This Guide to Episode Two of Presumed Innocent: People v Rozat Sabich on Apple TV will include an episode summary, my theories about the murder, and my thoughts about this Apple TV adaptation compared to the 1987 book and 1990 movie. Spoilers are possible but they will be marked or protected!
Episode Two of Presumed Innocent on Apple TV: People v Rozat Sabich
Are you joining me mid-series? Here are links to my prior Presumed Innocent Episode Guides in order:
Introduction to Presumed Innocent on Apple TV
Spoilers and Plot Summary for the book Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow
Episode One of Presumed Innocent on Apple TV: Bases Loaded
- You can find my helpful Character List here
- In this post: Summary of Events of Episode Two
- My Thoughts on Episode Two
Summary of Events for Episode Two of Presumed Innocent: People v Rozat Sabich
My Summary of Episode One is here!
- After the two bombshells from the end of episode one (that Rusty and Carolyn were having an affair, and that Carolyn was pregnant at the time of her death), Raymond is furious. How dare Rusty ruin the election with his tawdry affair!
- Rusty tells Barbara that he’s a suspect. And that even though he told her that his affair with Carolyn was over, it started up again. Just a little. Oops.
- Raymond’s wife Lorraine is also furious at him. How could he not know that Rusty and Carolyn were sleeping together?
- Rusty is still convinced that Liam Reynolds had something to do with Carolyn’s murder, even though he’s locked up. Rusty is shocked to discover that there were two semen samples from Bunny’s autopsy: one from Reynolds, and another that was “inconclusive.”
- Barbara forces Rusty to tell the kids about his affair and that he’s a suspect in Carolyn’s murder
- The police show up with a search warrant for Rusty and Barbara’s house and ask Rusty to do a cheek swab for DNA.
- Dr. Rush, Rusty’s therapist, calls him a liar. Wow, are therapists allowed to do that?
- Rusty asks Raymond to be his defense lawyer. What?
- Rusty visits Liam Reynolds in prison and asks him if he had an accomplice
- Rigo/Rico (Rusty’s investigator) is upset that Rusty didn’t tell her any of this. She points out that Bunny was stabbed. But Rusty says the police are fixated on him as Carolyn’s murderer and she needs to help him keep investigating.
- The lab results come back: Rusty is the father of Carolyn’s unborn child. No surprise
- Rusty is arrested and arraigned the next day. Raymond shows up to represent him. They ask for the soonest possible trial date.
- Rusty gets an anonymous text that says: You were there. I saw you.”
Thoughts on Episode Two of Presumed Innocent
- I’m not sure how I feel about Raymond being Rusty’s lawyer. I really liked the character of Sandy Stern (played by Raul Julia) and am curious to see how this change plays out. As I said in my analysis of episode one, perhaps they are going to have Raymond be a suspect?
- The judge from the book and 1990 movie was Larren Lyttle (male) in the book and Laryn Little (female) in the movie. That’s confusing and I hope I got all those consonants right.
- I’m wondering who the anonymous text is from. In the book, Carolyn’s neighbor is a witness, so maybe it’s her! But how would she have Rusty’s phone number?
- Did you hear someone call Della Guardia and Molto “Hall and Oates?” I think that’s what I heard and I laughed so hard.
- A review said that the delivery of the actor who plays Della Guardia “suggests Nico is either stoned or doing a bad Ben Affleck impersonation.” I noticed that. Sometimes he barely moves his lips while speaking! Also, Rusty’s daughter makes fun of it when they’re all on the couch watching the news.
My Questions About Episode Two with Slight Spoilers
There’s nothing that is a big spoiler in here because I have NO idea how the series will play out. So I’m not protecting these but if you want to know NOTHING, don’t read further.
- As I said in my analysis of Episode One, I like that there are (possibly) more suspects. In the book, we get the idea that Della Guardia and Molto are railroading Rusty out of spite. And I wondered that since in the book Raymond slept with Carolyn, he might be revealed as a suspect in the series. (I would NOT cross Lorraine, so let’s hope not for his sake.) Would Raymond then be disqualified as Rusty’s lawyer? I learned that there is going to be a second defense lawyer brought on by Raymond, so my suspicions are even higher. Leave your thoughts in comments.
- What do we think about the anonymous text Rusty gets at the end of this episode? At the beginning of the 1990 movie (I think even before Rusty finds out Carolyn was dead) he gets a note from her saying “Stop it. I know it’s you.” We are meant to think that a lovesick Rusty is prank calling her or whatever. But in this series, the text comes after Carolyn’s murder. Who saw Rusty where? Please leave your theories in comments.
- My final thought is about the two semen samples in the Bunny Davis case. Semen samples are a thing in the book (and 1990 movie) as semen is found in Carolyn’s body. In the series, we know that one sample belonged to Liam Reynolds, the convicted murderer. But who else was sleeping with Bunny? We have plenty of guys to choose from: Rusty, Raymond, Tommy, or Della Guardia. (I think Rusty’s barking up the wrong tree with his accomplice theory. I don’t think any of those characters would team up with Liam.)
My guide to Episode Three is here! Please leave any questions or comments below!