Dirty John

Finally started this year and this season watching the real life and love crime anthology "Dirty John". I must say that season 2 "The Betty Broderick Story" is tense and on fire with drama as the star turn from Amanda Peet as Betty is near perfect with her shining turn as a selfish win at all cost trophy socialite housewife. Based on a true real life case from the 80's the series spans thru the 80's in Southern California to show the stormy life of Dan(Christian Slater) and Betty(Amanda). The series also has flashbacks to their time of meeting and college days on the east coast. Each episode explores how marriage relationships can become toxic as Peet scorches on the screen and she acts out her pain and rage in very loose ways which slowly leads to self pity and tragedy. As her past time of raising four children and watching husband Dan become both a doctor and lawyer becomes distant memories when Betty is left for a young employee(Rachel Keller) of Dan's. Maybe the viewer could call this tabloid TV at it's best!

Still each episode shows pain, loss, and grief and the 80's are captured well with the music and clothing as Betty sports the best of shoulder pads. And Amanda shines and looks so fine in her shiny colored silk satin blouses and plus the scenes in which she sports sexy colored bras is an eye candy treat! The series is a spin on success and vanity showing what it's like to have it all yet it crumbles without emotional love and understanding as it's a moral cautionary tale on greed and mental illness as a midlife crisis becomes the norm. Overall this is a well done shameless dirty true crime story told with drama that shines with the work of Amanda Peet's cold cruel sexy turn as a woman scorned.

Almost all the low star ratings are either w/regards to the voicing of the daughters or the dumbness of the mom. But, remember this is a well researched true story and the actors represent real life people. Especially the mom who wants to believe in love/nurturing/forgiveness so much she loses some objectivity - perfectly normal. As for the story itself: Well, poor John so misunderstood & taken advantage of especially by so many women infatuated w/his charms & good looks: oh, and medical institutions too. They can be so cruel. Anyway, watch & see how this true life drama plays out - if you don't know (then don't before hand look elsewhere or ask) as to how John satisfies his journey through life. Interesting, unique& well done acting by all - kudos. But, why a season 2?

I never knew Amanda Peet actually has the chops for such a role! She was just brilliant - her character's physical and mental decline was just so realistic, I wondered at one point whether they used facial prosthetics or whether the lighting was just horrendous! I think I already knew Christian Slater had it in him tbh... I kinda wish that this story had been a dramatic recreation in its own right, and not tied to the first story of John Meehan (which I also really enjoyed btw - love Briton and Temple). However I understand the theme of gaslighting and/ emotional abuse is popular at the moment, while society comes to grips with all the various ways we might further dissect the patriarchy and it's continuing legacy? Personally, I see Betty as an undiagnosed mental health case... like at one point in the series her friend says "she really needs help" and her lawyer says (and I'm def paraphrasing here) "but she might never change, maybe now she just needs to grow old." I basically saw that scene as how America deals with mental health and particularly that within the justice system. Why bother to even try to rehabilitate when you can just lock them up and forget about em...

Oh yeah and the costumes are great too.

Something very similar. I'm educated, was working as a teacher, coming out of a 20 year unhappy marriage, very vulnerable. I don't like to use that as an excuse...(the courts called me "victim"). These kinds of men are very skilled at seducing women. Ultimately, when I tried to extricate myself, after months of stalking (I had removed him from my $$), he broke into my house and tried to shoot me with a gun he had stolen. The only reason I'm still alive is the gun jammed. I appreciated this series, and the podcast. People should not blame the victim of such psychopaths. They exist for the soul purpose of seducing and using their targets/victims.

First, anyone giving this miniseries a low rating and calling Connie Britton's character "dumb" or "stupid" has obviously never been in or been close to anyone in an emotionally/physically/psychologically abusive relationship. If they had, they would understand that, unfortunately, situations like this do happen, and much more frequently than would be expected. They also would understand how difficult it can be to extract yourself from abusive relationships, even if the abused realizes how bad the relationship/situation is. While I read the published story, I have not heard the podcast, which is supposed to be fantastic. The tv show is pretty faithful to the published story, although some of the characters (primarily her two daughters) are a little exaggerated for tv purposes. While I, like most viewers, feel frustrated with Connie Britton's character due to her repeated poor choices, I easily can see that she is a very sweet, giving, compassionate person who is naive and too trusting of others due to the way she was raised and her own honesty - she simply can't fathom that anyone could be so malicious and dishonest because it isn't in her character makeup. If you've been "around" in the real world at all, you'll quickly realize that most people highly suspicious of others tend to disbelieve so easily due to their own tendency towards dishonesty and deception, as well as low self esteem.

After saying all of that, we (my husband and I) find this show very entertaining and extremely well done. Both Eric Bana and Connie Britton are excellent in their portrayals of their characters, and I would figuratively "kill" to have Connie's character decorate our house - she has exceptional (decorating) taste!