First time I have seen Amanda Pete in anything other than a comedy or as the sexy sidekick, and She has superb talent that came to light here. The season was interesting, entertaining I recommend
18 Reviews
Amanda Pete wow! Carried the season
kerenbar14 August 2020
Effective portrayal of what she suffered, should have been more chronological
phd_travel2 December 2020
If you aren't familiar with the story it's better to see the TV movie first - "A woman scorned" with Meredith Baxter and Stephen Collins. The straightforward chronological depiction of the story is more effective. Dirty John jumps round and the impact is lost and it can be confusing if you don't know all the details. The good thing about Dirty John is that it has 8 episodes to fill in details that the TV movies didn't have time for. It shows the contribution of Betty to his education a lot more, as well as the legal bullying by Dan. Amanda Peet really looks drawn and unhappy and tormented - her acting is intense although Meredith looked more like the real Betty. Christian Slater looks more like the real Dan. But Stephen Collins made a more convincing cheating husband. Watching this series the viewer's sympathies will be with Betty 100%.
It's timely how in the same year there are 2 shows that show two of the worst husbands in history - The Crown and this show.
The End Of A Dream.
rycosu-5576926 June 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Idk, I'm disagreeing with a lot of the comments on here, I like Christian Slater but Amanda Peet as Betty is making me batty. So I too know about the real case & also from an inside source. I couldn't stand Betty Broderick but later on I guess you could say Dan should have been named D....k instead. I'm just at the part where Betty is throwing up again & it's in his new office ( gee I hope they didn't put in wall to wall carpeting!) Betty heads for the trash can or more likely the paper waste basket, eeewwww & then after the projectile vomiting near miss but caught it in the Nick of time & turns her head around to finish the conversation with Dan, right after she's wretched.. like look at me, the devoted amazing wife who can puke her guts out & not miss a beat! Now where were we honey, you have to show your worth Dan if you want to b3 taken seriously, if you're buying pricey furniture invest in a good deodorizer also,just in case Betty should haveanotherbsoellZ§! It's too much & I am not buying it, I found the scene absolutely comical. I mean c'mon we get it, she had morning sickness, or ....wait a minute, was it Dan that had been making her sick all along ??? My or my the plot thickens! Well it' did a number on me, it was years ago when I saw the one with Meredith Baxter which to me was better & Amanda facially doesn't resemble her at all. 8 lik3 Amanda Peet, but not so much in this dramatization I know they wanted to adapt it for tv & make it longer, more from Betty's POV thinking it would make people more sympathetic or rather empathetic towards Betty but I believe Stephen King tried to do the same thing with The Shining, even though it was fictional, he wanted people to see the father as a human being who slowly becomes unhinged...yeah, well, nobody cared.
Anyhoo, doesn't help that Betty received 16 K a month & that was over 30 yrs ago, but I don't think it was the money in this case, women have been scorned & left penniless too, even adding insult to injury when their ex partner & father of their children gives to the new woman & sometimes provides for her brood to boot & disregards his own offspring! I've seen it happen with friends & neighbors etc
If it's taught us anything, even if Betty was a control freak etc, don't put your own goals & dreams on hold for anybody, or at least be sensible about it! Oh & back to her controlling personality ...it sure didn't bother Dan when he needed her to control everything as in the family, the kids, the household, the rides to & from school, the homework, the after school extra curricular activities as in sports or lessons ,that too can take up a lot of time, & even when it came to making the bread & butter she handled the majority of the finances as bring home the bacon & fry it up in the pan, yup,& put her career on hold too, i think I'd be hitting Dan with the pan, hopefully for him it wouldn't be cast iron, probably wasnt in the budget, they're expensive & a lot of high maintenance, not as much as Dan but they need seasoning, oiling them etc.... I mean keeping on schedule with the kids sports seasons was.enough for Betty,,yeah, I would've lost it with Dan & might of done a little jail time but at least I would've been out before the kids went back to school it's better than shooting two people in cold blood! Not that it matters now! First time around, fine, but when he decided he didn't wanna be a doctor anymore & changed his career goals to law that's where she should've taken a stand & said.that's great hun,but I need to get my butt in gear now, but thats where the gears gave out & it was downhill all the way from there on, full speed ahead, because she was extremely angry, not only that, Medical school & Law school too,..., those are about the two most expensive schools you can attend, but she still had faith in her man, as long as she would be a part of it.....oh dear me Betty, there could be a major problem there! As for Linda his assistant, or secretary, I thought she was actually a paralegal but in this adaption they're pretty much saying she was entry level on everything & didn't have a clue, & then to top it off Dan lied about the affair. Did he tire of Betty, you betts he did..& that's sad too because Betty probably knew a heck of a lot more than Linda Kolkena did as far as the business end went, she'd been helping Dan along the whole way controlling or not, she certainly seemed to be in the true reality of things, including the old movie & the new version. So even after all Dan's accomplishments could it even be possible he was going through a midlife crisis too !?
