Watch Solid Robert Durst Doc on HBO

Robert Durst in The Jinx – Part 2.

Courtesy of HBO

The second season (or “part”) of The jinx It arrives on HBO nine years after the conclusion of the first film, and quite coincidentally, on the eve of the Jewish celebration of Passover.

This timing made me think of “daynu,” the celebratory song in which we recite the various miracles of the Exodus, one after the other, each followed by the declaration of “daynu,” which means “it was enough.” So… He took us out of Egypt (“Dainu!”), parted the Red Sea (“Dainu!”), gave us the Torah (“Dainu!”), and so on.

When it comes to the first six episodes of The jinx, it goes like this: If it were just an exceptionally well-produced depiction of a twisted and unsolved series of murders linked to real estate tycoon Robert Durst? Dyno! (Or that was enough for a generally enthusiastic review.)

If it were just a very well-produced documentary that included extensive interviews with the wily, elusive and disturbingly frank Durst? Dyno! (Or it was enough to make my top 10 for 2015.)

If it were just a very well-produced documentary that featured exclusive interviews with Durst and single-handedly opened a cold case that thwarted law enforcement? Dyno!

That's what this documentary by Andrew Jarecki, Mark Smerling, and Zach Stewart-Pontier did, and why it was my favorite show of 2015 and why The jinx It still represents the pinnacle of true crime for me.

There were certainly a lot of questions about the ethics of the documentary, especially when Jarecki and company obtained Durst's bathroom confession, when they told the relevant authorities and how those events dovetailed with Durst's arrest in New Orleans just hours before the end. but The jinx It was such a surprising series that I was quite willing to leave ethics to the ethicists.

At the same time, what makes “Dyno” special is that it is a faith-based thought experiment, because if God had parted the Red Sea but not led us to dry land, would that have really been enough? “Maybe not,” I suppose.

Season two of The jinx — with Smerling on the outside and Sam Neave on the inside — is a similar thought experiment. From the four episodes sent to critics, there are no exclusive interviews with Robert Durst. And while there are twists and turns, given how much of the season is built around the well-covered Durst trial, the shocking revelations feel very limited. Disclaimer: I am Jarecki was interviewed In 2015 after seeing the beginning of the first season, my first question was based on the assumption that, as with Find BigfootIf the show had already taken over Durst, we would have heard about it on the news. I was wrong. So…I won't put it in the past The Jinx – Part Two To somehow prove that Robert Durst was Lindbergh's baby, or something equally amazing.

This hasn't happened yet in the episodes I've seen, which means it does The jinx It puts to the test the question: “Was it really enough if The jinx Was it just a very well-produced true crime docuseries? Because this is the second season so far. There are a lot of very good interviews, and the case winds and winds with an attractive sense of growing unease. Plus there are a lot of Robert Durst characters, mostly in prison conversations from inside the prison. But it's not quite the same.

The jinx He ruined everything for The jinx.

Season two of The jinx It actually follows in the footsteps of a number of true crime stories – for better or worse – as they reach their second installment. Made a killer And Tiger King He returned for the second seasons, which revolved around how the events of the first season affected all the featured players. althoug series They took off in later seasons and told different stories, and every time they did special episodes to follow Adnan Syed's story, the undercurrent was always: “Hey, look what we did!” Part of the baffling frustration of later installments of Paradise lost The films were witness to how slow previous films were to do justice. It's a metaphor!

So the new episodes of The jinx It was taken in March 2015, as I said before, when Durst got arrested in New Orleans and everyone was like, “Oh cow, now I have to watch this finish.” And here you might be thinking, “Okay, we're going to get a full account of what happened and when it happened between the filmmakers and John Q. Low.”

somewhat.

“In 2013, The jinx “The filmmakers have shared the evidence they uncovered with law enforcement,” says a line of on-screen text.

That's, at least, a data point. somewhat. Ambiguous data point. However, nothing else you might be wondering is discussed. Absolutely. Did that conversation with law enforcement take place on the same day as Durst's heated interview? Was the gap between this reveal and the series premiere a product of the natural editing cycle or additional cooperation with the authorities? Was it just a completely colossal coincidence that the arrest was literally the day before the finale? Apparently! There is no doubt that an entire documentary, or at least an entire episode, could have been made about the conversations between Jarecki, HBO, and their lawyers. And if you think that would make TV shine – I do! – That's not what season two is about The jinx He is.

No, instead we can see a lot of people talking about them The jinx on The jinx, starting with Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney John Lewin, who traveled to New Orleans in 2015, sat across from Durst and asked the question that was on everyone's mind almost immediately. No, not “Did you kill three people?” or “What's with acid reflux?” But “I don't understand it. What prompted you to talk to them?”

I won't spoil the answer. Lewin is probably the main character in this round The jinxWe also receive lots of Lewin and his colleagues, including the very entertaining Belcher twins, the enthusiastic young researchers on Lewin's staff. The defense team is quite content to be well-represented as well – which is not surprising, given the very closed nature of the trial, as well as Durst. There are no calls to save the exciting pieces.

The first part of The jinx He does a truly astonishing job of analyzing the changing facts of three murder cases over three decades, seamlessly demonstrating – between masterful interviews and unobtrusive re-enactments – the evolving nature of Durst's evidence and perceptions. It's interesting to see this new part stymied a bit because of how it's done the same thing with stop-and-start events for the past nine years. The decision to condense the vicarious experience, which has been postponed to various parts due to the coronavirus, into a single story makes sense narratively, but becomes jarring when masks, coronavirus-mandated protective screens and other precautions come and go and Durst's health visibly deteriorates.

The second part of The jinx It proves how much fun the first part of the schadenfreude was in the cat-and-mouse game between Dorset and Jarecki. Durst was trying to manipulate Jarecki, who was trying to present himself as a kind, cultured detective. It almost doesn't matter if someone actually wins. Well, Jarecki won.

But in the second part, the cunning and devious Dorset disappeared. This season he watches a dying man being beaten. Is he deservedly beaten? Yes, all signs point to that. However, there is less schadenfreude, even if there is a lot of Durst, and he is often angry in his prison conversations and phone calls.

Following in the footsteps of the previous genre, it is easy to say that the first part of The jinx It shows what a miscarriage of justice looks like, and this part shows what justice looks like, and it's possible that “justice” is simply less interesting than “injustice.” either way, The Jinx – Part Two It's still good TV and that's probably enough.