Showtime – As the seventh episode of Monsters begins, the judge says the jury has reached a verdict. Dominick Dunne (Nathan Lane) listens as John Thomas Sweeney is found not guilty of second-degree murder. The defendant is found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Dunne yells at Judge Katz to not thank the jury on behalf of his family. He accuses them of withholding important evidence of Sweeney’s violence against women. Jamie (Jade Pettyjohn) visits Lyle Menendez (Nicholas Alexander Chavez) at the jail. Lyle believes he’s going to be out soon. Jamie reveals her parents don’t believe Lyle and wants them to break up. Lyle asks Jamie to watch Close Range and to say that his dad raped her. Jamie refuses that he didn’t. Lyle speaks to others and tries to get them to speak out against his parents. No one wants to do that for him.

Then, he tells Jill Lansing (Jess Weixler) that their dog killed their ferret so Jose cut off the dog’s head. He claims he found the dog’s head in the freezer. Lyle goes on to say Jose (Javier Bardem) would quack at him and make fun of his stutter. He also alleges that Kitty (Chloe Sevigny) would chase them around the house with a knife. During a break, Jill tells Leslie Abramson (Ari Graynor) that she doesn’t believe the stories the way Lyle tells them. Jill admits he sounds like a psychopath. Leslie asks if she thinks Lyle is behind the whole thing and invented the story. Jill suggests it could be the other way around. Lyle reads letters from women. Norma writes that he can call if he needs someone to talk to. Norma Novelli (Natalie Taylor Gray) ends up receiving a call from Lyle who says he and Jamie were never right for each other.

Eric (Cooper Koch) tells Dr. William Vicary (Gil Ozeri) that he misses Tony. Erik tells him about his dad’s lover who said his dad was going to kill him. He confesses that he made it up. Vicary asks if Lyle told him to make that up. Lyle tells Norma he wishes he had written a book. He doubts anyone would say he deserves to go to prison. Norma thinks that’s a good idea and she can help. Jill asks Lyle to relive the day of his parent’s murders. Lyle says he played tennis. He knew his parents were going to kill them. Lyle thinks they would’ve killed them on the boat trip if the captain wasn’t there. Leslie asks him to walk him through that day. Lyle speaks to Erik on the phone and says they should get out of there. They tell their parents they’re going to the movies. Jose and Kitty tell them they’re not going anywhere. Lyle tells Jose he’s never going to touch his brother again. Jose says it’s his son and he’ll do whatever he wants.

Kitty isn’t going to stop them. Jose tells Kitty they should go. Lyle thought they were going to grab the guns. He tells Erik to grab his shotgun and meet him in the car. A scene shows Kitty and Jose shooting their sons. Jill says that’s not what happened. Leslie admits she doesn’t believe him. She says he initially told it and she felt every emotion. Leslie asks why Kitty deserved to die. Erik says it’s because she let Jose rape them. Leslie argues she needs to feel the pain of that. Lyle asks if she wants him to cry because he can. He says he just wanted to help her because he loved her so much. Lyle reveals he was the one who found her suicide note. He told her she should leave him and they would side with her in the divorce. Lyle says he loves his mom. Dominick Dunne looks at Menendez crime scene pictures in July 1993. Lyle and Erik hear the crowd outside when they’re transported on a bus.

Erik is surprised by the amount of support they have. In court, Leslie tells the jury the trial is going to be about why Erik and Lyle killed their parents. Leslie says the answer isn’t simple before accusing Jose of being a sexually perverted sadist. She tells the juror and Jose and Kitty molested her sons. Leslie says Lyle and Erik are only guilty of loving the mother and father who tortured them. She claims they shot their parents in self-defense. Dunne follows Leslie out and tells her it’s the same defense she used in Arnel’s case. He asks if she made up the sexual abuse since it worked last time. Leslie tells Dominick she’s sorry about his daughter and that man shouldn’t walk free. However, that man gave him a career and a point of view. Dunne speaks to another about the case that night. He goes through the holes in the story from the defense.

