‘Defending Jacob’ Episode 8: Recap/Review (Spoiler Alert)

We made it! The journey leading up to the finale of Defending Jacob was a rollercoaster. I was very nervous to start this episode. I had many scenarios circling in my head and within the first five minutes, one of them was proved to be correct. Or so I thought. That was short-lived because every other prediction I had was just thrown out the window as the episode progressed. At the end of the last episode, we saw Leonard Patz writing a note to the Rifkin family saying that he killed Ben. At the beginning of this episode, it is revealed that Patz supposedly committed suicide and Jacob is released a free man. Everything is sunshine and rainbows, but is it really that simple?

The man that had been following the Barber family is actually a friend of Andy’s father Billy. His name is O’Leary. We find this out after Ben’s father tries to attack Jacob in the parking garage after his trial. He was hired to look out for them. The circumstances around Patz’s suicide are a little fishy so Andy takes it upon himself to visit his dad and ask if he had anything to do with his death. It is never explicitly confirmed, but the camera flashes to a scene of O’Leary forcing Patz to write that note before killing him. Billy wanted Jacob to go free and now no one knows whether he is truly innocent.

The Barbers still decide to go to Mexico. Everything is going swimmingly. Andy and Laurie are enjoying time on the beach and Jacob starts hanging out with a girl named Hope that he met in the lobby. The two of them go to a New Year’s Eve party on the beach but don’t leave together. The following day the police question Jacob when Hope doesn’t come back to the hotel. Andy spirals and tells Laurie what he learned from his father about Patz. Thankfully, Hope is found and Jacob had nothing to do with her disappearance.

Once the family goes back home Laurie is more distant than she has ever been. The thought of Jacob killing Ben begins to consume her. All of her emotions come to a climax when she is driving Jacob to get a haircut. Laurie demands he tell her the truth about Ben while simultaneously speeding up the car. She says that she loves Jacob and Andy so much before swerving to crash into a wall.

That scene cuts to Neal Logiudice interviewing Andy like he had been the whole season. Only now the audience learns that it had been about the car crash the entire time. It was to bring justice to Jacob and determine whether the crash was an accident or on purpose.  After the trial, Andy goes to the hospital. Jacob is in a coma and Laurie is considerably better and conscious. That night Andy goes home alone and the episode ends.

It took me quite a bit of time to process the entire episode. As much as I hate to admit it because I really do like this show, the audience didn’t get what they wanted. We still don’t know who killed Ben which is what the entire series was supposed to lead up to. Maybe the underlying message was to show how an accusation like this can change a family. Is there going to be a second season? As of right now, that is still a question. I want some kind of resolution, maybe four episodes instead of eight. I think two would be enough to close the story. Now I haven’t read the book so I don’t know how deep the story really goes. My main concern is finding out who killed Ben.

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