Category Archives: HBO Max

The Jinx Part Two S2 E4

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“The Unluckiest Man in the World”

The trial had been going Bob Durst’s way at first.

Then came Emily Altman.

Emily and her husband Stewart were long time friends with Bob. When the prosecution put Emily on the witness stand, they were able to get her to place Bob in Los Angeles at the time of the murder of Susan Berman. That was something that had never happened before.

Because of that, Bob admitted to writing the “Cadaver note.”

I’m not kidding.

This is absolutely nuts.

Bob had sent years denying that he wrote that note, the one sent to the police alerting them to the death of Susan. The one with the misspelling of “Beverly” with an “E”. Now, he has changed his story and claimed that he had walked in and found the body and sent the anonymous note to police to avoid his own suspicion.

This changed the entire feel of the trial.

Emily had not intended on making thing bad for Bob. In fact, the show speculated that she may have thought she was trying to help him.

This episode ended with the shocking reveal that Bob had decided to testify on his own behalf. We get that next episode. Can’t wait!

Boy did this one take a turn. I love how the producers of the mini-series used Bob’s correspondence with friends and others to score the program. Bob’s voice was the key to the first season, and this second season uses his voice just as well. When Bob said that Emily was so stupid, it was an amazing moment.

The Jinx Part Two S2 E3

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“Saving My Tears Until It’s Official”

The third episode of the next season of The Jinx tonight has a focus in on the trial of Bob Durst for the murder of Susan Berman.

The show gave us specific moments from the actual trial in Los Angeles. We heard from several of the witnesses as well as Bob’s reactions on the phone with his wife Debbie. There are a bunch of talking head interviews through the episode with other people from Susan’s life.

Bob Durst was wheeled into the courtroom, with a neck brace. Was this for optics? Was Bob truly in such a bad shape.

During the trial, they came across a tape recording of a conversation between Susan and a reporter named Albert Goldman. It was very creepy how Susan would ask Albert about things that could have happened to Bob’s wife Kathie. Susan was trying to come up with the most reasonable answer to what happened to Kathie so she could distract the media to what could have happened.

The prosecutor did not use that tape because it made Susan to be unlikable and they did not want the jury to think the victim was a bad person.

Nick Chavin, one of Bob’s friends and a friend of Susan, was a surprise, mystery witness in the trial. It did not seem to go very well.

The first part of this trial also does not seem to be going very well. At least, from what we have seen at this point.

The Jinx Part Two S2 E1, E2

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“Why are You Still Here?”

“Friendships Die Hard”

I never expected that there would be more for The Jinx. I loved that docuseries when it originally aired on HBO, but it felt like it was one and done. When I discovered that there was a part two that had already started, I was excited to see this story continue. I rewatched the first season of The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst in preparation. With that done (and still as shockingly engaging as it was the first time), I was able to watch the first two episodes of the second season.

While there has not been anything quite as shocking as “killed them all, of course” to this point, the story of Bob Durst continues to be riveting, to the point of being spellbinding.

One of the early highlights of episode one of season two was the scene where Kathie’s family, the prosecutors and investigators and others viewed the streaming of the final episode of The Jinx at Andrew Jarecki’s home. Their reactions to some of the other scenes were fascinating, but the moment where Bob gives his accidental bathroom confession was surreal. The gasps and the stunned silence gave way to a buzz through the room of excitement and anticipatory expectations. There was a palatable relief for so many of these people.

The first episode included the fallout from the airing of The Jinx, including Bob’s decision to go on the run after the fifth episode. Bob is both one step ahead of everyone and foolishly naive at the same time. Bob’s biggest problem seems to be his desire to talk to anyone about anything. Doing the interview with Jarecki in the first season felt like a self-destructive decision, but that did not stop Bob. Why does he make that choice? We hear Bob admit in season two that doing the Jarecki interview was a huge mistake.

The second episode focused on Bob’s friends and confidants that Bob may have confessed to or those people who may have helped him at some point during this adventure. In particular, was Nick “Chinga” Chavin, who was about as close to Bob as you could get. The thing was that he was also very close with Susan Berman, and that loyalty was a theme of this episode. Chavin’s belief in becoming famous as a singer in a “country porn” band with songs such as “Cum Stains on My Pillow (Where Your Sweet Head Used to Be)” continues to be an unbelievable feature of this overall story.

