Dhruv Sharma
‘The Twelve’ isn’t your regular courtroom drama. Instead of solely focusing on the accused and their crime, the series tautly unfolds the personal dilemmas of its courtroom jury, which helms the massive responsibility of determining the final decision of the court. This approach not only makes it a unique crime series but also gives a realistic appeal. Moreover, its in-depth explorations of its characters and the consequential elements of plot points add more heft to this appeal. So, in case you’re wondering where it draws its inspiration from, here’s everything you need to know.
Is The Twelve Based on a True Story?
No, ‘The Twelve’ is not based on a true story. However, it draws its inspiration from the experiences of several real-life jurors. In an interview with Variety, the creators of ‘The Twelve’ revealed that they first came up with the basic idea behind the series when the Belgian government tried to remove the jury system. According to this system, twelve citizens take on the duty of deciding whether the accused are guilty or innocent. Although the Belgian government wanted to narrow down this decision-making system to three judges and four citizens, their demand was against the constitution. So that’s how the creators of the show decided to tell a tale that revolves around ordinary citizens who get to be jurors.
Creators of the show, Bert Van Dael and Sanne Nuyens, further revealed that they meticulously researched for the series. They first tried to understand the atmosphere of a jury room and how jurors operate under so much pressure. They even got in touch with ex-jurors to know more about their personal experiences and opinions. One of the jurors also recalled her own story by claiming that “she recognized traits of her jealous husband in the defendant.”
As a result, right after her jury, she ended up leaving her husband. Her experience as a juror gave her a better perspective of the imminent threats in her personal life. On the flip side, her personal life helped her serve justice. The series does something very similar, and from what we know, one of its main characters, Delphine, is seemingly inspired by the juror mentioned earlier. She, too, ends up leaving her husband while in pursuit of her juror duties. And this, in turn, gives her a better perspective of the intentions of the accused.
Along with this, the series takes a very unbiased approach to the ideas it puts on the table. It neither criticizes the jury system, nor does it judge it. Instead, it takes a middle ground where it presents both its advantages and disadvantages. And ultimately, it allows you to be the judge. Even when it comes to its depiction of criminals, it never takes a one-dimensional look at their motives and doesn’t judge them. So just by blurring the lines between good and evil, it simply shows how the real world functions.
Read More: The Twelve Filming Locations
