Written by Steven Allison
Netflix has its audience going crazy for crime shows, especially those based on real events. The true-crime shelves of its ever-expanding content library are stacked with so many great series and documentaries it’s getting more and more difficult to get anything productive done. Ever since the streaming service dropped Making a Murderer back in 2015, a show that made amateur couch sleuths of us all, we’ve been salivating for more. And Netflix has really stepped up.
From the mysterious fire-poker and gay extramarital affairs of The Staircase to the utterly mind-bending aliens and gullibility of Abducted in Plain Sight, there’s just about something to tickle everybody’s pickle. Just when viewers are still reeling from the jaw-droppingly implausible details of Jan Broberg’s extra-terrestrial nightmare, along comes Dirty John with a whole new sordid tale designed to suspend disbelief.
This true-crime series, which initially aired on Bravo in the States a few months ago, is based on reporter Christopher Goffard’s series of LA Times articles and hugely popular podcast of the same name – downloaded a staggering 10 million times within six weeks of release. Written and produced by Alexandra Cunningham (Desperate Housewives), season one – yes, a second season is already in the works – tells the doomed story of how a whirlwind romance with a handsome, seemingly affable and charming doctor quickly became a nightmare web of lies and psychological manipulation for a sweet, wealthy interior designer.
Drug-addicted sociopath and con-man John Meehan (Eric Bana) uses his intelligence and silver tongue to wheedle his way into the comfortable life of Debra Newell (Connie Britton), despite the reddest of flags and repeated warnings from her highly-sceptical daughters, Terra (Julia Garner) and Veronica (Juno Temple). The sleek fifty-something finds out that her new beau has falsified every last detail of his life and that he’s done the exact same and so much more to other women. When she gets hold of his rap sheet, one that would knock the socks off Frank Abagnale (of Catch Me If You Can fame), she struggles to rid herself of this insidious leech. But he plans to go nowhere.
Dirty John is a pretty faithful adaptation, staying largely true to its source material. There are some key differences, though. The story is spread across eight episodes, as compared to the podcast’s six. And it’s far closer to the delicious tackiness of a soap opera than its forerunner. Cunningham also shoots for a less linear narrative than Goffard, which permits revealing flashbacks to Meehan’s troubled past.
All cast members do their roles justice here, but Britton and Bana are especially formidable. Britton does frustratingly credulous Debra so well that you’re bound to find yourself repeatedly rolling your eyes, sighing, and screaming “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Bana’s performance has as many sides as the beguiling but unhinged John. You’ll never see Henry, The Time Traveller’s Wife, in the same way again. A pox upon your house, Bana.
Sadly, the development of these characters is inherently flawed in a sense. For starters, John is a bit like Hannibal Lecter; you know he’s evil to his core, but it’s just so hard to hate him. You certainly won’t root for him, but you might pity him. Then there’s Debra, who’s totally away with the fairies. How could someone with her strong business acumen be such a damned dumbo? It beggars belief. That is until you find out she might be just as forgiving as her pious mother Arlane, played almost incredulously by a Jean Smart channelling Jessica Tandy’s Grace McQueen. John and Debra come across in a way which serves to Febreze the unpleasantness that hung in the air with the podcast; something not helped by the glossy soap treatment given to the story.
That said, Dirty John is still great viewing, even if a little guilty. There’s a twisted pleasure in watching this woman being so obviously hoodwinked that’ll make you question your capabilities of empathy. Don’t panic, though, everyone else is thinking the same thing. Besides, zombies (sort of) come to save the day in the end. You’ll see.
