'Defending Jacob' Episode 7 Preview: Andy and Laurie's son's fate hangs by a thread at the trial
'Defending Jacob' Episode 7 will see Jacob (Jaeden Martell) face the trial for the murder of Ben Rifkin, his classmate. Until now, it hasn't been clear if Jacob really committed the crime as the evidence that points towards him are all circumstantial. However, this also doesn't necessarily mean that Jacob is innocent either. In fact, both his father Andy Barber (Chris Evans) and his mother Laurie (Michelle Dockery) are also unsure about Jacob's innocence. Yes, they do claim on the surface that their son is not capable of something as horrific as murder, but Jacob's attitude makes them uncomfortable.
Be it the way Jacob perceived his classmates' condolences after Ben's death or the way he tried to deflect attention from himself and towards another friend, Derek, Jacob has come across as insensitive. Andy had also learned about Jacob's interest in violent porn, something that Derek had told Andy, but Jacob's father decides to chalk it up to Jacob's age instead of taking it seriously. Similarly, Jacob going online despite being told that his actions online could prove damaging in court with the trial set soon, also shows how he doesn't take the charges against him seriously.
With all of this, will the trial really go in favor of Jacob? We will have to watch how the episode progresses but if we go by the book, this is when Andy's father will make a move that will change the lives of everyone in the Barber family. We will see another death in the show which will play a huge role in initially helping Jacob, but will also be the reason why Andy is currently being questioned by prosecutor Neal Logiudice in the present.
According to the book, Andy's father Billy (J. K. Simmons) arranges a hitman to take out the pedophile who Pam is keeping an eye on as a second suspect for Ben's murder. He will make it look like a suicide with a note left at the scene that confesses to Ben's murder. This will result in Jacob being acquitted of charges, but is he really innocent? Andy's hope was to prove that his son was innocent in the court of law to make sure that he wouldn't have to carry this stain of being accused of murder around his entire life.
Also, what if Jacob really did it? After all, Leonard was only framed by Billy to help his grandson. Can Andy and Laurie really live with themselves if they learn that it was actually their son who murdered Ben? We will have to watch the upcoming episode to see how things go for the Barber family.
New episodes of 'Defending Jacob' will drop on Friday on Apple TV+.
