Gayatri makes Siya crawl far into the tunnel from the bathroom to see if there is a way to get out. Siya sees light at the end of the tunnel and shouts for help. This is how the eighth episode of Breathe: Into the Shadows starts.

The team at the crime branch tries to find the link between Pritpal and Natasha’s murder. They conclude that only the killer is the common link. Avi is also present. He adds that other than the killer, emotions are also a common link between the murders as the killer angered Pritpal and seduced Natasha before murdering them. Avi’s theory is that the killer is trying to bring to the fore the latent emotions of the victims. A question looms about what the next emotion could be?

In flashback, we see Avi’s college life in a medical school. The next target, Angad Pandit, is Avi’s college mate. In the present day, Angad runs a pharmacy.

At home, Avi decodes that the targets of the kidnapper are connected to Avi’s past in some way. Prakash and JP visit Avi’s home to return the medicines that he forgot in the car the day before. Prakash marvels at Avi’s house while JP uses the bathroom. When JP is back, Avi asks him if the owner of the lip balm was caught. JP answers in the negative saying that the fingerprints over the lip balm do not match any government records. Prakash insists on seeing the basement of Avi’s house but that is the place where Avi and Abha plan their murders. Abha hears Prakash. As Prakash gets up to enter the basement, Abha comes out of the basement with nothing but a bed sheet tied around her body. This creates an awkward moment and prevents Prakash from going into the basement. Prakash tells Avi that Divyanka (Natasha’s girlfriend) is coming today for interrogation so he can also visit if he wants. Prakash and JP hand over the medicines to Avi and leave. Avi breathes a sigh of relief.

Kabir interrogates Divyanka at the crime branch. We learn that Divyanka had no idea that Natasha was going to Jodhpur. Avi walks in the room. Divyanka also tells Kabir that she knew about Aarti. Kabir hesitatingly asks Divyanka if Natasha could’ve cheated on her as she was semi-naked at the time of her murder. However, Divyanka completely trusts Natasha to not do anything of that sort.

In the next scene, we see young Avi parting from his school principal after his admission to medical school. At night, J hugs the principal with tears in his eyes and says that he will take care of Avi.

In the present, Meghna’s birthday is being celebrated in her office. Kabir also comes in with flowers. He sits with Meghna and her friends and listens to their office banter. They equate their boss with Ravana and his ten heads. This strikes Kabir and he looks up the significance of the ten heads of Ravana. He learns that each head signifies an emotion like anger, lust, fear and so on. Kabir connects this to the murders and immediately calls up his team to come to the crime branch. While leaving, Meghna’s boss talks trash about Meghna to Kabir. This enrages Kabir and he slaps the boss in return.

At the crime branch, the team discusses the theory of Ravana. Since Ravana was a genius, Avi suggests that the killer also believes that he is a genius and is maybe trying to set a metaphorical example such as one has to kill their inner Ravana to obtain Rama. However, Kabir suggests that for Ravana these 10 emotions were his strengths and not his weakness and Ravana believed that they completed him. Avi agrees that this is a plausible theory.

Meghna calls Kabir to ask about the slap. She rebukes him for his ‘impulsiveness’, realising the next moment that she shouldn’t have said that. Upset, Kabir hangs up.

Avi follows his next target, Angad Pandit. Angad is at the same drug rehabilitation centre as Meghna and he gives a speech about his recovery. We learn that he was an active drug addict for 7 years and is now clean for the past 2 years. He thanks his sponsor, Meghna. Avi sits in the audience listening to Angad’s speech.

Siya comes back from her tunnel expedition and tells Gayatri that she doesn’t want to go back in there as no one listens to her cries for help. Gayatri agrees and tells her about a plan. Gayatri will give Siya a medicine that won’t affect her in any way except that Siya will feel sleepy. Gayatri will raise an alarm and the kidnapper will have to take them to the hospital and they will escape from there. Gayatri smartly writes a call for help on a drawing sheet and makes a frog out of it to evade suspicion from the kidnapper.

J goes for his routine grocery shopping at night and bumps into Shirley. A client cancelled on her and she is free. She lets J know. He asks for two hours with her and subsequently pays her. They go to a shady hotel. J is repulsed by her touch. To ease the tension, Shirley tries to make conversation with him first. J introduces himself and they talk.

Back in Avi’s college, the exams are over. However, Angad’s exams went extremely bad. Angad worries about this and his thoughts spiral about what his family would think if he fails.

In the present, J comes back to his hideout and finds Gayatri panicking. Siya isn’t waking up and Gayatri tells the kidnapper that she could die if she is not taken to the hospital. J picks Siya up and hurries to take her to the hospital. Gayatri pleads to go with them to take care of Siya and J takes her along. He drives with the girls sitting in the backseat. They reach the hospital when suddenly, Siya in her half-conscious state asks Gayatri when they will escape. J hears this and immediately reverses the car to drive back to the hideout. They were so close! The girls’ escape plan is thwarted but Gayatri manages to drop the paper frog out of the window in the hope that someone will read it and come to save them.

Not much happens in this episode of Breathe: Into the Shadows in terms of action. Kabir and his team reach a little closer to cracking the psyche of the murderer. What will be the consequences of the failed escape plan of Gayatri and Siya?

Episode Rating: 2.75/5