Early this morning, Apple TV+ released the first three episodes of its new limited series Defending Jacob, which is based on the 2012 New York Times best-selling novel of the same name. Andy Barber (Chris Evans, The Avengers) has a seemingly idyllic life in a small Massachusetts town with wife Laurie (Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey) and teenage son Jacob (Jaeden Martell, Knives Out). However, their lives are suddenly upended when a horrific crime rocks their small community, and the evidence begins to point towards Jacob. As assistant DA, Andy is initially called in to investigate the crime, but as the evidence comes to light, Andy finds himself at a crossroads, having to choose between his his family and his sworn duty to find and protect justice. Is his love for his son clouding his judgment? Is Jacob as innocent as he claims, or is there a dark side to Andy’s son that he didn’t know about?

After checking out the premiere, I was definitely eager to see more, and to see how this mystery plays out. I found the story, characters and performances to be quite compelling—the show is a blend of character drama, legal thriller, and mystery, with lots of twists and turns and episodic cliffhangers. The talented cast also includes Cherry Jones (Transparent), Pablo Schreiber (American Gods, Orange Is the New Black), Betty Gabriel (Counterpart) and Sakina Jaffrey (Lost in Space). Apple TV+ has been doing a great job of slowly building up its arsenal of strong original programming.

Early this morning, the first three episodes were released on Apple TV+, and a new episode will drop each Friday. If the past is any indicator, the first episode should also be available for sampling by non-subscribers as well.

Tonight, I’ll also be watching/recording Extraction, The Blacklist, and The Graham Norton Show.

For additional suggestions on what to check out tonight, including new episodes of MacGyver, check out the If We Controlled Your Remote… 4/24/20 post at TVisMyPacifier.com.