If you’ve been keeping up with my Presumed Innocent recaps, it’ll come as no surprise when I tell you that the Apple TV+ series is my favorite show of the year so far. It’s shocking, well paced, and impossible to turn away from—much like the novel and the film (both of the same name) that inspired it. Best of all, it has actually kept me guessing. At no point have I (or anyone else I know, really) been able to predict the killer. I even cheated! I scoured the book’s ending and the movie’s conclusion in search of a clue. It was no use. It turns out nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, could’ve prepared me for the finale.
The episode begins with a cold open. Prosecutor Tommy Molto calls the police with new evidence. Someone broke into his house the night before and left the murder weapon inside. After speaking with the cops, Tommy notifies the court. The fire poker has no DNA or fingerprints, so they can’t verify who sent it. Tommy’s house is clear as well. Judge Lyttle once again offers a mistrial—but neither the defense nor the prosecution will take it, so Lyttle decides to keep the fire-poker discovery from the jury. Rusty’s pissed. He thinks it can work in his favor and wants to publicly accuse Carolyn’s son, Michael Caldwell, of leaving it. His lawyer, Raymond, disagrees. “If the jury thinks this was planted, they’re not going to think Caldwell; they’re going to think you.”
And so we’re back where we started. Neither side has much to work with. In a last-ditch effort to prove Rusty’s innocence, Raymond calls a new medical examiner to the stand. They discovered that Carolyn’s stomach was empty when she died. The original coroner, Dr. Kumagi, estimated her time of death as 8:55 p.m., which the new examiner disagrees with. To make a long story short, it would take several hours for Carolyn to digest her food (if she ate anything at all), which means she likely died between 1:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. Tommy shuts the theory down by questioning the medic’s ethics: “You are a professional defense witness who only gets paid if you give a pro-defense opinion.”
Oof. This case is like a giant game of ping-pong. One side serves, and the other side defends. On the final day of the trial, Rusty delivers his closing argument. Honestly? It’s the most convincing monologue I’ve ever heard. He begins with some humility, admitting his faults and reasserting that no evidence ties him to the crime. Then comes the gut punch:
“This case is not about Tommy Molto. It’s not about me. It’s not even about Carolyn, at least not in the application of justice. It’s about you. You took an oath; you swore to a duty that to convict, you must find proof without a reasonable doubt. I accept your contempt. I deserve your contempt as a husband, as a father, and as a man, but I did not kill Carolyn Polhemus, which is why there is no evidence that I did. I am not honorable, but the irony is I hope you are.”
I mean??? Have you ever heard a more compelling statement? Tommy tries and fails to craft a rebuttal. The verdict is swift. “Not guilty.”
I haven’t always been a fan of Rusty’s, but at this point, I’m relieved. He’s innocent. His family’s nightmare is over…right? Not necessarily. Buckle in, readers—this is where it gets interesting.
That evening, Rusty finds Barbara’s suitcase in their bedroom. She says her therapist recommended she make a go bag, you know, in case Rusty ever cheats on her again. He’s annoyed by the presumption, but instead of addressing Barbara’s fears, he accuses her of killing Carolyn! “I actually knew from the beginning,” he says. “And then I didn’t know. And then I knew again for sure.” She’s beside herself. Rusty’s a lot of things—dishonest, manipulative, and obsessive, to name a few—but he’s never been cruel. And yet! When he interrogates Barbara, it’s like a switch has flipped. He’s relentless and eerily calm.
“There was only one person who could’ve done this,” Rusty says. She cries. “You’re insane, and you’re wrong!” He persists. She must have done it; he’s certain of it. It’s why he fought so hard to defend himself.
The night of the murder, Rusty went back to Carolyn’s place and found her dead in the living room. He immediately suspected Barbara and—in a psychopathic fit—tied Carolyn up like Bunny Davis to incriminate Liam Reynolds. With Liam in prison for a prior crime, he figured he could coerce a false confession. “We do it all the time.” (How evil do you have to be to think this quickly?!?) Barbara’s in complete shock, but her confusion seems like a fake-out. In the 1990 movie, she is the killer, but something’s wrong. She won’t budge. Even Rusty looks confused. He says he bugged her car and saw that she drove to Tommy’s to plant the fire poker. Why else would she be there?
Then Jaden walks in. “I did it,” she says. “I drove there in Mom’s car, and I put it in his kitchen.” That’s not all she did. That night, Jaden showed up at Carolyn’s home uninvited. She confronted her about her father’s affair and demanded that Carolyn stay away from their family. “It’s not me; it’s your father,” Carolyn says in a flashback. “He won’t leave me alone.” For whatever reason—really, I can’t comprehend it—Carolyn rubs salt in the wound. She tells Jaden that she’s pregnant—and when she gets up, Jaden whacks her upside the head, hits her three more times, and runs. She’s been the killer all along. The waifish, intelligent, and unassuming daughter of Rusty Sabich. Who would’ve guessed it? “Okay, listen to me,” Rusty says. “We will never speak of this.”
The episode ends with a happy where are they now? montage. Tommy finally steps back from work and is seen cheering on a Bears game at home. Raymond retires and gardens with his wife. And the Sabich family? Well, they’re pretending like nothing is wrong. When Thanksgiving rolls around, they eat dinner together and laugh like they’re not the most fraudulent family on the block (aside from Kyle, who doesn't seem to know anything about anything). “You Don’t Know Me” by Ray Charles plays in the background to tie everything together in a fucked-up bow. The end. Case closed.
It’s a shocking yet entirely plausible twist. Throughout this whole season, Rusty’s ego has clouded his judgment. He’s always been so sure of himself and assumed he was a step ahead. It’s why he tied Carolyn up just moments after finding her body—and why he foolishly tried to represent himself at his own trial. And in the time he spent trying to prove himself right, the real killer was right beside him. Of course, no one would suspect their child of murder, but Rusty was too self-absorbed to think of another possibility. Maybe if he had, he would’ve drawn a different conclusion. Then again, you never know what people are capable of.
Ahead of the finale, Apple TV+ revealed that Presumed Innocent was renewed for another season. Season 2 will feature a new case. I don’t know about you, but I’ll happily tune in. I can’t wait to see what the series does next.
