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Josh Lyman
May 24, 2009


:siren: Spoiler policy: all 6 episodes have aired so everything is fair game, no spoiler bars needed. If you haven't already, you should marathon the episodes immediately lest you be "spoiled" by the news. :siren:



In the fall of 2014, white people America was introduced to Serial, a true-crime podcast spinoff of the incredibly successful weekly radio program, This American Life, that would become the most successful podcast of all time. There were even podcasts about the podcast, and the show inspired a widely circulated parody from Funny or Die and a better parody from Saturday Night Live. But over the course of its 12 weekly episodes, the huge promise and hype that grew around Serial could only set the stage for an equally immense letdown.

Enter: The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst. Coming from Andrew Jarecki, the director of the Oscar-nominated documentary Capturing the Friedmans, this is easily the most compelling thing I've seen on television in years. As a kid who grew up watching Rescue 911 and Unsolved Mysteries, this is the best example of true-crime reporting I've seen since The Thin Blue Line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEPG9z9rHsc


The Suspect: Robert Durst

The 6-part miniseries documents the killings tied to Robert Durst, a now-71-year-old man who was to be the eldest son and heir to the Durst Organization, one of the top five real-estate firms in Manhattan and managers of the Freedom Tower. Yes, that Freedom Tower.


Victim #1: Kathleen "Kathie" Durst, née McCormack

Date killed: gone missing January 31, 1982 from Westchester County, outside New York City. Presumed dead.
Connection to Bob: first wife. Three days before her disappearance, Bob turned down Kathie's settlement offer regarding a divorce.


Victim #2: Susan Berman

Date killed: December 24, 2000 in Beverly Hills, California.
Connection to Bob: close friend and confidant. Susan was found shot dead in her home, execution style, shortly before the New York State police were to interview her about Kathie's disappearance. An anonymous letter was mailed to the "Beverley Hills" police the day before her body was found.


Victim #3: Morris Black

Date killed: hacked up body parts washed ashore on September 30, 2001 in Galveston, Texas, outside Houston.
Connection to Bob: neighbor in an apartment. Bob had been living in hiding in Galveston as a mute woman named Dorothy Ciner, a high school classmate.

Josh Lyman fucked around with this message at 17:23 on Mar 16, 2015

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Steve Yun
Aug 7, 2003
I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.
Soiled Meat
Welp, resubscribed because of you. Starting on this right now.

Big Piece O Shit
Jan 30, 2006

This is me during the last minute of episode 6:

:pwn:

Apoplexy
Mar 9, 2003

by Shine
All I knew about this guy was the news, now I'm watching all of this. What a bizarre and interesting case.

Megazver
Jan 13, 2006
If this was a movie, the script would be thrown out for relying on ridiculous deus ex machina bullshit.

ApexAftermath
May 24, 2006

This is the reverse Serial and it worked!

Windows 98
Nov 13, 2005

HTTP 400: Bad post
I don't watch the news at all. So after the end of the series I just sat there like..... What. Then it rolls to credits. I needed more closure so I started googling around and it turns out that the end had made news headlines well before it aired. Too bad for you goons who watch both the news and HBO :-/

Windows 98
Nov 13, 2005

HTTP 400: Bad post
Also HOLY poo poo THAT ENDING

Dapper Dan
Dec 16, 2004
Probation
Can't post for 3 years!

Windows 98 posted:

Also HOLY poo poo THAT ENDING

What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.

CAPTAIN CAPSLOCK
Sep 11, 2001



Big Piece O poo poo posted:

This is me during the last minute of episode 6:

:pwn:

:tviv: exists for this reason. goddamn that ending

Josh Lyman
May 24, 2009


Steve Yun posted:

Welp, resubscribed because of you. Starting on this right now.
:woop:

It's very interesting to go back and read reviews after HBO sent the first two episodes to critics.

