The Menendez Murders: Episode 1

Mrs. Shullivan and I have been fans of the Law and Order TV series from its inception and original series in 1990 through to the current re- creation of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) now in its 18th season. It is no wonder that this new 8 part mini series covering the high profile trial in 1994 of Lyle (aged 21) and Erik (aged 19) Menéndez for the 1989 murder by shotgun of their wealthy parents, José and his wife, Mary ("Kitty") in their Beverly Hills home would be released some 30 years after the murders first occurred. I did not see a similar story telling style as in the other Law and Order TV series but maybe that style will prevail during the trial period in later episodes.

José Enrique and Kitty Menéndez spoiled their only two sons, and so when the murders were first made public there was no end of rumors who could be responsible for these two cold blooded execution style murders.

Unless you are under the age of 30, you may not be familiar with just how high profile these murders were at the time (1984) and the eventual trial by tabloid newspapers of the two sons Erik and Lyle Menéndez. I have seen the two earlier made for TV movies of the Menéndez murders both of which starred A-lister film stars.

In the 1994 TV movie "Honor Thy Father and Mother: The True Story of the Menendez Murders" it starred A-list actors James Farentino, and Jill Clayburgh, John Beck and Susan Blakely. In the second made for TV movie "Menendez: A Killing in Beverly Hills" starred Edward James Olmos, Beverly D'Angelo, and Damian Chapa.

This new 8 episode mini-series also has some A-list TV stars such as Edie Falco (Carmela Soprano of The Sopranos) and Chris Bauer (The Wire and also Third Watch). I am going to go out on a limb based on just watching the first episode that this mini series will be based on factual evidence and the court transcripts. Edie Falco plays a defense attorney named Leslie Abramson who seems to be very opinionated although in the opening episode she is not yet familiar with any of the case evidence, nor yet introduced to the two Menéndez brothers, Erik and Lyle.

A good benchmark in assessing if a mini-series is worth watching or not is if the episode(s) seem to end much quicker than you expected, or wanted it to. Such is the case with the opening episode of Law & Order: True Crime, it ended almost as quickly as the lives of José Enrique and Kitty Menéndez did. I give the opening episode a 7/10 rating and I will update my review after this mini-series has concluded.

The People vs OJ Simpson told a grotesque, riveting, cheesy story and that was just John Travolta's eyebrows.

Law & Order has jumped on the true story bandwagon based on the 1989 Menendez murders and its protracted trial.

The first episode concentrates more on the police investigation in the aftermath of the murder where the sons Lyle and Erik are not yet suspects in the murder of their parents but are already acting a little strange.

Leslie Abramson (Edie Falco) who would go on to become the sons lawyer already calls it in her first scene when she tells her husband that they did it when watches the story of the killings on the television news.

Living in the UK I know little about the Menendez murders and this story does not have the celebrity or notoriety of the Simpson's story. I actually was less than thrilled with the opening episode and rather bored by the end of it.

This episode explored how the two brothers became primary suspects in the killings of the Menendez couple. It gradually shows the build up of evidence which is a good start since these sightings of the detectives, their collection and interviews will be important later on whether or not they will be acquitted or not. The storyline, chronology of events and script are just right to explore all of these.

As per the acting, Eddie Falco and the detectives were superb. But other actors seemed to lack the right gestures to sway my emotions.

Cinematography is just right, nothing superb.

Looking forward to other episodes as I am young for my age and not living in the USA to know this case. That's why I'm thrilled for the development of the case and its results based on this series.

How do u watch it? The watch button doesn't come up.