who really killed ben in defending jacob
8. Andys journey has been this challenge to own up to everything that hes been trying to conceal: He comes clean about who his father is, and he tells Laurie the truth [about the forced confession], even if it means destroying everything hes been fighting to preserve this whole time. At first, it looks like the trial is moving along swimmingly like maybe the defense team will win. The Barbers' trip to Mexico creates various forms of conflict in the Defending Jacob season finale. America So She Could Breastfeed Privately, Michael J. In an effort to put that whole nightmare behind them, the Barber family goes on vacation to Jamaica, where Jacob hits it off with a girl named Hope. Jacob Owen "Jake" Barber is the titular character of the Apple TV+ limited series, Defending Jacob. Yet nobody knows for sure if Jacobhad anything to do with Ben's death. In Defending Jacob, based on the book by William Landay, creator Mark Bomback takes on the murder gene. We looked into the science behind it. Throughout the season, Laurie has been trying to get to the truth, even if it means destroying herself, while Andy has been trying to protect their son, even if it means lying to himself, said Bomback. "He finally got away with this one crime, and now he's going to quickly, within the matter of six months, kill somebody else. I think thats far more interesting and leaves a lot more to examine in terms of how we are able to survive when we learn harsh realities. A distraught Sarah confided in Derek, who took a dark turn and said he'd fix the problem. The new Apple TV+ miniseries, Defending Jacob, is sure to suck you in if it's anything like the book it's based on. The viewer is meant to feel the frustration of never really knowing if he is guilty or innocent. The revelation that Hope is alive and well is also a deviation from Landay's book, which suggests that Jacob murdered her. He is played by Jaeden Martell. In an attempt to put this whole ordeal behind them, the family heads to Mexico for a quiet vacation. Who knows. There is one single piece of proof that can prove how Jacob can't be Bens killer. But will Laurie ever be forgiven by Jacob, who clings to life in a separate hospital room? The ending of Defending Jacob might not prove to be completely satisfactory for viewers. Jacob because of the bullying. Jacob Barber has been accused of murdering his classmate, Ben. Jacob reveals that he found Bens body and didnt tell anyone. Andy gets drunk and revealshis fathers involvement with Laurie. We don't yet know the story behind Tucker Carlson's firing. He had built his marriage on a lie by not telling Laurie about his father being in prison. The ending connotes how the three Barbers end up isolating themselves because of the accusation. One day after Laurie notices a peculiar red stain on her sons bathing suit, Hope is declared missing. OLeary is his right hand man on the outside and we know hes been tasked with looking out for the Barber family but that does not mean he murdered Patz. Even thoughJacob didn't killHope in Mexico, Laurie becomes more suspicious than ever about the Rifkin murder. "That to me was a really interesting and tragic moment that nevertheless felt like a moment of growth for the character. Defending Jacob Review: Chris Evans Stars in a Twisty Crime Drama, Den Of Geek Book Club: Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children, Always Sunny to Talking Sopranos: The Best TV Rewatch Podcasts Hosted By Cast & Creators, The Star Trek Story Bridging the Gaps Between Deep Space Nine and Picard, Taskmaster and The Underrated Comic Genius of Kiell Smith-Bynoe. As more information came out about him, it was obvious that the child was likely a psychopath and his father (unlike the mother) was in denial, refusing to see the . Defending Jacob is an American crime drama web television miniseries, based on the novel of the same name by William Landay, produced by Apple TV+. A later deposition reveals that Laurie began the day by calling attorney Joanna Klein early in the morning, along with Dr. Vogel. He confessed that he was the one who killed Ben. The discussions of empathy or lack of empathy coming from the parents was also interesting on this point. Billy pointedly asks Andy if he is sure, which might be an indicator that he intends to do something about it. The Defending Jacob ending reveals that Billy Barber orchestrated Patz's murder.Specifically, he enlisted a long-time friend known as "Father O'Leary" (William Xifaras) to frame and kill the pedophile, which would allow his grandson, Jacob, to receive legal "proof of innocence." The big reveal is foreshadowed by various meetings between Andy and Billy, with the latter refusing to offer any help. He eventually showed up at her house two days before Ben was killed with Ben's phone. Due to the finding of Jacob's fingerprints on Ben's body and the discovery that Jacob used to carry a knife to school, he (Jacob) becomes the prime suspect. Jacob is initially surprised, and then frightened as his mother drives erratically. She has overheard Jacob talking about being bullied by Ben. Was it a split-second decision, or did she plan it? Defending Jacob ending explained. Here we break down the ending of Defending Jacob, including how it differs from the book. The eighth episode, which premiered Friday, begins