Recap: Andy Spirals in ‘Defending Jacob’ Episode 6 “Wishful Thinking”

Kaity
Kaity - Co-Director
10 Min Read
Image courtesy of Apple TV+

Back in episode 5 of Apple TV+’s Defending Jacob, Andy went to visit his father in prison and he refused to give a DNA sample to aid in Jacob’s case. Andy confronted Derek about the things he said about Jacob, and how he may soon be a suspect in Ben’s murder himself, especially after the things Sarah told Andy about Ben and Derek later that afternoon. Andy’s fishing trip with Jacob ended with Joanna telling him that Ben’s cell phone was free to look through for evidence and that suddenly his father had agreed to give the sample, thanks to a visit from Laurie. The episode ended with Matt McGrath, a victim of Andy’s first suspect Leonard Patz, calling Andy in the middle of the night, unable to speak.

Ten days before the trial, Joanna and Andy head down to investigate Ben Rifkin’s phone and when they arrive they run into Neal Loguidice in the hallway. Doing his best to try and rustle Andy up, he asks about his father, making it clear he knows about Bloody Billy Barber, and it works. Andy shoves him up against a wall, succumbing to the bait. Neal says it explains a lot about him and Jacob, and Andy knows it’s now definitely going to come up in Jacob’s case.

Ben’s phone gives Andy and Joanna nothing. Duffy approaches Andy as he waits for Joanna to return from taking a call, and they have a moment speaking about their respective family members in prison — Andy’s father and Duffy’s brother. She tells him her hands are tied but that she’ll help in any way she can, before warning Andy that Loguidice is almost “too sure” he’s going to win this case. When Joanna returns, she tells Andy that someone has found Jacob’s new fake social media profile.

Andy returns home in a rage, heading right to Jacob’s room after telling Laurie the phone was a bust. He confronts Jacob about the fake account, yelling in a way any panicked parent would. Jacob shows Laurie the photo of himself as Patrick Bateman we remember from episode 5, and Jacob still thinks no one knows it’s him; it’s only a joke. Andy tells him everybody knows it’s him, that’s how he knows it’s him, and that this photo will be waved around the courts as “consciousness of guilt.” Laurie tries to get Andy to stop, he’s scaring Jake, but Andy replies, “good he should be scared! I’m scared!” Jacob deletes the account, but they all know that doesn’t mean it has actually gone away.

The next day, the news in Billy’s prison is reporting on Jacob’s, and Andy’s, relation to him, and for a moment he seems remorseful and concerned that the news has got out. Even he knows this will negatively affect Jacob.

As Andy takes the trash out late that night, he notices an old blue Lincoln parked on his street. He asks Laurie if she’s seen the car on the street before, she hasn’t, and he tells her he’s seen the same car outside of two separate houses so far, but when he takes her out to show her, the car is gone.

The unknown number calls him again in the middle of the night, and this time Matt McGrath speaks. Andy meets him at a diner immediately, and Matt tells him about Patz’s connection to Ben Rifkin. The next day Matt is questioned by Lynn Canavan, with Duffy, Loguidice, and Andy all present. Matt tells them about his history with Patz, that he’d paid Matt when he was 15 to grope him for cash, but as soon as he’d found Ben, he didn’t need Matt anymore, and Leonard had met Ben at the park. At that point Matt had reported him, but the lies from the beginning has made his testimony untrustworthy, still they agree to investigate Patz again, because while Matt may not be the most honest, he dropped the bombshell that Patz had a knife; a knife that looked like the a possible model described to have been the murder weapon. Lynn approves a search warrant for Patz’s apartment, despite Neal’s pushback.

Andy gets an unsolicited call from his father. Billy seems desperate to form some sort of relationship with his son, any kind, but Andy doesn’t give in.

Out for her daily run the next morning, Laurie is frightened by a car following closely behind her. It’s the blue Lincoln Andy was talking about. She runs through yards and alleys to avoid it, and when she arrives home Duffy is with Andy telling him about the search of Patz’s apartment, who tells the Barbers to call her next time they see the car.

Andy walks her out to her car, and he begs Duffy to stay on Patz. They’re running out of time. She vows to do her best.

As the days wear on, Andy’s control wanes. He waits for Patz outside of his job again, this time rear-ending him at an intersection. He confronts Patz in the street, screaming that he knows it was him, he knows he killed Ben, Jacob won’t pay for his crime. Patz scurries back to his car and drives off, Andy still yelling at him until he’s out of sight.

August 17, four days before the trial and Jacob’s 15th birthday. Andy and Laurie head for their final pre-trial meeting with Dr. Vogel, who tells them Jacob is negative for the “warrior” or “murder” gene, despite Andy and Billy being positive, but all three Barber men do have some other impulsive, limited capacity for empathy, and violent genetic mutations. Dr. Vogel reassures the Barbers that clearly these mutations don’t define a person, using Andy as proof, but Laurie can’t get past the words on the report in front of her. “Capable of violet behavior,” “antisocial tendencies,” “manipulative,” and “cause for concern” jump at her, and she interrogates Dr. Vogel about the words and what they mean, and if she thinks Jacob is guilty. Dr. Vogel doesn’t give her a straight answer, besides that Jacob does have a strong lack of empathy. Laurie lashes out at Andy, who insists Jacob is a normal teenager, telling him that none of this is normal, and maybe Jacob never has been.

They take Jacob out for his birthday that night to a private room at a sushi restaurant. Jacob wants the answers about his genetic testing and they tell him he was negative for the “murder” gene but omit the other details.

When they return home from dinner, the blue Lincoln is on their street again. Andy snaps. He grabs a tire iron from the trunk of the car and confronts the driver. The driver plays dumb, but before driving off tells Andy “take care of that family of yours Mr. Barber,” proving he knows them. Andy calls Duffy but the plates are stolen, so not much can be done, but Duffy is going to have the neighborhood patrolled for the next few nights.

The episode ends as the Barbers head to the court for day one, their home mobbed by so many reporters they can barely get onto the street. It’s time.

Episode 7 will bring us to Jacob’s case. Is he guilty? Does Loguidice have enough evidence to convict, or will Joanna convince the jury of Jacob’s innocence? The penultimate episode of Defending Jacob will be available May 22 exclusively on Apple TV+.

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By Kaity Co-Director
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Kaity started with Harry Potter in second grade and it’s been a losing battle ever since, or maybe a winning one ... She lives in New England with a small herd of cats, two dogs, three chinchillas, and one daughter. You can definitely find her either watching anime, reading manga, or playing the same five video games over and over again. Contact: kaity@nerdsandbeyond.com
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