The Twelve – Season 1 Episode 5 Recap & Review

Stefan

31st December 1999

Tensions begin to escalate at the start of episode 5 of The Twelve as a visible rift between Fri and Britt clearly begins to grow. Following their argument on New Year’s Eve, Fri ignores Britt’s pleas and nestles herself between the two in the bedroom. Turning to Stefan, she begins passionately kissing him. 

Before Court – Day 5

Stefan is next to face the court but before he gets there, he’s clearly nervous and tries to memorize his dates to avoid slipping up. Delphine meanwhile, faces issues in her personal life as Mike tells the kids she doesn’t love him anymore. As we see from flashbacks later on, Gabriel and Mike came to blows at a swimming pool with Mike’s jealousy getting the better of him.

The Courtroom – Day 5

In court, Stefan takes to the stand and Fri explains that Britt and Stefan had an argument about her pregnancy and specifically how he didn’t want children.

After hearing this opening statement, Arnold talks to Holly about how everyone is out for themselves and not looking at the crux of the case. This much is especially true when it comes to Delphine, who deliberates over Fri’s jealousy and relates to this in the same way Mike has been toxic toward her.

Back in the courtroom, Fri tells the court that Stefan is lying about the dates they first started kissing. Interestingly, Fri’s claims about the forum posts reference Margot looking like an ironing board – the exact same phrasing she used to describe Stefan’s new lover. Those posts were traced back to Fri’s computer too, proving that she’s certainly the jealous type and pretty argumentative.

As the questioning continues, the defence brings up Stefan’s flaky statements and the various contradictions over the years. Even worse, his entire character is put under the microscope as the court is shown emails sent from his computer to different students. Mr Spaak goes on to mention how the cut to Rose’s daughter was made with surgical precision. Given Stefan went to medical school for 5 years, it certainly doesn’t cast him in a favourable light.

After Court – Day 5

Delphine returns home and comes to blows with Mike over Gabriel picking the kids up again. Despite cooking for him and the kids, Mike continues to undermine her by getting the kids all an ice lolly to eat. Holly and Yuri meanwhile continue to hook up while Arnold and Carl have trouble connecting in their respective lives.

2 Years Earlier

On the evening of Rose’s death, Stefan buys his movie ticket and sits in the theatre. Only, he leaves not long after it starts meaning his alibi doesn’t quite hold up.

The Review Write-Up

With lots of melodrama outside the courtroom, this does sometimes feel in danger of drowning out what’s happening inside the courtroom. However, as the episodes tick by it’s becoming increasingly likely that Stefan is holding some dark secrets but whether he’s capable of killing Rose is another matter. He does have a motive and a stake in both murders though – perhaps more so than Fri right now.

It’ll be interesting to see how that develops over time but as we reach the halfway point of the series, it’s hard not to think The Twelve could have easily condensed this story down into a smaller time-frame than the 10 episodes we’ve been given.