The show begins with a flashback of young Steve Dokic (Joshua Brennan) talking to young Kate Lawson (Jade Potts) about modeling. When Steve agrees to take Kate home, he asks if Belinda Bain (Charlotte Lucas) would like to tag along. Kate gives her a quick glimpse before getting into his car.

Back to the present – Fiona West (Danielle King) wakes Vanessa Young (Catherine Van-Davies) for jury duty. Vanessa curses the jurors for their homophobic views and princess behavior. Fiona reminds her of the penalty for skipping jury duty.

Simon Cavanaugh (Nicholas Cassim) joins Emily Cavanaugh (Rachel Gordon) and Ava Cavanaugh (Olivia Allen) for breakfast.  Emily isn’t happy when Ava gets Simon to sign her paper before leaving the table.

Flip Menelaus (Ben Mingay) and Alexi Menelaus (Damien Strouthos) pull up to find two police officers standing in front of their business. A police officer (Quinten Brown) shows them a photo of Luiz Alves (Will Santana) to identify. Flip and Alexi deny knowing Luiz.

Jarrod Saunders (Ngali Shaw) is released from jail. He is grateful to find his bike where the police left it during his arrest. When he hops on the bike, he has a flashback of being mistreated by the arresting officers.

Lucy Bloom (Marta Dusseldorp) prepares Amita James (Aretha-Mae Collins) for court. As Jenny Raison (Amy Kersey) suggests a less stressful alternative, she is cut off by Amita who says she wants to do it. Amita’s mother (Nicole Yardley) smiles at her daughter. Amita admits to not watching the court videos of Claire Spears (Coco Jack Gillies).

Detective Sam Chedid (Louisa Mignone) informs Bloom of Jarrod’s arrest. Bloom asks if Jarrod was charged with a crime. Sam says the police determined he was in class when the break-in took place. Bloom assures her that Jarrod has every right to distrust cops.

Margaret Brown (Gennie Nevinson) tells the other jurors that Kate Lawson (Kate Mulvany) has a “hard face.” Lily Powell (Bishanyia Vincent) suggests Kate’s facial expression could be related to stress.

Corrie D’Souza (Pallavi Sharda) asks Alexi if he is all right when Jarrod walks into the jury room. Garry Thorne (Brendan Cowell) jokingly asks if he had a “big night.” Holding his side, Jarrod informs the other jurors of his being falsely arrested. Lily asks if he needs medical treatment. Court Sheriff (Lee Robinson) tells juror number 8 (Toby Blome) that Judge Muir (James Lugton) is requesting a meeting.

Jarrod informs Muir of his arrest and resisting arrest charge. Bloom voices her concern about Jarrod being biased after his false arrest. Muir suggests if he remains on the jury, it could be encouraging to more young people.

Garry suggests the jurors utilize a board to share their travel and contact information. Corrie reminds him that the jurors have the phone number to the Sheriff’s Office. Georgina Merrick (Brooke Satchwell) asks if there will be a mistrial if Jarrod is dismissed. Simon tells her that the court chose two additional jurors to cover dismissals. Farrad Jassim (Hazem Shammas) explains the Jury Act to the jurors. Garry questions Farrad’s knowledge of the court process. The jurors are called to court.

The prosecution shows Amita a video from Claire’s phone. As the video plays, Amita barely glances in its direction. Bloom asks her to identify the beverage Claire is drinking when the video is made. Amita tells the jury it is vodka. Bloom asks if they were disciplined for streaming the video. Amita claims Claire’s father, Nathan Spears (Matt Nable) confronted Kate about the video when he arrived at her house. Bloom tells her that Kate permitted them to drink vodka in her home. Amita says Kate was severely stressed about her upcoming exhibition. Bloom asks why Kate was so uptight. Amita tells the jury that Claire invited her over against Kate’s wishes.

Bloom questions Amita about Flying Spirits, an alcohol delivery service. Amita tells the jury that Kate’s credit card was utilized to pay for the alcohol. When Bloom asks Amita if she is familiar with “grooming,” Muir stops her. The prosecution shows Amita a photo of Claire strangling herself. Amita says the shot was part of Claire’s exhibition. In a flashback, Claire demonstrates how to wrap her school uniform tie around her neck. Claire makes a joke about her tie being silk when Amita holds up a photo of a girl. Kate identifies the girl as Belinda. Amita points out that Claire and Belinda are wearing the same dress. Kate claims Claire’s dress is new.

Bloom asks if there is something unique about Claire’s photos. Amita tells the jury that the series is geared toward “death.”

Kate and Brett Colby (Sam Neill) discuss how Bloom described what she did with Claire as “grooming.” Kate tells him that it is “force-bed bullsh**.” Colby warns her rage will be seen as a win for Bloom. Ezekiel Aku (Mandela Mathia) suggests she may have a few juror allies. She complains about a juror wearing a crucifix giving her “evil looks.” After describing it as “theater,” Colby says they need to show the jury how she really cared about Claire.

Jarrod takes a nap while the other jurors discuss Muir’s decision to strike Bloom’s grooming question. Margaret Brown (Gennie Nevinson) says Claire being a “willing participant” made her an easy victim.

Alexi contacts Flip about his meeting with the police. Flip tells him everything went okay before suggesting he not say anything to anyone.

Bloom asks Amita where she got the idea of Kate being obsessed with death. Amita tells the jury about Kate’s photo collection of dead people. She has a flashback of Kate describing death as “mysterious” and “beautiful.” While Claire loads film into the camera, Kate utilizes her phone to take their pictures. Back to the present, Amita brags their makeup received a big social media response.

