Defending Jacob: Series Ending and Book Ending Explained!

Apple TV+ is famous for its miniseries. The recent hit Defending Jacob is mind-blowing. But what concerned the fans is the question- Did Jacob kill Ben Rifkin? Well, the ending did not answer the question. We can leave it to Defending Jacob 2 if renewed. Now, comparing the series ending with the book’s ending, we find several contradictions. Scroll down to know more about the ending of Defending Jacob. Defending Jacob: Series Ending and Book Ending Explained!

The Success of Defending Jacob

Most of the series on Apple TV does not provide a clear cut picture on the storyline. Defending Jacob is not an exception. But the ending is tragic. But it failed to answer our doubts about the characters of the show. The entire miniseries follows William Landay’s novel in the year 2012. Mark Bomback adapted the book for the television series. The series debuted on the small screen on April 24, 2020. After eight episodes, the show drew close to an end on May 20, 2020. Jacob takes us to Massachusetts to know about the murder. There is a 50-50 chance that Jacob killed Ben. But nothing is certain.

The Murder of Ben Rifkin

Ben Rifkin is a local teenager. Local police find Jacob, his schoolmate as his murderer. There are two reasons for this. One, there was a knife in Jacob’s room. Two, his social media comments are targeted against Ben. Jacob belongs to the Barber family. Andy and Laurie, Jacob’s parents, do not believe in his innocence. That again worries Jacob. Later, it is found that Leonard Patz is the killer and he committed suicide out of guilt.

Defending Jacob: Series Ending

The ending episodes of defending Jacob show Billy Barber, grandfather of Jacob, perpetrating Leonard’s murder. This brings the spotlight back to Jacob. Andy is not fond of his father and does not want any help from his father. But Billy is concerned about his grandson’s life. So he orchestrates the crime. Then the family moves to Mexico, to have a change in the atmosphere. There Hope Connors recognizes Jacob and befriends him. The plot takes the twist when Hope goes missing. Later, she returns unaffected. Laurie still says Jacob is guilty of the murder. She makes her car crash in an accident. This is a suicide attempt because Laurie is lonely. The family wants to settle in Puerto Vallarta. Defending Jacob: Series Ending and Book Ending Explained!

Episode 7 of #DefendingJacob on @AppleTV is out today. These last two episodes are hands down my favorites. If you haven’t checked us out yet, now’s the time to binge! (It’s very bingeable!)

— Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) May 23, 2020

We don’t know if Jacob is the real killer of Ben. This ending is drastically different from that of the book by William Landay.

Defending Jacob: Book Ending

In the book, the fate of Hope Connors is terrible. She does not deserve death. Hope is found assassinated on the beach. She returns not as an unaffected girl but as a corpse. This gives a twist to the plot because now we can declare that Jacob is a serial killer. The tragic ending of the original series further promotes suspicion and confusion among the fans.

In one more instance, we find that the book is more different from the Defending Jacob series. In the car crash made by Laurie, she barely survives. A more interesting event is that Jacob dies on spot. This again contradicts the show. We don’t know if these changes were made as a strategy to renew the season for a sequel. We need to wait to find out what happens next.

Defending Jacob is a brilliant work with all cast members- Chris Evans, Michelle Dockery, Jaeden Martell, Pablo Schreiber, Cherry Jones, Daniel Henshall, William Xifaras, and Jessi Case. Defending Jacob: Series Ending and Book Ending Explained!