So everyone has their own take on it, Betty has been incarcerated for a long time, I think she's in her seventies now, yet she did shoot two people in cold blood, do I think it was temporary insanity , no, I think it was permanent insanity & she was trying to hold on to what she had, she thought her husband and she were a team , she went out to bat for him, not only did she take one for the team, she lost her dream!
,
Anyhoo, doesn't help that Betty received 16 K a month & that was over 30 yrs ago, but I don't think it was the money in this case, women have been scorned & left penniless too, even adding insult to injury when their ex partner & father of their children gives to the new woman & sometimes provides for her brood to boot & disregards his own offspring! I've seen it happen with friends & neighbors etc
If it's taught us anything, even if Betty was a control freak etc, don't put your own goals & dreams on hold for anybody, or at least be sensible about it! Oh & back to her controlling personality ...it sure didn't bother Dan when he needed her to control everything as in the family, the kids, the household, the rides to & from school, the homework, the after school extra curricular activities as in sports or lessons ,that too can take up a lot of time, & even when it came to making the bread & butter she handled the majority of the finances as bring home the bacon & fry it up in the pan, yup,& put her career on hold too, i think I'd be hitting Dan with the pan, hopefully for him it wouldn't be cast iron, probably wasnt in the budget, they're expensive & a lot of high maintenance, not as much as Dan but they need seasoning, oiling them etc.... I mean keeping on schedule with the kids sports seasons was.enough for Betty,,yeah, I would've lost it with Dan & might of done a little jail time but at least I would've been out before the kids went back to school it's better than shooting two people in cold blood! Not that it matters now! First time around, fine, but when he decided he didn't wanna be a doctor anymore & changed his career goals to law that's where she should've taken a stand & said.that's great hun,but I need to get my butt in gear now, but thats where the gears gave out & it was downhill all the way from there on, full speed ahead, because she was extremely angry, not only that, Medical school & Law school too,..., those are about the two most expensive schools you can attend, but she still had faith in her man, as long as she would be a part of it.....oh dear me Betty, there could be a major problem there! As for Linda his assistant, or secretary, I thought she was actually a paralegal but in this adaption they're pretty much saying she was entry level on everything & didn't have a clue, & then to top it off Dan lied about the affair. Did he tire of Betty, you betts he did..& that's sad too because Betty probably knew a heck of a lot more than Linda Kolkena did as far as the business end went, she'd been helping Dan along the whole way controlling or not, she certainly seemed to be in the true reality of things, including the old movie & the new version. So even after all Dan's accomplishments could it even be possible he was going through a midlife crisis too !?
So everyone has their own take on it, Betty has been incarcerated for a long time, I think she's in her seventies now, yet she did shoot two people in cold blood, do I think it was temporary insanity , no, I think it was permanent insanity & she was trying to hold on to what she had, she thought her husband and she were a team , she went out to bat for him, not only did she take one for the team, she lost her dream!
,
Season 2 is so good!
Tahnie119 July 2020
Warning: Spoilers
I'm not sure why there are negative reviews. I am on episode 5 and I'm hooked!
Dan Broderick was a total Narcissist. He likely suffered the full disorder along with sociopathic tendencies.
If you have never encountered a narcissist, count your blessings! These individuals are devil incarnates. They provoke, push, demean, gaslight, manipulate, belittle, lie, undermine, and use up people and then spit them out.
The acting was really good in this 2nd season. Amanda Peet really put on a strong performance. Christian Slater did a great job exhibiting NPD traits and behaviors.
I feel sorry for the real Betty Broderick. I'm not saying I support murder, but I certainly understand how she got pushed.
Very good series!!!!
Let's be realistic with the casting please
sailorjjr2 January 2024
Warning: Spoilers
TV does this all too often. I've seen the Broderick story on true crime shows over the years. Let's face an unfortunate truth. Men are visual. If their wife gets unattractive, he loses interest. 90% of the time.
I look more like Amanda Peet than Betty Broderick did and I'm a 6'2" 275 pound man. It's hard to draw the same sympathy for a beautiful woman than it is for a frumpy old has been wife.
The fact of the matter is that Betty got super unattractive as she aged. Dan lost interest and found a younger model. It happens. Sad? Of course. But, it's the way of the world. I'm not saying he didn't get what he deserves, same for the replacement blonde.
Money changes people, certainly men.
Series was good, but I just kept having such a hard time reconciling why they didn't use a woman on the same level of unattractiveness as the real Betty.
I look more like Amanda Peet than Betty Broderick did and I'm a 6'2" 275 pound man. It's hard to draw the same sympathy for a beautiful woman than it is for a frumpy old has been wife.
