Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story episode 6 recap and review: "Don't Dream It's Over"

The sixth episode of Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story on Netflix, "Don't Dream It's Over," is a jarring turn from what we saw last, giving us a whole episode of flashbacks, this time from the perspective of José and Kitty. With the detailed alleged abuse we just heard in episode 5, I have trouble wanting to hear the parents' side of the story so soon. Episode 6 feels completely out of place and strange. Can we get to the trial already? Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny give strong performances, but they still can't save the episode.

Major spoilers for Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story episode 6 are below.

Trigger Warning: This episode references child sexual abuse.

"Don't Dream It's Over" aims to show us why José and Kitty are the way they are, but it fails at giving us anything compelling whatsoever. The episode begins by showing us the beginnings of their relationship, meeting in 1962 and falling fast in love. They wanted to get married soon, though their families were both against it. They ended up getting married anyway, and then we cut to a flash-forward of Kitty talking to a therapist, telling him that she hates her kids — and kids in general. She tells him that Lyle scares her and Erik is pathetic, though she claims to care about them in her own way. She feels like she never gets enough from José and that her sons are always trying to steal him away from her. She also references José's mistress, a woman named Louise.

At home with Kitty and José

Kitty decides to get a facelift and is upset that José doesn't say anything about it. On Christmas Eve, she asks him why he hasn't acknowledged it and while he says she looks nice, he also tells her she should lose weight. The boys come home to exchange gifts, and José tells them that when he moved to New York with their mom years ago, the only job he could get was as a dish washer. He gifts Erik a book he used to read during those days that inspired him.

We see the scene of José picking the boys up after they got arrested for the burglary, this time showing us how emotional it made him. He cries in the parking lot and the song "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House begins playing, creating an almost humorous tone that feels very out of place. José tells Kitty what happened and says they have to leave town now that the boys have ruined the Menendez name. They move to Beverly Hills and begin seeing Dr. Oziel. Before a session, José calls the therapist and tells him not to believe anything the boys tell him, and that they're only going because the court mandated it.

José and Kitty attend a therapy session with Erik and Lyle and José totally controls the conversation before he and Kitty leave. At work, José opens up to a colleague named Marzi about his parenting skills and his kids.

One morning, Kitty finds José sitting downstairs and he tells her he doesn't love her or their sons. He tells her they're all failures, and that he was never in love with her. He continues on, calling her a pill popper and a drunk, and informing her that he's about to fly to New York to make them more money. Kitty confronts him about his mistress and tells him that he's lying about never loving her. She tells him she's tried to kill herself and can't deal with the boys, feeling like she wants to be dead. He gives her a kiss and says goodbye, ignoring her cry for help.

José's trip to New York

In New York, José has a meeting to sign the boy band Menudo, and he ends up closing the deal. In his hotel room later, he hires a male sex worker to come over, and unsurprisingly, he weirds him out. He begins talking about the Romans and before they engage in sexual acts, he even puts a Roman wreath on his head.

While José is in New York, Erik and Lyle get into a fight with their mom and she tells them she should just poison them all to put them out of their misery. At dinner that night, the brothers notice something unidentifiable in their pasta sauce and accuse Kitty of actually poisoning them. As they start to leave, Kitty falls to the floor and begins seizing before she's able to crawl over to the counter and chug from a bottle of wine. Erik and Lyle believe it's all an act and they leave.

José gets back from New York and tells Kitty he broke it off with Louise — we see the breakup scene play out quickly so we know he's telling the truth — and he's excited to tell her about the Menudo deal. He then asks what happened between her and the boys while he was gone, telling her she should stop taking so many pills. She tells him her anger overwhelms her and he offers to help her, suggesting they go to couples counseling. He wants to fix the family. He wakes the boys up and makes them apologize to the houses they stole from, while José cuts each of them a check. In the car, José says Erik will take the fall to the police because he's a minor, telling the brothers that he will help them with this but it's the last time.

