‘Defending Jacob’ Recap: ‘Poker Faces’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM. YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

When tragedy or a crisis arrives in our lives, the kind that interrupts our daily routine and leaves us rattled emotionally, we are taught to do one thing in order to get by and that is to put on a happy face. Because somehow, burying ourselves behind the façade that everything is just fine makes everything better, if only for a little while. Because when we put on our smiling mask, we are numb to what’s happening around us and there is peace and quiet upstairs and that allows for us to function and accomplish some necessities. But what do we do, when the crisis in question, outright changes our lives for the worse? How does one put on a smile and function knowing full well that nothing will ever be the same in one’s household? Thankfully we have stories to help us explore such unsettling possibilities and both of those questions were examined in unique fashion in the next episode of Defending Jacob.
 
For ‘Poker Faces’ saw the Barber family work to adjust to a new normal, with mixed results. Because this case was going to be high profile and in front of people in every single way imaginable and their first real lesson on how much their lives were going to change, came about at Jacob’s arraignment. For both Andy and Laurie had to learn how to be emotionless as the press and the world watched their every last move and it was quite fascinating to see how much Laurie struggled with turning off empathy or concern and once the trial was over, there were still tough lessons for all of them to learn about this next phase of their lives. Because Laurie came to learn that optics are important for businesses, since the board of directors at her job put her on indefinite leave since they were concerned with how the public would view the center, if they allowed the mother of an accused murderer to be near other children.
 
Yet while those elements alone would have been enough exploration wise, there was still plenty more for this story to examine, in regard to how life changes when something as dark as a murder accusation comes into a family’s home. Because we also saw friends abandon the family since Toby offered up a pity meal as her farewell since her husband no longer wanted her anywhere near the family. Plus, the Barber’s found themselves struggling with the fact that television and social media and gaming needed to exit their lives. For people could potentially misconstrue anything said on the latter two platforms as admissions of guilt or find a quote to put into the limelight, and it was quite fascinating to see them work to shun a part of the world that each and every one of us find value and necessity in. And believe it or not, there was still one more powerful aspect of this new life to explore as well, one that relates to the aforementioned scrutiny.

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​Because being in the public eye and the 24/7 news cycle, means that every single detail of a person’s private life is going to be poured over by the press and the public, and that prompted Andy to get ahead of a dark secret that was soon going to be public knowledge. For it turns out that Andy’s father didn’t abandon him and his mother when he was an infant, he murdered a woman, and has been in prison ever since. A fact that Andy hid from the world out of shame and disgust for a man that he didn’t ever want to associate with and what was truly shocking, is that his honesty rattled his wife like never before. Because Laurie suddenly began to wonder if violence was something that ran in the family, to the point where the family’s defense attorney, Joanna Klein, set up a meeting with a behavior specialist in this field so they could debunk that possibility. And it really was quite powerful to see a mother ponder upon the possibility that her son might be a monster, and it just speaks volumes to how much this whole mess is shattering her psyche and understandably so.
 
But while this study into the chaos that comes with a horrific, life changing event was fascinating and compelling to watch, this is still a murder mystery and there is still a case to explore and Andy handled a vast majority of that in this tale. Because he really did believe that the state didn’t do enough to investigate Leonard Patz, and he took matters into his own hands in bold fashion. For he swung by Detective Duffy’s place to beg her for Patz’s file, something she surprisingly complied with, giving Andy something to dive into during all this downtime before his son goes to trial, and it should be quite interesting to see what he uncovers in regard to Patz in the days to come. Plus, this episode did a fine job of setting up more mystery surrounding Jacob’s involvement in the matter, since Sarah took the time to call Detective Duffy, which is huge to say the least. Because it’s been obvious for some time now that she knows something about Ben’s murder, and her words are either going to reinforce Jacob’s innocence, or blow this case wide open.    
 
In the end however, this was quite the powerful episode when all is said and done. Simply because this story did a phenomenal job of exploring the aftermath of this kind of event, since we were privy to all the fear and uncertainty that would undoubtedly come with having a family member accused of a violent crime, and this story gets serious credit for leaving no stone unturned. Because it truly did explore just about every aspect imaginable of the fallout of such a life-changing event, and it did a phenomenal job of informing the audience that there is no playbook for something such as this, and no right way to handle it. You simply take it moment by moment and hope in the long term that your loved one is found innocent. Either way, all of this just goes to show that this limited series really is something special, and that it is going to take us on quite the emotional and intimate ride and that’s both exciting and terrifying all at once. Because it could provide us with a powerful tale about healing if Jacob is indeed innocent, or his admission of a heinous crime, is going to devastate a mother and a father that are barely holding on right now. Until next time.

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