Television

'Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders' Fails To Break Out Of O.J.'s Shadow

The show fails to measure up to its FX predecessor.

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One of the surprise hits of 2016 was FX’s limited series American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson. Despite depicting one of the biggest news stories of the 1990s, The People v. O.J. Simpson succeeded because it subverted some of the common narratives and stereotypes about the O.J. Simpson trial, and explored the social and racial issues around the case. Because television networks love to copy previous hits, it was no surprise when NBC announced that it was making its own limited series about a notable murder trial from the 1990s, Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders. Despite booking Edie Falco as its star, Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders does not even come close to reaching the level of The People v. O.J. Simpson (this review will focus on, and contain spoilers through, the first three episodes, although four have aired so far).

In the opening seconds of Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders (I would have loved to be a fly at the wall in the meeting at which the producers debated whether to place the colon after “Order” or after “Crime”), Jose and Kitty Menendez, a wealthy couple from Beverly Hills, are brutally murdered in their home by unknown assailants wielding shotguns. Detectives Les Zoeller (Sam Jaeger) and Tom Linehan (Cliff Chamberlain) investigate possible mob ties, but soon begin to suspect the Menendez’s sons, Lyle and Erik (Miles Gaston Villanueva and Gus Halper, respectively), particularly due to Lyle’s profligate spending habits after the murders. But the detectives do not have enough evidence to make an arrest until they catch a lucky break. Judalon Smith (Heather Graham), the mistress of Erik’s therapist, Jerome Oziel (Josh Charles), tells the police that she overheard Erik’s confessions. The police seize Oziel’s tapes of his sessions with Lyle and Erik and later arrest them. Leslie Abramson (Falco) agrees to represent Erik and lead the defense for both men with Jill Lansing (Julianne Nicholson) representing Lyle.

Due to their similarities, it is difficult not to compare The Menendez Murders with The People v. O.J. Simpson. And The People v. O.J. Simpson did a much better job exploring characters such as Marcia Clark, Johnnie Cochran, and Christopher Darden, who had all by that time become caricatures in pop culture. It also delved deep into race relations, particularly through Darden (who felt isolated in the district attorney’s office but also later clashed with his former mentor Cochran) and Cochran (who, for example, gives an impassioned speech about the offensiveness of Darden’s request to ban the n-word during trial).

The Menendez Murders is more concerned with plot than character development or social issues. Leslie is depicted as a talented, caring attorney, who frequently brings food for her clients, and is planning to adopt a child with her husband (Chris Bauer). These scenes are merely surface-level, not providing much insight into what makes Leslie tick. The show lightly broaches the issue of the morality of Leslie and Jill taking the case — such as Leslie citing her own monstrous parents in imagining to her colleagues the horrors that must have befallen Lyle and Erik for them to want to kill their own parents — but does not expand on this.  Edie Falco is normally a terrific actress, but the show does not properly utilize her talents.

The rest of the characters are a mixed bag. The show spends by far the most time on Lyle and Erik, and Villanueva and Halper do a solid job portraying the different ways that they process their grief; Lyle attempts to start a business venture while Erik breaks down (plus Villanueva looks spookily similar to Lyle in real life). Charles and Graham have done very good work elsewhere, but the scenes between Oziel and Judalon seem like they belong in a different show. And Nicholson, who has been terrific in shows like Masters of Sex, has been little used so far.

Further, legal nerds will be unhappy to know that the issue of whether or not Oziel’s tapes are privileged is given short shrift. The government argues that the tapes fall into an exception to the privilege because Lyle made a veiled threat to Oziel. The parties put on live evidence in order to ascertain whether or not Lyle was threatened. Despite Leslie’s strong cross examination of Judalon, the judge nevertheless allows the tapes to be admitted, with a brief explanation. The tapes are the key to the entire case, so I wish the show spent more time explaining the basis of this ruling.

Finally, The Menendez Murders does not adequately depict the media uproar around the case. Characters on the show frequently watch television reports about the case, and Diane Sawyer and other media members attempt to obtain interviews with major players. This suggests that the murders were huge national news. But the show fails to convey to the audience the exact scope of the frenzy. It is missing scenes like on The People v. O.J. Simpson in which Darden watches the O.J. Bronco chase with others in what basically becomes a gigantic block party. In contrast, here, I failed to understand precisely how Lyle and Erik became media fodder.

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I’ll definitely check in on Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders over the course of the season to see if it improves. But for now, the most interesting aspect of the show is its colon placement.

Harry Graff is a litigation associate at a firm, but he spends days wishing that he was writing about film, television, literature, and pop culture instead of writing briefs. If there is a law-related movie, television show, book, or any other form of media that you would like Harry Graff to discuss, he can be reached at harrygraff19@gmail.com. Be sure to follow Harry Graff on Twitter at @harrygraff19.

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