with a big development: The murder charges that troubled teen Jacob (Jaeden Martell) had been facing all season are suddenly dropped. Jacob tells police that he tried to revive Ben after spotting his body in the woods, which would explain the presence of his fingerprint, but they still keep him in jail overnight. She cleans the knife in the water and goes home. Jacobs fingerprint is on Bens jacket but Jacob says that got there when he found the body but didnt tell anyone. Winning several awards, it is not surprising that it would become a mini-series giving the audience time to . Reading the case file, Andy finds out from eyewitness accounts that an old blue Lincoln car - the same one Father OLeary drives - was seen outside of Patzs apartment complex on the night he died. Laurie begins to think that Jacob is really Bens killer. Even in the book on which the show is based leaves it open for interpretation. Despite his discovery, Andy believes Jacob is innocent, as does his wife Laurie (portrayed on screen by Michelle Dockery). Based on William Landay'seponymous 2012 novel and adapted for television by Mark Bomback,Defending Jacob began its eight-episode run on April 24, 2020 and concluded on May 20, 2020. Defending Jacob doesnt confirm whether Jacob murdered Ben, but all signs point towards him doing so. Im more attempting to explore the subjective experience you have of seeing this situation through Andy and Lauries eyes and creating the sensation that they have, which is that you will never know. She freaks out because she is becoming more and more paranoid that someone will find out she killed Ben. The last episode of Defending Jacob starts with the Assistant District Attorney and Jacob's father Andy Barber getting a phone call from their family lawyer, Joanna Klein, that Leonard Patz had left a note moments before he had committed suicide. Jacob, in the book, dies. Andy - who has been questioned by fellow attorney Neal Loguidice (Pablo Schreier) at a hearing about the accident throughout the series - refuses to implicate Laurie. Andy cant help but feel suspicious over Leonards death, and learns that his gut feeling is spot-on during another trip to see his father. Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! ProsecutorNeal Logiudice (Pablo Schreiber) finds a way to connect Andy's father being in prison with Jacob's trial. Jacob is in a coma. During the holiday, Jacob befriends Hope Connors - a 16-year-old from Toronto - and the pair go to a New Years Eve beach party together. Onscreen, Hope turns up alive. The novel Defending Jacob hit the shelves in 2012 and became an immediate best-seller. Bens father Dan (Patrick Fischler) confronts the Barbers in a multistorey car park, but is apprehended by the henchman who had supposedly been stalking the Barbers. The whole town starts to treat them differently, and they end up becoming outcasts. How is the shows finale different from the books ending? Entertainment Weekly may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Bomback opted to change the ending because this felt more true to the story we were telling over these eight hours, whereas in the book, Laurie is in the dark, and [the crash] is more a reaction to the realization that Jacob killed another person and might become a serial killer. And then look at their partner and really talk about the question were asking: Is unconditional love bigger than our own morals?What happened in the last episode? I was always interested in this idea that you can build your whole life on a foundation that has a lie within it, Bomback continued. Billy confesses to hiring a hitman to kill Leonard and make it look like a suicide so that Jacob doesn't suffer the same fate he did. Defending Jacob Cast Guide: Where You've Seen The Actors Before, Is Defending Jacob A True Story? Making a splash: A deep dive into the live-action Little Mermaid with a new generation's Ariel. Jacob is set free. Its officially been ruled an accident in court after Andy testifies saying, It was raining. For Bomback, he says he wanted to write Jacob as a far more sympathetic, normal teen and as less of a psychopath-in-waiting, so he chose to focus the show primarily on Ben Rifkin's murder instead of Hope's. As the Barbers prepare for a vacation to Mexico, Andy is told by District Attorney Lynn Canavan (Sakina Jeffrey) that the Patzs case had some inconsistencies. He's also the founding editor at Vague Visages, and has contributed to RogerEbert.com and Fandor. It is based on a book with the same name byWilliam Landay. Laurie is now convinced that Jacob had killed Benand possibly Hope as well. Or are the family just the victims of circumstance? What I was really interested in trying to create for the viewer was this very subjective experience of what his parents are going through. You really feel that shes unraveling, said Defending Jacob director Morten Tyldum of Michelle Dockerys character, Laurie. Its deliberately ambiguous. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Rosie Fletcher is the UK Editor of Den Of Geek. Browse our new catalogue to inspire you with homeware, gardening tools, books and more! I felt like the ending was really interesting largely because I thought the show was highlighting her ability to see Jacob's darkness because of some darkness within herself. Driving even faster now, Laurie says, I will never know over and over again an improvised moment from Dockery in that soundstage, with the machine-created weather conditions and projected landscape moving at full force. Andy knows how tensed Laurie has been earlier, so he decides not to tell her anything. It ends up destroying their family, subverting the very central premise as a form of a slow-burn twist. I thought it was true to this idea that parenting goes on after the end of the book and the end of childhood.. And yet hes living with this one massive lie, which is, we are indirectly responsible for the murder of another human being, and everything you thought at the end of episode seven about our son is back on the table., Says Evans, I think in our version, everyone copes with shame and guilt differently and I dont think Laurie has any of the coping mechanisms necessary to process a life of, once she understands that Father OLeary killed Patz, shes a part of the lies now. Defending Jacob is an Apple TV+ series that tells a slow-burn tale revolving around a couples attempt to prove their sons innocence with regards to the murder of his classmate. One could argue that Jacob'sodd behaviorimplies that he did indeed kill his classmate, Ben. A few days later Jacob writes a story about what happened between Laurie and Ben, calling Ben Brent and changing Laurie to a boy called Jason. In the novel which tells the story solely from Andys perspective Hope is eventually found dead, and Laurie never learns of the forced confession. After that, all evidence already points towards Jacob so she decides to convince Andy that he is the murderer, since she already has a plan to make sure hes found innocent. But since the episode closes with Lauries bedside regrets and Andys quiet moment in Jacobs room, They wind up actually flipping at the end, where Andy seems to be quite aware of what his son might have done, and Laurie is willing to accept a lie to preserve their family and move on. He was accused of murdering a classmate, Benjamin Rifkin. While it seems that they met their happy ending, there is yet another piece of information revealed. While Jacobs trial is going on, Patz commits suicide after confessing to have killed Ben in a letter. In the end, it is shown that Jacob is in a coma. The show never explicitly states whether Jacob (Jaeden Martell) committed murder. Im not kidding. However, Laurie becomes increasingly preoccupied with the idea of Jacobs guilt and on a drive, crashes the car into a tunnel, killing Jacob and leaving herself in a critical condition. As it turns out, the henchman - Father OLeary (William Xifaras) - was instructed by Andys father and convicted murderer Billy (J. K. Simmons) to protect them. This Is What Went Down in the Last Ever Episode of 'Modern Family', Here's Who Kills the Mom on Lifetime's 'A Killer Among Us'. The kid that ran away. The last episode of Defending Jacob starts with the Assistant District Attorney and Jacob's father Andy Barber getting a phone call from their family lawyer, Joanna Klein, that Leonard Patz had left a note moments before he had committed suicide. We did that scene quite a lot in the car because if it was too on the nose, it was too obvious that she was doing something that she thought through. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. In addition, Andy discovers a knife in his son's room - a possible murder weapon - which is what kicks off the story, as the Barbersaren't fully convinced their sonis innocent. The tragic irony is, he didnt have to, and Hope is found.. The Barbers happy ending, though, is cut short when new information comes to light. Jacob's parents, Laurie and Andy, try to help get him out. The story shows how both parents lives are unraveling due to the pressures of not knowing whether their child is guilty or innocent. There has been a lot of stress, so why not go relax. I dont think that our ending is any less bleak than the ending of the book, Bomback added. Andy had always suspected Patz, and after the police get the . The Defending Jacobending reveals that Billy Barber orchestrated Patz's murder. The revelation allows Jacob to walk free. When Andy asks his father if he did it, he repeatedly denies all knowledge albeit in a slightly stilted way. Patz commits suicide and leaves a note confessing to killing Ben. The Apple TV+ crime drama web series - based on Willian Landays novel - has had viewers wondering whether Jacob Barber (Jaeden Martell) killed Ben Rifkin or not. The last episode of Defending Jacob starts with the Assistant District Attorney and Jacobs father Andy Barber getting a phone call from their family lawyer, Joanna Klein, that Leonard Patz had left a notemoments before he had committed suicide. Fox doesnt think hell live to be 80: Every day its tougher, Jerry Springer kept his aggressive cancer a family secret in his final months. If he killed somebody, she believes shes guilty as well for letting it happen. Laurie remembers an incident from Jacobs childhood when Jacob had nearly hit another kid on the head with a bowling ball. The conclusion to the gripping limited series delivers some answers, but also poses more questions. Laurie gets mad and kills him. And hes going to look at you and wonder, did you or didnt you? Laurie starts to believe that Jacob might have killed Ben after Andy tells her about his finding. Andy tries to