Amita breaks down crying after watching a video of her and Claire portraying two dead girls in the woods.

Jarrod tells the other jurors that Bloom intentionally made Amita cry.  Simon informs Georgina of Ava’s social media addiction. Georgina admits she isn’t sure Kate is guilty. Peter Brodsky (Daniel Mitchell) says his mind is constantly changing. Margaret assures them that her opinion is Claire and Amita were unsafe around Kate.

Margaret describes Amita’s testimony as plausible. Peter says it’s “rehearsed” like TV.

Corrie and Alexi go for a run after a few seconds of stretching.

Ava catches Simon in her room. He demands she render her cellphone. She reminds him it is private. Raising his voice, he tells her that she will never have privacy while living under his roof.

Jarrod has flashbacks of his arrest while taking a shower.

Diane Spears (Jenni Baird) walks in on Nathan talking to Amita. She warns Amita that he isn’t legally permitted to speak to her. When a woman arrives for Amita, Diane tells her that Nathan is trying to convince her to lie.

Diane has a flashback of Kate trying to calm her down before her meeting with Nathan and Sonia Spears (Silvia Colloca). After a brief argument, Nathan assures Diane that he is fully capable of taking care of Claire on the weekends. Sonia informs them of Diane’s decision to send Claire to Melbourne. Kate tells them that Claire can stay at her home on weekends when she isn’t with Nathan. Relieved, Diane says Claire will be thrilled with her decision.

Colby asks why Claire didn’t visit her father’s home. Amita tells the jury that Claire hated Sonia and her father’s crap. Colby asks how Claire felt about her mother. Amita says Claire saw her as “weak.” He asks her to explain Claire and Kate’s relationship. She says they were like mother and daughter, with verbal arguments. He asks if Claire utilized Kate’s credit card to pay for the Flying Spirits order without her knowledge. She admits Claire didn’t authorize the purchase.

Amita has a flashback of a furious Nathan’s rushing into Claire’s room without warning. He confronts her about a social media photo of a penis drawn on her abdomen. When she demands he stop stalking her, he physically forces her to get into his vehicle. The argument continues until Kate approaches the vehicle when Claire runs back into the house.

Back to the present, Colby tells the jury that there won’t be a video, only a clip of Claire with her red tie wrapped around her neck. She acknowledges it was her who recorded the video. He asks what Claire’s state of mind was when the video was being made. She claims Claire was angry at everyone. In a flashback, Claire takes her red school uniform tie around her neck while Amita questions if it is something she wants to do with her father already being upset. Claire says, “Fu** him.” Amita records Claire strangling herself when Kate enters the room and immediately removes the tie.

The jury is shown another video of Claire, Kate, and Amita frolicking on the beach. Amita tells the jury that she misses spending time with Claire and Kate. Colby asks if she perceived Kate as “responsible” and “loving.” Amita says, “yes.”

Bloom warns Nathan that badgering a witness is grounds for a mistrial. He assures her that wasn’t his intention. She asks him to stay away from the courthouse while the trial is going on.

Jarrod shows his mother, Hope Saunders (Ursula Yovich) the large bruise on his side. Warri Saunders (Tony Briggs) suggests he not take his laptop anywhere. Holding up a bong, Warri questions if it has something to do with his arrest and missing deadlines. Jarrod accuses him of snooping through his things.

Vanessa and Fiona determine it is their day of ovulation.

Professor Lowanna Porter (Rhoda Roberts) receives Jarrod’s assignment and an explanation of why it is late.

Ava complains while Simon removes her bedroom door. Irate, she tells him how much she hates him.

As Sonia inspects her stomach in the mirror, Nathan wraps his arms around her before they kiss.

Corrie and Alexi have sex in his vehicle.

Garry tells Allen Quigley (Dorian Nkono) that Corrie’s gambling habits and Simon’s investments. Allen gives him some spending money before offering a deal to make his debt go away. As Garry stares at him in disbelief, Allen tells him that it would take an acquittal. Garry refuses his offer. After giving him a cellphone, Allen says he and Kate can be free.

Diane enters Claire’s bedroom. She has a flashback of leaving Claire a text on her phone before calling Amita to ask if she has seen Claire. When she visits Nathan’s home to tell him about Claire, she realizes Claire is staying with him. He orders her to leave as the episode comes to an end.

 

The Twelve Review

The script has become a hotbed of preaching. It is packed with filler to push agendas irrelevant to the show. If it stayed on topic, the season could’ve easily ended after six episodes.

The poorly written script focuses on everything except the trial. It’s just a shame that Sam Neill and Matt Nable’s flawless performances were wasted on this rubbish.

The show doesn’t put teenage girls in a good light. Instead, it makes them look desperately promiscuous. As far as teenagers are concerned, they pushed the lewd aspect to the next level. If this was supposed to be a shock factor, it failed miserably as it felt like some form of grooming.

The bad cinematography alters the visibility of important courtroom details. For example, the courtroom TV is on the right of the judge while viewers are watching from the far left. Why not place the camera directly in front of the TV? I had to focus.

The show contradicts itself. Initially, the video in which Claire strangled herself was viewed as a form of “erotic asphyxiation.” It turns out, it was Claire’s way of threatening her parents. It had nothing to do with sexual arousal.

I question why they chose such a large cast but put little effort into the editing. It is worth mentioning that many members of the cast are being totally ignored. It is impossible for viewers to draw conclusions about characters when there is no introduction.

The episode deserves a 5. Get more The Twelve recaps here. Support Reel Mockery by clicking on the link.