Based on William Landay’s best selling novel, Defending Jacob is a crime drama mini-series starring Chris Evans as Andrew (Andy) Barber. When a horrendous murder takes place in his town in New England, Andy, a tenacious district attorney, sees his life get shattered after his son, Jacob Barber, is accused of being involved in the heinous crime.
The Apple TV+ original recently concluded with the show’s one-hour long finale that didn’t necessarily provide any closure to the viewers. Nevertheless, there are more than enough complex characters in Defending Jacob who keep the viewers on the edge of their seats, and this list looked at the best of them.
Dr. Elizabeth Vogel
When Jacob’s psychic evaluation became necessary thanks to his grandfather’s past, Joanna, Andy, and Laurie turned to Dr. Elizabeth Vogel. She is really good at her job of reading her patients to analyze whether someone like Jacob is capable of stabbing someone.
She not only does a great job of making Jacob feel comfortable, but she also provided a lot of support to Laurie. Without her, Laurie would have gone through an emotional breakdown of immense proportions.
Derek Yoo
The only person who seems to know everything about Jacob’s dark secrets is his friend Derek Yoo. He has a very limited screen presence but the impact he has on the storyline is tremendous. Firstly, he is the one who knows about Jacob’s knife and about his suspicious internet activities.
He is called as a witness in the case and one of the stories he tells about Jacob horrifies everyone present at the court. Nevertheless, nothing comes out of that as Jacob, somehow, is proven to be innocent.
Leonard Patz
One of the only suspects in the Ben Rifkin case, Leonard Patz is someone who has a history of sexual harassment. Andy thinks he is guilty and that’s understandable because his child is in the line of fire.
Honestly, Leonard doesn’t come across as someone who can kill. Still, his past comes back to haunt him as Billy saw him as an easy target.
Pam Duffy
Andy’s partner and sometimes friend, Detective Pam Duffy seems to be at crossroads with this case. She respects Andy as a professional and that is the reason why she helps him with the investigation into Leonard.
She provides him with the required ammunition to go after the suspect. On the stand, she also had nothing but good words to say about him.
Joanna Klein
Andy wanted the best lawyer in the town for Jacob’s defense, so he approached Joanna Klein, who seemingly shared a good professional relationship with Andy.
She is the one who helped Andy and Laurie stay calm throughout the process, by giving them tips to avoid the media and attention. She was really good at her job as well.
Billy Barber
Andy’s father, Billy Barber is a murderer and a rapist, who is serving time in jail. From the looks of it, he seems like someone who accepts who he is and pretty much wants every situation to play the way he wants.
He likes power, that much can be made out of his first conversation with his son. In his own way, Billy cared about his grandson, Jacob, and had a huge role to play in absolving him of the murder charge.
Neal Loguidice
The assistant district attorney of New England, Neal Loguidice is handed the Ben Rifkin case after Andy is removed from it. He is hell-bent on proving Jacob’s guilt. It reaches a point where he doesn’t even entertain the possibility of there being another suspect.
He, seemingly, hates Andy as well and in the court, he tries to drag his name into the mud, even though he is not the one on trial. Despite all of that, Neal is still good at his job and even Andy admits that, but he also thinks Neal needs to improve a couple of things.
Jacob Barber
Jacob Barber is a very complicated and complex character. Firstly, he doesn’t seem bothered by the death of his classmate Ben and that’s understandable because Ben bullied him. Still, after a while, he shows no signs of seriousness towards the crime.
Looking at his eyes, one can definitely make out that he is hiding a lot of things but you just cannot tell if he can murder someone. It’s his stone-cold nature that drives Laurie mad as well. The series doesn’t shed a light on who really killed Ben but everyone’s money would be on Jacob, especially after the “made up” story he wrote online.
Laurie Barber
Jacob’s mother, Laurie Barber seems to be the only person who is going through an emotional crisis in the Barber family. She just cannot handle not knowing the truth about her son as she starts seeing him in a different light after the accusation.
Over the course of the events, she gets to know a lot of new things about both his son and husband. For example, she never knew Andy’s father was alive and serving time in jail for murder. It’s only natural to feel overwhelmed but she became obsessed with finding out the truth and that led to her trying to kill herself and Jacob.
Andrew Barber
The usually calm and composed Andy Barber suffers from a huge dilemma throughout the series – whether to believe his son or find out the truth, like any district attorney would want. Quite expectedly, fatherhood wins every time as he simply denies the fact that his son could do something so brutal, even though the evidence suggests otherwise.
He does the same for his wife, Laurie, as he denies that she tried to kill Jacob. Andy came from a highly dysfunctional childhood, thanks to his murderous father, but little did he know that his own family would become absolutely insane.