forget his fathers involvement, but the truth eventually comes out. Jacob comes and sees what is happening. He just said it to get her to slow down. The finale of the Apple TV+ declines to answer that question, instead leaving viewers just as in the dark as Andy and Laurie Barber, the parents of the titular character who spend the series defending their eighth-grader against charges that he murdered a classmate. The next morning, Hope cant be found. Not only does he now know that his mother doesnt believe him, he also knows she tried to kill him which no one in the world will believe. Are his wife and son both murderers? Part of her must know that she was in a horrible place that morning, Bomback says. She angrily confronts him and pleads with him to tell her that he murdered Ben. Not Quite, Apple TV+ Is Most Divisive Streaming Service. He may have told local bad boy Matt McGrath (Hale Lytle) that he was interested in someone called Ben while he was propositioning Matt but Matts hardly a reliable witness having already lied to the police once, and he doesnt turn up for Jacobs trial. The monster cannot be killed. I think if Id given you a definitive answer on either one of those, you would have been a little bit frustrated because youve already entertained the possibility in both directions, says creator Mark Bomback. Other reasons for incriminating Jacob come from the knife he had. Q.V. When Jacob becomes a murder suspect, Laurie feels guilty that her son is being accused of the murder she committed. It feels like a confession but, of course, its not, said Bomback. His father, Andy, and mother, Laurie, do everything in their power to prove his . During the car ride, she tries to make him say it, but now she decides to kill herself and Jacob so her crime will be hidden forever. Jacobs friend Derek Yoo (Ben Taylor) also revealed - during the trial - that Jacob had written a story that was eerily similar to Bens murder and posted it online. The body rolls down the hill and she goes to see if he is dead. Andy had always suspected Patz, and after the police get the note confirmed to be that of Patz, Jacob is acquitted. What I wanted to leave you with is the same sensation the parents have, which is, 'We'll never really know.'". A $300-million (minimum) gondola to Dodger Stadium? However, Andy finds out that his father had arranged for Patz to be threatened into writing a confession and be killed. Ashley Lee is a staff reporter at the Los Angeles Times, where she writes about theater, movies, television and the bustling intersection of the stage and the screen. Its a different kind of bleak but hopefully, one that feels very much in keeping with the story weve been telling.. The police suspect Jacob of killing her. Derek yoo and sara because of the blackmail, Scan this QR code to download the app now. Upon the recommendation of Jacobs lawyer, Andy and Laurie send Jacob to a genetic specialist, Dr. Vogel. The subsequent car crash suggests that Laurie felt purely isolated from reality - even from her husband and son. He says no, and then he says yes, but neither answer is reliable since hes afraid for his life. "The book has one or two clues that suggest that Jacob might've done something to [Hope], and then we're really talking about someone who was a burgeoning serial killer," Bomback says. The suicide, confession and photographs that were deleted by Leonard from his phone point at the fact that he murdered Ben. Laurie decides to kill them both by crashing into the side of a tunnel. Is that red mark on his bathing trunks really ketchup, or could it be blood? 113. Due to the finding of Jacobs fingerprints on Bens body and the discovery that Jacob used to carry a knife to school, he (Jacob) becomes the prime suspect. Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter. The finallesson reinforces the underlying theme of faith in Defending Jacob. All Rights Reserved. Not Quite. [This story contains spoilers from the finale of Apple TV+s Defending Jacob.]. At the end of the day, Im not super interested in this binary thing of did he do it or didnt he do it? As it turns out, Father O'Leary never intended to harm Laurie or Jacob. Would it really be that easy to fake a mans suicide by hanging? Laurie becomes convinced again that Jacob killed Ben, even though Hope turns up alive the following day. The book version: The Barbers head off to the Caribbean and Jacob . WARNING: Major spoilers concerning the source materials ending revealed below! Billy tells Andy he can either be a good man and turn Jacob in, or be a good father and remain quiet. A.I. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. No, I do not believe Jacob had killed Ben Rifkin. Jacob immediately befriends a fellow teenager named Hope who, the morning after a party, has mysteriously gone missing. She confronts him about bullying her son but Ben doesnt care. Same blade size, as well as "teeth" on the blade. The next day Laurie drives Jacob to get a hair cut. The Defending Jacobendingdoes not unveil whether Jacob did kill Ben. Its ultimately left up to the viewer to decide, however frustrating it may be that we dont get the closure we feel we deserve. When Hope disappears she starts to be reminded of killing Ben and she feels so scared and guilty, that when Hope comes back all she wants to do is go home. It premiered on April 24, 2020.