Another shocking person here is Susie Giordano, who we see Bob state that he wished he had married. She and Bob are apparently in love, to the chagrin of Bob’s wife, Debbie. You can’t make this stuff up. No one would believe it.

I love these first tow episodes, even if it does not really provide us any further specifics of the case that we need to know. It is all setting up what is to come with the Bob Durst trial, I can only assume.

I have caught up to where the season is currently for releases. Each new episodes (the four remaining) will be arriving on Max on Sundays and I will be anxious to see the next installment.

The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst S1 E6

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“What the Hell Did I Do?”

“There it is. You’re caught. You’re right, of course”

“But you can’t imagine.”

“I don’t know what’s in the house.”

“What a disaster.”

“He was right. I was wrong.”

“And the burping. I’m having difficulties with the questions.”

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

This was a tremendously engaging and thrilling docuseries before that unbelievable ending to this episode. Perhaps the idea that this show presented a true crime case and what looked to be a wrap on the case was what was so special. Usually a lot of these true crime docs end up with an ending that does not have the kind of finality that this had. That is part of what made this such a stirring ride.

Watching Andrew Jarecki, holding an ace up his sleeve, trying to get Robert Durst to agree to one more interview to spring it on him, only to have Durst cancel and delay and put off the final meeting, is just sensational. Then when Bob finally agrees to the interview, the prep for the interview with Andrew and the rest was so great. They went all in. It was also exceptional when Andrew commented on how cold this was going to feel to Bob. It was an interesting moment and you could see how the weight of what was going on, and how Andrew actually had some feeling for Durst, stressed Jarecki out.

Then that last moment. The confrontation with Robert and the letter/envelope was rough as Robert tried to get through the interview without giving anything up, but clearly it was building up inside of him because as soon as the interview ended and he used the restroom, Durst starting talking, dropping lines that made it look real badly for him.

He did not come right out and admit to the murders, but he came really close. This is the reason we saw the time in episode three or four where they showed Robert talking with his live mike… all to set up for this very moment.

And it is a glorious reveal. Shocking. A man who has been brilliant in his ability to avoid being sent to jail several times, even after he was shown to have cut up a body and dumped its parts into the water, he basically wrecks himself with his own words.

I have never expected that we would get more episodes to this as it felt done, but I am ready to dive into the next round of episodes in season two.

The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst S1 E4

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“The State of Texas vs. Robert Durst”

Okay, this is just astounding.

This episode featured the trial of Robert Durst in Galveston, Texas on the murder of Morris Black, Durst’s neighbor while he was hiding out in Galveston, pretending to be a woman.

There are so many unbelievable things that happened during the trial that would lead to his being found “not guilty” that it is difficult to understand how it could happen. The thing is as you are watching this trial unfold, including Durst’s own testimony on the stand, you can see why the jury made this remarkably unpopular verdict, freeing the NYC billionaire in what seemed to be a slam dunk case.

I may have missed this, but why in God’s name did the prosecutors in Galveston not include charges against Durst for cutting up the body, destroying evidence or anything else along with the murder charge? By not charging him with these other offenses, they gave Robert Durst a clever way to get away with what he had done.

The fact was that no one could conceivably say that how the event in the room happened. Was it a murder-execution style or was it an accidental death coming from self-defense? Once Robert explained the decapitation part, in a way that made somewhat of a sense, the jury only could decide whether Robert had committed murder. They could not determine if he had cut up the body and disposed of the evidence. None of that was relevant to this case because there were no charges stemming from that.

That entire jury may have believed that he had killed Morris, but there was no proof that he had done so.

The creators of the docuseries added something at the end of this episode that is foreshadowing the bombshell that would be dropped at the end of the series. Andrew Jarecki had asked Robert if he needed a break and during the break, Durst was practicing what he was going to say, which was being picked up on his hot mike.