From the managing editor of RogerEbert.com: I’m concerned after the first two that Durst is a man for whom there are no real answers, and I worry that some of Jarecki’s attempts to “pump up” this story with breathless anticipation of every twist and turn and overcooked filmmaking effects (I hate the credits) are setting the audience up for disappointment.
http://www.rogerebert.com/demanders/hbos-the-jinx-the-life-and-deaths-of-robert-durst

From New York Magazine's Vulture: I should stress again that I haven't seen the whole series, so there's a (likely remote) possibility that something could happen that will make me reconsider or retract my first impressions. But I should also say that Jarecki's Capturing the Friedmans doesn't give me much hope in that regard... if Durst had confessed on camera or something, we'd have heard about it already... And that leaves is [sic] with what, exactly?
http://www.vulture.com/2015/02/interview-with-the-vampire.html

From Grantland: Is this the same experience so many enjoyed with Serial? Perhaps. But it strikes me as TV business as usual. After all, Sunday nights have long been reserved in America as a time to gather around the set and watch rich, morally questionable men attempt to justify their behavior to both themselves and the larger world.
http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/hbo-offers-up-miniseries-the-jinx-to-serial-addicts-hungry-for-another-hit-of-true-crime/

From the Washington Post: Even with all the intelligent window dressing, that’s really all “The Jinx” boils down to: another strange story of an American weirdo who kept a few unlucky small-town homicide detectives very, very busy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/enter...86a0_story.html

Josh Lyman fucked around with this message at 15:38 on Mar 16, 2015

Josh Lyman
May 24, 2009


Jarecki's interviews this morning with Good Morning America and CBS This Morning:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmhzfROO1QQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD8lQJpH0CI

Mahoning
Feb 3, 2007
Easily the most mind-blowing television show I've ever seen. I nearly made a thread about it yesterday but I was too lazy.

Also, small correction with Bob and his wife. I believe SHE had filed for divorce and HE had declined the settlement.

TheBalor
Jun 18, 2001
I can't get over the sound of his copious making GBS threads. What the hell did he eat? That's like a thanksgiving triple flusher right there.

Josh Lyman
May 24, 2009


Mahoning posted:

Also, small correction with Bob and his wife. I believe SHE had filed for divorce and HE had declined the settlement.
I just rewatched, the relevant segment and you are correct. The OP has been updated.

Steve Yun
Aug 7, 2003
I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.
Soiled Meat
What did you do?

*FART*

Killed 'em all, of course.

SpiderHyphenMan
Apr 1, 2010

by Fluffdaddy
What is it with great television and extremely dramatic moments happening while people are taking a poo poo?

ufarn
May 30, 2009
I actually didn't care all that much for the show, which started out great but then petered out without a great structure. Their heart, unlike Serial, was in the right place, but I just couldn't see this going anywhere - at least from what had been shown thus far.

And then the final episode happen.

Holy loving poo poo. It's like zoologists recording something in the wild or some poo poo, capturing the pure essence of a complete loving sociopath talking in the most insane fashion imagineable.

The great thing about this is that the best part of the show is perfectly captured in a five-minute sequence.

Josh Lyman posted:

:woop:

It's very interesting to go back and read reviews after HBO sent the first two episodes to critics.

From the managing editor of RogerEbert.com: I’m concerned after the first two that Durst is a man for whom there are no real answers, and I worry that some of Jarecki’s attempts to “pump up” this story with breathless anticipation of every twist and turn and overcooked filmmaking effects (I hate the credits) are setting the audience up for disappointment.
http://www.rogerebert.com/demanders/hbos-the-jinx-the-life-and-deaths-of-robert-durst

From New York Magazine's Vulture: I should stress again that I haven't seen the whole series, so there's a (likely remote) possibility that something could happen that will make me reconsider or retract my first impressions. But I should also say that Jarecki's Capturing the Friedmans doesn't give me much hope in that regard... if Durst had confessed on camera or something, we'd have heard about it already... And that leaves is [sic] with what, exactly?
http://www.vulture.com/2015/02/interview-with-the-vampire.html

From Grantland: Is this the same experience so many enjoyed with Serial? Perhaps. But it strikes me as TV business as usual. After all, Sunday nights have long been reserved in America as a time to gather around the set and watch rich, morally questionable men attempt to justify their behavior to both themselves and the larger world.
http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/hbo-offers-up-miniseries-the-jinx-to-serial-addicts-hungry-for-another-hit-of-true-crime/

From the Washington Post: Even with all the intelligent window dressing, that’s really all “The Jinx” boils down to: another strange story of an American weirdo who kept a few unlucky small-town homicide detectives very, very busy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/enter...86a0_story.html

Maybe my memory is bad, but was there any way of watching the first two episode and not coming away with the impression that the guy was guilty as gently caress? :stare:

ufarn fucked around with this message at 17:26 on Mar 16, 2015

Steve Yun
Aug 7, 2003
I'm a parasitic landlord that needs to get a job instead of stealing worker's money. Make sure to remind me when I post.
Soiled Meat

SpiderHyphenMan posted:

What is it with great television and extremely dramatic moments happening while people are taking a poo poo?

