The Fingerprint
Episode 2 of Defending Jacob starts the morning after with Andrew and Laurie confronting their son about the knife. He tells them that it’s not a big deal and that he brought it to show off at school. Andrew is not happy with him and asks if he has ever used it, mentioning what Derek wrote online. Jacob denies it though, upset that they would think that and tells them what people write online doesn’t mean anything. After he leaves for school, Andrew tells his wife that they shouldn’t report it and decides to dispose of the knife in a bin. Meanwhile, Detective Peterson arrives at the hardware store and approaches Leonard to bring him to the station for questioning. Andrew arrives soon after and hears that Leonard has admitted being in the park. The detective tells him Ben is the same kind of kid as the one he went after in the past but Leonard insists that he hasn’t hurt anyone. The detectives then speak with Andrew and explain that they don’t believe he is guilty. His lawyer Joanna arrives soon after and stops the questioning. The town rallies volunteers to search for the knife before we cut back to the present as Neal questions Andrew on the reason why he disposed of his son’s knife. Andrew tells him he did it to protect his son against his own stupidity and doesn’t believe it was the murder weapon. In the past, he comes face to face with an angry Dan who tells him he is off the case and happy about it. Heading into his work, Andy is escorted to Lynn’s office. She reveals to him that his son’s fingerprint has been found on the victim’s shirt. Andrew is shocked and begs Lynn not to arrest Jacob. However, she tells him she doesn’t have any choice and puts him on paid leave. He quickly drives to his house and calls his wife to warn her. As he arrives home, the police happen to be there with a warrant to search the place but Jacob is nowhere to be seen as he left when he saw the police cars in front of his house. That evening, a knife is found in the woods by one of the volunteers while the police finish searching the Barber house. Duffy speaks to Andrew and Laurie who are worried as they think Jacob is hiding. Before Duffy leaves, Andrew insists again to her that his son didn’t do it. While looking for Jacob, a policewoman finds him on a swing in a playground. She handcuffs him and just before they drive away, he reveals that he didn’t kill Ben but just found him. He explains that he thought he was hurt and when he tried picking him up, he saw the blood. Realizing he was dead, he panicked and ran. At the station, Jacob arrives and after an emotional reunion with his parents, he tells them he’s not the murderer and he’s sorry he didn’t tell them he found the body. Andrew explains that he will have to spend the night and promises that he will be allowed home tomorrow when bail will be set. As they drive home, we see Derek and Sarah finding out about Jacob’s arrest before cutting to Leonard in a diner looking at pictures of Ben on his phone and reluctantly deleting them as the episode ends. Defending Jacob carries on with the same slow pace which unfortunately makes the plot feel a little dragged out. The drama is starting to feel predictable now in parts but thankfully the actors carry on giving some really good performances which helps to soften the blow of this. The mystery remains though whether the guilty one is Jacob or Leonard. I do believe that both are hiding some dark secrets which I am sure will be revealed soon hopefully. There were some emotional moments during the episode too between the parents and Jacob which adds more substance and depth to these characters. Defending Jacob has its flaws but the interesting mystery and decent cast makes this crime drama easy to watch. Is Jacob really guilty? We’ll have to wait and find out.
