Yes, Presumed Innocent‘s Finale Is Shocking. It’s Also Extremely Silly

As a woman who has spent far too much time watching the legal system grind away at the lives of those accused, I can’t help but feel both intrigued and disappointed by the finale of “Presumed Innocent.” Having grown up on a steady diet of procedural dramas and true crime documentaries, I’ve seen it all: the innocent being wrongfully convicted, the guilty going free, and the complex web of lies that often surrounds these cases.

The final episode of Season 1 for the Apple TV+ series “Presumed Innocent,” based on the film of the same name, is explored in this article, along with the conclusions of the movie and other shows created by its producer, David E. Kelley.

As a movie enthusiast, I’ll share my take on the season finale of “Presumed Innocent.” This crime drama left me feeling disillusioned and let down from start to finish with its poorly written script and excessive length. However, one thing I can admit, the final twist took me by surprise. I was completely fooled when Jake Gyllenhaal’s character Rusty Sabich confronted his wife Barbara, played by Ruth Negga, in their garage. I genuinely thought she had committed the murder of Carolyn Polhemus (Renate Reinsve). I wasn’t thrilled about this revelation, as it mirrored the ending of Scott Turow’s original novel and the 1990 movie adaptation. Furthermore, a woman who is so hesitant to even consider infidelity with her unfaithful husband seems an unlikely suspect for homicide in my opinion. Nevertheless, I went along with it, as my expectations for this show were already quite low.

As I sat there listening to Rusty explain why he’d set up the murder scene to shield Barbara, whom I’d long believed was the true culprit, my heart raced as our daughter Jaden entered the garage. With a trembling voice, she confessed to placing the fireplace poker in Tommy Molto’s kitchen. I couldn’t help but think back to that foolish attempt at framing the stubborn prosecutor with a note reading “go f-ck yourself.”

The ending is genuinely shocking, yet not entirely fulfilling. Labeling Jaden as the culprit seems forced and implausible, raising questions about the motivations behind her actions. For instance, that flashback of Jaden attacking Carolyn appeared far-fetched. Although there were hints in earlier episodes, such as Jaden’s inquisitiveness about the evidence against Rusty or her eavesdropping on a confrontation between her parents and her brother Kyle, it’s not unreasonable for a teen to be cautious when her father is under investigation for murder. Moreover, why would the killer ask her mother, as Jaden did in Episode 5, “Did he do this?”

In the sixth episode of the season, Jaden shares a significant clue, almost the only one indicating her inner turmoil or guilt, during a talk with Rusty. She discusses the psychological concept of “disassociation” with him, which she learned in class as a coping mechanism for dealing with traumatic experiences: “The brain can help people distance themselves from unbearable actions and their consequences.” At that point, it appears Jaden is probing Rusty about his own memory detachment following Carolyn’s death. However, we now understand that she was assessing his ability to relate to her situation.

In this intriguing show where each character is a potential suspect, yet none are fully developed except for Rusty, does the pivotal scene under scrutiny truly provide all the answers? The episodes preceding the finale were filled with emotion but failed to eliminate any suspects. Instead, they added more possibilities. Tommy appeared as a plausible suspect, but the fireplace poker incident muddied the waters. The behavior of Carolyn’s son Michael and her ex-husband Dalton seemed suspicious, particularly when Dalton reacted angrily at the prospect of Rusty questioning Michael. As the finale neared, fans’ theories ran rampant, with many suspecting even secondary characters like Eugenia and Raymond.

In the devoted series’ endeavor to correct the errors of its past installments, it seemed unlikely that Barbara would be revealed as the culprit, until a fleeting moment in the Sabiches’ garage. While Turow’s “Presumed Innocent” and its film adaptation, led by Harrison Ford, told a more compelling story, they both shared a deeply misogynistic theme. These productions from the ’80s, born out of the backlash against second-wave feminism, warned against women’s desires. The movie’s Carolyn (Greta Scacchi), an ambitious homewrecker and femme fatale, was essentially blamed for her own murder.

In an unexpected turn of events, Barbara, the seemingly insignificant female character in the film, played by Bonnie Bedelia, who spends most of the movie’s 127 minutes quietly supporting her husband Rusty, is unmasked as the killer of Carolyn. This plot twist, where a seemingly passive and submissive woman, portrayed by a well-known actor, turns out to be the perpetrator, came to be known as “the Bonnie Bedelia rule” in media critiques years later. When Barbara confesses to the crime, she is portrayed as both a pitiful woman, who derives all her self-worth from her marriage, and a ruthless psychopath capable of committing heinous acts to keep Rusty with her.

As we approach the final act, I became increasingly certain that Rusty was indeed the culprit. It’s a classic trope in murder mysteries – the husband did it. Kelley seems to relish this cliché. In “The Undoing,” Nicole Kidman portrays a psychologist who finds it hard to accept her husband’s (Hugh Grant) guilt, despite overwhelming evidence. In “Anatomy of a Scandal” on Netflix, Sienna Miller assumes the role of Kidman, but this time the charming husband is a British MP (Rupert Friend), and he’s being tried for raping his mistress (Naomi Scott). Alexander Skarsgård’s character Perry Wright in “Big Little Lies” may not be the killer but is a despicable husband and sexual predator. His death is seen as justified retribution.

As an admirer, I find it intriguing that all the above-mentioned series were brought to life from novels penned by women. This fact invites us to ponder if their seemingly anti-male conclusions are indeed feminist declarations. However, I must admit that in the instances of “The Undoing” and “Anatomy of a Scandal,” the female leads’ blindness or denial for most of the series makes it challenging for me to view their late betrayals of their husbands as truly victorious. In contrast, “Presumed Innocent” presents a more complex situation since its protagonist is the potentially guilty husband rather than the deceived wife. If Rusty had turned out to be the culprit, we, the audience, would have been unwittingly drawn into Barbara’s role – forced to believe in the innocence of our charismatic leading man, Kelley, despite mounting evidence to the contrary.

In my opinion, it’s beneficial that the series steered clear of reaching a conclusion that relied on essentialist gender views, be they pro-male or pro-female. However, Kelley’s “Presumed Innocent” left us wanting more in terms of exploring alternative themes to replace the psychosexual ones. Sadly, there are numerous unanswered questions. For instance, why did the caring Carolyn from flashbacks reject her own son? Why does Nico come across as so distant and strange?

The finale’s message, when considering Rusty’s decision to hide Barbara’s supposed crime and the parents’ quick forgiveness, bears a striking resemblance to the hidden conservative theme in the book and film. The Sabiche family, whom we’re meant to sympathize with, prioritize their family unity above all else. By the end of the season, they celebrate Thanksgiving together, despite Rusty and Barbara exchanging guilty looks. They have triumphed over threats to their family, which include both the legal system and a divorced woman who abandoned her child. For this conventional (though Kelley barely acknowledges its biracial and heterosexual nature throughout the season) two-parent household, the ends justify the means. It remains to be seen if Kelley plans to challenge this problematic trope in Season 2.

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2024-07-24 21:07