After 13-year-old Jamie Miller is accused of murdering schoolgirl Katie Leonard, Netflix's Adolescence plot dives headfirst into why he committed this heinous crime.
The four-episode Netflix original stirred up attention for its exploration of toxic masculinity and the unique style of its chapters flowing in one continuous shot. Check out all the plot details and spoilers for every episode below:
Plot of Adolescence Episode 1 Explained - Did Jamie Kill Katie?
Adolescence starts with a bang as D.I. Luke Bascombe, D.S. Misha Frank, and an armed police team storm the Miller family home in Northern England. The raid happened at 6:15 a.m. as the police rushed past father Eddie, mother Manda, and sister Lisa to find the young Jamie Miller.
Although which English towns the series takes place in was never named, Adolescence was filmed in locations across the U.K.
The police find a petrified Jamie in his bed - having already peed his pants out of fear - where they arrest him on suspicion of murder and begin tearing apart the house looking for the murder weapon.
After arriving at the police station, Jamie had to ask for a solicitor and select an appropriate adult to accompany him on the process, for which he chose his father.
The Miller family were kept waiting while Jamie was in his cell until, eventually, Eddie was brought out to be with his son while he was strip-searched, bloods were taken, and DNA samples were collected, much to his father's frustration.
Solicitor Paul Barlow was assigned to Jamie's case and remained by him and Eddie's side during questioning from officers Bascombe and Frank. From here, it was explained that Jamie had been accused of murdering 14-year-old Katie Leonard the night prior, which he strongly denied.
After a series of argumentative Instagram interactions between Jamie and Katie were presented by the police, the officers delivered the most damning evidence.
CCTV footage showed Jamie following Katie through the town, culminating at a car park where a confrontation took place before he stabbed her multiple times.
Throughout the episode, fans are convinced Jamie could never have committed this crime, which co-creator Stephen Graham explained to Netflix's Tudum was the goal as they "wanted the audience to feel the same feelings" as Eddie when they discover the truth:
“That was down to the casting. We wanted the audience to be on Jamie’s side and think, ‘Oh my God, this arrest is terrible. There’s no way he's done this.' We wanted the audience to feel the same feelings that Eddie feels when he looks at it and realizes what Jamie did.”
The revelation of Jamie's guilt proved shocking to Eddie, who was left in tears and horror at his son's horrendous actions - and thus the Episode 1 credits roll.
Plot of Adolescence Episode 2 Explained - Where Was the Knife?
Adolescence's second chapter takes place at Jamie and Katie's school, following officers Bascombe and Frank as they search for the murder weapon. Viewers also meet Jamie's close friends, Ryan and Tommy, and it becomes apparent that Jamie's crime has become the talk of the school.
Katie's best friend, Jade, was questioned by the police officers, who were trying to get a picture of the deceased's life and her relationship with Jamie.
As CCTV showed Jamie walking past the school on the night of the murder, the officers asked the class for any information they had on the whereabouts of the knife, believing he hid the weapon on the premises.
During their visit, a fire alarm went off and prompted a school evacuation, in which time Jade attacked Ryan, shouting, "The f***ing freak killed my friend."
Bascombe spoke with Ryan, seemingly in a continued effort to try and understand Jamie's motive for killing Katie, including his emotions and relationship with others.
Notably, Bascombe has a son in the school called Adam, who pulls his father aside to explain the interactions between Jamie and Katie on Instagram, generally revealing she was cryptically calling him an incel through emojis.
After that, the detective attempted to pull Ryan out of class, only for him to run away to avoid questioning. Following a long chase, Jamie's best friend revealed he gave him the knife but thought he would just use it to "scare her."
Ultimately, Bascombe decides they have what they need for the case and tells his partner to charge Jamie with Katie's murder, having found no murder weapon.
In an attempt to bond with his own son, Bascombe offers to give him a lift and take him to go and get food. The episode concludes by panning over to the car park where Katie was murdered to show Jamie's dad Eddie looking at a memorial to the deceased.
Plot of Adolescence Episode 3 Explained - Did Jamie Confess?
Adolescence Episode 3 was perhaps the show's most unique as it takes place seven months after Katie's death and almost entirely within one room of the facility where Jamie is being detained.
