Apple TV+’s Defending Jacob will be releasing its final episode this week. We’ll get to see the explosive conclusive finale and finally get our answer: did Jacob commit murder?
Spoilers For Those Who Haven’t Watched the Show
Another question arises pertaining to Pablo Schreiber’s Neal Logiudice. As another ADA, Neal ends up being the prosecutor against Jacob. We also see that Neal is grilling Chris Evans’ Andy Barber in a grand jury trial, which we still haven’t found out for what. With Neal as the head figure of opposition for the Barber family, the question has occurred to me: is Neal a bad guy, or is he just doing his job?
Neal vs. Andy
For most of the miniseries, Neal and Andy are seen butting heads. It’s obvious that Andy dislikes Neal’s involvement in Ben’s murder case – before Jacob is picked out as the prime suspect. Once it’s determined that Jacob is a suspect, Neal takes over the case, something Andy really doesn’t like. He does not want Neal to be prosecuting his son. Neal is pretty convinced that Jacob did it as well. It doesn’t matter that Andy was a former co-worker, he goes after Jacob as he would any other murder suspect. Perhaps a little more due to his rivalry with Andy?
Neal certainly doesn’t hold anyone’s hand. There seems to be a certain smugness in Neal’s motives when he is building his case. And he definitely won’t hold back on accusing a teenager of lying. When it’s time for trial, Neal is ready to pop holes in the defense’s case and does not shy away from controversial stances, opinions, tactics, or questions. For the viewers, who have watched the stress Andy is under, it’s easy to dislike Neal. But, is he just doing his job?
What If Andy Was in Neal’s Shoes?
If this were another murder case and Andy was going after Ben’s killer, we’d applaud him. Hell, we’re sitting here hoping that Andy’s efforts to save his son are not in vain. While Neal may not be the most sympathetic character, can we really fault him for just doing his job? We see that at some point that Neal and Andy were friendly to each other, something just happened along the way. Different views? Approaches? Or just a professional rivalry that occurred between two ADAs.
Neal seemingly got his training from Andy, so it’s fair to assume that this is where he got his confidence in court from. Neal was probably viewed as second in line next to Andy. It’d make sense why he would be put on the case when Andy was taken off. Maybe Andy views it as a betrayal and us, as viewers; are in the position to see Neal as the enemy, but he was simply given a job. Sure, is he the most likable character? He makes it difficult at times. Regardless, despite the perceived and provoked rivalry between Andy and Neal, by Andy; Neal is going after Jacob the same way he would go after any murder suspect. The same way Andy is going after Patz or any suspect in Ben’s murder if it wasn’t Jacob and he was still on the case.
For these reasons, Neal is simply doing his job. We’ll see how well in Defending Jacob’s final episode, which premieres this Friday.
Make sure to check out our podcasts each week including Geek Vibes Live, Top 10 with Tia, Wrestling Geeks Alliance and more!
A girl with too many fandoms to count.
