‘Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story’ Falls Into a True-Crime Trap (Column)

,” the 2018 Bravo limited series, was set up to shock its audience, but it had more on its mind, too. Connie Britton, playing a woman systematically alienated from the world around her by a vexingly charming lover , effectively depicted the process by which a person loses themself, and loses grip on reality. It was, yes, ripped from the headlines — based upon a narrative podcast of the same name — but there was something overarching and elemental there, too.

Which is why its follow-up series on USA, about a woman who was convicted of killing her ex-husband and his new wife, is so surprising. The puzzlingly titled “Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story,” launching June 2, retains its predecessor’s commitment to depicting female vulnerability and strength under pressure through a compelling lead performance.

The current boom in true-crime stories — both documentary and scripted adaptations — too often falls prey to this tendency to prioritize emphasis over empathy. Consider, say, “Tiger King,” Netflix’s documentary series in which the odd circumstances and preoccupations of the subjects turns them into characters, and two-dimensional ones at that.

Which is the strangest thing of all about “Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story” — that what happened to her is not strange, at all, really. A person trapped by their own insecurity, or misused by a romantic partner, or lost in the labyrinth of their own rage is grindingly, painfully the stuff of life, and would seem to provide endless opportunities to connect with us, to say — well, anything, but something.

there's nothing I 'need' to know about that show.

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