Defending Jacob asked a difficult question to suburban parents Andy and Laurie Barber: Is our son a killer? When middle school student Ben ends up dead in a park, having been stabbed, the hunt is on to figure out what really happened to Ben and who did it. Initially, Andy Barber was at the helm of the investigation. But, he is quickly removed from the case after Andy’s son, Jacob, becomes a suspect. Jacob’s fingerprint is found on Ben’s clothes tag, and the question becomes how involved Jacob is in the death and whether he did it.
Jacob’s lies start to pile up. First, he acts as if nothing happened and then claims to have found Ben dead in the park. Then, however, although he initially tries to help, Jacob says he panicked and ran without calling 911 and continued to school as if nothing happened. Jacob’s story has many holes. Still, his father refuses even to consider that Jacob could be guilty. However, there is plenty of suggestive evidence that leads to the possibility that not only is Jacob guilty of murdering Ben, but he could also have bigger mysteries as well, especially when Jacob’s other secrets come to light.
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None Of The Middle-School Set-Up Mattered
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A handful of suspicious behavior is set up between Derek, Sarah, Jacob, and Ben early in the mystery. Sarah asks Andy if he had spoken to Jacob about Ben, leading to quandaries about why that would be relevant when Jacob claimed to talk to Ben barely. Derek confronts Sarah, asking her how much she told Andy and Paula Duffy when they questioned students at school. As Defending Jacob starts to unravel the mysteries, it is revealed that Ben and Jacob have interacted plenty of times, as Ben had been bullying Jacob. That sets up Jacob’s motivation, but he is not the only one with a motive. Derek and Sarah each had one as well. Ben and Sarah’s brief dip into more romantic waters resulted in Sarah uncomfortably sending a private photo to Ben.
Ben was ready to take things to a more physical level, but Sarah was not. When Derek discovered this, he promised to deal with it, then, later on, arrived at Sarah’s house with Ben’s phone. Derek’s promise to handle the situation could have easily just meant stealing Ben’s phone to delete Sarah’s picture. However, if Defending Jacob was not going to bother revealing or confirming that Jacob had killed Ben, then none of the red herrings mattered. That made no sense, as the motive behind who killed Ben should have been crucial to the story as it is the main crime.
Andy Never Considered Dangerous Possibilities About His Son
While it is a nice change of pace to portray Andy as a parent who initially refuses to believe his son is guilty, his refusal to consider the possibility grew frustrating. Andy does not quickly accept the town’s determination that Jacob is a killer. Instead, he fights tooth and nail to prove Jacob is not responsible for Ben’s death. However, he has tunnel vision, never taking the evidence against Jacob seriously enough. Laurie seems to remove the blinders to see the potential in Jacob, recalling a horrifying moment from his past where Jacob seemed willing to harm another boy with a bowling ball. Nevertheless, Laurie does not easily believe Jacob’s claims of innocence, taking notice of the lies piling up, especially after she learns about Jacob’s secret knife, his intrigue in harmful graphic porn, and a terrifying in-depth story discussing the moments leading up to Ben’s death.
When Laurie wants to listen to the psychologist’s thoughts on Jacob’s mental and emotional states and issues, such as his problems with, or potential lack, of empathy, Andy shuts it down. From Andy’s perspective, Jacob is perfectly fine, as his wish also seems to be dominated by not wanting Jacob to be a killer like Andy’s father was. However, by refusing to accept that Jacob could be dangerous, Andy could inadvertently cause more harm or deaths later in the future. When Hope goes missing, Andy is horrified and, at that moment, shows legitimate concern that Jacob is responsible for her and Ben. While it may be more difficult for Andy to see red flags in Jacob’s behavior, the refusal to follow through on an ending that confirms if Jacob indeed killed Ben or not would have either given satisfaction to Andy’s steadfast belief or given the character a more tragic moment of realization.
The Main Murder Was Never Truly Answered
Defending Jacob spends most of its time showing Andy desperately trying to prove that Jacob did not kill Ben. However, as the series comes to its closing credits, the question of who did kill Ben still hangs in the air. Although it is heavily hinted that Jacob is the culprit, the lack of confirmation is also never fair to Ben to have his death hanging. Defending Jacob does reference another suspect, a pedophile sex offender.
But, his final confession was not legitimate, and was forced, followed by his fake suicide. Never answering who killed Ben and why leaves the show’s central and initial mystery as a loose end. By leaving it unanswered, Defending Jacob ends without a sense of satisfaction in understanding the reasons why Ben was killed.
