Gaslit Episode 8 [Finale] Did John Dean spend five years in prison after Watergate?

The show is a contemporary retelling of the scandal, concentrating on little-known personalities and hidden stories from the period and chronicles the narrative of those engaged in the Watergate crisis, notably then-President Richard Nixon’s White House attorney John Dean (Dan Stevens), who was convicted of conspiracy for his role in the affair. Despite his involvement in the cover-up at the time, Dean finally testified before prosecutors and was sacked by Nixon. Despite John Dean’s testimony, it was revealed in the previous episode that he and Mo (Betty Gilpin) will be forced to separate after he is sentenced to five years in jail.

Gaslit Episode 8 [Finale] Recap: Martha Was Right

The final episode 8 of ‘Gaslit’ delves into the final days of Nixon’s presidency, including John Dean’s destiny, who faces several years in prison. Although John Dean was implicated in the cover-up of the Watergate crisis, he eventually testified to Congress as a witness.

John Dean accepted his role in the Watergate incident and pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice. He was given a five-year term in a minimum-security jail. When Dean surrendered, he was transported to the care of US Marshals and detained instead at Fort Holabird in a secret safe house mostly used for witnesses against the Mafia, according to the final episode titled ‘Final Days.’ He testified as a witness in the prosecution of Watergate conspirators Mitchell, Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Robert Mardian, and Kenneth Parkinson later in the incident. All save Parkinson were found guilty, partly due to Dean’s testimony. John Mitchell (Sean Penn) has also been sentenced to eight years in prison.

John Dean’s counsel pleaded for his sentence to be lowered, and the judge agreed. In exchange for becoming a key witness for the prosecution, he pleaded guilty to a single crime and received a reduced sentence, which he served at Fort Holabird. It is revealed near the end of the episode that John Dean will be released from prison after only four months in custody. He is also the first former Nixon administration official to become a free man. He reunites with his wife Mo, and the two plan to go to Los Angeles to begin a new chapter in their lives. Dean admits to Mo that he is guilty and that he should be in prison right now. He bemoans how he and others implicated in the Watergate crisis ruined something truly unique about America. Mo soothes him by telling him that he didn’t damage anything that wasn’t broken before.