Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story episode 1 recap and review: "Blame it on the Rain"
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, the sophomore season of Ryan Murphy's Monster series for Netflix, has just debuted its 10 episodes, introducing us to the real-life brothers who killed their parents. Though the first season, following infamous serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, was much more black and white in depicting an evil person, this one is nuanced, unfolding the layers of Lyle and Erik's relationship with their parents and why they did what they did.
As Monsters opens up with its premiere episode, "Blame it on the Rain," brothers Lyle (Nicholas Alexander Chavez) and Erik (Cooper Koch) seem like your everyday young men — albeit very wealthy and perhaps a little out of touch. But what we can't see on the surface is the pain they face and the complicated relationship they had with their parents, José (Javier Bardem) and Kitty (Chloë Sevigny). Episode 1 of the Netflix Original shows us what happened the night the brothers committed murder and the fallout.
WARNING: Major spoilers for Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story episode 1 are below.
The premiere opens up after the murders, with Erik and Lyle in a limo on the way to their parents' memorial service. Though both are grieving, they very clearly do so in different ways. Lyle goes on about a buffalo wings restaurant he wants to open up while Erik is quiet and upset. When Erik realizes Lyle is wearing their dad's shoes to the service, he begins to cry. Lyle reassures him that their parents would be proud of them, and they arrive at the venue for the service. The place is swarmed with media as journalists ask the brothers if their parents were killed by the mafia, a theory they seem to like.
José and Kitty are remembered
At the service, both brothers go up to speak on the microphone, and both speeches are very different. While Erik is very emotional and starts to cry when he talks about his late parents, Lyle is diplomatic and calm. He says he's ready to fill his dad's shoes as the rock of the family. Through these opening scenes, we get to know the brothers' personality types, something that will be hit home throughout the episodes. At the end of his speech, Erik has a Milli Vanilli song play through the speakers, a move that other guests find strange. He doesn't exactly seem like someone who just lost his parents.
In a quick flash-forward, the year is 1989 and it's been two months since the deaths of José and Kitty. Through a newscast, we learn that the police aren't any closer to solving the murders, and while they initially believed it could've been the mafia, anyone's a suspect at this point. Erik and Lyle continue living their lives, though in mourning, and Erik is haunted by what they did. He has nightmares of the murders, which only stop when he kills himself in his dreams. On paper, their lives before the murders looked great; José was an executive at an entertainment company and the family was very rich, living in a mansion and partaking in various hobbies. The boys were pursuing higher education, and Lyle even went to Princeton University — before he was kicked out, that is.
Erik and Lyle had a troubled home life
Though their lives might've seemed perfect to an outsider, that couldn't have been further from the truth. Erik and Lyle had an abusive relationship with their father José, and we begin to see some of those moments in the premiere episode.
Feeling hopeless, Erik calls his therapist, Dr. Oziel (Dallas Roberts), and makes an appointment to come in that day. He runs into Lyle and his girlfriend Jamie (Jade Pettyjohn) on his way out and lies, telling them he just has to run some errands. At the therapy office, Erik tells his doctor that he's been feeling suicidal and explains his nightmares. It doesn't take long for him to confess, and he begins to tell Dr. Oziel everything about the murders. Well, almost everything.
Through flashbacks, we see what led to Erik and Lyle killing their parents and the immediate fallout. Erik explains that he was inspired by the movie Billionaire Boys Club, which he showed Lyle. Dr. Oziel is confused, wanting to know why they would want to kill their parents, unconvinced it was just because of a movie. We see a couple of snippets of the brothers' relationship with their parents, with one flashback seeing José freak out on Erik for a bad game of tennis and yelling at him in front of everyone. In another flashback, José screams at Lyle and breaks a plate when he can't answer a geography question at the dinner table. Dr. Oziel asks if José was physically abusive, to which Erik says he was "just very domineering." We know from these flashbacks, however, that "domineering" is an understatement.
The defining moment for Erik
Dr. Oziel then asks why they would kill their mom, to which Erik explains she was "addicted to our dad." José had an affair, which led to Kitty abusing alcohol and drugs. The brothers seemingly felt bad for her and Erik says they were "putting her out of her misery." He recalls a very disturbing memory, which happened after Lyle was kicked out of college for plagiarism. Their house was especially hostile after that, and Lyle and José fought a lot. One night at the dinner table, Kitty joined in on the fighting when Lyle declared he was going to marry his girlfriend. As they all argued, Kitty crossed a line and pulled Lyle's toupée off his head, horrifying everyone. The fight ended there, but Erik was shocked, not knowing Lyle had lost his hair.
Erik followed Lyle to his room and was surprised to learn Lyle had fake hair for years. As he tells Dr. Oziel, this was a defining moment for him, as he saw his brother being so vulnerable. After this, he decided he would always be on his brother's side and not their parents'.
Erik recalls going to buy guns with Lyle, finally finding a place in San Diego where they could use a fake ID. In the flashback, the brothers set up their alibi for the night of the murders, calling a friend and asking to meet at a place called Taste of L.A. Everything is all set, and the brothers carry out the murders. We see them walk into their home and shoot their parents multiple times in a graphically violent scene. When they flee, they bring the bodies out to the woods to bury them and then they need to complete their alibi. They try to buy tickets to a movie that already started but the concessions person denies them, so they head to Taste of L.A. Their friend is no longer there, so they try to make sure other people see them there.
Erik and Lyle go back to their home and are surprised no police or anyone else are there yet. This is when Lyle calls 911, telling them somebody has killed their parents.
The therapist knows too much
At Dr. Oziel's office, the therapist suggests they should call Lyle and tell him to come so they can continue talking about what happened. Lyle is furious when the doctor calls him and tells him Erik has confessed, and he races over. In the meantime, Dr. Oziel tells Erik he's going to grab coffee, and he runs outside to a payphone. He calls a woman named Judalon (Leslie Grossman), his apparent mistress, and asks her to come to the office to be a witness. Understandably hesitant, she ultimately agrees.
Judalon and Erik wait in the office waiting room, awkwardly, and when Dr. Oziel returns, Erik is let into the room with Lyle. They all begin arguing and when Erik notices Judalon run out, he demands to know who she is. Dr. Oziel lies and tells him he doesn't know who she is, and tensions are high. Erik is very angry that Lyle confessed, and at first, he tries to say he's making it up. Dr. Oziel tells them that if they end up getting convicted, he can tell the court they were scared of their father — that is if they tell him the truth about why they killed him.
Dr. Oziel maintains that he isn't allowed to tell anyone about what Erik has told him, and says that if they are caught, it won't be because of him. Erik and Lyle leave, and when they sit in the car together, Erik apologizes to his brother. Lyle tells him it's okay, but then says they have to kill Dr. Oziel. Yikes. Of course, Erik tells his therapist about what happened to try to feel better, but that doesn't happen. Even though he's able to come clean, he doesn't get the response he wants. And now that Lyle knows he's confessed, it won't be smooth sailing from here.
The premiere of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story does a good job setting up the premise of the season and carefully weaves together the past and present scenes. We'll no doubt be getting a lot more flashbacks as we learn what truly motivated the brothers to commit such an act. Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch are strong in the leading roles, and I look forward to seeing more from the supporting cast in the next episodes.
Monsters Episode 1. B. Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story episode 1 features a strong cast as one brother begins to unravel the truth of their crimes. The storytelling is very effective and the pacing and structure works well. We're only one episode in, but so far so good.. . "Blame it on the Rain"
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