Varun Patel
‘Defending Jacob‘ is an Apple TV+ miniseries that revolves around a murder mystery in a small town. The atmospheric television series is based on William Landay’s novel of the same name and packs a stellar cast. Chris Evans plays the role of Andy, a suburban father to the titular boy who gets accused of murdering his classmate. Jaeden Martell plays Jacob while Michelle Dockery essays the character of Andy’s wife, Laurie. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Defending Jacob Episode 5 Recap:
The fifth episode of ‘Defending Jacob’ begins with a school choir performance followed by Ben’s mother giving an emotional speech. Andy visits his father in prison. Andy’s father is upset about Andy not having visited him in prison or taken any steps to reduce his sentence. He refuses to give his DNA sample.
Joanna shows Andy an interview article published about Laurie (by the woman who Laurie was speaking to at the diner). Andy gets upset, but the two resolve their differences when Sarah pays a visit to hang out with Jacob. At the supermarket, Laurie and Ben’s mother run into each other. The latter spits at Laurie.
Andy asks Duffy if she questioned Derek, but she does not divulge any information. Andy speaks to Derek at his lacrosse practice. Derek tells Andy that Jacob watches disturbing porn. Laurie visits the genetic inheritance of behavior specialist and tells her about the bowling incident from Jacob’s childhood. The specialist tells her that people often think of polar extremes in cases similar to Jacob and that she might not have anything to worry about.
Andy talks to Sarah to ask her why she contacted Duffy. Sarah tells him how she had sent a nude to Ben. Then, Ben had started to blackmail her with the picture, demanding a blowjob. Derek had overheard Ben bragging about getting a blowjob from Sarah in the locker room and had stolen his phone to help Sarah (Derek has a crush on Sarah). However, Sarah had not appreciated Derek stealing Ben’s phone. Sarah tells Andy that she had gone to Duffy to tell her that Derek had Ben’s phone.
Andy calls Joanna home. Joanna tells the Barber family that she will try to get hold of Ben’s phone from Duffy to examine it for evidence. It is also revealed that Andy’s father has agreed to hand over his DNA sample. Jacob starts to think that Sarah became friends with him out of pity. When Sarah texts him at night, he calls her a slut.
It is revealed that Andy’s father agreed to give his DNA sample because Laurie visited him. At night, Matt (the kid who was groped by Leonard Patz) calls Andy a couple of times to say something but hangs up without speaking a word.
Defending Jacob Episode 5 Ending Explained:
Towards the end of ‘Defending Jacob’ episode 5, Matt calls Andy twice but does not say anything. The episode ends with Matt taking a bong hit and going to sleep. This indicates that Matt has agreed to share the truth about what happened between him and Leonard Patz with Andy. This also means that the truth would probably affect Jacob’s case since that is the reason Matt would decide to tell Andy about it.
Matt is clearly disturbed about what transpired. That is the reason he finds it difficult to share it with Andy so easily. That is the reason he tasks a bong hit and looks perturbed. That is the reason Matt is unable to say something to Andy even though he calls him twice. In the fourth episode, when Andy goes to Matt’s house, Matt asks him to leave. However, Andy urges him to reach out if he changes his mind.
Clearly, Matt has started to think that telling Andy would be the right thing to do. This should certainly help Jacob’s case. However, there is also a possibility that it could make it tougher for Jacob. In the fourth episode, Andy asks Matt why he, having a muscular body, did not defend himself against Patz. Hence, Patz might not have been at fault completely. He might have been innocent. This would lead to an end to the suspicion against him regarding Ben’s murder. There was no proof against him in relation to Ben’s murder. The only reason he was being looked into was because of his history with Matt. Hence, Matt’s revelation might actually help Patz and resultantly, make it harder for Jacob to prove his innocence.
Read More: Defending Jacob Episode 4 Recap and Review
