'Defending Jacob' Episode 6 Review: The Barbers head to trial but will Andy's family come out unscathed?
In 'Defending Jacob' Episode 6 Andy Barber (Chris Evans) manages to get the teenager, Matt McGrath (Hale Lytle), who complained about a neighborhood pedophile, Leonard Patz (Daniel Henshall), to come forward with a statement about how the man knew Ben Rifkin (Liam Kilbreth) and was following the kid that he met at the park. Andy had first approached the kid after he got a heads up from Pam Duffy (Betty Gabriel) about the case files regarding Leonard and Matt. He approached Matt to learn anything that could possibly prove that his son was innocent, however, Andy had failed then.
In Episode 6, Matt approached Andy and claimed that his conscience wouldn't let him be silent. He told Andy that his son Jacob (Jaeden Martell) was not the one to kill Rifkin and we next see Matt being questioned at the prosecutor's office. He revealed that he let Leonard be around him for money and claimed that Leonard dropped him because he had found a new kid called Ben. Matt had threatened Leonard that he would report him to cops if he didn't continue to pay him and that is how Leonard was put under the radar the first time around.
Matt also claimed that he saw a knife in Leonard's possession which was impressive and the pictures of Ben on his phone were another reason why he doubted Leonard for the crime. He did not have any solid proof but the picture he painted gives Andy and Jacob's lawyer Joanna Klein (Cherry Jones) a chance to ask for a warrant to Leonard's house with probable cause. The Barber family is just days away from their trial and they are doing everything possible to ensure that their son can be saved.
This was also the reason why Laurie Barber (Michelle Dockery) and Andy had decided to get Jacob tested for the 'murder gene'. The results of the test are also discussed in the episode and while Jacob doesn't have the murder gene that his father and grandfather have, he does show signs of being unempathetic which causes Laurie some trouble. She sees that the doctor who diagnosed Jacob herself is unsure of his innocence and this casts a huge doubt in Laurie's mind as well. Is her son really innocent?
This question haunts Laurie more than Andy because she has been recalling instances from the past when her son's actions had made her uncomfortable. So she is on the fence about the entire trial and is not even sure that they would be able to manage to come out of this in one piece. The fact that the prosecutors have found out that Billy Barber(JK Simmons), the man who is serving a maximum sentence in prison for murder is Andy's father only dampens her spirit further.
The prosecutors also seem to have leaked the news to the media because a day after Andy is taunted by his former prosecutor colleague, all major news channels begin to flash this on prime time. The one thing that Andy had hoped in his life was to never be associated with his father. However, with just this one news flash his hopes have been destroyed.
Further aggravating this situation, his father also calls on him to check upon him. He tries to act like a father after all these years and Andy doesn't appreciate it one bit. It also turns out that he has sent out a fellow convict who is out for the time being to follow Andy and his family. Things do not look good for the Barber family and if they would manage to get the charges against Jacob dropped is something that we would have to wait and watch.
New episodes of 'Defending Jacob' will drop on Friday on Apple TV+.