Jamie was terrified at the police station (Image: NETFLIX)
WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS.
The Stephen Graham-led drama, Adolescence, has just landed on Netflix and is making waves with its ambitious one-shot sequence filming technique. In the series, Graham portrays Eddie, the father of Jamie Miller (played by Owen Cooper).
The series kicks off with a distressing scene where Jamie is arrested. Detective Luke Bascombe (Ashley Walters) and his team forcefully enter the Miller family home, read Jamie his rights and take him into custody. Despite the shock and denial from Jamie and his family, he cooperates with the police and is taken to the local station.
Throughout the ordeal, Jamie maintains his innocence and is advised to engage a lawyer, who at that point was unaware of the evidence held against Jamie. A poignant moment arises when Eddie privately asks his son if he is guilty, to which Jamie denies. However, their belief in Jamie’s innocence is shattered when they are presented with damning evidence. During the police interview, Detective Bascombe reveals CCTV footage and images of Jamie following his schoolmate Katie on the night prior to her death.
The chilling video shows a confrontation between the two, with Jamie clearly seen brandishing a knife and attacking Katie. The revelation leaves Eddie horrified and unable to meet his son’s gaze, even as Jamie continues to deny his guilt.
Eddie could not look his son in the eye (Image: NETFLIX)
Throughout the gripping TV drama, the innocence of Jamie remained a key focus, with various characters, including a supportive DIY store worker, assuring Eddie, “on his side” and suggesting that video evidence could be manipulated. But as the plot thickened towards the series finale, Jamie experienced an epiphany and decided to reach out to his father, just weeks before facing the judge, to confess he was opting for a guilty plea—a stark admission after being engulfed in denial.
This revelation ultimately affirmed Jamie’s guilt in the murder of Katie, rendering any ideas of doctored CCTV footage implausible due to the tight timeframe between the crime and his subsequent detainment. Also, it emerged that Jamie’s acquaintance Ryan had conceded to supplying him with the lethal weapon used in the tragic event.
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Ashley Walters as DI Bascombe in Adolescence (Image: NETFLIX)
Further complicating matters was Jamie’s resemblance to his father’s volatile nature, a trait all too apparent during a confrontation outside the DIY shop where Eddie fiercely confronted a teenager defacing his van.
As curtains closed on the series, Jamie’s fraught parents were left pondering over their potential culpability in shaping their son’s destiny, wondering whether his upbringing was flawed. Consensus formed between them on the wisdom of Jamie’s decision to plead guilty, hoping it might reflect positively on his compliance and possibly lead to a less severe sentencing.
While the viewers were left in the dark concerning Jamie’s ultimate fate, the story strongly insinuates that he would likely face a lifetime behind bars, subject to a minimum of 12 years due to the severity of his crime.
Adolescence is available to watch on