Why do killers commit heinous crimes? For years now, this question has been plaguing fiction creators, who have not failed to try to get inside the heads of the greatest criminals to dissect their stories. On the American television side, Ryan Murphy seems to have mastered this art. After American Crime Story, which focused on OJ Simpson, the famous producer launched the series Monster: The Story of Jeffrey Dahmer in 2022, which analyzed the murderous journey of the man who murdered at least 17 men. Led by Evan Peters, the series was a huge success, ranking 2nd in the top most-watched series in history on Netflix. This success pushed the streaming platform to develop an anthology series, with a season 2 and even a season 3. A sequel that, obviously, was risky. Did Ryan Murphy succeed in his bet? Télé-Loisirs saw three of the nine episodes of the series, put online this Thursday, September 19.
After Jeffrey Dahmer, which killers are at the heart of season 2 of Monster on Netflix?
For its second salvo, Monster is not interested in a serial killer but in two brothers who committed the unthinkable. On August 20, 1989, the bodies of Kitty and Jose Menendez are found in their Beverly Hills home. The police first suspect the mafia, before arresting the couple’s two sons, Lyle and Erik Menendez. The two men, aged 21 and 18 at the time, murdered their parents with 16 gunshots and the police took almost 7 months to arrest them. The episodes of season 2 of Monster retrace this tragic story.
Monsters, the story of Lyle and Erik Menendez: a “sequel” much less gloomy than Dahmer
Two years ago, Dahmer had both fascinated and deeply disturbed the public. It had left its mark with its heavy and gloomy atmosphere, often on the edge of watchability. This season 2 is so different on all levels that it could have not been called “Monster”. Forget the dark and disturbing atmosphere of Milwaukee: in Monsters, the story of Lyle and Erik Menendez, it is the California sun that prevails. More vibrant and warm images that are reminiscent of American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace. From the first seconds, Lyle and Erik Menendez are immediately catalogued and the viewer is therefore not allowed to doubt. The first is impulsive, arrogant, presented as the instigator and the “brains” of the operation. The second is more sensitive, full of remorse, almost a collateral “victim”. A trait that will not change in the first third of the fiction. These labels stick to the characters’ skin and lead us, even before having understood all the ins and outs, to make a judgment. The first two episodes do not help to understand these two characters in the best possible way, since they contain all the clichés of the representation of the young rich man: drugs, parties, scenes in colorful swimsuits and nude scenes. We sometimes wonder why some of these scenes were included in the series. Certainly to emphasize the “disconnected” side of the two brothers. One thing is certain: we quickly wonder how it is possible that Lyle and Erik Menendez did not get caught earlier!
While it is impossible to compare the two main actors to the real protagonists, they prove to be more than convincing in this first third of the fiction. Less magnetic than Evan Peters in Dahmer, Nicholas Chavez (in the role of Lyle) and Cooper Koch (in that of Erik) manage to capture the camera, each in their own way. The question mark remains for the moment the presence of Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny, very little present in the first three episodes. The Spanish actor however shows a very scary side from his first (and therefore short) appearance.
Monster Season 2: Subtlety is not there
Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez does not shy away from its main subject, the murder of the parents. Nor does it make the viewer wait indefinitely since the particularly graphic scene of the murder of both parents is shown after only 30 minutes, in the first episode. The unfolding of the series is less fragmented than Dahmer, avoiding the numerous temporal back-and-forths, certainly because it is not about multiple murders here, but about a single murder. However, this season 2 of Monsters is not without flaws. There is a disturbing side to the way the Menendez brothers are represented on screen. Not only in the ambiguous relationship they seem to share, but also in the unsubtle way in which the fiction questions Erik Menendez’s sexuality. Subtlety has never been part of Ryan Murphy’s vocabulary, but we would have liked a little more finesse to evoke this subject.
Those who know the story know that the two brothers, during their trial, justified their actions by declaring that they had been victims of sexual abuse by their father. Something that only comes into play in the series at the end of episode 3, and not in a very delicate way either. We will therefore have to go further to find out how this issue is addressed in the series. At least, in the first episodes, the writers of Monster seem to take sides by never showing the characters as victims. This is the whole ambiguity of the story, where everyone’s judgment comes into play: where is the line between the brothers’ guilt and their past as victims?