Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story episode 2 recap and review: "Spree"
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story continues with episode 2 on Netflix, following the brothers as they deal with the fallout of their parents' murders. In the premiere, we see Erik struggle with their actions, which leads him to confess to the killings to his therapist. We go back in time a little bit in the second episode, titled "Spree," as we learn what Erik and Lyle did right after their parents' deaths. Of course, money is a big topic of discussion, and the brothers are adamant about maintaining their innocence and getting their hands on their inheritance.
WARNING: Major spoilers for Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story episode 2 are below.
The second episode of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story opens up with quick flashbacks of the crimes. The brothers shoot and kill their parents, they try to figure out their alibi, and they return home and call 911. The majority of the episode follows the fallout of the police arriving at the scene and what happens next for Erik and Lyle. When the police and detectives arrive, the brothers suggest the mafia was behind the murders, which becomes the first theory in the investigation.
Erik and Lyle give their statements
The brothers are taken to the police station and give their statements, which are intertwined with the investigators at the house looking at the crime scene. Erik recalls finding his parents and says that his dad was suspicious that the mafia was coming for him. At the crime scene, the detectives determine that the time of death was 10:00 p.m., while the 911 call was made at 11:47 p.m. They also comment on the fact that the murders look sloppy for a mobster crime.
Lyle gives his statement and says something similar to his brother, not explicitly mentioning the mafia but saying his father was involved with sketchy groups. At the house, investigators question why the brothers said the room was full of smoke nearly two hours after the murders were committed. The brothers are brought back home to look around the house to see if anything's been stolen, and Lyle realizes he needs to get to his car. He has shotgun shells in his trunk, and he's able to sneak over and throw them into his tennis bag. We also see a receipt in his trunk. Could that be for the guns?
Erik and Lyle get ready for their parents' memorial service and talk with one of José's associates Peter (Jeff Perry), who tells them they'll likely be getting an inheritance. But the brothers aren't so sure. We get a flashback of José and Kitty confronting Erik and Lyle for stealing from someone, and they're angry that they already give them everything. José tells them he's taking them out of his will.
Money, money, money
Peter tells the brothers that the company will cover the costs of bodyguards for their safety, and he's surprised when they ask for another limo along with a hotel room in Bel Air. Erik and Lyle are not hiding the fact that they're used to luxury, but the timing has those around them scratching their heads. In their conversation with Peter, they learn that police have a potential lead in a car that was parked at their house the night of the murders.
Erik and Lyle begin staying at a luxurious hotel and Erik advises they should be careful with their money. But Lyle is on a high after getting away with murder and wants to celebrate. "We are never looking back," he tells his brother. They hit up the Rolex store and buy watches, continuing to live their lives of luxury. They partake in tennis lessons, party, do cocaine, and Lyle even purchases a new car. Subtle!
The three detectives on the case — Linehan (Drew Powell), Zoeller (Justin Butler Harner), and Edmonds (Gareth Edwards) — speak with a police officer and give him the latest update, which is really a non-update; while they're conducting interviews, they're nowhere closer to finding who committed the murders. The police officer tells them that as the case gets bigger, people are becoming more paranoid about their safety and the media attention only grows. The pressure is building against them, and the Chief of Police thinks they look like idiots. Of course, this motivates the investigators to find answers as soon as possible.
Erik and Lyle need to get ahold of the will
The family accountant meets with Erik and Lyle and tells them that their spending is out of control. Even though they anticipate getting the inheritance, they have to wait until their Uncle Carlos (Enrique Murciano), who is the executor of the estate, to come for the reading of the will. Lyle gets emotional and blames their spending on their grief, making the accountant feel bad.
When they're alone, Erik reminds Lyle that their father said they were out of the will, but Lyle isn't worried. Lyle knows the will is in José's safe at their house and they can get to it. But can they open it? At the house, they try to figure out how they can get into the safe, and they end up calling a friend of Erik's whose father is an attorney. They come over and talk with him, telling him they need to open the safe. But the attorney isn't going to let them do it that easily; he tells them the executor needs to be present, and insists that the safe stays there overnight so they don't do anything illegal.
