As the first episode of After the Verdict begins, Clara (Michelle Davidson) looks at a picture of the victim and tries to clean the pepperoni juices from it. She is told they really need to get back in there. Daniel (Sullivan Stapleton) thinks there should be a show of hands. Clara is supposed to be in charge, but she agrees it would be a good idea. Most seem to agree with Daniel including Margie who quickly says sorry to Clara. Ollie (Lincoln Younes) throws something at Margie before he is told they’re voting. Ollie holds his hand up and votes with whatever everyone else said. Daniel says not guilty. The vote is 11 to 1. Clara refuses to vote not guilty because of her gut feeling. The other jurors are not happy with her decision. Paul (Nicholas Brown) says his wife slept in. Since he was up first, he decided to make breakfast and go for a run.

When his wife gets up, she says she was late last night because of a work thing. Paul admits she seemed tense after she made the decision to sack her assistant named Heidi Lang (Tess Haubrich). When Lang entered the house, he left them alone. He went for a run and returned home about 30 minutes later. Heidi tells him that she is off because his wife, Belinda, is upset about the baby and needs space. Paul tells the court that Belinda had lost her baby at 23 weeks. In the past, he chases Heidi down to ask where she went. Heidi asks him not to tell anyone, but she went up to the roof for a cigarette. When Belinda didn’t come down after ten minutes, Paul went to the rooftop to look for her. He couldn’t see her anywhere. Once he looked down, he saw Belinda’s body on the ground below him. Paul tells the jury that Heidi did this.

Daniel doesn’t think she did it and had no motive, but Clara says the boss was firing her. Daniel says Belinda never had any intention of firing Heidi who went to the roof to comfort her boss if the defense is right. The therapist confirmed that Belinda was depressed. Ollie knows that she was put on medication as a result. Also, Heidi hugged Belinda and that explains why her DNA was found on Belinda’s clothes. An attorney says Belinda Brooks was all alone before going through the possibilities leading to Belinda’s death. Daniel reminds Clara that they’re supposed to go on facts, but she has been going on facts. They’ve been here for six weeks and she is no closer to making a decision. Daniel asks if she really thinks Heidi is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. They’re interrupted because the judge has called for a verdict. Clara relents and agrees to find the accused not guilty.

A news reporter says the daughter of successful businessman Vincent Lang, Heidi Lang, has been acquitted of murdering her boss who was a public relations director. Heidi briefly talks to the press before Clara thanks everyone for having her as the foreperson. Clara thinks they can stay in touch with the group chat, but Daniel argues that they should delete that since it is likely protocol. Ollie rushes off as Clara discusses having a reunion tomorrow. Margie is okay with the dinner idea, but the others don’t seem that excited about it. Ollie catches up with Eliza because he thinks they had a connection in the courtroom. When he begins talking about it, Eliza tells him to stop since she can’t talk about it as the junior to the prosecution. He confesses he was willing to agree with anyone to just get out of there. Eliza ridicules his attitude so he tries to smooth things over immediately.

Ollie claims he is a feminist who didn’t feel comfortable convicting a woman. When Eliza says the victim was a woman, Ollie admits feminism is so complicated before saying they should workshop it over a drink. She refuses and leaves. Once Clara makes it home, she says hello to Mandy (Randa Sayed) who tells her that Mia needed her printer for some homework. Clara asks if she meant to put the chocolate biscuits in the bin. Mandy reminds her that they agreed to give them less sugar even though she is just their dad’s girlfriend. When the kids come down, they learn that the case is over although their mom didn’t lock anyone in jail. Mia reveals that dad’s printer was packed so Mandy tells her that she and Dom bought a house with a pool.

Clara approaches Dom to ask where her house is. She complains that they never bought a house and she is still renting with no security because everything she earned went into this shop. She reminds him that she gave half of the capital and did a lot of the work for free. They argue about Dom (Richard Brancatisano) running off with his sales manager. Dom claims this is no one’s fault and the kids are happy about the house. Once Clara admits she wants her own house, Dom says that is a great goal for her. He promises to sell the store and give Clara her half back when the time is right and the books are good. He thinks she should stay positive so good things will happen to her too. Margie talks to Trish about their wedding and possibly releasing doves. Trish (Virginia Gay) wonders if the trial is messing with her head, but Margie says no and it is over anyway. Planning her wedding is good for her head. Clara returns home and tells Mandy that they should stick with the routine for the kids.

Mandy knows that she is emotional so she promises that she would never try to replace her. She knows Clara is the kids’ mother and she is more their best friend. Later that night, Clara goes to the cemetery to see Belinda’s grave. While picking up a vase, she hears something behind her. She hides behind the gravestone. Once she pops up to see who it is, Margie scares her. Margie reveals she brought daisies so Clara admits she can’t stop thinking about her either. Clara tells her about Heidi smiling at her outside of the courthouse. She wonders if that means Heidi is guilty and they got her off. Or, is she not guilty and glad they realized it? Margie says they already made that decision and she brought flowers for closure. Clara believes Belinda deserves more like justice. She doesn’t think the jury did enough since they didn’t hear from Heidi, but Margie says they rarely put the accused on the stand.

Clara knows that Margie used to think the husband did it. Margie encourages her to move on though. She agrees they went in thinking they were supposed to crack the case, but they weren’t. Belinda wasn’t the type to kill herself. Margie claims she isn’t moving on because Clara keeps sucking her into her weird vortex. Clara wonders if she is filling a void. Margie reminds her that she doesn’t need her ex. She encourages her to get her own house or mortgage and talk to her weasel boss about paying her properly. After being stuck in a room with Clara for so long, she is convinced she can do it. Daniel shows up at work with an injury on his face and blames playing squash. The boss tells him that she has given his classes to Laura Briggs even though he is ready to go. They’ve given him time off to come to terms with his personal loss. Instead, he went and did jury duty so some of the staff members are concerned that he hasn’t processed everything.