Durst said, “I did not knowingly purposefully lie. I did not knowingly purposefully lie. I did not knowingly, purposefully, intentionally lie. I did make mistakes.“

I literally shook from this. Durst is such a chilling, manipulative person and his words both at trial and the interview with Jarecki is what makes this more than just any true crime story.

And by the way, why does nobody ask Durst what happened to the head?

This is amazing. I remember how much this stuck with me after the first watch and it absolutely holds up and a compelling piece of drama.

The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst S1 E3

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“The Gangster’s Daughter”

How DO you accidentally shave your eyebrows?

Episode three brings into focus the next suspected murder committed by Robert Durst, a woman named Susan Berman. Berman was a daughter of a gangster and had become one of the staunchest supporters of Robert Durst during the period he was being looked at as a suspect in the disappearance of Kathie, his wife.

The speculation was that Susan Berman had some knowledge of the disappearance of Kathie and that was a direct reason why she was executed.

I swear, every time Robert Durst appears on screen in his interview with director Andrew Jarecki, Robert Durst is the most shockingly sociopathic man I have ever heard. The constant blinks and winks (which I think may be beyond his control) and the manner in which he speaks is just chilling. He asks questions during the interview that honestly feel as if he is trying to lead the viewers or Jarecki to the real truth, that he is guilty. Does Durst, perhaps subconsciously, want to get caught?

While on the run from the charge of murder of Morris Black, Durst went into a grocery store and was caught shoplifting a tuna salad sandwich. Why would someone who could afford just about anything try to shoplift a sandwich, especially when he knew that he was on the lamb?

He admits to being on the lamb and admits to planning to jump bail after posting it in Galveston. He said that he shaved his hair and his eyebrows in an attempt to look different.

This is an amazing true crime story that is only amplified by Robert Durst’s own words.

The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst S1 E1, E2

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“A Body in the Bay”

“Poor Little Rich Boy”

One of my favorite, all-time true crime docudramas was The Jinx, which tells the compelling story of Robert Durst, NYC real-estate scion. The series was remarkably intriguing, but ended with the greatest hook of all time. We’ll save that discussion until later in the rewatch.

Well, there is a second season currently airing on Max, which I never thought would happen. I want to start to watch the Jinx season two, but I figured it would be a smart move to rewatch that first season from 2015 before I dove into the new season.

This is absolutely insane.

The first couple of episodes are just the beginning, but it gives the most unexpected picture of Robert Durst. Who is this guy? A man who was accused of decapitating an old man in Galveston, Texas and who was always suspected for killing his wife, decided that he wanted to do a sit down interview with a director, Andrew Jarecki, who directed the movie All Good Things, which was inspired by Durst’s rumored story.

What makes a man search out a director to give an interview to about his life, a life that had so many infamous moments?

Listening to Durst tell these stories in his own voice was really creepy. Watching Durst and his remarkable twitches and blinks as he made direct comments was fascinating. I do not know if these were “tells”, but they all seemed to come at sinister moments. Admittedly, I may be reading into this way more than there is.

Episode two was heavily focused on Kathie, Durst’s wife, who disappeared in 1982, and whose body has never been found. Some of the words from Kathie’s friend were powerful.

It was jarring to see Jeanine Pirro, currently of FOX News, appear in the documentary as a prosecutor who was involved in the case against Durst.

There is so much about this man that is absolutely fascinating and the fact that you feel as if he was lying to you with every breath was something that was just unbelievable. After two episodes, I remember clearly how shocking and compelling this docudrama was.

Chernobyl S1 E5

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“Vichnaya Pamyat”

This series concluded with a powerful episode that saw testimony in a trial of the people facing the blame for what happened on April 26, 1986.

Boris, Legasov and Ulana would all testify about the events of the night and the way that Anatoly Dyatlov ignored protocol in his attempt to complete a required test. However, when Legasov took the microphone, he explained out the process of the way a power plant worked. But it was not only that, but Legasov, putting his own life on the line, talked about how the flaw in the AZ-5 system led to the failure of the shutdown procedure, and thus it being a failure of the Soviet Union for the devastation.

The court scenes were full of tension and made for a dramatic way to wrap up this fantastic five-episode series. The acting in the series was on display in this episode even more than before. Stellan Skarsgård and Jared Harris really stood out among this wonderful ensemble. Neither of them were shown as heroes. Both characters knew that they were not heroes, yet they were doing what they knew was right.

