Murdaugh: Death in the Family Isn't Like Other True-Crime Shows

"Murdaugh: Death in the Family doesn't attempt any of the acute psychologizing or formal experimentation of the modern true-crime series. Its eight episodes tell the story straight: Alex Murdaugh was suspected of killing his wife and son. Alex Murdaugh probably did kill his wife and son. Any regrets about killing his wife and son? Not at all. There's no tragic backstory here, no traumatic childhood event that turned Murdaugh into a killer, no motivators past greed. You can watch that on Monster: The Ed Gein Story."

"The South Carolina lawyer and businessman came from a well-regarded family with a history of shadowy violence and made his wealth off personal-injury settlements and various financial crimes. In 2023, he was found guilty of murdering his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul. The Hulu miniseries from Erin Lee Carr and Michael D. Fuller covers all of this with a brusque matter-of-factness."

"Death in the Family starts with certainty, placing viewers inside the remote kennels where Maggie (Patricia Arquette) and Paul (Johnny Berchtold) lie dead. Their corpses soak blood into the dirt ground as Alex (Jason Clarke) wails to 911 and responding officers that he had nothing to do with the scene. The series then retreats to 2019 to trace the circumstances that led to these killings, building toward the inevitability of Maggie and Paul's death and filtering the whole family through a lens of catastrophe,"

Death in the Family presents a straightforward account of Alex Murdaugh's suspected murders of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul. The eight-episode series avoids psychologizing and formal experimentation, prioritizing factual, matter-of-fact portrayal over motive-driven speculation. Alex Murdaugh built wealth through personal-injury settlements and engaged in various financial crimes while belonging to a family with a history of shadowy violence. The series opens with the bodies at the kennels, then reconstructs events beginning in 2019, building toward the killings' inevitability and framing the family through a lens of catastrophe and moral vacancy.

Read at Vulture