Defending Jacob – Apple+ Season 1 Episode 6 Recap & Review

The Blue Lincoln

The latest episode of Defending Jacob brings more revelations to the plot as Matt comes forward with the truth regarding Leonard. While the drama remains quite slow, it has added another mystery with a strange stalker following the family. This adds some much-needed intrigue to this crime drama that’s ticking along nicely every week.

Episode 6 of Defending Jacob starts 10 days before the trial as Andy and Joanna arrive in the court house. Once there, they come face to face with Neal who manages to rile Andy up by mentioning his father. Andy pushes him against the wall but is quickly stopped. Joanna and Andy then spend five hours looking through it but unfortunately find nothing concrete.

As they are both about to leave, Duffy speaks to Andy about his father and tells him not hesitate if he needs helps. As they leave, Joanna tells Andy that she has found out from her niece that Jacob has been online. This prompts him to confront his son back home about it. Jacob defends himself, saying it was just a joke but Andy is having none of it, angrily telling him that this new profile he made could damage his defence in court.

In prison, Andy’s father and the prisoners see on the news that Jacob is accused of murder and is the grandson of a convicted murderer. Later that night, Andy notices a strange blue car parked outside then gets a call from Matt who wants to meet as he has something to say about Leonard Patz.

In the court house, Matt relays what has been happening with Leonard and how he used to pay Matt to let him touch his trousers. Eventually he stopped paying which is when Matt reported him. Leonard had his eyes on another boy called Ben and Matt also reveals that he was carrying a knife around. Neal wants to know why he waited to come forward, to which he replies that he heard about Jacob and didn’t want him to go down for what he believed Leonard did.

This prompts Neal to suggests that Andy has perhaps paid him but Matt insists that he is telling the truth. After Matt and his mother leave, Neal tells them he doesn’t believe his story as it is too convenient. However, Lynn agrees to a search warrant for Patz house.

Back home, a hopeful Andy relays to his wife and Jacob what happened as this could change things for them. He later gets a call from his father who tells him he saw the news and wanted to talk to him. Andy refuses though as he doesn’t even consider him as his father.

The next morning while out running, Laurie notices that same blue car Andy mentioned is following her. She starts panicking and runs home to Andy and Duffy deep in conversation. They reveal that the police didn’t find a knife in Patz’s house but they’r not ruling him out yet. Laurie is still anxious though and tells her husband that the blue Lincoln was following her. Before leaving, Duffy tells Andy she is not sure Matt is telling the truth. Andy insists though, asking her not to give up.

In the present, as Neal mentions the last few days before the trial we see that Andy was not handling it well when he bumped his car into the back of Leonard’s. When the latter came out, Andy confronted him and claimed that he knew he is the one who killed Ben.

It is now four days before the trial and Jacob’s birthday. Laurie, Andy and Joanna meet with Doctor Vogel to find out the results of her evaluation and tests on Jacob. While he didn’t test positive for the murder gene, along with his father and grandfather Jacob did for different types of genes which includes impulsivity, recklessness and limited capacity of empathy. Finally, she reveals that all three also tested positive for a testosterone receptor known to induce violence in adolescence.

Joanna thinks that if Jacob was found guilty, they would be able to use this to argue mitigation to reduce his sentence. Laurie reads through the report and questions Dr Vogel about it as she is worried about what it could mean. It’s here she mentions the session when she asked him how he felt about Ben’s death and replied that millions of people die all the time. Laurie insists on knowing what the doctor thinks which causes an argument between Laurie and Andy. Laurie blames him for never listening to her fears but Andy insists again that there is nothing wrong with Jacob.

After having dinner in a restaurant, the family drive back home. Laurie notices the same blue car so Andy decides to confront the driver. As he reaches the car, Andy tells him to stay away from them and the street. The strange man tells him it’s good to have a family and as the episode ends, we cut forward to the day of the trial as Jacob and his parents get ready to drive toward the court house.

One of the most interesting plot points of this episode is Doctor Vogel’s test results as she talks about the different genes. In a show which lacks originality, this brings some needed substance and stop it from becoming too stale.

It’s certainly worth mentioning though that the writing can sometimes be a little  hit and miss. This episode has some unnecessary exposition as we listen to the conversation Duffy and Andy have about his father, repeating information we already know from previous episodes. Still, Defending Jacob has some good acting and a decent enough mystery but it’s difficult not to think this would have worked better as a 6-part mini-series.