Presumed Innocent: Did the Killer Gaslight [Spoiler]?! And 10 Other Questions the Finale Left Us With

Matt Webb Mitovich
·4-min read
Presumed Innocent: Did the Killer Gaslight [Spoiler]?! And 10 Other Questions the Finale Left Us With
Presumed Innocent: Did the Killer Gaslight [Spoiler]?! And 10 Other Questions the Finale Left Us With

The following contains spoilers from the Season 1 finale of Presumed Innocent, now streaming on Apple TV+.

More from TVLine

Apple TV+’s Presumed Innocent with its Season 1 finale pulled the Scottish Malt rug out from under us, with a shocking one-two punch.

Some time after Rusty had been found not guilty by the trial jury, he confronted Barbara in the tool shed to reveal how he had found Carolyn Polhemus’ dead body that fateful night but then tied her up à la Liam Reynolds, thinking that he was protecting his killer of a jealous wife.

Barbara’s utterly “agog” state was interrupted when daughter Jaden sauntered into the shed to confess that it was she who killed Carolyn, with the fire poker, in the heat of the moment upon learning that her father’s mistress was pregnant with his kid.

Rusty quickly pronounced that the Sabich family (sorry, Kyle, no secret-keeping for you!) would ne’er speak of these darrrrrrk truths again, and everyone lived happily ever after.

Even so, the renewed mystery drama’s freshman finale left us with questions, such as….

How did Rusty leave no DNA/skin cells on the rope?

Sure, he had gloves on (keeps a spare set for crime scenes in the glove box, we will assume?), but it seems like all that hasty lashing would rub a coarse rope against his forearm or something. (Also, where’d he get that abundance of rope from in short order?)

Was Carolyn a bit cruelly rubbing it in Jaden’s face that she was pregnant with Rusty’s baby?

Or was she just stating facts?

What was Jaden possibly thinking this whole time, knowing that someone tied up Carolyn after she killed her?

Imagine thinking you got away with an impromptu crime of passion, then learn the next day via the news (and/or your dad!) that someone discovered and messed with your victim? Seems like you’d need to talk about that. (Anything you want to tell us, Dr. Rush?)

Was Jaden basically gaslighting her own dad, by suggesting he “disassociated” and maybe did kill Carolyn?

Remember, “dream state” or not in the immediate wake of killing Carolyn, Jaden had the presence of mind to wipe down the car the morning after. So, when she nudged her dad to consider his own possible disassociation … was that a bit sick?

How did Jaden think that planting the murder weapon at Tommy’s would help clear her father, exactly?

Is she legally savvy enough to suspect it might set up a mistrial? (And don’t get us started on a teen knowing how to run a Post-It through a printer.)

Did the show seem to brush off Rusty’s prettttttty-dark “hog-tied Carolyn to obfuscate the crime scene” thing by instantly pivoting to Jade’s confession?

I know, I know — the family shall “never speak of this again,” but let’s not forget Dad’s own sordid role in all of this, done for the right reasons or not.

Would Raymond’s wife Lorraine been a far more interesting killer reveal?

Maybe she heard tell of a workplace affair and thought that her own husband was hooking up with Carolyn? Maybe Lorraine’s feelings for Barbara transcended mere friendship, and she was doing her a solid? Maybe we just wanted to hear Elizabeth Marvel deliver a stone-cold confession à la [Spoiler] at the end of the Harrison Ford movie.

How well did any of Tommy’s coworkers know him, that his cat ownership seemed to catch them all by surprise?

The cat’s existence seemed to be brand-new information to everyone and anyone who got wind of it in the finale. Man, if I still had my cat Oreo, I’d be sharing stories or her antics with Team TVLine on the regular.

Will Season 2 follow Nico, Tommy and the same DA’s office, or a whole new set of characters?

Nico at the end of the finale urged Tommy to move on from Carolyn and this epic loss and bounce back. Is that a comeback story you want/need to see? Or does Tommy have no root-for quality?

Will an “exonerated” Rusty go back to work at the DA’s office, alongside the very people who tried to put him away?

Or will he go into private practice and start fresh? And is that the Season 2 storyline, him defending someone else?

And one last time, we ask: What high school baseball player practices his pitching with a seamless felt tennis ball?!

Gonna throw your arm out, Kyle! Now go pick up the ball that rolled over to the odd, long-and-skinny freshly dug hole in the back yard….

What questions did Presumed Innocent Season 1 leave YOU with? Drop ’em in the comments, and email InsideLine@tvline.com with any Season 2 questions you have.

var pd_tags = new Array;pd_tags[“14109621-src”]=”poll-oembed-simple”;

var pd_tags = new Array;pd_tags[“14109625-src”]=”poll-oembed-simple”;

Best of TVLine

Get more from TVLine.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter

Latest stories