Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story episode 7 recap and review: "Showtime"
At long last, we've made it to the start of the trial for Erik and Lyle in Netflix's Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story episode 7, "Showtime." But as we soon learn, one of the brothers is becoming very cocky about their chances of walking free and will do anything he can to persuade the jury — even lie. Will this lead to the brothers' downfall? Lyle is a good actor for now, but it might become apparent that he's faking it.
Major spoilers for Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story episode 7 are below.
Trigger Warning: This episode explicitly references child sexual abuse.
We're inching closer to the finish line on Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, and episode 7, fortunately, doesn't rely as heavily on flashbacks. Instead, we see the brothers prepare for the trial and the testimonies begin. We also start to understand why the journalist Dominick is so invested in the case, and it's not just for his job. The episode opens up in the year 1983 when Dominick attends the trial of his daughter's killer. Her ex-boyfriend John Thomas Sweeney is being charged with her murder, and he's found guilty of voluntary manslaughter. This angers Dominick, who was hoping for a more severe sentence. He then begins yelling at the judge, the jury, the criminal defense lawyer, and even John himself.
Lyle asks his loved ones to lie
In the current timeline, Lyle's girlfriend Jamie visits him in jail and he promises he's getting out. She isn't as hopeful, however, and says her parents want her to break up with him because they don't believe him. Lyle then tells Jamie he needs her to do him a favor, asking her to lie on the stand and say that his father raped her. Shocked, Jamie tells him she can't do that. We then see Lyle asking friends and family members during visits to lie for him to make it seem like José was trying to kill him. This is a really bad idea.
As Erik and Lyle practice their responses with their lawyers Leslie and Jill, Lyle acts strangely. He shows no emotion and instead appears to lie about other things his parents did. When they're alone, Leslie and Jill question if Lyle is being truthful, and whether or not the brothers have made everything up. Lyle goes through his mail in his cell, reading a letter from a fan named Norma who believes he's innocent. He calls her and they begin a relationship.
Lyle angers the lawyers
The brothers' trustworthiness continues to come into question when Erik admits to making up a story about his parents to his therapist. During Erik and Lyle's next session with Leslie and Jill, Lyle completely makes up a fake story when he's asked to practice explaining what happened the day of the murders. The lawyers are understandably annoyed and Leslie says he needs to show emotion to make the jury believe him. Erik is willing to be vulnerable on the stand but Lyle is not, instead putting on a total act.
Lyle asks if Leslie wants him to cry, and though he's not being totally honest, Leslie tells him yes. Lyle practices again, talking about his mom and saying he found her suicide note. He begins crying as he tells the story, and we don't know if he's telling the truth or not. It's very doubtful. In any case, he's believable at least, and Leslie is satisfied.
It's July 1993 and the brothers are on their way to the courthouse. As they arrive, Dominick looks through the crime scene photos of Kitty and José. Erik and Lyle have a big group of fans, mostly women, waiting for them with signs and cheers. During her opening statement, Leslie tells her audience that they will be focusing on the "why" of the murders. She brings up the sexual abuse Erik and Lyle endured and says they acted in self-defense. This angers Dominick, and he confronts Leslie in the courthouse hallway afterward. He asks if she made up the sexual abuse since that defense worked for her before.
Dominick's alarming theories
Dominick has a dinner party with some friends, and of course, they talk about the trial. He doesn't believe the murders were out of self-defense and brings up potential plot holes in the story. For example, he heard through his sources that three other people were on the fishing trip with the family, questioning why the brothers were so scared their parents would murder them, and that Kitty and José were planning to fly out to New Jersey that week to help Lyle with a condo they bought him. Dominick also asks why the brothers didn't just call the police and tell them the truth if they were acting in self-defense. They lied to their friends, family, the police, and the press for a long time, which he doesn't understand.
One of Dominick's friends brings up that the brothers' family members testified that they had a troubled home life, something Dominick doesn't deny. We then see a couple of quick scenes, one of José's sister testifying against him and another of a cousin talking about José showering with his sons. The cousin says that while he never saw sexual assault directly, he did know that José would lock the door behind him if he was in a bedroom with one of his sons, and that Kitty would make sure no one would come near the room.
Dominick agrees that their home life wasn't great, but then basically says everyone is abused as a child. This is a terrible argument, of course. Dominick shares that his dad beat him, but he didn't go and murder him. To this, his friend points out that Dominick was not sexually abused, and Dominick retorts back that neither were Lyle and Erik. He brings up the fact that the brothers never told their therapist they were sexually abused and then references Erik's sexuality. This leads to an awful accusation when he insinuates that Erik and Lyle are in an incestuous relationship. Soon, the show cuts to Dominick sitting alone at the table and a server coming in to say goodnight.
Lyle takes the stand
Dominick talks with the server about his daughter and tells him her murderer only got three and a half years in prison.
Next up in the trial, Lyle must take the stand. He recalls shooting his parents, talks about photos José took of him and Erik naked, and describes the sexual abuse he went through. He gets very emotional and cries, and to everyone else in the courtroom, he's very believable. But is he telling the full truth? Lyle claims he told his mom about the abuse and she didn't believe him, as well as that his dad said he'd kill him if he told anyone. We've never heard of these two details before, so I'm unsure if he's just making it up to get sympathy from the jury. We then see Erik's reaction. He looks very angry and upset and then begins crying. Lyle also talks about sexually abusing Erik and apologizes to him.
Back in jail, Lyle talks to Norma on the phone and is very cocky about the case. He knows he can play the jury now, and tells her he'll turn the whole thing into a screenplay. Yikes.
Dominick apologizes
Dominick is very upset by what he heard in court, and that night he goes to find Leslie to apologize to her. He tells her that he believes Lyle, which either means all of this is true and José and Kitty deserved to be killed, or that Leslie coached a great performance out of a psychopath. Dominick says he doesn't know which possibility is scarier, but congratulates her, assuming she will win. Leslie looks shocked by this and apologizes to him about his daughter again.
Dominick tells Leslie that his daughter's last words to him were "I love you, Daddy," which is very special to him. The episode ends here, and it seems like Leslie is torn. On the one hand, she believes the brothers were abused, but on the other, she knows Lyle is sensationalizing the story. What is the truth? We'll (hopefully) find out soon enough.
You can watch all nine episodes of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story right now on Netflix.
Monsters Ep 7. B. Finally, we're (hopefully) done with the bulk of the flashbacks in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story with episode 7. This moves the plot along as the trial begins, introducing a new layer to the story in Lyle's lying. This episode keeps things interesting, but I'm still feeling the disappointment of episode 6. . . "Showtime"
Read all of our Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story recaps and reviews: