows them in his car. Avi and Abha have planned to reach ‘Shiv Teela’ till evening to execute their plan further. Abha makes Natasha switch off her phone while she stays connected to Avi through AirPods. At the toll booth, Abha covers her face and pretends to take a nap to prevent her face from being recorded in the CCTV camera. They get stuck in a traffic jam which will take all night to clear. This is detrimental to Avi and Abha’s plan. Avi tells Abha to make Natasha reverse the car and stop at a petrol pump to use the washroom. Abha meets Avi at the petrol pump and he tells her to make Natasha stop at an old subway hotel as it won’t have CCTV cameras. She does so and Abha and Natasha reach a subway hotel at night. Avi parks his car outside the hotel. The hotel needs the guests’ ID but since Abha doesn’t have one, Natasha bribes the hotel manager to acquiesce. Kabir calls Avi to come to the crime branch and analyse a video of a similar patient found at another psychiatrist. Avi agrees to come as it will provide him an alibi that he was in Delhi. Avi calls Abha and tells her that he will have to go to Delhi and will surely be back by morning. This worries Abha. Natasha senses that Aarti is tense and asks her the reason for it. Aarti tells her that she hasn’t felt the way she feels with Natasha before. She conveys to Natasha that she might be attracted to her. Natasha leans in to kiss Aarti but pulls back the next moment.

Avinash watches the video at the crime branch. He denies the person in the video to be the man who called at his clinic. Kabir thanks him for coming and Avi leaves. Back on the road to reach Jodhpur, Avi dozes off while driving. Finally, he decides to stop the car and sleep for some time.

In the hotel, while Natasha is sleeping, Abha unlocks Natasha’s phone. She remembers the passcode from the time when Natasha showed her some pictures on her phone. Abha saves a contact but accidentally sends something to that contact. What is happening?

The kidnapper enters his hideout. He has kept Gayatri and Siya somewhere inside an old theatre. The camera slowly moves up to reveal the face of the kidnapper. Now, time for the big reveal! The kidnapper is Avi. This changes everything.

This episode of Breathe: Into the Shadows is the most gripping and mysterious episode till now. It is fast-paced and reveals a lot of information to keep the audience hooked. With a shocking revelation at the end, which road will the story take from here?

Episode Rating: 3.5/5