At work, José tells Marzi he's only one big deal away from moving to Florida and running for senate. He asks her to come with him. At night, José and Kitty enjoy a night together watching TV and eating dessert.

José's parenting

José gets the call from Princeton about Lyle plagiarizing and flies to New Jersey. After the meeting with the dean, he and Lyle go to a cemetery and Lyle confronts his dad for hitting him and calling him names, saying it's abuse. José then compares him to a dog in a speech about tough love and tells him he hasn't hit him hard enough. He tells him he loves him and apologizes for not being harder on him before kissing him on the cheek.

At home in Beverly Hills, José gets into a fight with Erik when he questions his sexuality. He gives Erik a prescription cream for his Athlete's Foot and begins rubbing it on him, telling him that because he's not good enough to play tennis in college, he's going to get him into the business school at UCLA. José also declares that Erik will be living at home so he can keep tabs on him. Erik is surprised by this and protests, to which José brings out modeling photos he found of Erik. He questions what the photos are and asks Erik if he's gay, which offends his son. He tells Erik that he'll be taking a girl to prom and that he's already spoken with her parents. It's obvious José really only cares about appearances, and this is proven here when he tells his son that all that matters is the prom photo.

José continues to yell at Erik and demands he go to his room, and he follows. We hear him yelling and though we don't see anything, I think we can assume what happens next. Kitty hears them in Erik's room and considers opening the door before deciding against it.

Later, José looks through Erik's room and tells Kitty that he's not using condoms, insinuating he might be gay. He tells Kitty he worries he could have AIDS, and Kitty proceeds to demand to inspect Erik's penis for blisters. He doesn't want her to, but she insists, so he shows her. She doesn't find anything.

Kitty confronts José

In another scene, Kitty sees José working in the dining room and she finally confronts him on his relationship with Erik and Lyle. She asks if something sexual is going on, and he denies it, asking if she's drunk. He then tells her that there's something he's kept from her, revealing that when he was a baby in diapers, his mom used to fondle his penis. As he recalls this, he tells Kitty it's not a big deal. He admits to showering with the boys after tennis, believing it's normal. He's tried to make men out of their sons, he says, and admits he's taken it too far sometimes. But he justifies this by saying he loves his family and that's all that matters.

We cut to Kitty and José in couples counseling, where Kitty tells the doctor she hates her kids and is grateful to have José. She recalls her dad hitting her mom, her, and her siblings and admits that maybe she was drawn to that behavior. Though she says José is not like her dad, she says they both have a "masculine presence." That's one way to put it. The therapist asks if José hits Kitty, which José answers for her, denying it. She then asks if there was sexual abuse in the house growing up, which Kitty denies, but José doesn't answer. When the therapist presses, José gets frustrated and leaves.

Late at night, José calls his mom and confronts her for the sexual abuse, crying. His mom says she doesn't know what he's talking about and José tells her he knows she was also abused by a relative. His mom doesn't want to talk about it, however, and he hangs up on her. In another scene, we see José invite a lawyer over to start amending his will.

Their last night

The whole family is in therapy with Dr. Oziel and Kitty declares she's no longer going to attend sessions. She tells Erik and Lyle that she wishes she never had them, and the brothers are confused when their father begins staring and smiling at them ominously. They head to Sears to take family photos and later we see Kitty and José watching TV together and eating dessert again. Only this night is the night their sons kill them.

I could've done without a whole episode focusing on José and Kitty. Even though the boys are bratty sometimes, their behavior doesn't compare to the pain their parents have inflicted on them. I'm confused what this episode is trying to say. To find out what happens next, keep watching Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story on Netflix, and continue reading our recaps and reviews here at Show Snob.

Read all of our Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story recaps and reviews:

• Episode 1: "Blame it on the Rain"
• Episode 2: "Spree"
• Episode 3: "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?"
• Episode 4: "Kill or Be Killed"
• Episode 5: "The Hurt Man"
• Episode 7: "Showtime"
• Episode 8: "Seismic Shifts
• Episode 9: "Hang Men"