Clara goes to work to talk to Geoff (Josh Price) about getting a pay raise, but he makes it clear that she isn’t going to give her more. During work, she checks the “Free Heidi” Facebook page before calling Margie to tell her about the people supporting her. Ollie goes to one of the properties only to find that a rival (Vivienne Awosoga) got the owner to sign with her three weeks ago. He reminds her that he did the leg work and convinced them to sell. She thinks he would’ve done the same. She offers to take him for a drink, but he says no when Clara sends him information about the reunion. He is the first one to show up. Margie and Clara arrive next. When Daniel arrives, Ollie asks him who he ticked off. Daniel claims the boys got a little rough during lunchtime footy. Clara thinks they should wait for the others before ordering, but it doesn’t look like anyone else is going to come.

They agree it would be a good idea to order. They’re surprised when Heidi enters the restaurant. Clara eventually confesses to planning this by using the nutty people who follow Heidi. She denies that she is a nutter although she joined the online chat group as Clarissa. When Heidi begins leaving, Clara runs over to say hello. Heidi apologizes if she is being rude, but she doesn’t know who is going to jump out. Heidi says it is good that she made friends with the other jurors and that something good came out of this whole mess. Clara invites her to come over and say hi as long as they don’t talk about the trial. Heidi sits down with them before telling them that she comes here on Wednesday because it is a tradition.

She used to do it with Belinda and thinks she’d be happy that she is keeping up the tradition. The waiter tells them he has to take the table since the other jurors aren’t coming. He can only offer them takeaway. Heidi says she lives around the corner before admitting that is probably crazy. Clara invites them over anyway. Once they get there, Daniel thinks they should leave. Clara is interested in learning the truth though. Margie talks to Heidi about the dove she has. She ends up giving it to Margie. She tells the others that the place is hers and that is all that matters. She wants to make her own way in the world which is why she took the job with Belinda. During dinner, they talk about their numbers in court and Ollie asks if he gave off an a-hole vibe. Heidi says it was the opposite. Clara gets giddy and asks if she did it. Heidi questions if she still thinks she might’ve done this. The one thing she felt good about was that they all believed her.

She knows people are going to doubt her regardless, but she thought they were different. Clara begins apologizing as Heidi says she gets it that Clara is curious. Clara blames everything on her boyfriend and calls herself stupid for spending 10 years of her life pouring everything into the business. Heidi thinks he is the stupid one and encourages Clara to stand up to him. Clara confesses that she wants his whole business to burn to the ground. Heidi insists she wanted to take the stand, but her lawyer wouldn’t let her. She just wanted to tell the truth. Clara asks what she thought happened to Belinda. Daniel tries to get them out of there. Heidi encourages Clara to stand up to her ex once again. Once they leave, Clara agrees that she should stand up to Dom. Daniel has to drive because the others are so drunk. They go to Dom’s shop as Clara asks Ollie how much it’d cost because she wants him to put it on the market. Clara begins flipping off the camera.

They make Clara get back in the car. When Ollie is dropped off, he meets with Eliza who tells him it is better if he talks less. In the morning, a detective (Hazem Shammas) wants to talk to Clara about an incident at her furniture store. They take her to the shop which has been burned. She comforts Dom before they’re interviewed by the detectives. Dom says he was in bed last night. When Clara is shown the CCTV footage, she admits she popped by briefly. Clara claims she was just dancing with her middle finger up. She is asked about Ollie so she says he was a real estate agent she asked for a property consultation. They say the vehicle leaves the camera and the fire starts around back a short time later. She jokingly asks about throwing a Molotov cocktail through the window before saying they went to Margie’s place. After she is allowed to leave, she video chats the others to ask them to tell the police that they were all together last night.

She goes over everything they should tell the police. They learn about the fire at Dom’s business. Margie wonders if Heidi might’ve been involved in the fire since Clara told her she wished the store would burn. Daniel asks if she left after they dropped her off before saying he doesn’t know why she had to bring them into it. Once the call ends, Daniel looks at a picture of a woman and retrieves a big stack of money. He goes to a building where two men are fighting. He picks out a man to fight and it begins after that. He lands a few punches before taking a few. Clara picks up the kids and talks to them about the shop. Heidi is waiting for them nearby. She finds it so odd that the store burned to the ground after Clara said that last night.

Heidi knows the insurance money will be good, but she realizes Clara wouldn’t want anything like that to happen. She asks to catch up again since last night was fun. Clara agrees before getting in the car. She thinks about Belinda and the murder as Heidi leaves.

 

After The Verdict Review

After the Verdict has some interesting ideas and it is clear that the show is very unique. It is slightly difficult to judge the performances in a show like this because it isn’t all that serious, but everyone did okay for the most part. The story could get interesting as it begins unfolding and bigger things start happening. The biggest issue with the show is the fact that it is very difficult to take seriously because it bends reality countless times in the first episode.

The series is just too silly right now although some viewers may enjoy this. It was a bit annoying at times to be honest because everything was so far over the top. The first episode wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t spectacular either. It has some good points so its success may depend on the viewer’s mood when watching the show. Those looking for a serious drama should probably look elsewhere though because After the Verdict is more silly than serious.

The first episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of After The Verdict can be found on Reel Mockery here. Learn how to support our independent website by following this link.