Caution: Spoilers Ahead for The Time Traveler's Wife episode 5.
The Time Traveler's Wife episode 5 makes a joke trivializing abuse, and it is a big problem for the HBO series. Written by former Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat, the joke marks a major misstep in a series that has already divided its viewership in a significant way. The episode first aired on June 12, and it is not the first time the show has come under fire for problematic elements since its release. The Time Traveler's Wife follows Henry DeTamble (Theo James) and Clare (Rose Leslie) throughout their complicated romance, as the former travels backward in time without any control over his abilities. The non-linear love story is mostly light-hearted fare, as the two traverse Henry's volatile ability through charming and witty repartees.
Episode 5 is centered on the first time Henry meets Clare's family; an anxiety-inducing moment in any relationship further complicated by the way time travel works in The Time Traveler's Wife, as Henry's ability is triggered by stress. Events take a dark turn when Henry unexpectedly travels from Clare's bathroom onto a dark street landing naked on an angry mobster. A fight ensues, leaving Henry bruised, before being transported back into Clare's bathroom. Sitting back at the diner table, Clare mentions that they have been "fighting" unaware of the brawl on the street, as her bemused family is unsure what to make of it. Henry returns to the table, leaving Clare flustered trying to explain to her family that his bruised state was not the kind of fighting she was referring to.
The scene is poised as a classic comedy of errors, as the misunderstanding gets increasingly out of hand, with Clare's brother brushing off the incident as "wear and tear", and Henry and Clare claiming he "fell in the shower". The cast of The Time Traveler's Wife does an admirable job of selling the scene; however, in doing so, the show inadvertently mishandles the topic of abuse by turning it into a comedic misunderstanding. Abuse is a very serious and difficult topic to address and the scene plays into and makes a mockery of real-life instances common to survivors of abuse, whereby many stay silent and do not disclose or report the situation.
In effect the scene calls attention to this but instead laughs it off with an awkward shrug: "never get on the disagree with Clare am I right?" Henry jokes. Furthermore, it trivializes and denigrates male victims of domestic abuse, where even fewer come forward due to broader societal attitude that invalidates male survivors of abuse. It is a miscalculated and unnecessary joke, though the series has been no stranger to mixed opinions, as The Time Traveler's Wife's audience and critics are divided. Several critics point to the show's problematic conceit as the reason for low scores, though Moffat has gone out of his way to try to address the problematic age gap and grooming narrative central to the original 2003 novel by Audrey Niffenegger.
The series has not escaped criticism, however. The Time Traveler's Wife simply referencing its own issues or the issues of its source material—sometimes in overly lighthearted and humorous ways—is not the same thing as intentionally addressing and fixing those situations. Abuse is a subject that needs to be handled with proper care and unfortunately, the joke in The Time Traveler's Wife episode 5 did not do that. Though small and seemingly inconsequential, the joke only serves to reinforce harmful and misleading attitudes about this very serious subject matter. Hopefully, Steven Moffat learns from these missteps if the HBO series is renewed for season 2.