Apple TV+ “Defending Jacob” (Chris Evans)

[kvz5]

They’ve released the first 3 episodes and a new one is released every Friday.

I haven’t read the book so I don’t know how faithful it is but I’m loving it so far. The cast, in particular, is really, really good.

And uh... Evans looks REALLY good here.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Interesting. I have seen the commercial for this, but I haven't know how to feel. The only show I have seen from Apple TV is Dickinson, but I loved it. With this recommendation, I will probably give this a look. Thanks kvz5.

Also nothing wrong with a little bit of thirst watching. Not that I do it...

 

[Kev4000]

To be fair, the Show is very mediocore at best. I only watch this for Evans and I think nearly all of us do this.

 

[flickchick85]

The storytelling is pretty average but I do like the cast.

That said, it's taking me all my willpower not to look up the wiki for the book to see if the kid really did it, so I guess they're doing something right.

And yes, Chris looks very good here, though I've always been partial to bearded Evans.

 

[kvz5]

Interesting. I have seen the commercial for this, but I haven't know how to feel. The only show I have seen from Apple TV is Dickinson, but I loved it. With this recommendation, I will probably give this a look. Thanks kvz5.

Is Dickinson good? I like Stenfield but I've never really given that show a thought. So far, I've seen Servant and The Morning Show on Apple TV. Both were slow burns but I enjoyed both. The Morning Show started terrible but got really good towards the end. Servant is very moody and it's only 30 mins so it's worth a shot.

Also nothing wrong with a little bit of thirst watching. Not that I do it...

Suuuuuure. :P

To be fair, the Show is very mediocore at best. I only watch this for Evans and I think nearly all of us do this.

The storytelling is pretty average but I do like the cast.

That said, it's taking me all my willpower not to look up the wiki for the book to see if the kid really did it, so I guess they're doing something right.

And yes, Chris looks very good here, though I've always been partial to bearded Evans.

Wait... there was a story? I didn't notice. All I saw was bearded Chris and I was sold. :P I kid, I kid.

Anyway, I read that the ending is apparently different from the book so it probably won't even help you if you Googled it. I understand the temptation though! I've been wanting to do the same.

 

[Albright]

It’s like every Apple TV series - looking great but meh

 

[KaijuDude1992]

I'm still looking forward to seeing this in all honesty even if it doesn't end up being great. After Knives Out I'm pretty much down for anything Evans is in and based on the trailer it definitely looks like he's going to deliver a good performance. I just haven't decided if I'm going to wait until all the episodes are out to binge it though, because I already got plenty of stuff I need to get caught up on.

 

[flickchick85]

So now that we know the truth, I'm assuming

Spoiler

something tragic is about to happen to Jacob and/or Laurie before the word gets out, given Andy's emotional state in the present day stuff.

 

[Kaleb]

I've been meaning to give this a watch,Ive enjoyed quite a few of Apple TV+ original series ('Little America','Mythic Quest', 'Home before Dark' as well as 'For all Mankind' being my favorite one so far.)

 

[kvz5]

So now that we know the truth, I'm assuming

Spoiler

something tragic is about to happen to Jacob and/or Laurie before the word gets out, given Andy's emotional state in the present day stuff.

The way the questioning’s been happening in the present, I feel like

Spoiler

Laurie will kill herself. But I don’t know why it would warrant a court? Or yeah, maybe something happened to her.

I’m still not convinced that we got the truth. What if

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Andy threatened Leonard making him do that?

Something still feels amiss.

 

[flickchick85]

The way the questioning’s been happening in the present, I feel like

Spoiler

Laurie will kill herself. But I don’t know why it would warrant a court? Or yeah, maybe something happened to her.

I’m still not convinced that we got the truth. What if

Spoiler

Andy threatened Leonard making him do that?

Something still feels amiss.

Your 2nd theory is definitely still in play, but I also thought of another possibility that's probably too dark but

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Laurie killing Jacob and then herself? She basically decided her child is monster this episode, so IDK. I can't think of much else that would warrant a new court case other than a murder-suicide situation. Unless like you suggest, the Leonard Patz thing turns out to be fake.

 

[kvz5]

Your 2nd theory is definitely still in play, but I also thought of another possibility that's probably too dark but

Spoiler

Laurie killing Jacob and then herself? She basically decided her child is monster this episode, so IDK. I can't think of much else that would warrant a new court case other than a murder-suicide situation. Unless like you suggest, the Leonard Patz thing turns out to be fake.

OMG I can see that. And yeah, that’s dark.

Or maybe it involves the mobster guy. He’s still in play. I thought at first he was

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the father of the girl Andy’s dad raped and killed but I guess not. Maybe he’s hired by her family!

 

[flickchick85]

OMG I can see that. And yeah, that’s dark.

The main thing that gives me doubt about it, though, is

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Neal's behavior during this 2nd trial. Like, he seems to be relishing it. He's an a-hole but I don't know if he's that much of an a-hole to be like that if Andy had been through such a massive tragedy, so I'm leaning more toward your Leonard theory.

EDIT: I had completely forgotten about that mobster guy. No idea how he might be involved.

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Unless he's the one off-screen strong-arming Leonard into this confession for some reason.

 

[kvz5]

The main thing that gives me doubt about it, though, is

Spoiler

Neal's behavior during this 2nd trial. Like, he seems to be relishing it. He's an a-hole but I don't know if he's that much of an a-hole to be like that if Andy had been through such a massive tragedy, so I'm leaning more toward your Leonard theory.

