Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
If you were a fan of both Law & Order and The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, you are probably eager to tune into tonight’s premiere of L&O‘s first venture into the true crime genre: an examination of the notorious 1989 murder of Jose and Kitty Menendez in their Beverly Hills mansion. The show examines the lives of the accused murders, the couple’s sons Lyle and Erik (aka The Menendez Brothers) but it wouldn’t be a true crime miniseries in the mid-’10s without big-name stars.
A Guide to Our Rating System
Opening Shot: The opening of a pilot can set a mood for the entire show (think Six Feet Under); thus, we examine the first shot of each pilot.
The Gist: The “who, what, where, when, why?” of the pilot.
Our Take: What did we think? Are we desperate for more or desperate to get that hour back?
Sex and Skin: That’s all you care about anyway, right? We let you know how quickly the show gets down and dirty.
Parting Shot: Where does the pilot leave us? Hanging off a cliff, or running for the hills?
Sleeper Star: Basically, someone in the Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders cast who is not the top-billed star who shows great promise.
Most Pilot-y Line: Pilots have a lot of work to do: world building, character establishing, and stakes raising. Sometimes that results in some pretty clunky dialogue.
Our Call: We’ll let you know if you should, ahem, Stream It or Skip It.
Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders
Opening Shot: The L&O logo, followed by a washed-out, shady view of two shotguns being raised, poised to blow away Jose and Kitty Menendez (Carlos Gomez and Lolita Davidovich) as they watch a movie on TV.
The Gist: The first episode of Law And Order: Menendez Brothers takes place in the aftermath of the murders, with Lyle and Erik (Miles Gaston Villanueva and Gus Halper) dealing with their parents’ deaths in their own way; the emotionless Erik spends money on an expensive wake at a posh hotel, and the sensitive Lyle essentially can’t get out of bed. Meanwhile, the investigation begins in earnest, with BHPD detective Les Zoeller (Sam Jaeger) taking the lead, and already suspicious of the brothers’ cover stories.
At the same time, we see defense attorney Leslie Abramson (Edie Falco) at work getting leniency for a convicted client, and also dealing with the fact that she and her husband are looking to adopt a child. For now, we just see her speculating on the case, and talking with the Menendez family attorney, who happens to be friends with the couple.
And… well, that’s it. At least for the first episode. Oh, we also see Dr. Jerome Ozeil (Josh Charles), the brothers’ psychotherapist, insinuate himself into their lives post-murders, then have some fun with a patient named Judalon Smyth (Heather Graham). If you know why Ozeil isn’t a doctor anymore, this side plot isn’t much of a surprise.
Our Take: Well, it’s Law & Order, complete with the “Chung Chung!” sounder and title cards showing location, date and time. It also follows the L&O template by showing the parallel paths of the cops who investigate the case and the lawyers involved.
But, in a lot of ways, it takes a lot of cues from People v. O.J.: character background, titilating side stories, and more of a deep dive into the story than the parent shows tend to do. Of course, since this is a mini-series about one notorious case instead of just the case of the week, the deep dive is expected.
It’s tough, though, to dramatize the early phases of such a complicated case, with the investigation taking months to come to the conclusion that the brothers were the primary suspects, and illustrate how differently the brothers acted in the lead-up to their series of trials. Some flashbacks as the cops question people help fill in some blanks, but it feels that the story becomes too simplified in the first episode.
Creator and writer Rene Balcer has the unenviable task of trying to compress the most famous pre-O.J. murder case, which was played out over two trials, the first of which was televised to an audience of millions, into eight episodes. It’s so well-known, that many viewers will know more details about the case than the show will portray. It leads to broad characterizations, and a backstory for Abramson that just serves to put the show’s biggest star, Falco, in the first episode for very little reason.
Still, the performances are worth watching. Falco is Falco; we know that her characters’ defense of Erik, bringing in how they were abused by their father since they were kids, will be something to watch in the trial phase, and seeing Charles and Graham frolick is fun. Villenueva is especially effective as the creepily cold Lyle, who seems just be interested in spending his parents’ money and doesn’t care how bad that looks to the authorities investigating the brothers.
Sex and Skin: The over-the-top antics of Ozeil and Judalon set up how instrumental they’ll be in the case later on. For right now, it just looks like some extraneous sexy times between a slimy therapist and one of his patients.
Parting Shot: Erik comes back to the mansion, and sees the cleaned-up den where the crime was committed. He flashes to the blood and bodies that were there and freaks out, his uncle finding him sobbing in the corner. Of course, we know that he was freaked out by what he (prodded on by Lyle) did, not by the deaths of his parents, but it sets up the dynamic between the brothers.
Sleeper Star: Two TV vets: Constance Marie as the brothers’ way-too-trusting aunt Marta, and Anthony Edwards as Stanley Weisberg, the old-school judge who presided over the second trial; the establishing banter between Weisberg and Abramson shows what kind of chemistry we’re going to see from old pros Falco and Edwards later on.
Most Pilot-y Line: Abramson watches TV coverage of the investigation, not yet involved in the case, and says “They did it.” Whether Abramson said that IRL or not, it’s a line that feels a bit much.
Our Call: Stream It. It’s only 8 episodes, and Dick Wolf, Balcer and company know how to produce compelling TV. Will it be as good as what Ryan Murphy did with the Simpson trial? Probably not, since a) It’s on NBC and not FX, and b) Wolf is great at middle-of-the-road drama with fine performances. If only to see Falco in various courtroom scenes, it’s worth a watch.
(Click to see all of Decider’s complete Stream It or Skip It reviews)
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company’s Co.Create and elsewhere.
