The New Couple in 5B

In 1963, Willa has sex with her lover in the apartment while Paul is at a writers’ retreat. Afterward, she thinks privately that she will never leave Paul and plans to end things permanently with her lover. As they leave to go out for the night, Willa sees Miles hiding in the shared service area foyer between the two apartments. Willa is horrified that her secret will become Windermere gossip, but her lover promises to take care of the situation. That night, Willa is awakened by Ella screaming in the hall as she finds Miles dead in the elevator shaft.

In a flashback, Rosie learns that Chad, who she recently started dating, was charged with murdering his high school girlfriend, Bethany. During the trial, her brother confessed to the murder, and Chad was exonerated. The brother later recanted his confession. Just a year later, his parents died in a car crash, and rumors spread about his involvement. Chad encourages Rosie to do her own research. In the present, Crowe comments that Chad is surrounded by death. Olivia demands that Crowe not contact the couple without a warrant. When he leaves, she tells the couple to live their lives as usual.

A few days later, Max checks in on Rosie at the request of Chad, who is upstate working on his new show. Rosie tells Max everything, including that she is afraid of Abi, whom both Dana and Xavier warned her about. Max encourages her to focus on her work, but Rosie obsessively scours Xavier’s social media to learn more about him. She finds a picture of him with Dana at an art opening and is shocked to find Chad in the background leaning into Lilian, Charles and Ella’s daughter. She tries to call Chad, but the connection fails.

In 1963, Willa and Paul attend the funeral of Miles Aldridge, who died when he stepped into an empty elevator shaft at the Windermere. Willa bitterly regrets her past cruelty to Miles and is grateful that Paul left the retreat early to be with her. Willa spots her lover at the funeral and remembers him saying he’d take care of Miles. She wonders if he is capable of hurting a child, and she vows not to see him again. Will sees her husband talking to Ella and realizes that Ella knows about the affair and has told Paul.

Rosie leaves for an interview with Arthur Alpern, a historian of New York architecture who wrote a book similar to the one she’s proposing. As she walks away from the Windermere, she feels herself growing lighter. Alpern claims that buildings and places have memories, and that what people describe as hauntings are really these location-specific memories becoming visible. He suggests that Rosie is drawn to the Windermere because of the dark memories lingering there, and he compares her relationship with the building to a romantic relationship. Alpern reveals that Charles Aldridge’s grandmother was a famous medium. He suggests that buildings can also be healed by their residents, just as people can be healed of traumatic memories.

Xavier’s funeral is crowded with his friends, family, and the residents of the Windermere. Rosie sits with Charles and Ella, wondering how they can stay in the building after their son’s death. During the service, Rosie sees a ghost that she recognizes as Willa Winter, and she follows her into the basement of the church. Willa warns Rosie that she is being watched and is in danger. As Willa disappears, Rosie hears footsteps and sends a frantic text to Detective Crowe. Suddenly, her sister Sarah appears.

Sarah explains that she had another dream that Rosie was in trouble and that she came to New York to take her home. Rosie says that she doesn’t need help, but Sarah insists that she needs her family. Rosie returns to the funeral, where she sees Abi and a new doorman, George, mourning along with the rest of the building. Sensing a chance, Rosie and Sarah return to the Windermere, which Sarah criticizes as overly expensive. Rosie uses a key left by Ivan to open the building’s surveillance room.

In 1963, Willa waits anxiously for Paul to confront her about the affair, which she believes Ella has revealed. Because Paul has been distant and cold toward her, she is vulnerable and lonely when her lover, who is revealed to be Abi, approaches her in the Windermere’s laundry room. Willa and Abi have passionate sex. Abi denies responsibility for Miles’s death and begs Willa to leave Paul. When Willa returns to the apartment, Paul reveals that he didn’t believe Ella’s claims until he saw her with Abi. He strangles her to death and then shoots himself.

Rosie and Sarah sneak into the surveillance room, which contains a simple desk with three monitors. Rosie begins looking frantically for the letter stolen from Dana’s box or any other clue that Abi is involved in the murders. She logs on to view one set of cameras in public spaces but is unable to access a second page of other cameras. When Abi unexpectedly appears, she pretends to be collecting her dry-cleaning. Abi presses her, and she admits that she was looking for clues about him. He assures her there is nothing going on.