WARNING: This story contains spoilers from Episode 8 of Presumed Innocent.
A thrilling conclusion to Apple’s legal thriller “Presumed innocent” Audiences finally learned who killed Carolyn Polhemus (Renate Reinsweg), a lawyer and ex-girlfriend of Rusty Sabich, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, who was charged and tried for murder.
Last week’s episode eliminated Tommy Malt (Peter Sarsgaard), who welcomed the opportunity to prosecute his longtime rival, as a suspect, director Greg Yaitanes confirmed to TheWrap.
When Tommy returns home, he finds that someone has left a fireplace poker (presumably the one used to kill Carolyn) in the house along with an unsigned, handwritten note that reads, “Fuck you.”
verdict
Despite the high likelihood of a mistrial, the two sides decided to go ahead with a final hearing, aptly named “the verdict,” in which Rusty would state his own conclusions, despite Ray’s reservations.
Rusty told the jury that he was guilty of nothing but having an affair with Carolyn, and that the charges Tommy brought against him were a personal vendetta based solely on circumstantial evidence.
He also mentioned two other people who were “obsessed” with Carolyn, including her son Michael Caldwell (Tate Birchmore) and his father Dalton (Matthew Allan), who he said were both “very angry” at the dead woman and tried to cast doubt on the jury.
In his closing argument, Tommy said Rusty’s love for Carolyn bordered on obsession, and if Rusty was so desperate to catch the killer, why did he withhold information and not reveal his relationship with Carolyn? He called Rusty a “very, very good liar” and a “murderer.”
The jury returned a not guilty verdict after little deliberation. Rusty’s family seemed relieved, as was Raymond, but Rusty’s expression remained grim.
Rusty told media he was “satisfied” that “legal and moral justice had been done” but that the prosecution had disqualified Carolyn because the killer is still at large.
The culprit is identified
Later, Rusty confronts Barbara in the garage, where she is busy on her stationary bike, and she has her bags packed… not to leave him now, but as a warning about what to do if there’s a “next time.”
He says he knew from the first night that Barbara had killed Carolyn and admits that he was the one who faked the body to look like Bunny Davis’ murder. He says that everything he did was to protect her and his family, and that as his daughter Jayden (Chase Infinity) had said in an earlier episode, this was clearly a case of separation. Barbara is shocked and adamantly denies his accusations.
Rusty still didn’t believe her because he had put a tracking device on Barbara’s car and knew she was the one who had driven to Tommy’s house to set off the poker.
At that moment, Jayden quietly joined her in the garage and confessed that he was the one who killed Carolyn. As Barbara began to cry uncontrollably, Jayden related that on the night of the murders, he had gone to Carolyn’s house and told her to stay away from her father. When Carolyn said she couldn’t leave him completely because she was pregnant with Rusty’s child, Jayden grabbed a fireplace poker and hit her multiple times.
Jaden drove home at first believing it was all a dream. She cleaned her car and buried the poker in the yard. Rusty told her it was all his fault, because he caused it all. He swore he’d never speak of it again.
The family is then shown happily celebrating Thanksgiving as if nothing had happened, but Barbara and Rusty exchange somber looks that clearly indicate neither of them will ever forget. Jayden’s brother, Kyle (Kingston Rumi Southwick), never seems to find out the truth.
What we know about Season 2
“Presumed Innocent” was announced to have been renewed for a second season on July 12, ahead of the release of the season finale.
Gyllenhaal is listed as an executive producer on the next season alongside David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams, and producers Rachel Rush Rich, Dustin Thomason, and Matt Tinker, and Apple TV+ has confirmed that the show will tackle a new case, though it’s unclear whether Gyllenhaal will reprise his role as Rusty or whether an entirely new cast will be introduced.
Scott Turow, who wrote the thriller novel on which the series is based, is set to return as co-executive producer, and season two may be based on another of his novels.
All episodes of Presumed Innocent are currently available on Apple TV+.
