With the first season wrapping up it's story nicely, the "Dirty John" producers have decided to go down the anthology route, with this second season involving entirely different characters, a new story and even a different time period.
Having raised several children together and supported him as he completed both medical and law school, Betty Broderick (Amanda Peet) is devastated when her husband Dan leaves her for his secretary Linda Kolkena (Rachel Keller). As Dan is prominent in the legal community and is Betty's primary financial provider he's able to manipulate the separation and divorce to his advantage, something that the increasingly unstable Betty reacts to badly, beginning a campaign of abuse and damage that escalates to the darkest of places.
Before I talk about the season, it's a little hard to define what the "Dirty John" brand of is actually about. The John Meehan case is clearly one of a profession con-artist defrauding a naive woman, you might anticipate that the series would continue to highlight real life con-artist stories, but instead the Betty Broderick story us much more a case of two people, each of which try to damage the other that escalates to a tragic conclusion for all involved. There's not much of a link between the two seasons.
That said in an of itself this was an excellent portrayal of a marriage that was unequal from day one and the performances, particularly from Amanda Peet are really strong. The series jumps around in time, showing us a younger version of the couple, meeting and starting their lives together, right up to the trial that explains to us early that the story ends in murder. The recreation of 80's technology and fashion is pretty well done and the show does a good job of explaining the nuances of the story, without categorically judging either main character as being "the bad guy" - although perhaps it's better to say that they neither is the "good guy".
Interested to see if a third season does happen, and what story is chosen.
Having raised several children together and supported him as he completed both medical and law school, Betty Broderick (Amanda Peet) is devastated when her husband Dan leaves her for his secretary Linda Kolkena (Rachel Keller). As Dan is prominent in the legal community and is Betty's primary financial provider he's able to manipulate the separation and divorce to his advantage, something that the increasingly unstable Betty reacts to badly, beginning a campaign of abuse and damage that escalates to the darkest of places.
Before I talk about the season, it's a little hard to define what the "Dirty John" brand of is actually about. The John Meehan case is clearly one of a profession con-artist defrauding a naive woman, you might anticipate that the series would continue to highlight real life con-artist stories, but instead the Betty Broderick story us much more a case of two people, each of which try to damage the other that escalates to a tragic conclusion for all involved. There's not much of a link between the two seasons.
That said in an of itself this was an excellent portrayal of a marriage that was unequal from day one and the performances, particularly from Amanda Peet are really strong. The series jumps around in time, showing us a younger version of the couple, meeting and starting their lives together, right up to the trial that explains to us early that the story ends in murder. The recreation of 80's technology and fashion is pretty well done and the show does a good job of explaining the nuances of the story, without categorically judging either main character as being "the bad guy" - although perhaps it's better to say that they neither is the "good guy".
Interested to see if a third season does happen, and what story is chosen.
