Spoiler alert: This story contains spoilers for the final episode of the first season of Apple TV+'s “Presumed Innocent,” “The Verdict.”
Since David E. Kelley’s “Presumed Innocent” premiered on Apple TV+ last month, the series has taken viewers on a journey filled with shocking clues and disturbing revelations, all while delving into the minds of narcissistic and obsessive men. Over the course of eight episodes, “Presumed Innocent” followed former Deputy District Attorney Rusty Sabich (Jake Gyllenhaal), who was on trial for the murder of his lover and colleague, Caroline Polhemus (Renate Rensvi).
In the final episode of “Presumed Innocent” – the episode that was no It was presented as a preview for reporters – viewers learned that Caroline's killer was Rusty's teenage daughter, Jaden (Chase Infinity). After Rusty was cleared, the audience found out who committed the crime.
From the beginning, there were four main suspects. Of course, Rusty was obsessed with Caroline. Throughout the series, their intense and passionate relationship was revealed in flashbacks. After Caroline ended their relationship, Rusty sent her dozens of frantic text messages that ranged from declarations of his love to threats. However, throughout the series, Rusty maintained his innocence. It might seem too obvious to cast him as the actual killer, especially given the outcome of HBO’s “The Undoing,” another Kelly series starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant.
Viewers also suspected that Rusty’s long-suffering wife, Barbara (Ruth Negga), was the real culprit. In Scott Turow’s 1987 novel—and the 1990 film adaptation starring Harrison Ford—Rusty’s wife delivered the fatal blow that killed Caroline, a fact that wasn’t revealed until the film’s harrowing final moments. But since Presumed Innocent begins, Kelly has woven a story that’s very different from both the film and Turow’s novel. Most importantly, Barbara seems desperate to get her family back on track, and Caroline’s death clearly does the opposite.
There were two other suspects. The first was Tommy Molto (Peter Sarsgaard), who had taken over Rusty’s job as chief deputy district attorney and tore him apart on the stand in the penultimate episode, “The Witness.” Not only was Tommy jealous of Rusty’s career success, he was also obsessed with Caroline, to the point that she filed a formal complaint against him before she died. It seemed as though Tommy was trying to take advantage of the fact that Caroline buried evidence in a case to force her to date him, but it all went badly. Furthermore, in the final moments of “The Witness,” Tommy returns home to find his house in disarray. On his kitchen table lay the missing murder weapon, a chimney sweep with a note reading “Go to hell.” It looked as though Rusty or Barbara had been playing with it.
Finally, and perhaps least obvious, was Eugenia Milk (Virginia Cole), another colleague in the Chicago District Attorney's office. She had long admired Rusty, and had an undisguised disdain for Caroline, who she felt was ruining Rusty's life. While Eugenia seemed like a slim chance to win, she was always a character who watched more than she revealed.
There were also second-tier suspects, Caroline's angry, estranged son, Michael Caldwell (Tate Birchmore) and Kyle Sabich (Kingston Romy Southwick) – Rusty and Barbara's son – who knew about his father's infidelity. However, both boys seemed more curious about their parents' private lives than they were capable of carrying out such a heinous and carefully calculated act.
But in the end, none of these suspects – all of whom seemed guilty at various points throughout the series – turned out to be the killer.
The final episode begins with the police raiding Tommy's house in search of DNA or fingerprint evidence of who left the fireplace. When no evidence is found, Tommy and Rusty decide to go ahead with the trial, which ends with two dramatic closing arguments – and ultimately a verdict of not guilty for Rusty.
As everyone affected by Rusty and Caroline's case – and Caroline's subsequent murder – try to get their lives back on track, Rusty confronts Barbara one evening while she is working out on her spin bike in their garage. He tells her, “I already knew from the beginning, then I didn't know, then I knew again for sure.” Shocked by his accusations, Barbara tells him that he is sick. Rusty reveals that he returned to Caroline's apartment the night she was murdered. When he realizes that she is dead, and that Barbara was likely the culprit, he ties up her body to try to make it look like convicted murderer Liam Reynolds (Mark Harelik), who had previously threatened Caroline, committed the crime.
When Barbara tells Rusty that he's lost his mind and that he's wrong, he reveals that he's been tracking her car, and learns that she was the one who set the fire in Tommy's house. After overhearing her parents' conversation, Jaden enters the garage and confesses that she went to Caroline's house the night of her murder. Jaden explains that she told Caroline to stay away from Rusty, but when Caroline reveals that she's pregnant and that Rusty is the baby's father, the teen loses her cool. She flees the scene, drives home in a daze, cleans out the car, and buries the fire in the backyard. She says that she only set the fire in Tommy's house because she was angry that he accused her father of something he didn't do.
After Barbara was too shocked to speak after her daughter revealed what had happened, Rusty took charge. He announced that the three would never speak of the incident again, and that Jaden had acted to defend their family. In the end, he said that the entire ordeal was his fault.
Although “Presumed Innocent” is a limited series, it has already been renewed for a second season, centered around a new case. According to Apple TV+, the legal thriller has been the streaming platform’s most-watched drama since its launch in 2019.
