Defending Jacob - Season 1

Defending Jacob is about a boy accused of murdering a classmate, but the series is not necessarily about whether or not he is guilty. Actually, it is quite remarkable. A series about a murder suspect, but which does not necessarily provide an answer to the question of whether or not he is guilty. Although you can largely fill it in yourself, a little more clarity about this would have been appropriate. The starting point of Defending Jacob, however, is how far parents can go to protect their own child. Even if that child is suspected of a serious crime. What do you do as a parent if your child is accused of something as gruesome as murder, but you firmly believe in his or her innocence? That is perhaps a bigger and more interesting question that the makers wanted and dared to ask the audience here. Because how far do you go as a viewer if it concerns your own child?

What do you do as a parent when your child is accused of something as horrific as murder, but you firmly believe in his or her innocence?

In the case of Defending Jacob, it is the parents of Jacob Barber (Jaeden Martell, Masters of Sex) who firmly believe in their son's innocence. Father Andy (played by Chris Evans, Opposite Sex, better known as Captain America from the Marvel film universe) is an assistant district attorney. So he knows all too well what it can be like in a courtroom. After the body of Jacob's classmate Ben Rafkin is found in a park near the school, it is Andy who discovers later that evening that Jacob is being accused of the murder online by another classmate. It turns out that Jacob had previously brought a large knife to school and had shown it to some of his classmates. And coincidence or not, the murder victim had just died from multiple stab wounds. When Andy himself does some more online research after the accusation by Jacob's classmate and then discovers that Jacob does indeed keep a large knife in his sock drawer, he immediately throws it away in the trash. Meanwhile, Jacob makes it clear that he is not at all sad about Ben's death. It even seems at times as if Jacob does not fully understand what exactly is going on.

Although his discoveries about his son cause some confusion for Andy, he and detective Pam Duffy (Betty Gabriel, Clickbait) initially have someone else in their sights: Leonard Patz (Daniel Henshall, Turn). Patz is a convicted man who targets young boys for sex. In addition, the man lives very close to the park where Ben was stabbed to death. A logical suspect. However, there is no evidence that the man has anything to do with the murder and the police feel forced to let this suspect go. Then a fingerprint is found on the victim's t-shirt. The fingerprint turns out to be Jacob's...



As a viewer, you gradually get the feeling that Jacob is guilty. This is not so much because of the handful of 'evidence', such as the knife, the fingerprint, the motive (bullying) or the fact that Jacob took the same route through the park every morning as where Ben's body was found. It is mainly because Jacob shows no empathy at all for the victim and the terrible circumstances in which this boy lost his life. Jacob is completely nonchalant about both the murder itself and the fact that he is the main suspect in this murder case and it doesn't seem to affect him much. Is Jacob just more naive than the average person or very arrogant?

The ending in the book has much more impact

How the series continues and the question of whether Jacob is ultimately convicted or not? I will not go into that further. Be prepared when watching this series that you will not get a very clear answer to the question of whether Jacob is guilty or not. I can say that the ending of the series deviates considerably from the book on which it is based. What exactly that ending is I will of course leave in the middle because I don't want to give away too many spoilers, but the ending in the book has much more impact in my opinion. It is therefore a missed opportunity that the makers of the series did not adopt this.



Unfortunately, the limited series of eight episodes also has another drawback. The pace of the series is very calm, a bit too calm even to fully enjoy it. Only in the last three episodes does it improve a lot. The penultimate episode, which focuses on the court hearing, is the most successful. In this episode, Cherry Jones ( 24) shows once again what a great actress she is as Jacob's lawyer. Still, Defending Jacob is ultimately not a bad series. With a slightly higher pace, a few more answers to the questions you have as a viewer and especially the same ending as in the book, this series could have been excellent instead of average.