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"Dirty John", as in the series of addictive investigations by Los Angeles Times reporter Christopher Goffard, or the successful podcast that followed, or the limited series of Bravo debuting Sunday at 10 pm, is a story of woman at risk on steroids. He was born this way, a story of crime with tendrils dating back many years and revealing victims captivated by John Meehan long before he landed Debra Newell, a successful Newport Beach businesswoman who had little chance of becoming a romance.
Goffard's articles and the podcast, both of which were published last October with great success, are fascinating lessons on how everyone can fall prey to the law. It's a simple flaw inherent in humanity: no matter what our sense of intelligence and lucidity, some predators can swim through all the ditches and charm the crocodiles to let it pass.
Those who read or listened to "Dirty John" might have seen Newell as an easier mark given his quest to find true love, the path taken by several failed marriages before being swept away by Meehan, who claims to be anesthetist . and a veteran of the war in Iraq who worked with Médecins sans Frontières. When he went on their first date dressed in shabby clothes, Newell wrote that he was compared to his professional schedule and his down-to-earth attitude.
And in the series, John, played by Eric Bana, is handsome and attentive in his conversation. There are so many good things from the first date, with the exception of some huge red flags, that Debra, described by Connie Britton, forgives the missteps and chooses to focus on her chivalrous demonstrations. On the other hand, his materialistic and brutally honest daughter, Veronica (Juno Temple), can not ignore how voraciously John watches all the beautiful things at Debra.
The next thing Debra knows is that she is exchanging greetings with him in a Las Vegas chapel, a disconcerting decision to make her look like her choice, even though we who have read or heard this story in know more. Shortly after, everything goes terribly wrong.
Podcasts have become hot mines for content development, and "Dirty John" has always been natural to go from page to audio and then to screen. Maybe Goffard had this intuition, even before the podcast was downloaded more than 30 million times. The flourishing language used to recreate scenes and develop characters in her articles creates a pretty vivid picture for designer Alexandra Cunningham (whose pedigree includes "Desperate Housewives") and director Jeffrey Reiner to emulate. That they do it, almost to the letter, in the three episodes made available for the review – to the profit and the detriment of the series. By the way, the first episode is currently available on video on demand and streaming on YouTube and the Bravo website.
"Dirty John" is the kind of love that has become lethal and that has spurred an entire industry with the mystery of murder and has formed the backbone of the entire movie library before the real crime do not become fashionable. Readers and listeners liked "Dirty John" in part because it follows the established pattern of the genre. The eponymous character is a muscular flirt who says all he needs and anticipates the needs of his brand. A montage at the start of their parade shows John's princely dynasty taking the form of waking the woman that he pretends to enjoy a different flavor of homemade smoothie every day: blueberry one day, kale the next day. With a hint of turmeric! Just a drop in a California ocean dreaming.
But these romantic gestures hide the alarm signals and disappointments that pile up, as well as the protests of Debra's children, portrayed as pampered adults who have seen their mothers blinded by bad choices in the past. . For her, their vocal disapproval of John is an example of a weeping wolf, but this time, the wolf, with its starving drug addiction and teeth, is real and dangerous.
And their story ends with a struggle for survival reminiscent of a horror movie. Goffard could not have invented the accidental brilliance of the fact that Debra's daughter, Terra (Julia Ozner, "Ozark"), owes her survival to her dedication to "The Walking Dead". It's only by studying a fictional apocalypse on television that it has emerged from a deadly, living and victorious confrontation, and provide a great ending for television.
Congratulations to all of this – forgive the shorthand, but I hope you get what I want to say – is the ostentatious reflection of the Newell lifestyle and the sheer audacity of Meehan's trump card. It is a parable of homicide that takes place in the country of the "real housewife of Orange County". If Bravo did not do it, it would be broadcast for life.
Lifetime can still make its own version. Who knows?
The fact is that "Dirty John" does not reserve any creative surprise to those who are familiar with the case, and that it does not violate any convention amply established by, for example, Investigation Discovery or Oxygen. That does not make it useless, notice. It has everything you need to have a good frivolous and ephemeral moment, a spiky bauble made to stand out among the sweet offers of television for the month of December.
It might sound like a pan or a warning to anyone attracted by Goffard's reports or the podcast, which is essentially the audio version of the story. This is not the first and slightly the last if you are waiting for an adaptation to match the artistic quality of the source material. In this case, prepare to be submerged.
But if you're looking for an excuse to tap that pink wine box that's lurking on the back of your fridge and crying on your TV screen, have a happy holiday.
What I'm saying is adjusting your expectations accordingly. It's not a "true story-based" but an eight-episode drama that follows almost directly the format of the newspaper series, but can not help but suffer dramatic dilution.
As is the case with most sweets, consuming "Dirty John" requires neglecting a bit of reality, namely the fact that the people he's threatened are always with us. On the other hand, two key players in real life have paraded on the red carpet at the support of the series, so do not worry about it too much.
It must also be accepted that some of the details that made Goffard's words sing are omitted in the translation. Terra's "Walking Dead" obsession is the key to the story and adds a strange cosmic poetry to her gain, but in the television adaptation that is transformed into a zombie apocalypse not specific to the brand. Which is a very different proposition.
And you may disagree with Garner's interpretation of Terner. His squeaky mouse voice announces an alleged passivity, as to compensate for the loss of the reference "Walking Dead" and allow to find a new shock in the end. Temple, meanwhile, is so bastard that we imagine that its representation is recreated for a challenge of "RuPaul's Drag Race". This is only a problem for viewers who come to "Dirty John" with high viewing standards. For anyone cocooning in a jet and working on his cheese at night, his work is a vampire delight.
Indeed, while many viewers know how "Dirty John" evolves and ends, much of the weight rests on the stars to keep us interested.
Britton plays her role with empathy and spark – when does she not? – and it's slightly devastating to see her face crumble when she discovers the hideous and violent truth that lies behind the dreamy weaver to which she is legally bound. And it's helpful to become aware of Meehan's wickedness while watching Bana play the early stages of their courtship display. During their first meetings, he mixes his romantic gestures slightly with a touch of sinister, providing a little too much detail about his past invented in his conversations with Debra. When darker questions arise, watch Bana's jaw – she grabs it very lightly while he coaxes a defensive explanation under very suspicious circumstances. Fortunately, he does not have to play subtly very long. From the third episode, the nightmare scenario is blossoming, told in scenes where Debra wakes up in the present with her ex-wife whom he has cheated, then threatened, in the past.
It's hard to say if "Dirty John" can endure the temptation and terror of eight episodes without a plot. Goffard's story works because she has managed to strike a balance between detail and precision. The opening episodes make the story almost exactly as Goffard wrote it, and that's fine. But Goffard has written six chapters. I am curious to know which aspects of these parts need to be clarified and what will be the success of the series.
Is "Dirty John" of Bravo necessary? Essential? No, but what is the real terror done on TV? There is surely an answer to that, even if this thriller is not. But it works like a light crime thread at a time of year, bathed in a feeling of holly and ivy that, like fresh snow on a still warm land, is celebrated before it melts, to become forgotten. Taking into account the other options in the appendix, this limited series is the type of proposal that makes sense for the moment. You know, a bit like a claw crafted by experts.
Melanie McFarland
Melanie McFarland is Salon's television reviewer. Follow her on Twitter: @ McTelevision
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