I can see why Legasov made the decision to kill himself after hearing the way he was going to be treated as he slowly got sick from the radiation. It is a powerful piece of entertainment with an amazing result.

Chernobyl S1 E4

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“The Happiness of All Mankind”

Chernobyl has been just an amazing show so far. Four tragic episodes that showed the horrible events that happened in the Soviet Union and the Soviet’s attempts to fix the problem without admitting to any problems.

We got a new arc here too as Barry Keoghan appeared as a soldier who joined a couple of others to shoot the animals of the infected area This was very tough as they were killing several pets, dogs, cats and a painful scene with puppies, and then taking the bodies to bury beneath cement. Keoghan’s character had never done something like this and the anguish of the situation was obvious. This was a rough part of the episode, but provided some amazing character moments.

Then Boris went to town on the phone.

I called the line that he would say afterwards, “We need another phone.” Boris was angry with the Kremlin because they were not being helpful. The explosion of frustration made for a brilliant scene.

Then, when the robots could not do what they needed, they recruited people to do it. Oh goodness.

This has been unbelievable and I wonder how accurate the series is to the truth.

Chernobyl S1 E3

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“Open Wide, O Earth”

This has been such a compelling story of such a horrific tragedy. The drama is so tense and suspenseful and every moment brings more shocking revelations. So many people wound up sick or dead because of their efforts to stop the exposure from spreading into the land or the water, it truly speaks to the heroic nature of the human spirit, no matter the country.

The group of miners they recruited to dig beneath the core to prevent the contamination of the water supply have become my favorite characters immediately. Their no nonsense approach to the initial order was awesome, as was their patting of the coal minister (messing up his suit and his face with coal dust). Their response to not being allowed to have fans in the tunnels they dug was unexpected and a great bit of humor inside a serious moment.

Seeing some of the first people who had been exposed and the fates that they faced was difficult. The firefighter whose wife told him she was pregnant was heart-breaking. The final scene of the episode where they placed a series of metal coffins in a large grave and covered it with concrete was a brutal blow. It was truly a difficult scene to watch.

Valery Legasov presenting the plan for what had to happen next to Gorbachev was a tense scene. When Valery approached the KGB Director, I had everything clenched. I know he survived because of the opening scene of the show, but it still did not make this easier to watch.

This has been such a powerful show with so much amazing acting. I find this very emotional and I am glad that I have gotten around to seeing it.

Chernobyl S1 E1, E2

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“1:23:45”

“Please Remain Calm”

With the rewatches of Twin Peaks and Moonlighting finishing, the end of the Fallout first season, and the nearing of the completion of Man from Atlantis, I was ready for a new watch, whether it be a rewatch or a new show. I had made a list and one that jumped out at me was a five-episode mini-series that had aired on HBO in 2019 based on the story of the disaster that occurred at Chernobyl in the Soviet Union.

I had heard amazing things about this mini-series and so I wanted to get this into the rotation. I have to say, after watching the first two episodes, I had to really stress myself into not continuing and binging the entire series. It was that good.

About two-thirds of the way through the second episode, I was thinking that everyone that I saw in the first episode was now dead or in the process of dying, which was a dramatic thought.

Jared Harris and Stellan Skarsgård we meet, mostly, in the second episode, and they bring some of the best acting I have seen in a long time. The realization of what their jobs will cost them is absolutely screaming beneath their performances.

This historical recreation (which does have its share of discrepancies) is extremely stressful and intense. It had me yelling at my screen for characters to get out of there, in reference to the power plant. How the radiation affected these men was an unbelievable example of the power of nuclear energy.

Kicking the series off with a scene of Valery Legasov, played by Jared Harris, hanging himself after recording memoirs of the events of Chernobyl really started things off with a desperation that the series maintained. Legasov had said to Skarsgård’s Boris Shcherbina in episode two that they would both be dead in five years. Perhaps this was his way of taking control of his life. Or maybe, he knew he would be killed for putting his words on tape. Either way, it made for quite an impact at the beginning of this show.

