Imperfect Women: Who is David? Is Howard David?

Apple TV+’s ‘Imperfect Women’ follows the investigation into the murder of a woman named Nancy, who died shortly after having dinner with her best friends, Eleanor and Mary. When the detectives dig into the case, the name David comes into the picture. Eleanor had heard it before because Nancy told her that this was the guy she was having an affair with. But Eleanor never met the guy, so the cops have no reference point to find and arrest him, even though he remains one of the main suspects in the case. While Mary tries to pull together the clues that will lead her to her dead friend’s secret lover, the truth is revealed to the audience in the most unexpected manner. David is someone close to Nancy and her friends, and his identity changes everything about the case. SPOILERS AHEAD.

David was the Code Name for Nancy’s Lover

Since Nancy told Eleanor that she was having an affair with a man named David, she and Mary focus on everyone whose name sounds remotely familiar to “David.” However, the events of the fourth episode reveal that this was just a moniker, a secret name given to the guy she was actually having an affair with. The guy she was secretly sleeping with is Howard, Mary’s husband. While Nancy had known him for a long time, she never really talked to her or considered him even remotely relatable to be friends with him. Their paths crossed only when Nancy invited Mary to her events and vice versa. If it hadn’t been for Mary, Nancy wouldn’t have looked twice at Howard. However, the events turn out such that they not only develop a friendship, but it also escalates into an affair.

The reason Mary calls Howard David is because of a private joke they share. At her last New Year’s Eve party, Nancy finds out through Mary that Howard’s class load at the university has been reduced, which has not only left him with a lot of time but also led to a significant reduction in his salary. In an attempt to help her friend, Nancy decides to find a job for Howard. Because he is into classical history, she thinks he would be a great addition to the production of a ballet called Ariadne. So, she introduces Howard to the show’s director. While Howard gets the job, the director doesn’t make any show of being respectful of him. At Nancy’s party, there is a bartender named David, who also flirts with her. Somehow, the director confuses Howard’s name with David and keeps calling him that, despite Howard correcting him several times.

When Howard shares this with Nancy, she can’t help but laugh because the guy has been doing the same to her. Even though she is one of the donors of the ballet company and has met the guy several times before, he still calls her by the wrong name. As the two joke about it, they call each other by the false names they have been given. Somewhere down the line, these false names take on a life of their own as Nancy and Howard indulge in an affair. They cannot use their real names because this will make it easier for their affair to come to light. So, to hide in plain sight, they use their fake names, because no one else knows about them, and even if the affair came to light, no one would be able to identify who they were having an affair with. The trick clearly works well. But the truth comes out eventually, though it remains to be seen how that will happen.

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