Defending Jacob series premiere recap: Who killed Benjamin Rifkin?

Photo: Defending Jacob Season 1 - Courtesy of Apple TV+
Photo: Defending Jacob Season 1 - Courtesy of Apple TV+ /
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Defending Jacob
Defending Jacob — Courtesy of Apple TV+ /

No one seems to know a thing

At home that night, Andy and Laurie check in on their son to see how he’s handling the loss of one of his classmates. Jacob is oddly calm and a little cold about it all.

For starters, he’s dismissive, and he doesn’t seem to care much for Ben, saying that he was always a little full of himself. At least he’s honest?

Andy’s conversation with Jacob is just one of many dead-end conversations he’ll have throughout the episode concerning Ben’s death. He and Duffy line up interviews with a bunch of Ben’s classmates, and none of them give Andy a lead or any information that he could use in court.

The only student who appears to know something is a girl named Sarah, but she’s not keen on spilling whatever it is to Andy — because he is Jacob’s dad. That’s one of the first big red flags that Jacob is going to wind up in serious trouble.

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Sarah asks explicitly about the anonymous tip hotline. Whatever she knows, she’s not going to tell it to someone who knows her identity. Considering Jacob’s friend Derek confronts her after her interview to ask her what she said, it’s not hard to see why Sarah is so skittish.

It’s fitting they cast Chris Evans in the role of Andy Barber since he’s frequently plagued by whispers of “is that Andy Barber?” and “aren’t you Jacob’s dad?” throughout the hour. I imagine it’s a little similar to what Evans himself experiences in real-life concerning his Captain America role.

After the interviews are wrapped, Andy makes an appearance at Ben’s wake. Laurie is already there, helping the other moms.

We don’t learn a lot about Laurie’s character in this episode, but she appears to be very empathetic, and it looks like she works for a non-profit organization of some kind.

Andy quickly realizes that as the ADA and a recognizable face working on the Ben case, he probably shouldn’t be at the wake. Instead, he agrees to take their son home while Laurie hangs out a while longer.

Before Andy can leave, he gets flagged down by Ben’s grieving father, Dan Rifkin. Andy is uncomfortable with the conversation, but it’s not like he can just bail on a man who just lost his son.

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The two have an awkward but meaningful conversation about Ben. Dan hangs out in his room to mourn his death, and in the middle of talking, he breaks down into tears. The main thing Dan can’t understand is why someone would kill Ben.

“Ben was good,” he says.

Their conversation ends on an ominous note, with Dan asking Andy if he would go to the ends of the earth for his son. Of course, Andy says yes, but at the time, he had no idea just how meaningful that sentiment would soon become.