The Twelve – Season 1 Episode 8 Recap & Review

Cleo

18 Months Earlier

Episode 8 of The Twelve begins with Stefan forced to undergo a lie detector test. Within that he’s asked a series of questions relating to the two murders we’ve been following but only one flashes up as a lie; for now which one is kept hidden from us.

Before Court – Day 8

Lola awakens in her hospital bed and it turns out she had an allergic reaction to the paint. Mike tells Delphine that he’ll look after the kids and tells her to stay at a hotel following her “lies” regarding the jury service. Arnold meanwhile is forced to hitchhike after having his scooter taken away.

The Courtroom – Day 8

After all the key witnesses have been interviewed, the attention then turns to the various experts including the coroner, legal psychiatrist and Helen.

First up is a re-enactment of how long it would take Fri to reasonably leave the party and return. The timings just about match to that of a phone booth that may have been used for the police to call them away.

Britt’s threatening video was filmed inside Marc’s house and they find the position up in the attic space where the video was recorded. They believe Britt was suffocated with a pillow on the bed next door and then dumped in the crawl attic space. Only, as we can see Fri has serious trouble moving the body. Are these flashes to the past or a genuine strength issue?

Despite Helen’s insistence that the same bolt gun was used for both the dogs and Britt’s murder, Mr Spaak contradicts that and forces Dr Death (the nickname for our medical examiner) to admit she can’t 100% confirm it was the same gun.

The reconstruction for Rose’s death however goes a little less smoothly. Rose’s murder occurred just after 10pm. Polyester gloves were used along with a rock to smash through the glass. The coroner goes on to admit she didn’t think the injuries to the neck correlate with wanting to kill. The way the body was laid on the floor however strongly points to the possibility that a left-handed person may have inflicted this.

Unfortunately Fri is the only one among the main witnesses that was left handed. (As we soon see outside court, Stefan sometimes uses his left hand but clearly lied to the court.)

The psychiatric Mrs Dubiety takes the stand next and admits that Fri had mental issues. However, Mr Spaak casts doubts on Stefan’s narcissism and questions her psychopathic test that sees Fri walking around with a “mask of sanity.”

The conversation then turns to the lie detector test we saw a part of at the start of episode. Fri passed with flying colours but Stefan failed the test on a question relating to whether he killed Britt or not, casting serious suspicions over him moving forward.

After Court – Day 8

Sex-addict Noel invites Delphine to stay at his rather than a hotel. She politely agrees to his request on the grounds that he stay on the couch and she’s in bed. Yuri meanwhile heads over to Holly’s house after she’s received an offer to sell. When Yuri pulls away from a kiss, he admits to her what happened with the Brazilian worker and how he died in hospital.

Meanwhile, Carl finally starts to connect with Juliette while Arnold gets his scooter back.

As Marc and Inge head home, they watch old footage of a party where Stefan is cutting the cake… with his left hand.

The Review Write-Up

Alas, the plot thickens! Understanding now that Stefan lied about his left hand along with some interesting re-enactment footage allows for a lot of the courtroom drama to dominate this episode. This is where The Twelve is at its strongest and for two episodes in a row now we’ve had some solid plotting that helps make this such an enthralling watch.

The segments involving the other jurors is compelling enough to care about them and despite episode 6 really going in hard on their respective storylines, it’s good to see The Twelve take a bit of a back-seat with this and let the drama from the courtroom take centre stage.