Disclaimer’s Four Different Timelines Explained

WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Disclaimer episodes 1 & 2.

Apple’s new mystery thriller series Disclaimer is told over several overlapping timelines that combine into one overarching story. Cate Blanchett leads a talented ensemble cast of Disclaimer as Catherine Ravenscroft, a hard-working and acclaimed television documentary journalist out of London, England. Catherine’s world unravels once a mysterious novel titled The Perfect Stranger arrives at her doorstep, bringing up memories of one of her deepest and darkest secrets. Disclaimer also stars Sacha Baron Cohen as Robert, Catherine’s husband, Kodi Smit-McPhee as Nicholas, Robert and Catherine’s son, and Kevin Kline as Stephen Brigstocke, a local London man who has lost his wife and son.

Disclaimer is based on the 2015 book of the same name written by Renée Knight. The Apple series marks Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuarón’s first return to television since 2014’s Believe. Cuarón has won two Best Directing Academy Awards, one for 2013’s Gravity starring Sandra Bullock and another for his 2018 black and white film Roma. Disclaimer has earned an impressive Rotten Tomatoes critic score of 78%, marking a satisfying rebound for the 2-time Oscar-winning actress after the massive commercial and critical disappointment of Borderlands. Disclaimer consists of seven parts with the final episode releasing on November 15.

Timeline 1: Jonathan & Catherine In Italy

Occurs roughly 20 years before the present-day timeline

The first timeline in Disclaimer begins with Jonathan Brigstocke, played by Louis Partridge, on vacation in Italy with a romantic interest named Sasha (Liv Hill). They travel to Venice and Florence where Sasha must fly back to London after a family tragedy. This leaves the eager yet nervous Jonathan to explore Italy on his own. He writes a postcard to his mom that reads he’s tired of the ruins and is planning on making his way to a beach. There he encounters Catherine, roughly 15–20 years before the modern-day plotline. Jonathan spots Young Catherine, portrayed by Leila George, on the beach and snaps photos of her with a young Nicholas.

The first two episodes of Disclaimer show how Catherine spots Jonathan snapping photos of her at the beach while also revealing where Jonathan’s roll of film ended up going after the beach encounter in Italy. Jonathan is mesmerized by Catherine but works up the courage to run after her and a 4-year-old Nicholas as they leave the beach. Jonathan is quite crafty with his camera and takes several selfies in front of Italian landscapes but the most notable photographs are the sensual ones he takes of Young Catherine. These photos come back to haunt Blanchett’s older Catherine once Robert discovers them in the present-day timeline.

Timeline 2: Nancy Confronts Catherine About Jonathan

Occurs roughly 12 years before the present-day timeline

There is one brief scene in the first two episodes of Disclaimer that doesn’t fit into the three main timelines involving Jonathan’s mother, Nancy Brigstocke. Nancy, played by Lesley Manville, reaches out to Blanchett’s Catherine to finally confront her about the death of her son, Jonathan. It is clear that Nancy knows much more about Catherine than her husband, Stephen Brigstocke, did at the time and had a direct albeit silent line of communication with her. Catherine finally caves one day and meets with Nancy, who reveals she’s dying of terminal cancer. Nancy notes that Catherine didn’t even send flowers to Jonathan’s funeral.

This scene clearly takes place after Jonathan’s death but still long before the main events of the series since it is established that Nancy died nine years before the present-day timeline. This scene could have taken place just a few years after Jonathan’s funeral or potentially as many as 10 years since Nancy is dying from cancer but still wrapped in grief about her son. The main takeaway from this timeline entry is that before her death, Nancy had done everything within her power to hold Catherine accountable for her role in Jonathan’s death, which has yet to be determined. Catherine can’t stand to face the reality or intensity of Nancy, so she flees in what appears to be the last time she ever saw her.

Timeline 3: Stephen Discovers The Book & Makes His Plan For Revenge

Occurs roughly 3 years before the present-day timeline

The timeline in which Stephen Brigstocke discovers Nancy’s manuscript of The Perfect Stranger occurs just a few years before the present-day timeline and just days/weeks after Nacny’s passing. Stephen unlocks the top drawer of his wife’s desk in Jonathan’s old bedroom and discovers a pocket knife and a body spray, presumably Jonathan’s, as well as the manuscript. Stephen reads this manuscript and passes it off as his own to a colleague who believes it an opportunity for him to start his own independent publishing company. In time, Stephen is able to publish and distribute the novel under the pseudonym, EJ Preston.

Stephen begins to plot out his revenge against Catherine after discovering the manuscript for The Perfect Stranger and the photographs of Young Catherine Jonathan had taken nearly two decades before. Because of how much emphasis Nancy places on Catherine for Jonathan’s death, and how adamant Stephen is about exacting his revenge against Catherine, it’s reasonable to infer that Jonathan never made it home from Italy and that Catherine could have been the last person to see him alive. What’s clear at this point is that Catherine somehow evaded the law and never faced criminal charges for allegedly being the reason that Jonathan is dead.

Timeline 4: Catherine & Stephen In The Present Day

Modern-day timeline

The bulk of the story and where the narrative is really going exists in the present day as Stephen and Nancy’s The Perfect Stranger novel makes its way into the hands of both Catherine and Nicholas. Nicholas explains that someone happened to give it to him, which could have been set up by Stephen, while Catherine notably received it directly in the mail as if she had ordered it herself. Catherine’s story on this timeline starts off on a high note as she accepts a prestigious award for a documentary she made while working on her relationship with her estranged son, Nicholas. By the end of episode 2, Catherine’s modern world comes apart at the seams.

Stephen also plays an important role in the present-day timeline as he cautiously manipulates Nicholas and Robert at work by leaving them Jonathan’s photographs of Young Catherine. In the present tense, both Nancy and Jonathan Brigstocke are dead and Stephen has quit his job as a professor at an elite prep school, giving him plenty of time to torment Catherine from afar. Young Catherine appears to be a completely different person to both Robert and Catherine herself, a version of her at her most unreserved and dangerous. While more backstory and timelines are sure to come up in Disclaimer, the main plot exists in the present day.

Told in seven chapters, “Disclaimer” is based on the novel of the same name by Renée Knight. Acclaimed journalist Catherine Ravenscroft (Blanchett) built her reputation revealing the misdeeds and transgressions of others. When she receives a novel from an unknown author, she is horrified to realize she is now the main character in a story that exposes her darkest secrets. As Catherine races to uncover the writer’s true identity, she is forced to confront her past before it destroys both her own life and her relationships with her husband Robert (Sacha Baron Cohen) and their son Nicholas (Kodi Smit-McPhee). 
 

Release Date

October 10, 2024

Seasons

1