‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ Recap: Christine Baranski’s Illness Revealed — And Who’s Been Dead All Along?

Imogen finally discovers her mom, Victoria, is sick while uncovering the truth about her father’s death in the most intense episode of Nine Perfect Strangers this season.

Warning: Spoilers below from Nine Perfect Strangers season 2, episode 6.

During the Wednesday, June 18, episode of the Hulu series, Victoria (Christine Baranski) reluctantly agrees to undergo a psychedelic trip alongside her daughter, Imogen (Annie Murphy), after Imogen insists she be transported back to her childhood — before her father’s death.

The immersive experience starts on a high note, as Imogen relives her happy home life and viewers learn her father was an inventor who built a special satellite. As the trip unfolds, Imogen realizes her dad’s technology was used in a drone strike that killed Matteo’s (Aras Aydin) mother and father overseas.

In a brief jump into Matteo’s psychedelic trip, fans see that he met nun and then-nurse Agnes (Dolly De Leon) after the explosions, and she was the one who guided him through the trauma. She even gave him a bear from Brian’s (Murray Bartlett) Crabapple Clubhouse show, connecting them as well.

While Matteo should be heartbroken to relive the horrific experience, he is at peace with the pain he’s suffered and doesn’t want to forget it, which leaves Masha (Nicole Kidman) in awe of his strength.

Imogen, on the other hand, discovers during her trip that her dad died by suicide after learning how many people were harmed as a result of his genius. As Imogen enters her dad’s room and sees him dead, her mother begins to have a seizure in present-day Austria.

Imogen wakes up to her mom tossing and turning and only when screams take over the retreat does guru Masha realize something went wrong. Masha scolds Martin (Lucas Englander), who was guiding the mother-daughter duo, that Victoria’s meds weren’t calibrated for her and that’s why it led to a seizure.

When first responders arrive at the retreat, Matteo reveals to the medical staff that Victoria has ALS (a nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord), which is a complete shock to Imogen. Matteo also explains that he’s not just Victoria’s younger boyfriend, he has been her caregiver, leaving Imogen stunned.

As Victoria’s life seemingly hangs in the balance — she hasn’t woken up after her seizure — Masha gets into trouble with Zauberwald owner, Helena (Lena Olin).

Helena reprimands Masha for her extreme tactics and use of her new psychedelic tool on this group of retreaters, demanding she “cancel whatever grand finale” she has planned. Masha refuses to stop her plan and screams at Helena for interfering, claiming she’s “still a mess.”

Once she stops yelling, Masha is alone in the office, Helena is gone and all the chairs are covered up as if no one works there. The camera then pans to a portrait of Helena in the hallway and the dates “1995 to 2022” written on the bottom, revealing that she’s been dead all along.

“Helena don’t leave me,” Masha whispers while sitting by herself to deal with her mess.

Nine Perfect Strangers airs on Hulu Wednesdays.