When else has it happened? I can only think of Pulp Fiction, where Vincent is caught by surprise twice because he was taking a poo poo, and it's there to say he was figuratively and literally caught "with his pants down." But that was a scripted movie, and it's funny here to see God likes using the same joke.

MisterFister
Jul 6, 2003

Sticking it to THE MAN, assuming THE MAN is an innocent casual dining restaurant.
Holy cap this was awesome! Wow.

Josh Lyman
May 24, 2009


Steve Yun posted:

When else has it happened? I can only think of Pulp Fiction, where Vincent is caught by surprise twice because he was taking a poo poo, and it's there to say he was figuratively and literally caught "with his pants down." But that was a scripted movie, and it's funny here to see God likes using the same joke.
Game of Thrones.

Mons Hubris
Aug 29, 2004

fanci flup :)


Josh Lyman posted:

Game of Thrones.

Breaking Bad, too.

Generic American
Mar 15, 2012

I love my Peng


Both Fargo and The Americans on FX would qualify for that high-honor as well. :monocle:

X-O
Apr 28, 2002

Long Live The King!

ufarn posted:

I actually didn't care all that much for the show, which started out great but then petered out without a great structure. Their heart, unlike Serial, was in the right place, but I just couldn't see this going anywhere - at least from what had been shown thus far.

And then the final episode happen.

Holy loving poo poo. It's like zoologists recording something in the wild or some poo poo, capturing the pure essence of a complete loving sociopath talking in the most insane fashion imagineable.

The great thing about this is that the best part of the show is perfectly captured in a five-minute sequence.


Maybe my memory is bad, but was there any way of watching the first two episode and not coming away with the impression that the guy was guilty as gently caress? :stare:

I thought he was guilty of the murder in Galveston by the end of the second episode, but I was still a bit unsure about his wife mainly because at that point we had been led to believe the doorman had seen her come home that night and that she called into school the next morning. I think it wasn't until episode three or four where we found out that was bullshit. It really wasn't until they went in depth in the Berman murder that I was without a doubt convinced he did all three.

Josh Lyman
May 24, 2009


As if this couldn't get any weirder, Jezebel is shipping Jeanine Pirro, the Westchester County DA, and Cody Cazalas, the lead investigator for the Galveston Sherriff's Dept: http://jezebel.com/we-ship-the-jinxs-cody-cazalas-and-jeanine-pirro-1691670670

Megazver
Jan 13, 2006

Josh Lyman posted:

As if this couldn't get any weirder, Jezebel is shipping Jeanine Pirro, the Westchester County DA, and Cody Cazalas, the lead investigator for the Galveston Sherriff's Dept: http://jezebel.com/we-ship-the-jinxs-cody-cazalas-and-jeanine-pirro-1691670670

You read Jezebel, tho.

Josh Lyman
May 24, 2009


Megazver posted:

You read Jezebel, tho.
Actually I saw it all over Twitter when I searched for "the jinx". :colbert:

Madurai
Jun 26, 2012

I cannot stand police procedural/true crime shows, and dreaded my wife turning this on, and then I could absolutely not stop watching this.

testifeye
Sep 24, 2004

maroon moon
.

qbert
Oct 23, 2003

It's both thrilling and terrifying.
I've watched this since the beginning and was sad there was no thread on it here. Of course, the weekend's events have changed all that.

Holy poo poo that ending. I was ready to declare the series great even if it ended Serial style with no real new evidence uncovered, but to do a documentary on basically a murder mystery and then discover the smoking gun yourself? That's basically a fantasy.

I hope there's a Season 2 following up on the eventual trial.

ApexAftermath
May 24, 2006

Yeah at the very least we need one follow up episode to go over whatever happens next. What a crazy loving ending I can't stop thinking about it.

Josh Lyman
May 24, 2009


There's going to be some fallout from how, in episode 6, they made it seem like Bob's violation of Doug's restraining order in summer 2013 is what compelled him to do the second interview when, in fact, the second interview took place in spring 2012. The narrative reason for this is clear: they wanted the second interview, including his bathroom confession, to be the final scene of the series.

