Ep 5. ...It Just Came Up

It Just Came Up is the fifth episode of the first season of the TV show I May Destroy You. The series, created and written by Michaela Coel, explores the perspective of Arabella, a young writer based in London, as she learns to navigate her life after a sexual assault.

This episode finds Arabella and her friends Terry and Kwame heading to an Italian restaurant for a night of food and drinks. While there, Arabella meets up with her on-and-off romantic interest Biagio, and they proceed to spend most of the night making out in the bathroom.

After leaving the restaurant, the group decides to head to a nearby club to continue their night out. Upon arriving, Arabella begins to feel increasingly anxious and paranoid. She starts to see visions of her abuser everywhere and feels convinced that he is watching her, making her increasingly agitated and tense.

Meanwhile, Terry and Kwame are off having their own adventures in the club, with Terry striking up a conversation with one of the bartenders, Theo, and Kwame engaging in a sexual encounter with a stranger.

As the night goes on, Arabella's anxiety and paranoia reach a breaking point, and she eventually has a panic attack on the dance floor. Biagio helps to calm her down, but the experience leaves Arabella shaken.

The episode also features flashbacks to Arabella's childhood, showing how her experiences with sexual assault and abuse have impacted her present-day reactions and behavior.

Overall, It Just Came Up is a tense and emotional episode that delves deeper into Arabella's psyche and the lasting effects of trauma. It also explores themes of consent, boundaries, and the ways in which past experiences can shape a person's present-day relationships and interactions.