EDIT: I had completely forgotten about that mobster guy. No idea how he might be involved.

Spoiler

Unless he's the one off-screen strong-arming Leonard into this confession for some reason.

That’s a good point about Neal. Also, kudos to the actor, he’s SO good and convincing as an *******. I hated him so much and I’m cheering whenever Joana got the upper hand.

 

[flickchick85]

That’s a good point about Neal. Also, kudos to the actor, he’s SO good and convincing as an *******. I hated him so much and I’m cheering whenever Joana got the upper hand.

Ditto. Even though by now I was 100% on the "Jacob did it" train, I was still cheering for Joanna every step of the way because I hate Neal so much, lol.

 

[kvz5]

That’s a great yet devastating end. I thought all of the actors put in some damn great work especially Dockery.

@flickchick85 !

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You didn’t get the method right but you were right about Laurie trying to kill herself and Jacob! I know she claims she doesn’t remember but I thought it was obvious that that’s her intention.

Neal

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fighting FOR Jacob was a twist I didn’t see coming.

Apparently in the book

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Hope died and Laurie saw blood on Jacob’s shirt. She also managed to kill herself and Jacob. That’s so tragic if they stuck with it. Not only is it more dubious that Jacob is innocent, Andy is also left with both a kid and wife dead.

I think I like the show version. It’s just as effective and devastating.

 

[flickchick85]

That’s a great yet devastating end. I thought all of the actors put in some damn great work especially Dockery.

@flickchick85 !

Spoiler

You didn’t get the method right but you were right about Laurie trying to kill herself and Jacob! I know she claims she doesn’t remember but I thought it was obvious that that’s her intention.

Neal

Spoiler

fighting FOR Jacob was a twist I didn’t see coming.

Apparently in the book

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Hope died and Laurie saw blood on Jacob’s shirt. She also managed to kill herself and Jacob. That’s so tragic if they stuck with it. Not only is it more dubious that Jacob is innocent, Andy is also left with both a kid and wife dead.

I think I like the show version. It’s just as effective and devastating.

Spoiler

Oh yes, that was definitely her intent, but I was right that it was too dark for the show I guess, haha. (but apparently not the book?)

When I thought for a minute that they were dead, I was all ready to come in here and say, "guess Neal just really IS that much of an a-hole." But not so much. Glad he's got some humanity after all.

Interesting that the book seems to make it more blatant that Jacob is indeed a murderer. In my experience TV/Movie adaptations of books usually prefer to remove ambiguity, rather than add any. So this is a bit surprising.

Overall, I think I too prefer the show's ending.

 

[kvz5]

Spoiler

Oh yes, that was definitely her intent, but I was right that it was too dark for the show I guess, haha. (but apparently not the book?)

When I thought for a minute that they were dead, I was all ready to come in here and say, "guess Neal just really IS that much of an a-hole." But not so much. Glad he's got some humanity after all.

Interesting that the book seems to make it more blatant that Jacob is indeed a murderer. In my experience TV/Movie adaptations of books usually prefer to remove ambiguity, rather than add any. So this is a bit surprising.

Overall, I think I too prefer the show's ending.

Ditto with Neal! When

Spoiler

Laurie was barreling the car towards then tunnel, all I can think of was “wow, Neal IS an ******* of the highest kind! I was convinced that they’d both die too. I’m amused that the biggest twist for me is that Neal was indicting Laurie!

Jaden article:

 

[flickchick85]

Ditto with Neal! When

Spoiler

Laurie was barreling the car towards then tunnel, all I can think of was “wow, Neal IS an ******* of the highest kind! I was convinced that they’d both die too. I’m amused that the biggest twist for me is that Neal was indicting Laurie!

Jaden article:

I agree with the showrunner that

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this ending does somehow feel darker. And yet, not so melodramatically tragic as the book. Nice balance, imo.

On Laurie:

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Do you think she REALLY can't remember? I feel like it was designed so that each member of the family would have their shady behavior to be swept under the rug, and that's only the case for Laurie if she remembers what she did.

 

[kvz5]

I agree with the showrunner that

Spoiler

this ending does somehow feel darker. And yet, not so melodramatically tragic as the book. Nice balance, imo.

On Laurie:

Spoiler

Do you think she REALLY can't remember? I feel like it was designed so that each member of the family would have their shady behavior to be swept under the rug, and that's only the case for Laurie if she remembers what she did.

I’m 100% sure she

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remembers. How could she not?! She’s just choosing a better narrative because I don’t think she can live with acknowledging that she intentionally did that to Jacob and lived to tell about it. And yes, it’s a fitting end that she spent all this time not wanting to be complicit only for it to end with her having done something dubious as well. In a way, I guess that’s her “penance” and her way “in” to the family.

I feel like with the show’s changes it shifted from Andy being the most tragic character in the story to Laurie. I mean, Andy still arguably has it worst but I can’t imagine how it is for Laurie.

 

[KaijuDude1992]

Wow that finale was great and just the right amount of tragedy and devastation and honestly I was also expecting them to go even darker with that ending, but I'm glad that the showrunners left it somewhat hopeful, although still a bit ambiguous and vague. Michelle Dockery is probably the MVP of this entire show, although Chris Evans was pretty fantastic too, especially in those brief scenes he had with J.K. Simmons. I mean whoever thought that Captain America and J. Jonah Jameson would make such a compelling father and son duo lol?