The fact of the matter is that Betty got super unattractive as she aged. Dan lost interest and found a younger model. It happens. Sad? Of course. But, it's the way of the world. I'm not saying he didn't get what he deserves, same for the replacement blonde.
Money changes people, certainly men.
Series was good, but I just kept having such a hard time reconciling why they didn't use a woman on the same level of unattractiveness as the real Betty.
Amanda Peet ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
kerry_kirby0918 August 2020
40 minutes in...
IceQueen993 June 2020
Eh
angelicacamaron31 May 2021
The onscreen story is good, kept my interest... but, I've followed the Betty Broderick case from the beginning (I'm old as dirt) and it's not very accurate. Betty was a controlling, lying, delusional, psychotic harpy who put her kids through hell because her husband didn't want her anymore. Boohoo. It happens. Yeah, it sucks. Maybe she'd been treated unfairly at times. She gave as good as she got, plus some. Yes, she helped him become successful, but she was getting like 16 grand a month support--in the 80s!--which is more than adequate compensation. She should've moved on. Fact. Watch the version with Meredith Baxter if you want to know what really happened. It was fun to see Christian Slater though!
How to turn drama into boredom...
jenniferwarnock1 June 2021
I am obsessed with true crime and the
Broderick story. Was counting down the days into this was available on Netflix . What a snooze. Total borefest. The two leads look nothing like the real Betty & Dan. They exude zero charm, and I can't and don't care about them. Amanda Peet is stick thin and looks nothing like BB and has zero essence of Betty. The unattractiveness, the psychosis-she captures none of it...watch a Woman Scorned with Meredith Birney. It's fantastic , and avail on Prime.
Why ruin a good show with boredom!
hamios22 August 2020
Not worth my time
kamaainatex22 June 2020
Just call it something else
placespls10 June 2020
The Broderick family tragedy is very famous with a lot of media coverage so this retelling of this story is pointless and inaccurate. Poorly written and the acting is terrible especially Amanda Peet.
This is not the Broderick story, maybe the Creatives should have done their research better or just created another movie removing the Broderick family.
If you want to see an amazing performance(s) watch Meredith Baxter as Betty Broderick in both TV movies.
Disappointed, don't bother
mistressofitness29 August 2020
It is as if this season was written/produced by an entirely different group of people!
Dull characters without any depth, and a completely flat story arch. Gave it 2 stars for 2 decent lead actors but man, were the writers out to lunch on the story. After 1st episode I was done- but my partner suggested watching one more to see if it improved- if only because both lead actors generally work with good scripts. I imagine they both regretted taking on the roles after seeing the first cut...So, I wasted another hour as there was absolutely no development of key personalities or movement of the storyline. I won't watch any more episodes.... I was so surprised because I really enjoyed the first season. Left me wanting... so much more!
Dull characters without any depth, and a completely flat story arch. Gave it 2 stars for 2 decent lead actors but man, were the writers out to lunch on the story. After 1st episode I was done- but my partner suggested watching one more to see if it improved- if only because both lead actors generally work with good scripts. I imagine they both regretted taking on the roles after seeing the first cut...So, I wasted another hour as there was absolutely no development of key personalities or movement of the storyline. I won't watch any more episodes.... I was so surprised because I really enjoyed the first season. Left me wanting... so much more!
Only because...
kymberleigh-771804 June 2020
... have Amanda Peet do I even give this 3 out of 10 Stars. This thing is terrible and inaccuracies and Goofs abound. Where are the fact checkers and continuity people? The 858 area code wasn't even put into use until 1999. At the time that he would have been calling new lawyers, her call back number would have been area code 619. Some may think that's trivial but things like that really distract me and detract me from shows like this. And they didn't even try with Christian Slater to have him look at all like Dan Broderick. He looks like Christian Slater, Dan Broderick. At this point, I seriously doubt all bother watching the entire series. Not even if it shows up on Netflix or Hulu.
Seriously?
helenahandbasket-9373423 June 2020
Did you just take crazy Betty at her word or nah?
Amanda Peet's talents are completely wasted here, with not even a passing resemblance to Betty on her very best day.
I'm not even sure why Christian Slater signed on to this dumpster fire of a project.
This should have been scrapped by USA network before it ever saw the light of day.
Amanda Peet's talents are completely wasted here, with not even a passing resemblance to Betty on her very best day.
I'm not even sure why Christian Slater signed on to this dumpster fire of a project.
This should have been scrapped by USA network before it ever saw the light of day.
What a Tragedy
tracieg-95-39557831 May 2021
After such a great Season 1, I can't believe they chose to re-do the Betty Broderick story AGAIN under the Dirty John moniker. While I'm sure Slater and Peet turned in wonderful performances, I've seen and read the story before. I don't need to rehash it. Super disappointed.
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