![Review: ‘Presumed Innocent’ Season 1, Episode 4 “The Burden”](https://television-b26f.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/presumed-innocent-photo-010402-667b09a137a14.png)
![Review: ‘Presumed Innocent’ Season 1, Episode 4 “The Burden”](https://television-b26f.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/presumed-innocent-photo-010402-667b09a137a14.png)
Previously, on the third episode of Apple TV’s Presumed Innocent, Rusty Sabich’s (Jake Gyllenhaal) murder trial is soon to begin. He and his wife, Barbara (Ruth Negga), tell their kids, Jaden (Chase Infiniti) and Kyle (Kingston Rumi Southwick), about what’s been going on. Rusty’s friend and former boss, Raymond Horgan (Bill Camp), decides to help him with his case after he’s arrested as the prime suspect in Carolyn Polhemus’ (Renate Reinsve) murder. Elsewhere, Carolyn’s son, Michael (Tate Birchmore), tells Rusty that he knows he was there the night his mom died, having visual evidence. Tommy Molto (Peter Sarsgaard) and Nico Della Guardia (O-T Fagbenle) continue working on the case.
At the beginning of this fourth episode, Kyle is in his bedroom and his parents come in. Rusty tells him that there were pictures of Kyle riding his bike at Carolyn’s house the night she died. Kyle tells them that he knew about the affair and followed Rusty so that he could find out who she was. He wanted to know why his father would cheat on his mother. Barbara suggests Kyle should see a therapist, but Rusty is against it. Rusty yells at his wife and tells her that she needs to take some responsibility in all of this regarding the affair and Kyle finding out. She gets upset with him and storms out.
The next day, Raymond and Rusty meet to discuss the case. Rusty tells him about Kyle. Raymond gives him some tough love, telling him that he betrayed Barbara and the kids.
At the law firm, Tommy meets with Carolyn’s ex-husband, Matthew (Dalton Alan), and her son, Michael (Tate Birchmore). They go over the photos Michael took of Rusty the night of the murder. Michael tells Tommy that Carolyn started to become scared of Rusty at the end of their affair. Although she didn’t say his name, Michael knew she had to be talking about Rusty.
Detective Alana Rodriguez (Nana Mensa) calls Rusty and tells him that there’s some new information regarding the last case he worked on with Carolyn. A man named Brian Ratzer’s DNA was left at a crime scene. Brian tells them that he works during the night and that he knows nothing about any crimes. Rusty and Alana both know something is going on with him, but decide to leave.
At night, Barbara is in the garage scrubbing Kyle’s bike with water and soap. She doesn’t want any traces of Kyle being at Carolyn’s place. Rusty tells her that there’s no possibility that Kyle is the murderer, but Barbara tells him that he has to remember he could become a suspect because he’s a black male teenager.
The next day, we see Tommy and Nico walking together at the courthouse. Tommy tells him that his colleague, Eugenia (Virginia Kull) came to him, asking him why she’s a witness for the trial. Eugenia knew about Rusty and Carolyn’s affair. Nico tells Tommy that Raymond called to meet with them.
At the office, Rusty’s attorney, Mya (Gabby Beans), has him tell her what happened the day of the murder. He wasn’t receiving any messages back from Carolyn, so he went to the bar and got drunk. When she texted him back, he went to her house. Carolyn and Rusty got into a fight that night. He wanted to get back together with her, but she didn’t feel the same. After their meeting, Raymond and Mya agree to not have Rusty on the stand as a witness for the trial.
Later, Raymond meets with Tommy and Nico. Raymond tells them that they don’t have any good evidence against Rusty. He wants them to take an obstructional plea, meaning that if found guilty, Rusty would get three years in prison. Tommy and Nico are baffled by that and show him new evidence that came in, which shocks him.
Rusty and Barbara talk after they make up. She tells him he wasn’t wrong when he told her that she needed to take some responsibility. As they’re talking, Raymond calls Rusty about the new evidence: Rusty’s skin was found underneath Carolyn’s fingernails. As he’s on the phone, someone bangs on the door. Rusty opens the door and sees Brian Ratzer. Rusty starts punching him, while Barbara and Jaden yell for him to stop.
Overall, this episode opened more doors into the case. What will happen now that they found Rusty’s DNA underneath Carolyn’s fingernails? Why did Brian Ratzer come to Rusty’s home? How did he even know where he lived and who he was?
Rating: 10/10