Diksha Sundriyal
The fourth episode of Fox’s ‘Accused’ brings forth another story where a crime leads to a devastating impact on a family. ‘Kendall’s Story’ begins with an assault on a ten-year-old leading her father on a dangerous path. The story puts us in his shoes, not only demanding us to consider our own decisions in his stead but also making us wonder how the law should react to his actions. By the end of the episode, Kendall finds himself in a very tough spot due to one moment of a lapse of judgment. It is an emotionally draining and morally confounding situation, and the fact that Kendall’s fate is left unresolved makes it all the more interesting. If you are wondering what happens to him, then we’ve got you covered.
Accused Episode 4 “Kendall’s Story” Recap
Kendall and Alisa Gomillion had been out partying with friends when they got a serious call about their daughter, Ingrid. They had left her in the care of a babysitter, who took the ten-year-old to a park. She lost track of Ingrid for five minutes, during which the girl was assaulted by a man. This news is delivered to them by Trent Douglas, a police detective who is also a black man. The Gomillions focus on their daughter and her recovery while the police look for the culprit.
The news of the child’s assault creates an uproar amongst Kendall’s friends. His best friend Lamar suggests that they shouldn’t wait for the cops to deliver them justice, they should look for it themselves. At first, Kendall is against becoming a vigilante, but then Lamar tells him that Douglas was a bystander when a black man named Omar Keelings was killed by a white police officer. This leads Kendall to have second thoughts about whether Douglas is the best person to catch the man who assaulted his daughter.
Despite Kendall telling them not to go after the culprit, Lamar and David track down the culprit. They, along with Kendall, go back to the park where they eventually find the man and beat him, after Kendall briefly considers calling Douglas. While Kendall stops, Lamar and David continue beating the man leaving him severely injured but alive. Later, Douglas shows up at Kendall’s door, telling him that the cops caught up with the perpetrator but he was so brutally beaten that he later died.
Accused Episode 4 “Kendall’s Story” Ending: What Happens to Kendall?
When Kendall finds out that Clyde Ellman, the man who assaulted his daughter has died, he becomes aware of the seriousness of the situation. He knows that Douglas already suspects him, and will eventually figure out his role in it. While Kendall, Lamar, and David stick to a common story regarding their alibi, Douglas knows that one of them will break soon enough. He advises Kendall to come clean, but he refuses to betray his friends.
When Lamar and David see Douglas leaving Kendall’s house, they deduce that their friend might talk to the police. Before he can do that, they go to the cops and twist the story in a way that they are washed of the blame and Kendall is implicated in the murder. In the meantime, acting on his wife’s advice, Kendall decides to come clean, but his friends have already done the damage by then and he is arrested for Ellman’s death.
Trent Douglas knows that David and Lamar are lying about their role in Ellman’s murder. Having done some digging on them, he knows that Kendall is loyal to a fault, and he was trying to protect his friends. His clean background also works in Kendall’s favor which is why Douglas advises him to be the first one to talk to the cops. He knew that Lamar and David didn’t feel the same sense of loyalty towards Kendall, and as he expected, they rat him out, creating a different picture of the crime in the process.
Lamar and David lie in the court of law, and Kendall feels entirely powerless about his situation. Douglas is sympathetic with him and he tries to turn the case in his favor when he is called to the stand but isn’t able to do so. At the end of the hearing, Douglas asks Kendall to have faith in him, vowing to help him through this. He is reminded of the time he did nothing and let an innocent man die. He won’t let that happen this time around. As Kendall is taken away, his fate hangs in the balance.
The ending does nothing to give away what happens to Kendall. One can only hope that Douglas succeeds in finding out a clue that can help him prove that Lamar and David’s story is not as they have told it. It is also possible that either Lamar or David might have a crisis of conscience and they may decide to retract their statement. This would mean that they would have to go to prison, which is what Lamar wanted to avoid in the first place, but at least they would have spared their friend and his family a lot of pain.
There are many things that this episode focuses and the idea of revenge is one of them. We see Kendall torn between wanting and not being able to trust the cops to do their job. Throughout the episode, he tries to stay out of the case and even thinks about letting Douglas into the loop when they track down Ellman. However, the Omar Keelings incident reminds him of the distrust that his community, as well as other minorities, have held towards the cops.
It is this inability to believe that the police will be diligent in helping them that leads to the events that claim a person’s life and worsen the situation for the Gomillions. Several things work in tandem to leave Kendall in this impossible situation where everything seems hopeless. However, the episode still gives us some hope, leaving the audience torn between wanting to trust Douglas to do his job and not being able to because of the many real-life cases of police brutality and inaction that have developed this distrust with the public.
Read More: Is Accused Episode 3 Danny’s Story Based on a True Story?
