Defending Jacob Review: Job (Season 1 Episode 7)
The trial of Jacob Barber has arrived, and on Defending Jacob Season 1 Episode 7, “Job,” the rug is pulled out from under us and the Barbers as perception becomes the key flaw to their defense.
It all starts so well, too.
The man with the blue car turning out to be a low-rent gangster named Father O’Leary is an odd turn of events, and the mind immediately goes to him being a plant that Andy’s father has around to look after the family. The way Billy Barber asks about Leonard Patz, as though he’s fishing, gives off the impression that he has something in the works, and it may be why he wants Andy’s confidence in Leonard being the true suspect.
Maybe this O’Leary fellow is going to pay Leonard a visit, or maybe he’s even the one forcing him to write that confession. The framing of Leonard is so tight to his frayed emotions that it could easily be that someone is just out of frame making him do this. This man popping up every now and then is happening for a reason, and with only one episode left, it must be an important factor to add this late.
Neal, throughout the trial, is a little too sure of himself and prone to grand gestures that are more to show off and to hurt Andy than to score points. Most of his questions are about Andy. It’s as though the trial is his audition to bigger and brighter things, rather than doing his job. But as is the case with most showoff attempts, it backfires on him multiple times.
Even Ben’s father is frustrated by it. Ben’s parents go through a lot of pain on the episode, and it’s a good move on the show’s part to continuously cut back to them to remind us of their suffering. Even Laurie’s deeply hurt by it, in her silent way.
The trial itself is a smart back and forth, showing how the grandstanding is faltering and simplicity is everything. The sense of hope is palpable during those two-thirds of the episode, and it makes that crash of Jacob’s potential confession story on the cutting website all the more riveting.
It’s a very smart decision to make Andy be the one to ask Jacob if he actually committed the murder. The season has been building to this moment of Andy’s own doubt, and for Laurie to voice it would be to rob the severity of the situation. Her doubts are clear by this point, but this is the largest moment where Andy has his own.
The way the story unfolds in the courtroom, you can feel the guilt in the air, how defiant and breathless the description of the murder is in Jacob’s own words. It’s like an emotional gut punch compared to how sure everything feels throughout the episode beforehand. The whole sequence and its aftermath is a wonderful construction by Mark Bomback’s writing and Morten Tyldum’s direction, coming together perfectly.
Andy trying to convince Laurie that it isn’t true is so impassioned that it almost feels like he is trying to convince himself. Laurie is fully convinced of Jacob’s guilt, but Andy refuses to admit it, perhaps because it admits his own guilt of tossing away the knife and chasing down leads that have been rather paper thin.
The story Jacob’s written may not include facts outside of public knowledge, as Andy mentions, but the careful description is more than enough to prove intent. Jacob has been messing up time and again, and at a certain point there is this wonder if it’s simply messing up or a cry for help.
The show still isn’t saying with certainty if Jacob is the killer, but that would take away a lot of the show’s power, that nagging question that we may never know the truth, which is even worse than knowing.
Laurie spends almost the entire episode only reacting, which, at the time, is a little disappointing. But when she finally speaks and confesses to Andy that their entire family is effectively a lie, it’s this stunning admission of what’s been building inside her over the trial. It’s effective because of the prior silence, and the result is the final disintegration of the Barber family.
Whether Leonard’s admission (or possible suicide note?) moves the needle or not, the damage is done. Even if Jacob is set free, Andy and Laurie will never look at their son the same again, their community will likely treat him the same way or worse, and that story will forever haunt all of them.
Defending Jacob Season 1 Episode 7, “Job,” settles us into a false sense of security before delivering a moment of damning revelation. The episode does a fantastic job of building to that moment but doing so subtly, hinting at its sleight of hand but never fully showing it.
It’s a smart, tense hour, and one that gives every member of the cast a moment to shine, on the stand and off. The final episode has a lot to handle, but as the penultimate episode, this provides a lot of confidence.
What did you think of this episode of Defending Jacob? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Defending Jacob airs Fridays on Apple TV+.
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Kevin Lever
Kevin Lever has been following television closely for most of his life, but in starting to cover it, he has grown a further appreciation. He strives to give the blockbusters their due, and give the lesser known shows a spotlight to find more fans.