The next morning, Uncle Carlos arrives at the attorney's house and they're able to open the safe. But before everyone can see its contents, Lyle lies and tells the group that he'd like to look first, just in case there are dirty photos of José's mistresses he doesn't want anyone to see. Surprisingly, they let him, and when he returns he says there is no will inside. Is he lying? If he takes it, we don't see. Soon after, their maid apparently finds the will in a closet in their home. Did Lyle plant a forged will? Honestly, I'm not sure, but it's possible. They learn from the will that their dad left them everything.
During the official reading of the will, it's confirmed that José left all of his assets split evenly to Lyle and Erik. Lyle wants to use part of the inheritance to open up his buffalo wings restaurant, and he's able to persuade his uncle. They look at houses while Erik takes up modeling.
Dr. Oziel needs insurance
Two months later, Erik and Lyle consider killing Dr. Oziel, though Erik is very much against it. Lyle says they need to make sure he won't rat them out if they're going to allow him to live. Lyle also tells his brother that if he confesses to anyone else, he'll have to kill him, which he says is a joke. Is it really, though? We learn more about their power dynamics throughout this episode.
Dr. Oziel enlists Judalon to help him, telling her he's going to give her notes from his therapy session for her to put into a safety deposit box. She wants him to go to the police, but he tells her he can't as long as the brothers are his patients. She's scared for her own safety and wants to move into his house, but Dr. Oziel reminds her that he's married, so that's not possible. Judalon is fearful the Menedez brothers might kill her.
The detectives go over their list of theories, saying José and Kitty could've been murdered by the mafia, by the cartel, or by a gang. But none of these add up; there was no sign of forced entry nor sign of struggle, meaning they must've known their killer(s). The detectives regret not checking Erik and Lyle's hands for gun residue the night of the murders, feeling like they might be their prime suspects. One of them isn't so sure, though, and reminds them that even if they want to arrest them, they need evidence. In perfect timing, a call comes in from a friend of Erik's.
Craig and the screenplay
During a session with Dr. Oziel, we learn that Erik wrote a screenplay about killing his parents with his friend Craig. This angers Lyle, and Oziel still wants to figure out why they would even want to kill their parents. He also tells them about the safety deposit boxes and that he wants to start recording the sessions. The brothers don't want him to do this, but Oziel tells them that he needs insurance if he's going to keep helping them.
Craig meets with the detectives and says Erik "pretty much admitted" to killing his parents. He tells them about the screenplay, but it's still not concrete evidence. There is one way Craig can help them, though. Craig goes to dinner with Erik and wears a wire, where he brings up the screenplay. He references what Erik and Lyle did, but Erik doesn't want to talk about it. Craig pushes, saying Erik already told him he did it, and Erik continues to tell him to stop. Erik explicitly tells him that he and Lyle did not kill their parents.
While recording their session, Dr. Oziel asks the brothers about their mom. Why would they want to kill her? Erik starts talking about needing to free their mom, but Lyle doesn't want to get into it. There's obviously something Erik wants to talk about but Lyle won't let him.
Judalon has been living with Oziel and his family, but he finally kicks her out after she crosses a line with his daughter. As she leaves, he tells her not to talk about anything regarding the Menendez case for her safety. She doesn't listen, however, heading straight for the police station to tell Detective Zoeller that she has information about the brothers.
There are already multiple people implicated in the murders, which won't bode well for Erik and Lyle. Keep watching Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story on Netflix and read our recaps and reviews here at Show Snob. Onto episode 3!
Monsters Ep 2. B. The second episode of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story covers a lot of ground as we get to know the brothers better. There's a lot of exposition necessary for the viewer to understand what happened, though I wish we could get into the emotional side to the story already.. . "Spree"
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