The episode details a session between Jamie and Briony Ariston, a psychologist sent to write a report on the accused murderer and attempts to answer the question of why the young boy killed Katie in Adolescence.
Due to overcrowding in standard detention facilities, Jamie was held in a mental health facility filled with screaming, where he had recently gotten into a fistfight.
The psychologist starts her fifth session with Jamie on a friendly note, delivering him a hot chocolate and half of a cheese and pickle sandwich.
Stephen Graham explained the significance of the "tennis match" interaction between Jamie and Briony to Tudum, noting how, in her many years on the job, she has "never experience [anyone] like Jamie:"
“Episode 3 gives us this deconstruction of this young boy. We get to see the fact that Briony’s been doing this job for years, but yet she’s never experienced [anyone] like Jamie.”
Having discussed the key male figures in Jamie's family, such as his dad and grandad, he grows frustrated with this focus, and tension builds in the room as he accuses her of "chattin' s***." She was eager to discover "what being a man feels like" for Jamie through an understanding of these family members.
Jamie's frustration of being locked in a mental health facility led to an angry outburst where he shouted at the psychologist, threw a hot chocolate across the room, and screamed, "You do not tell me when to sit down... Look at me now. You do not control what I do in my life."
From here, after a break from the session, Briony looks to understand Jamie's feelings toward women, diving into sexual questions that make him uncomfortable as he repeatedly asks, "Are you allowed to ask these questions?" In response, he went on to manufacture stories of false sexual encounters with girls.
The murdering boy refers to the other psychologist assessing him separately, saying how "the other bloke is much more easy" and mentioning him asking, "Whether I understand what I did." This spurs an angry outburst from Jamie as he seemingly realizes he had accidentally confessed to the crime.
Jamies goes as far as to stand angrily in front of Briony and shout, attempting to intimidate her and later taunting her, saying she is "scared of a 13-year-old."
He revealed that one boy in his year had received nude images from Katie and passed them to others around the school. This had prompted Jamie to try and take advantage of her vulnerability and ask her out, which she hastily rejected and later began bullying him on Instagram and calling him an "incel."
Despite his murderous crimes, to which he confesses in saying, "I had a knife," he expected pride for saying he "didn't touch her" while others may have.
This concludes Jamie's final session with Briony, which leads to one last outburst of anger where security Frank has to physically remove him from the room.
Plot of Adolescence Episode 4 Explained - What Happened to Jamie's Family?
Episode 4 shifts time even further forward, over a year after the arrest, as Eddie and the family are celebrating his 50th birthday. The family seems to have settled back into normal life until Lisa comes back and reveals the word "nonce" (British slang for a pedophile) had been spray-painted onto Eddie's van.
Interestingly, it appears Manda has been pushing for the family to move back to their past home in Liverpool for a fresh start, which Eddie has been against.
As Eddie's attempts to clean the paint off the van proved futile, he decided on a trip to Wainwright's to salvage the day and get materials to remove the graffiti. On the van ride over, they made plans to cook breakfast, get changed, have breakfast, go to the cinema, and order a Chinese takeaway for dinner.
While shopping, Eddie called in help from the staff, one of which creepily declared he is "on [their] side" and believes Jamie wasn't to blame for his crimes.
Outside, Eddie spots some boys who, earlier in the episode, shouted "nonce" at him at the house, seemingly revealing themselves as the vandals. He was quick to angrily chase them down, aggressively grab him, and shove him over.
But that wasn't the end of things as he simply threw paint purchased in the store over the van to cover the paint before facing trouble from workers for the mess.
On the way back, the family got a call from Jamie in prison, still awaiting trial, who, after some chit-chat, revealed he is planning to plead guilty to the crimes.
Back at the house, Eddie and Manda decide to abandon their theater trip and, after a heartfelt talk, come to admit they "could have done more" as parents.
Despite previous thoughts of moving home, the family opts against it, realizing it would only "be better for a bit" before somebody finds out about Jamie.
Ultimately, Adolescence ends with Eddie going into Jamie's room, lying down on his bed, and breaking down into tears, screaming into a pillow.
Read more about who played Adolescence's main characters on Netflix.
