Presumed Innocent
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Having had his most damning evidence ruled as inadmissible, he appeals to the jurys personal sense of honor.
Though there is not much else that he can understand, this much, at least, Rusty knows.
Tommy, by comparison, seems erratic.
No, he replies as he takes the cat upstairs.
He should have kept to bulletproof logic until the end.
When the time comes for Tommy to rest his own case, hes become that petulant child again.
But Rusty was there the night of the murder!
His fingerprints were all over her house!
They were having an affair!
After Rustys speech, there is nothing he can say.
I cant figure out who is cheering for the life of me.
Everyone is smiling but him!
Rusty speaks briefly to the press and dunks one more time on Tommy for good measure.
This is when Barbara reveals that she killed Carolyn in a calculated, ruthless act of passion and rage.
Its a good twist you never see it coming but its also frustrating.
Its an ending of its era for sure.
As a show,Presumed Innocentwas uniquely positioned to challenge that conclusion.
In a way, it did.
She justsnapped(can you believe this?).
This sick and twisted move has a name in our current moment: Its called gaslighting.
Barbara, reasonably, looks like she is actually about to explode under the weight of this accusation.
As she gasps for breath and Rusty looks at her with a maddeningly forthright expression,Jadenwalks in.
It was me, she says,straight up.
The droning music (thankfully) halts.
The whole thing is cut with close-ups of Barbaras desperate reaction, which are hard to watch.
Jaden went over to Carolyns to confront her.
I find it hard to believe she wouldve said this to Jaden.
Listen to me, Rusty says, We will never speak of this again.
It was put in motion by me.
This is my doing.
We will survive as a family, okay?
The implication is that darkness lurks beneath apple-pie suburbia.
But even then, I have to admit Im not totally satisfied.
It still feels like the reveal intends to shock the audience more than to emerge from robust character development.
That said, there is no such character development to speak of apart from Rustys and maybe Barbaras.
Iamsurprised that Jaden turned out to be the killer; once again, its a good twist.
Even Tommy puts it in those terms.
He beat me, he tells Nico as his friend urges him to move on from this one defeat.
However, there is another, higher level of competition in the legal-thriller industry.
And regardless of how artfully it was done, I will say this: They got me.
What happened to Dr.
Rush and her pack of cigarettes?
What about Kyles bicycle, which Rusty hid away in the trunk of his car?
What about the photograph, anyway, which we never saw again?
And Rustys Ritalin addiction?
Did Clifton ever text Barbara again?
Did he ever know anything?
And whatever happened to Rigo?
But I was left wondering if Rusty and Raymonds friendship could survive this trial.
Just felt weird, like he was doing a messed-up impression of the crazed principal inThe Breakfast Club.
Right before the verdict comes out, Nico asks: How much did you love her?
Tommy rolls his eyes but doesnt answer.
