The Sniffer S01E05 "Episode 5" Recap

Sniffer and Viktor are called in to investigate the death of four soldiers at a military hospital. Initially they suspect the doctors of abusive malpractice. Meanwhile, Yulia and Alex are continuing to clash as she becomes increasingly agitated by her own discontent even when he tries to play the peacemaker.

Viktor goes on a date and defends himself against a man who attacks his date but unfortunately for him, the man turns out to be a high-ranking government official. Viktor is warned by his boss to not make more of a disruption again.

Yulia comes searching for Alex, who has run away to Sniffer's place since he no longer wants to live with her due to all their interpersonal conflicts. She demands that Alex come home and the ensuing tension is highly awkward.

Another man is killed on the military base by a masked gunman. The man's friend locks himself in a kitchen cabinet which the killer tries to shoot his way into but they are interrupted by the arrival of another solider. The killer escapes and the first soldier is found dead by the other man who interrupted the conflict.

Sniffer and Viktor come to the base to investigate the new murder. Sniffer begins using his senses while Viktor learns that the victims were from the same town. Sniffer reveals that he found a thread that lead him to find a crack in the security which is how the killer has gotten in and out of the base. The unknown man was wearing a black scarf, is somewhere around 20-25 years old, and some other chemicals indicate the components used in the leather seats of a new bus.

Meanwhile, one of the high-ranking military officers on the base is shown to have a wife who is having an affair. He begins to piece together that she is lying about her activities and grows increasingly suspicious that she is involved with someone else.

Sniffer and Viktor track down the cabin where the killer has been staying. He's been a relatively quiet man that keeps to himself. His name was Sergey and he served in the military. While Viktor and Sniffer go after Sergey, Sergey is revealed to be the one involved with the man's wife. They were lovers once before but he was attacked by some men while serving in the military resulting in multiple scars. Pashutin's wife heads out to meet Sergey while Pashutin kills one of his accomplices. Sergey killed the men that disfigured him out of vengeance but is distraught over having also killed two innocent men in the process. Pashutin tracks down his wife and tries to kill Sergey and her.

Viktor and Sniffer arrive in time to stop Pashutin from killing his wife but too late to save Sergey. Pashutin was the one that had sent the men to attack Sergey because he didn't want anyone to be with his wife. He had hoped to kill both of them and frame Sergey for her murder. Viktor ends up shot by Pashutin but survives the encounter. In the end, Viktor shoots Pashutin dead.

The Sniffer is available for streaming on Netflix.