So does Emily Byrne have multiple personalities?

Is she a serial killer who began murdering people long before she was ever abducted? Or is she merely a woman determined to prove her innocence?

Those were some of the questions we were left to ponder on Absentia Season 1 Episode 5.

At first, I liked that Emily went to see Dr. Vega and that despite being bound to his office chair, he still appeared to try and help her find some answers.

But I've gotten to the point with this series where I trust no one. Now I'm even looking at Vega as though he might be involved in all of this.

What is this exactly?

Money launderer Robert Semarov, serial killer Conrad Harlow, and dirty FBI agent Adam Radford are all dead. Emily was abducted and went missing for six years, and now there's an old skeleton in a shallow grave in a park.

I know all of the facts, I just have no clue how to string them together in a way that makes any sense.

Nick: I wanted to bring her in alive, if I could.
Gibbs: So much for that.

Permalink: So much for that.

I hate that Nick seems so sure of Emily's guilt. With Adam's murder, Nick became convinced that Emily was either a part of this strange conspiracy, or she just snapped and began killing the people she blamed for her abduction.

As Emily's father, Warren, pointed out, Nick and Gibbs never saw her pull the trigger. They're assuming she's guilty because they know she took Adam.

And Warren thinks that Nick has a pattern of being a little too quick to give up on Emily, as he was happy to share in this Absentia quote...

Don't sit here and lie to me like you care about her. Six years she was out there. Took only one before you threw in the towel. Nothing would have stopped me if it were my wife. Remarried. You're a poor excuse for a man, now get out.
Warren

Permalink: Don't sit here and lie to me like you care about her. Six years she was out there. Took only...

So Nick had her declared dead after a year. Perhaps it's easy to side with Warren since we know that Emily was alive, but you'd think a trained investigator would keep looking until he at least found her remains.

I'm very curious, though, as to how they convicted Conrad Harlow of her murder without ever finding her body.

And then there's Alice, who probably wishes that Emily were dead once again.

I'll give Alice credit for asking Nick straight out if he slept with Emily. His lack of an answer was answer enough. If he hadn't slept with Emily, he would have denied it immediately.

Alice: Are you in love with her?
Nick: Part of me will always love her.

Permalink: Part of me will always love her.

I appreciated that Nick didn't lie about his feelings for Emily. It's not like they divorced or one of them left the other. Emily was forcibly taken, and Nick believed she was dead.

There's no reason why he wouldn't still love her. Now for the bigger question...is Alice pregnant?

We never saw the results of that test. It could be wishful thinking on her part because that would be one way to solidify her marriage despite the obvious obstacles.

But I hope that test was negative, if for no other reason than I'd hate to see a new life be brought into a situation with this much guilt, stress, and anger.

Nick: Was she unhappy?
Jack: No, no, it was quite the opposite. She couldn't handle being happy. It was like she thought it was all going to fall apart any second, and that my parents were going to kick her out or I was plotting against her, so I guess she figured she might as well just reject my whole family first.

Permalink: No, no, it was quite the opposite. She couldn't handle being happy. It was like she thought...

Speaking of anger issues, Jack has some deep-seated resentment of Emily that he's been holding on to for years, and I wouldn't put it past him to plot against his adopted sister.

I was so relieved when neither Nick nor Gibbs let it slip to Jack that they were headed to Nottingham Park. I don't trust Jack at all.

Then there was Nottingham Park, one of the creepiest parks to grace the planet!

I'm still at a total loss as to what an eye in a tree could mean to Emily, but this mystery seemingly goes back farther than her days with the FBI. And as Gibbs pointed out, she knew exactly where the body was buried, and yet she seems to have no idea of that person's identity.

I'm also left wondering if she just stumbled upon that pacemaker (at least that's what I'm assuming it was) or if she knew to look for it.

There were other questions too, such as, did Agent Crown mean it when he said that he and Nick would go to Internal Affairs together to tell them about Radford, but only after Emily got brought in.

Crown was convincing, but once again, I trust no one, and we have no way of knowing if he was involved with Radford in this mess.