Andrew Jarecki’s THE JINX – PART ONE (2015) is my favorite true crime docuseries of all time. As a fan of anything true crime, I am regularly asked for recommendations and my first question is always, “Have you seen THE JINX?” Without getting too much into spoilers, PART ONE follows Robert Durst, an aging multi-millionaire who has been accused of killing three people throughout his life: his wife, best friend, and neighbor. The series explores the evidence against him (some of which is newly discovered in real-time throughout each episode). But most shockingly of all, Jarecki formed a personal relationship with Durst and gets him to appear in interviews throughout the series. Through these interviews, Durst is confronted first-hand with the damning evidence against him, which leads to one of the most exciting and shocking moments in true crime and television history.
Believe me, if you haven’t watched the PART ONE, it’s even better than I just described and you MUST watch it before watching PART TWO; no exceptions. I would even suggest you go back and rewatch the first set of episodes if it’s been awhile because part two gets more in the weeds on all of the cases, and it’s best that you have that background fresh in your mind.
Needless to say, when I received the screeners for PART TWO of the series I stopped everything and watched in one sitting. In the first four episodes, we get to see the meta, real-life aftermath of what happened with Durst’s criminal investigation after he realized the walls were closing in on him following his participation in THE JINX… especially after the huge reveal. Again, I don’t want to go too much into spoilers for PART ONE in case you didn’t see it, but let’s just say as the episodes started to air, Durst realized he needed to look for an :ahem: escape route. PART TWO goes behind the scenes, focusing on Jarecki’s first-hand discovery of incriminating evidence, the law enforcement investigations that were occurring concurrently, the victims’ families reactions to shocking revelations, and Durst’s attempt to slip away from it all once again. Additionally, this time, Jarecki is able to interview quite a few of Durst’s friends that hadn’t been so amenable to conversations the first time around.
Of course, I don’t think that there is anything that can rival the big reveal in PART ONE, but I only received screeners for the first four episodes so I wonder if there are more surprises in store. One of the main things I loved about the big reveal in part one is that the entire world experienced it together; I remember going on Twitter and seeing everyone freaking out and wondering how to deal with what we had just collectively experienced. That expectation, combined with the fact I didn’t receive all of the episodes, makes me wonder if Jarecki is leaving another shocking reveal for the remaining episodes. Was Jarecki able to interview Durst again from prison before his death? You better believe I will be watching.
THE JINX – PART TWO will air each Sunday on HBO and stream on MAX at 10 PM; all episodes of PART ONE are available to stream on MAX.
My Review: B+