TheRationalRedditor
Jul 17, 2000

WHO ABUSED HIM. WHO ABUSED THE BOY.
Look at all these johnny-come-lately bandwagon jumpers. :smugdog:

That being said, 'The Jinx' has been one of the best things I've seen all year and the finale was chilling and unique, especially if you'd been watching week to week from the beginning. Go get your fuckin' shinebox, Serial!

less laughter
May 7, 2012

Accelerock & Roll

TheRationalRedditor posted:

Look at all these johnny-come-lately bandwagon jumpers. :smugdog:

That being said, 'The Jinx' has been one of the best things I've seen all year and the finale was chilling and unique, especially if you'd been watching week to week from the beginning. Go get your fuckin' shinebox, Serial!

This show is a mere six weeks old

ApexAftermath
May 24, 2006

TheRationalRedditor posted:

Look at all these johnny-come-lately bandwagon jumpers. :smugdog:

You realize this thread didn't exist until like a day ago right?

WeedlordGoku69
Feb 12, 2015

by Cyrano4747

ApexAftermath posted:

You realize this thread didn't exist until like a day ago right?

People have been talking it up in couch chat for a while, it just never got a thread until now.

TheRationalRedditor
Jul 17, 2000

WHO ABUSED HIM. WHO ABUSED THE BOY.

qbert posted:

I've watched this since the beginning and was sad there was no thread on it here. Of course, the weekend's events have changed all that.

Holy poo poo that ending. I was ready to declare the series great even if it ended Serial style with no real new evidence uncovered, but to do a documentary on basically a murder mystery and then discover the smoking gun yourself? That's basically a fantasy.

I hope there's a Season 2 following up on the eventual trial.
As delightful as that would be it's exceedingly unlikely because the wheels of justice (the arraignment hearings and court schedulings alone, before a jury trial proper) move at a universally glacial pace and these short 6 chapters are a culmination of over 4 years of evidence + interview collection. 'All Good Things' was completed in 2010 and Andrew Jarecki has said the first interview happened around then. It's a long, slow burn. It takes a lot of time and effort to put together such an excellent compact mini-series, especially with such a small crew. That would be really cool though. Also Durst could still like, die at any moment. Likely from belching-based asphyxiation!

ApexAftermath posted:

You realize this thread didn't exist until like a day ago right?
:thejoke:

TheRationalRedditor fucked around with this message at 21:41 on Mar 16, 2015

Mahoning
Feb 3, 2007

Josh Lyman posted:

There's going to be some fallout from how, in episode 6, they made it seem like Bob's violation of Doug's restraining order in summer 2013 is what compelled him to do the second interview when, in fact, the second interview took place in spring 2012. The narrative reason for this is clear: they wanted the second interview, including his bathroom confession, to be the final scene of the series.

This is a pretty good interview, but yeah the interviewer confronts them directly on the timeline and they play dumb on it.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/16/the-jinx-ending-robert-durst-andrew-jarecki/

Mahoning
Feb 3, 2007

TheRationalRedditor posted:

As delightful as that would be it's exceedingly unlikely because the wheels of justice (the arraignment hearings and court schedulings alone, before a jury trial proper) move at a universally glacial pace and these short 6 chapters are a culmination of over 4 years of evidence + interview collection. 'All Good Things' was completed in 2010 and Andrew Jarecki has said the first interview happened around then. It's a long, slow burn. It takes a lot of time and effort to put together such an excellent compact mini-series, especially with such a small crew. That would be really cool though. Also Durst could still like, die at any moment. Likely from belching-based asphyxiation!

:thejoke:

According to the interview I just posted, they've continued filming since the final interview and will continue to film. They said a bunch of people have come forward since the show premiered with stuff they've seen or heard or whatever. I doubt we get a whole season, but we will almost assuredly get a follow up episode or two.

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TheRationalRedditor
Jul 17, 2000

WHO ABUSED HIM. WHO ABUSED THE BOY.

Mahoning posted:

According to the interview I just posted, they've continued filming since the final interview and will continue to film. They said a bunch of people have come forward since the show premiered with stuff they've seen or heard or whatever. I doubt we get a whole season, but we will almost assuredly get a follow up episode or two.
That's very *braapghurgle* news!

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