The Staircase Episode 7 Review: Will Juliette Binoche Prove Colin Firth’s Innocence?

The Staircase Episode 7 is out now! HBO Max’s latest true-crime drama miniseries is created by The Devil All The Time’s Antonio Campos and, is based on the 2004 true-crime docuseries of the same name created by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade. The runtime of the seventh episode is 63 minutes. It is directed by Antonio Campos and written by Maggie Cohn.

The cast features Colin Firth as Michael Peterson, Toni Collette as Kathleen Peterson, Michael Stuhlbarg as David Rudolf, Dane DeHaan as Clayton Peterson, Olivia DeJonge as Caitlin Atwater, Patrick Schwarzenegger as Todd Peterson, Sophie Turner as Margaret Ratliff, Odessa Young as Martha Ratliff, Rosemarie DeWitt as Candace Hunt Zamperini, Tim Guinee as Bill Peterson, Parker Posey as Freda Black, Juliette Binoche as Sophie Brunet and, Vincent Vermignon as Jean-Xavier. The story recounts the infamous trial of novelist Michael Peterson.

– HBO Max’s The Staircase Episode 7 Review Does Not Contain Spoilers –

The Staircase Episode 7: Seek and Ye Shall

The Staircase Episode 7 is filled with Sophie’s quest to prove Michael’s innocence and Martha and Margaret tackling their own demons. The irreparable loss the family has gone through affecting their personal lives and interpersonal relationships takes a front stand.

The seventh episode of The Staircase starts with Michael rejecting the Alford Plea, like in the previous episode and David trying to convince him to do otherwise as the plea secures his deal out of the prison. We soon move back from 2014 to the earlier years of Micheal in prison as well as the timeframe before Katheleen’s death. As seen in The Staircase Episode 6, Sophie along with Larry emerged with the owl theory but, that does not get much attention in this episode as the focus shifts to another case of homicide where the victim has blunt force trauma with a skull fracture. This new discovery either makes or breaks Micheal’s case.

Sophie goes on her investigation and, unknowingly opens a pandora’s box of information that puts her in a difficult position with Michael. Simultaneously, more hope seems to find a way to the Peterson case. We meet Evelyn Ivins, who works for the North Carolina Project for Actual Innocence and investigates the misleading pieces of evidence provided by the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) to establish a quid quo pro relationship with the office of the District Attorney (DA). Although Ivins focus is a specific case, the misdoings of the SBI and the DA helps Michael’s case too.

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As for the rest of the family, it is only Martha and Margaret to make it to tell a story in this episode. We see an almost 30-year-old Margaret divorced and Martha dropping her upset sister the bomb of visiting Germany to find out more about the past. What Martha finds when she reaches Germany is disturbing and hurtful. Meanwhile, the timeframe before Katheleen’s death privy’s us to the woman’s outburst and the cracks in the relationship she shared with Michael.

The Staircase Episode 7: Final Thoughts

The Staircase Episode 7 beautifully lays out the case for us. There are two segments that convince the audiences of Michael’s wrong trial. But, there are also two other segments dedicated to Michael we don’t know and, the kind of relationship he really shared with Katheleen. Every episode Toni Collette comes in for that one epic monologue to establish herself at the finest. And, although, we don’t get her re-enacting the staircase scene this time (as there is no proper theory to be pursued), we do get to see her be at her finest.

Juliette Binoche continues to steal the light with her moving performance. Particularly, the segment where Sophie and Jean talk about love following the troubling time Sophie is having with Michael is one heartfelt moment of clarity and reflection on what love is. What happens to the SBI and how it helps Michael Peterson is yet to come to light. And, what happened that night? Well, we are as desperate as Sophie to find out.

You can watch The Staircase Episode 7 on HBO Max. To read our reviews of the previous episodes and other news about the show, click here.

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