#Devils Season 1 Episode 5 Review: Look Back in Sadness

Finally, some of the dots started to connect.

A series of much-needed flashbacks to 2008 helped to delineate the relationship between Massimo and Dominic on Devils Season 1 Episode 5.

How can you tell they are flashbacks? Massimo had moddish hair, Carrie was still alive, and Nina wasn’t a shell of her former self.

Dominic was much the same, with his eyes on the prize and not much else, at least until his world came crashing down with John’s death in Afghanistan.

That was a simpler time, when Massimo constantly on the lookout for the next big thing and his star on the rise as a result, to the dismay of toffs such as Ed, still alive with a stick up his butt.

Only the intense Massimo could go to Carrie’s party, get a tattoo matching hers, and then take an offhanded comment about an obscure mortgage deal from her gay friend and foresee the Great Crash of 2008.

His prophetic foresight earned the bank millions and enabled him and Dominic to ascend as a team, Dominic as CEO and Massimo as head of trading.

But Massimo learned a valuable lesson: Dominic always has a secret deal going on and knows more than Massimo. He’s tied in everywhere and knowledge is power.

Dominic will only explain his actions cryptically, no matter how he feels about Massimo. 

Also, Massimo had a weak spot: Carrie.

The early party scene revealed why the ultraserious Massimo was infatuated with her. She was vivacious.

But the slightest setback could set Carrie off.

The closing of her exhibition, part of any artist’s career, led to her overdose.

Even when she seemed stable, such as at Dominic’s party, when a sober Carrie talked about starting a family, overhearing some catty rich women put her down caused her to get drunk and blow up Massimo’s professional unveiling.

Dominic had already counseled Massimo to cut Carrie loose. Nina, who knew what being a banker’s wife could be like, advised Carrie to let Massimo go, for the good of his career.

So that was what led to the dissolution of their marriage: his dedication to his work and her hating his job and all the people surrounding him.

Now Carrie has been dragging him down again, from beyond the grave.

The questions of why Carrie went to America and how she ended up in prison are still to be answered, and those revelations promise to be intriguing.

Dominic admitted that his lawyer, Trevor, had been keeping tabs on Carrie. So did Dominic bring her back to London, and why? To blow up Massimo’s career?

I don’t think so. Dominic really does appear to think of Massimo as a son, even moreso than John. After all, John had no intention of following him into the family business.

Dominic even made potential murder charges in Ed’s death go away on Devils Season 1 Episode 4.

But while Dominic keeps his secrets, so does Massimo. And the way Dominic feels about him, Massimo’s betrayals hit him especially hard.

Massimo and Nina have seemed unusually close for employee and boss’s wife. Now we know why.

It’s not hard to understand how they ended up in bed together. Both were in pain.

Any semblance of a real relationship between Dominic and Nina was gone after John’s death, especially since, in her view, her son went into the military to escape from his father.

Massimo threw himself into his work after Carrie left. Nina was attempting to do both of them a favor, getting him away from the bank by taking her to the one place that made her think of John, the cottage.

Dominic overheard Nina calling Massimo to take her away. Then a very satisfied Nina lied to him upon returning. 

But Massimo bedding his wife appeared to bother Dominic less than any financial shenanigans which Massimo and/or his team have undertaken against Dominic’s machinations.

That weasel Chris gave Dominic all the ammunition he needed with that tape of Oliver messing with the computer system. Even then, Dominic blasted Chris when he started putting down Massimo, and all Italians.

What made Dominic come down on Massimo after the Irish housing-bonds kerfluffle? I mean, that was mostly Massimo’s team working against his wishes.

The Irish deal just gave Dominic an excuse to punish Massimo. 

And what did he mean when he said he’s going to make Massimo pay? Carrie’s already dead, Massimo remains under suspicion of murder, and his team doesn’t trust his decisions anymore. How much worse can it get for him?

Well, when his world was falling apart, Massimo ran to Sofia’s place, and the sexual tension between them finally came to a head.

So are Massimo and Sofia going to join forces for real? Is Massimo going to team up with Subterranea, as Duval had been pushing for?

Massimo would be a great mole for Subterranea inside of NYL. But shouldn’t we assume that Dominic knows about Massimo’s connection with Sofia, as he seems to know about everything else involving NYL?

Or was the usually buttoned-up Massimo just blowing off some steam and nothing more will come of his tryst with Sofia?

Subterranea has to be a bigger part of the storyline than it has been so far.

To revisit the Dominic-Massimo relationship, watch Devils online.

Were you surprised about Massimo and Nina?

Why is Dominic coming down on Massimo now?

Will Massimo help out Subterranea?

Comment below.

Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.