In the upcoming season of Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story, Amanda Peet (Something’s Gotta Give) transforms into 1980s killer Betty Broderick, according to Entertainment Weekly. The season is built on love gone astray and takes a deeper look into a relationship that has deteriorated to the point of double homicide. The series is set to premiere with an eight episode season on June 2nd and move to Bravo’s sister network USA.
Showrunner Alexandra Cunningham (Chance) was clear in mentioning that the story will be following the downfall of Betty as a character, while emphasizing the story’s real nightmare: divorce. The season is based on Bella Stumbo’s novel Until the Twelfth of Never where Christian Slater (Heathers) plays Betty’s husband Dan, an attorney who actively manipulates Betty into believing his fidelity. Their relationship on the surface level was grand with money and power during the 80s, but it was factitious. Dan ends up leaving Betty for his receptionist Linda, played by Rachel Keller (Legion), and Betty loses custody of her children in the process.
Cunningham tells Variety that episodes will be examining the reasoning behind the murders. She furthers, “The two of them look like the American dream and yet they couldn’t even treat each other the way they wanted to be treated by strangers. I wanted to re-examine the whole, ‘Here’s a crazy, evil woman who did this purely out of jealousy’ — and then to put yourself in her place in the narrative she constructed herself.”
Cunningham views Betty as “untethering from reality” as the time progresses and was interested in showing the psychological torture she faced. The intention was never to bash the characters or condone actions, but rather show realistic portrayal of the relationship and the characters. Cunningham continues when talking to Variety, “Betty, I would argue, is a victim in her own mind. I cannot justify what she ultimately did, but I wanted to tell a story about why she got to that point. I do have empathy for a lot of how she was treated and more for her sense of isolation.”
The second season premiere airs Tuesday, June 2nd 9 PM EST on USA Network. Check out an exclusive clip of the first episode entitled “Carted Off”: