The Jinx first season, awarded an Emmy, left many spectators speechless in 2015. Andrew Jarecki played cat and mouse with Robert Durst, a wealthy, charismatic and devious heir suspected of having killed two people: his first wife disappeared since 1982 and his best friend shot dead in 2000. He had previously been acquitted of the murder of a neighbor who was dismembered and thrown into the sea. We found him after eight years of an investigation that the series relaunched. Spoilers. (Close your eyes or skip the next paragraph if you don’t want to know).
At the end of the last episode, Robert Durnst confessed while talking to himself off-camera, from the toilet, after having forgotten that his microphone was still connected. His words, “Of course, I killed them all”, became cult in the United States after offering a great moment of criminal documentary. We would have liked to see director Andrew Jarecki’s face when he heard them. We see those of the protagonists in the case – families, police officers, magistrates – when they discover it filmed by the filmmaker who brought them together to watch the finale of season 1 at the time of its broadcast.
The “prison” box
Unsurprisingly, Robert Durst is behind bars at the start of the second season. He also quickly recognizes that his participation in The Jinx, strongly discouraged by his lawyer at the time, was really not a good idea. If he confessed out loud, it is because he was drugged during filming and therefore his words should not be given the slightest importance. Robert Durst hasn’t changed. He is still as arrogant as he puts his troops in battle order while awaiting his trial. This septuagenarian whose deep voice sends very unpleasant shivers down your spine is still just as manipulative. He is scary even when we see him through the screen and we know that he died in prison in 2022.
A matter of loyalty
Even if we didn’t see The Jinx, this new season offers catch-up sequences (including the famous scene of viewing the ending) to allow us to catch up on the wagons. Everything is then diabolically orchestrated so that the viewer gets caught up in a plot that is more crazy than many fictions. Robert Dunst is locked up but his telephone conversations freeze the blood. Which of his friends will choose to betray him or support him? Loyalty is at the center of the documentary, a feeling exacerbated by the fact that this wealthy man has a long arm and can be as grateful as he is ruthless. We’re glad he’s not part of our relationship.
In the grave
It was impossible to repeat the impact of the first season and its breathtaking finale. Andrew Jarecki does almost as well, completing the portrait of a man all the more fascinating because he took his secret to the grave.
