‘Imperfect Women’: Kate Mara Breaks Down Why Nancy Wasn’t ‘Suspicious’ of Eleanor & Robert

Eleanor (Kerry Washington) and Robert (Joel Kinnaman) continued to explore their connection in Episode 3 of Imperfect Women. Even after last week’s cliffhanger ending, where Eleanor found out Robert knew about his wife Nancy’s (Kate Mara) affair with a mystery man named David before she died, the sordid romance continued. (Warning: Spoilers for Episode 3 of Imperfect Women ahead).

At first, Robert assured Eleanor that he didn’t kill Nancy, but she was distraught as it started to sink in that she had slept with her late best friend’s husband amid the investigation into her murder. “We more than crossed a line,” she told Robert. “We shattered the line. There is no more line.”

But after she ended her fling with her employee Jordan (Rome Flynn) and received an apologetic voicemail from Robert, Eleanor had a change of heart. The message sent her right back into Robert’s arms, and they slept together again. “I was driving home, and I just kept driving,” she told him.

As Eleanor revealed in Episode 2, she actually met Robert before Nancy and was the one to introduce them. They maintained a close friendship over the years, but Mary (Elisabeth Moss) and Eleanor’s brother Donovan (Leslie Odom Jr.) made it clear to Eleanor that they knew there was something deeper there. “And Nancy knew it, too,” Mary said to her friend.

“She definitely was not blind to it, but I don’t think she was suspicious,” Mara told TV Insider. “I think she just knows the fact.” Moss pointed out that “nothing happened” between Eleanor and Robert while Nancy was still alive, with Mara adding, “I think she just knows about her friend’s feelings for him, but I don’t think she worries about it because she knows how much Eleanor loves her and trusts her. So I don’t think it was a worry, necessarily.”

Creator Annie Weisman said Eleanor and Robert’s romantic entanglement ends up being “one of the biggest twists and surprises in the show,” and explained that it was necessary since it helps explore the “complexity of friendship” between the women.

“Sometimes there are these deeply hidden betrayals and these resentments, and in this case, it’s a romantic one,” Weisman continued. “There was this longing that started early on that she didn’t get to pursue, and her friend did. That kind of deep-seated jealousy between two friends that can sort of fester over time if it’s not expressed is something we were really playing with in the show. You’re getting to one of the deepest questions of the friendship. One of the painful things about losing someone is that if there is something unresolved like that, you just can’t know what they knew. So they can’t resolve that with one another.”

Eleanor and Robert’s happy reunion didn’t last long, as his and Nancy’s daughter Cora (Audrey Zahn) walked in on them in the pool. Although Robert and Eleanor insisted nothing was going on between them, Cora blew everything up by posting about the affair on social media. “Don’t you hate it when your dead mom’s best friend f**ks your dad?” she said in the TikTok, which ended up going viral.

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This sparked speculation that Eleanor and Robert could have teamed up to kill Nancy because they were having an affair. “It is one thing to fantasize sleeping with Robert, it’s another thing to follow through with it, get caught, and make f**king headlines,” Donovan warned Eleanor, who called it a “gross misunderstanding.” He also pointed out, “If this gets worse, and trust me it will, Robert’s family is going to do everything in their power to get the stink off him, and that’s going to leave you to take the fall.”

Mary had an even harsher reaction to her friend. Eleanor insisted that she and Robert might have something real and pointed out that Mary’s own marriage to Howard (Corey Stoll) started in an affair.

“Are you even hearing yourself right now?” Mary asked. “Nothing that you and Robert have is real. You have no idea what real is. Real is the laundry on the floor and dishes in the sink, and doctor’s appointments and cuts and scrapes, and sacrifices are real. What is real is my husband is in Ohio at this very moment interviewing for a job, which means we could have to move our entire lives. That is real. What you have is a f**king fantasy with another woman’s husband.” After telling Eleanor that Robert was just “using” her, she kicked Eleanor out of her house.

Things got even worse for Eleanor when she found out that Jordan called the tip line for Nancy’s murder investigation and revealed that he was with Eleanor the night Nancy died … but not until 1 a.m. Since Nancy’s time of death was estimated to be midnight, Eleanor no longer had an alibi, just like Robert.

When she paid Robert a visit to suggest that they make a joint statement to deny the rumors about them, Robert shut down the idea. “My attorneys are advising me to cut all communication with you,” he admitted. Eleanor was incredulous. “You made me feel like that was real, that after all those years …” she told Robert. But Robert remained stone-faced as he replied, “I lost my wife. That’s what was. That’s all that that was.” That was all it took for Eleanor to move on, as she later told Donovan, “I have been in love with Robert Hennessy since I was 18 years old, but I am done.”

She also revealed her real alibi for the night Nancy died: Eleanor was helping Mary and Howard’s son, Marcus (Jackson Kelly), after he texted her because he owed bookies money and needed her help. Lawyers agreed to keep Marcus’ name confidential in the investigation.

Before heading to help Marcus, though, Eleanor had a showdown with Nancy, who wanted Eleanor to come with her while she ended the affair. “It’s not what you think. It is so much worse. I can’t do it alone,” Nancy cried. Eleanor didn’t budge. “You need to get your s**t together,” she told Nancy. “You have an amazing marriage.”

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Nancy called her friend “pathetic” for being jealous of her marriage to Robert, and Eleanor exploded. “You know what’s pathetic?” she asked. “Cheating on your husband and being too chickens**t to be honest about it. Get out of my f**king car.”

By the end of the episode, Mary was pounding on Eleanor’s door with a new revelation, though. “I know who David is,” she revealed, leaving viewers on a jaw-dropping cliffhanger as we wait to find out just who this mystery man is.

Imperfect Women, Wednesdays, Apple TV