Rhiannon Lewis is a mess. Honestly, by the time we hit Sweetpea season 1 episode 5, titled "Someone's Been a Naughty Girl," the "invisible girl" act has completely disintegrated. If you were expecting a clean vigilante story where the bad guys get what’s coming to them and the hero walks away into the sunset, you haven't been paying attention. This episode is the penultimate hour, and it basically functions as a pressure cooker where every lie Rhiannon has told starts to hiss and leak.
It’s messy. It's violent. And it's surprisingly human.
The Garage Dynamics: Julia and Rhiannon's Weird Truce
Most of the episode revolves around the bizarre, claustrophobic relationship between Rhiannon (Ella Purnell) and her lifelong tormentor, Julia Blenkingsopp (Nicôle Lecky). Remember, Julia has been tied up in Rhiannon’s garage for what feels like an eternity in TV time. But something shifts here. Instead of the cold execution we might have expected from the first few episodes, we get a psychological standoff.
Julia is smart. She realizes that Rhiannon isn't a professional killer; she's a grieving, traumatized woman who is making it up as she goes. Julia starts to dismantle Rhiannon’s "moral code." You know the one—where Rhiannon convinces herself she’s only killing "bad" people. Julia calls her out on it, pointing out that Rhiannon is just as toxic and selfish as the people she hates.
But then, the twist. Rhiannon starts to see the cracks in Julia’s perfect life. She discovers that Julia’s fiancé, Marcus, isn’t the "hunky" prize he appears to be. He’s controlling. He’s abusive. He’s the actual villain of this specific chapter. This realization flips the script. Suddenly, the victim and the kidnapper are sort of... on the same side? It’s a classic case of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," even if that friend currently has you duct-taped to a chair.
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Marcus and the Fatal Shove
Let’s talk about Marcus. Dino Kelly plays him with this simmering, skin-crawling entitlement. The police are already looking at him for Julia's disappearance because, as D.I. Diana St. John cynically puts it, "It's always the boyfriend." In this case, they aren't wrong about his character, even if they're wrong about the crime.
The climax of Sweetpea season 1 episode 5 takes us to Julia and Marcus’s unfinished house. It’s a cold, skeletal setting for what’s about to go down. Rhiannon and Julia have cooked up a plan to frame Marcus for the murders and the kidnapping. It’s a gamble. A big one.
When Marcus arrives, things go south fast. He doesn't act like a worried fiancé; he acts like a cornered animal. He attacks Julia, blaming her for her own kidnapping. He’s shouting, he’s violent, and then he does that manipulative thing where he threatens to kill himself by jumping off the balcony. He's looking for pity. He's looking for control.
Rhiannon isn't having it.
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In a moment that feels both shocking and inevitable, she decides to give him exactly what he’s threatening. She pushes him. He falls, hits his head on a pile of marble, and that’s it. Marcus is dead. Victim number three.
The Fallout: Marina is Closing In
While Rhiannon is busy pushing men off balconies, Marina (Leah Harvey) is actually doing the work. This is one of the most frustrating and realistic parts of the show. Marina is a great detective, but her boss treats her like a nuisance. It mirrors Rhiannon’s own life before the killings—being ignored, being told to stay in her lane.
Marina isn't buying the "Marcus did it" story for a second. While the rest of the force is happy to wrap things up in a neat bow because Marcus was a jerk, Marina sees the holes. She spots Rhiannon at the scene. She’s piecing together the timeline. By the end of the episode, the net isn't just closing; it’s basically touching Rhiannon’s neck.
Why This Episode Changes Everything
What makes this episode stand out isn't just the body count. It's the way it forces us to stop rooting for Rhiannon. In the beginning, when she killed the guy who pissed on her, there was a sense of "good for her." It was dark, but it felt like a release.
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By episode 5, that's gone.
She’s now a person who frames people. She’s a person who manipulates her "friends" like AJ. Speaking of AJ, the chemistry there is real, but it’s poisoned by the fact that she’s lying to him every single second they are together. You can see the guilt eating at her, but her survival instinct is stronger than her conscience.
Key Takeaways from "Someone's Been a Naughty Girl":
- The framing of Marcus: This is a turning point where Rhiannon moves from impulsive killer to calculated conspirator.
- The Julia Bond: Their relationship is no longer just bully/victim. They are now bound by a shared crime, which makes the finale even more volatile.
- The Jeff Incident: Poor Jeff. Witnessing Rhiannon almost kill Marcus and then getting hit by a truck? Talk about the universe having a dark sense of humor.
What to Watch For Next
If you're catching up before the finale, keep your eyes on the CCTV footage. Rhiannon thinks she’s covered her tracks, but as we see later, she’s not as thorough as she thinks. The dynamic between her and AJ is also about to explode.
Next Steps for Fans:
- Watch the finale immediately: The cliffhanger at the end of episode 5 leads directly into the most heart-wrenching moment of the series involving AJ.
- Re-watch the first interaction with Marina: Now that you know how close Marina gets, look back at how she first approached Rhiannon. The clues were there.
- Check out the book: If you think the show is dark, CJ Skuse’s original novel Sweetpea takes Rhiannon to much, much darker places.
The world of Sweetpea isn't about justice. It's about what happens when a person who has been invisible for thirty years finally decides to be seen, no matter the cost. And in episode 5, that cost starts to look a lot like her soul.