Dominick says they lied and lied so they could get the inheritance money. Marta admits her brother was possessive and Lyle wasn’t allowed to express his opinions. Jose thought Erik was weak and not worthy of the name Menendez. He would taunt him and call him a sissy. A cousin says Lyle and Erik took showers with their dad after tennis sessions. After Jose took one of them into their room, he locked the door and Kitty made it clear no one would go down that hallway. Dunne talks about being beaten by his father. He thinks the brothers brought up sexual abuse after reading several books. It would also move attention away from Erik’s sexuality. Outside of the courtroom, Pam Bozanich (Milana Vayntrub) told Dunne that everyone knows Erik is gay. Leslie goes ballistic every time it’s hinted at in court. Dunne continues trying to convince the others that the brothers are guilty. He suggests the brothers were hiding a deeper, darker secret.

Dunne suggests Lyle and Erik were together. Regardless, he doesn’t think the brothers are worthy of forgiveness. Once he finishes talking, Dunne finds himself alone. Paul D’Emilio (Alex Rollins) tells him they’re about to head out. Dunne urges him to join him, but Paul finds a way to avoid doing so. Paul says he’s sorry about his daughter and he loved her in Poltergeist. Paul ends up joining him after all. Dunne tells him about his other daughter and the trial of Sweeney. Dunne reveals Sweeney spent three and a half years in prison before getting a job as a chef in Santa Monica. That’s why Dunne doesn’t believe anything defense lawyers say. Paul tells Dunne he could stay longer if he wants. Dunne says it’s getting late and Lyle takes the stand tomorrow. Next, Lyle takes the stand and says he loved his parents. He also admits to killing them.

He talks about shooting and reloading his weapon. Then, Lyle is asked about Jose taking photos of him and his brother. Lyle says he would take photos of their genitals and when they’re bending over. He tells the jury that his father had sexual contact with him. His father would massage him after sports practice. He would fondle him and ask him to do the same thing. Jose would allegedly put him on the ground and guide his movements. Lyle says he’d have oral sex with him. Jill asks if he wanted to do this. Lyle shakes his head. He alleges his father would do other things to him at some point. Jose would have object sessions with him. Lyle admits his father raped him and he cried. He told his father he didn’t want to do it and it hurt. Jose told him he didn’t mean to hurt him and he loved him. Lyle told Kitty to tell his dad to leave him alone.

She told him he was exaggerating and his dad has to punish him when he does things wrong. Lyle never told anyone else because he was afraid his father would kill him. Lyle confesses he did the same to his brother. Pam tells Dunne that the room bought Lyle’s statement. Dunne asks her to excuse him before he walks away. Lyle calls Norma and suggests that was the best testimony and he’s going to get off. He laughs at the fact that even a priest said he’d take him into his home. Dunne approaches Leslie to say he owes her an apology. He admits he believes him. Either the boys got what was coming or she managed to coach that performance out of a lying psychopath. Dunne isn’t sure which one scares him more. Leslie says she’s sorry about his daughter.

 

Monsters Review

The seventh episode of Monsters really felt like a filler episode because of how little it moved the story forward. Instead, this episode was all about Dominick Dunne and his daughter’s murder. Obviously, Dunne’s story is interesting. However, it doesn’t seem to have much bearing at this point in the game. Not to mention, the portrayal of Dunne makes the character pretty unlikable.

Nine episodes are way too many for a story that could’ve been covered in four or five episodes. It also didn’t help that the same scenes and stories are being repeated multiple times across several episodes. As the old saying goes, sometimes less is more and that’s the case here. It’s a shame really because the Menendez case is very intriguing and there are important stories to tell.

However, this series really only makes a mockery of the whole thing and incorporates the creator’s own agendas. At the end of the day, this won’t do anyone any favors, including the brothers, the victims, Dunne, or the creators. The episode scores a 4.5 out of 10. Recaps of Monsters can be found here.

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