The perfect couple
This article was published on September 20th and republished on September 22nd.
After two weeks, it finally happened. The Perfect Couple, Netflix’s crime miniseries that probably won’t be a miniseries, was dethroned in the top 10 list by a new series. And guess what? Even more murder. The series is called Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
If the prefix “Monster” sounds familiar, that’s because the first installment was Monster: The Jeffry Dahmer Story, the widely watched retelling of the famous killer starring Evan Peters that ended up with six Emmy nominations and a win for Niecy Nash for supporting actress. Now, Ryan Murphy’s series is taking on another famous case.
Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of murdering their parents in 1996. They said they did it because they were afraid their father would kill them. them if they exposed his years of abuse. Prosecutors said they did it for the money and the case was a very public one. Both brothers are still in prison, serving a life sentence without parole.
Top 10
Like Dahmer before it, Murphy’s production has already run into controversy over its subject matter, which has been heavily criticized on social media. Dahmer, too, has been accused of exploiting the murders in a fictionalized way that some have argued even glorified him as a murderer. But controversy aside, Dahmer was the third most-watched Netflix series of all time, with over a billion hours of viewing time. That immediately led to the greenlight of two more seasons, this one about Menendez and a third about serial killer Ed Gein, with Charlie Hunnam just announced for the role.
As for The Perfect Pair, after two weeks at number one on Netflix’s top 10 list, it will almost certainly get a second season, even though that wasn’t the original intention and there is no book left. Enough characters have survived and even megastar Nicole Kidman says the show should return, so yes, it will return. No announcement has been made yet.
Elsewhere on the list, Zack Snyder has found a little redemption for Rebel Moon with his new animated series Twilight of the Gods, which is doing well with critics and fans, with 67% and 70% respectively on Rotten Tomatoes, a far cry from Rebel Moon’s scores in the low 20s and 10s. The series revolves around the pantheon of Norse gods and is no doubt aiming for a second season. It entered the top 10 list at number 7 and we’ll see how it fares for a renewal.
We will probably hear a lot more about the Menendez show; it will, just like the last one, cause controversy.
Update (22.9.): If you were wondering if there would be a second season of The Perfect Couple, there’s a lot going on in that regard, even though it was originally intended to be a miniseries. The series has been so successful that it will likely be renewed and go beyond the book. Here’s star Nicole Kidman, who is on board, speaking to USA Today:
“I think it’s ripe (for more) … I think there’s still an enormous amount of history and an enormous amount of future ahead of us.”
And her film husband Liev Schreiber sees it the same way:
“They’re taking a break now, but who knows? You can have the best cast, you can have the best director, you can have tons of money, but you don’t always get that synergy between people where they make room for each other. And this group of actors were really, really great at it. It was a lot of fun.”
Given its performance, the show will likely get a second season, especially with the two biggest cast members on board. We’ll have more information on that soon, but for now, the show is still at #2 on the charts and no doubt continues to pull in high numbers. But Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, as a sort of “sequel” to Dahmer, will likely stay at #1 for a very long time now, and I don’t expect The Perfect Couple to resurface in that spot anytime soon, if ever.
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