Defending Jacob Review: Pilot (Season 1 Episode 1)

The truth and justice are paramount, but on Defending Jacob Season 1 Episode 1, “Pilot,” they are swiftly becoming separate as the threat of evidence starts to look closer to home.

The pilot does a remarkable job of building up the situation and its main players, but leaving enough in a nebulous spot that there’s still some doubt and some questions to dig deeper into.

Something the episode does incredibly well is portraying normalcy in the face of tragedy. There’s a lot of going through the motions, where their everyday lives are caught in snapshots. It’s mostly from Andy’s point of view, how he views these events and floats between them almost like a ghost in his own life.

He’s present, but there’s this feeling that he is mostly there as a casual observer. He’s experiencing these early family scenes rather than participating, only contributing once Laurie has to go to work. It’s an intriguing place to put the main character, especially with the quick dream he experiences of what looks like his father and past abuse as a child.

There’s this sense that Andy may be somewhat distant, which comes across especially during the gathering scene at the Rifkin home. There could be a reasonable explanation for why he doesn’t want to talk to everyone, which is to not give anything away, but even when visiting Ben Rifkin’s father, there’s a distance, where he doesn’t console him but rather experiences the grief from his chair.

It’s not clear whether or not Andy has emotional issues, and he very well could not; but rather it’s that he may be closed off and this could be a major blind spot for him later down the road. Chris Evans plays these scenes with subtlety, where it feels like Andy is always interpreting every syllable, every word, every moment. He’s always working, in a way, rather than being there as a friend or a member of the community.

In terms of Jacob as a suspect, the show cleverly makes sure to lay the breadcrumbs, but doesn’t explicitly say anything. When Andy walks into the home gathering, the other families whisper among themselves, but it’s not clear if they are whispering because they want information, or if they know about Jacob’s social media post and the knife.

When some of the kids being questioned mention Jacob, it’s not clear if it’s simply because of the name, or because of the other pieces of information we’re given later on. That makes for an interesting dissection, as it all could be an innocent lack of information and same surname situation, or could be the potential of a major storm on the horizon for the Barber family.

There’s also this impressive establishing of tone, showing how a normal day can so easily turn to terror. Everyone goes about their lives, heading off for the day, and it’s the disruption of the school lockdown, which makes the mind race to the worst possible thing, that sends panic into the air on the show.

But Defending Jacob has already provided us a major clue by this point: we see Jacob heading into that park, as it’s his walking route to school. It’s a quick shot, but enough to leave an impression. The rest of the episode makes us question whether Jacob’s indifference is because of regular teenage awkwardness, or if there is something else at play. It’s appreciated that the show isn’t willing to come down on one side or the other, but leave it up to us to decide.

A pair of scenes land hardest, where it’s simply Andy and Jacob hanging out together after the funeral gathering. Their discussion in the car about The Catcher in the Rye and phoniness, and the extended joke at the restaurant, help to solidify not only their relationship, but makes Andy appreciate his son even more after the loss of someone the same age.

When it’s followed by his search and the discovery of an unknown knife, it’s the one-two punch that is the perfect way to close out the episode and set up the season. There’s this sense that Andy is starting to appreciate agreeing with his son on certain things and engaging his thoughts and opinions, and that there’s an extra layer of tragedy as the seeds of doubt and paranoia start to eat away at such a nice pair of moments between them.

One area the show hopefully picks up on is giving Laurie more to do. Given her line of work, it’s very possible for her to become more involved than she should be, which could be a fascinating angle for the show to go down. With Michelle Dockery in the role, it’s sure to be an impactful, emotional performance, as she is a wonderful talent.

There’s also Andy’s work life. While his boss appears to respect him, his relationship with Pablo Schreiber’s Neal looks to be a difficult place. The Rasputin dig and their back and forth shows that this may be a source of Andy’s downfall, as Neal is looking for opportunity and during the flashforward, he’s enjoying taking Andy down a peg or two when he’s visibly taken down already. More of this could go a long way.

From here, it’s possible that the narrative will shift from mystery and more to accusations and the community turning on the Barbers. Or there’s the other possibility, that Andy will have to face covering up for his son as long as he can before both his career and his family are blown up.

If Defending Jacob Season 1 Episode 1, “Pilot,” is any indication, we’re in safe hands. The episode does a great job to set up its premise and place doubt inside Andy while putting scrutiny on top of Jacob, but it does so by still providing enough on the sidelines (like Jacob’s friend being a little strange) that leaves the right amount of open questions.

The episode does feel a little slight beyond its mystery, but it’s only just the beginning, and the depth will come with time.

Some things to keep an eye on:

• During the flashforward grand jury scene that starts the show, Andy’s work rival Neal makes sure to call him “Andy,” and he doesn’t appear to like it. Laurie is only other person on the episode that calls him Andy, and so it could be a touchy place for wherever the show goes later on.

 

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Defending Jacob streams Fridays on Apple TV+.

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