True Detective: Night Country S4 E6

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“Part Six”

The fourth season of True Detective came to its conclusion tonight on HBO Max with an extra long episode that wrapped up the storylines well and left some ambiguity in what happened with Navarro.

The show moved at a rapid pace throughout. They had a lot to cover.

The story of what happened to the frozen naked people was something else. I never would have guessed about what the answer was to the mystery. I am not sure if this felt like a cheat or a clever way to keep it unexpected.

Top notch performances tonight from Jodie Foster and Kali Reis as they were stranded together in the blizzard with Raymond Clark, who was able to provide us with some answers (sort of).

The case was a nice mixture of real world and supernatural as everything made sense, but the mysteriousness of the setting remained in tact.

Was that Navarro’s spirit or real live body visiting Danvers at the end? I know what I think, but we will never know for sure.

A really enjoyable season with a very strong finale. I was really pleased with True Detective: Night Country.

True Detective: Night Country S4 E5

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“Part Five”

I had forgotten that True Detective: Night Country was releasing its penultimate episode on Friday night instead of its typical Sunday night because of the inevitable competition of the Super Bowl. I did not think of it until tonight as I was watching American Nightmare on Netflix. After that was over, I pulled up Max and loaded up episode 5.

What an episode.

The confrontation at Danvers’ home between Hank Prior, Danvers, Otis and Peter was just shocking. Watching Peter put a bullet into his father’s head to protect Danvers after his father had shot and killed Otis was an unbelievable scene. 

The scene between Peter and Danvers at the police station was compelling as hell and really set up what was to come.

It was a tough episode for Peter, ending with one of the most tragic things that he had to do. He could not stand there and watch his father execute Danvers and so his hand was forced.

Hank did confess that he did not kill Annie, but he did move the body. I guess you can scratch him off the suspects list. With Navarro and Danvers on their way to the cave where Annie was killed, I expect all kinds of drama coming next week in the finale.

By the way, the Tsalal deaths have been deemed an accident by way of an avalanche by the medical examiners in Anchorage. This, of course, is fairly coincidental as Pete had just found evidence linking Silver Sky Mining with Tsalal. Silver Sky Mining’s exec Kate McKittrick is clearly crooked and had ordered Hank to make sure Otis could not take Liz and Navarro to the caves.

Something is in those caves and the reveal next week could be epic.

True Detective: Night Country S4 E4

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“Part Four”

Night Country continues to be a creepy and, at times, devastating look at both mental illness and the effects of isolation and the lack of daylight.

This week, Navarro’s sister, diagnosed with several mental illnesses, leaves the clinic and walks into the water, drowning herself. To say that Navarro does not respond positively to the news is an understatement. She flies off the handle at the clinic and then picks a fight with a group of men who leave her bloodied and battered.

Meanwhile, things aren’t great for Danvers. Her step-daughter leaves, Danvers spends Christmas Eve alone and drunk.

Navarro is seeing some horrors and she is afraid that the mental illness ran through her family. Ghosts are everywhere here apparently.

The supernatural element of this show has really started kicking into high gear. When Otis Heiss said that they were in the “night country” now, it really felt like something creepy.

And I really feel for Navarro.

The show has been firing on all cylinders for me and, with just two episodes left, I’m excited to see the mystery of the Tsalal murder solved.

True Detective: Night Country S4 E3

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“Part Three”

Holy crap.

Okay, I was thinking that this episode was slow and there was not too much going down. I mean there was some minimal advancement on the case and there was some good character development, especially for Navarro.

Then, the last fifteen minutes or so, shit went crazy.

So much so that when the episode went to black, I was feeling uneasy and downright disturbed from the video on Annie’s phone and the unnatural warning from the injured  Dr. Anders Lundt, with his legs amputated. This supernatural twist was creepy as all hell and really punctuated the scene, with him making a comment about Navarro’s mom. Coincidentally, we found out earlier this episode what had happened to her.

We also discovered the fact that the six dead, frozen bodies most likely had not died of being frozen, that they were dead before they were frozen. 

I also found out that the season is now half over, which was shocking to me. There is so much going on right now that I hope they are able to nail the landing on this series because it is truly compelling at this point.