There are series that have a second season, yes, but with The Jinx perhaps we should talk about a sequel. The true crime documentary series, which aired in 2015, was a criminal experiment: an investigation into crimes that led to new evidence and an involuntary confession from the serial killer. And, after the repercussions and consequences, those responsible have been able to produce a sequel that, if we pay attention to the words of Robert Durst in the trailer, will bring “surprises and surprises.”
Andrew Jarecki, Marc Smerling and Zac Stuart-Pontier began investigating Robert Durst after Jarecki had made a film inspired by his biography with Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst. The heir to a millionaire family in New York agreed to speak with them about the suspicions, circumstances and rumors that attributed to him the authorship of three murders, with the excuse that he had been fascinated by the film titled All the Good Things, which can be seen in Filmin.
The first victim was Kathleen, his wife, who disappeared without a trace in 1982 after her last words to a friend were “I’m afraid of what Bobby will do,” referring to her husband. In 2000, Susan Berman, a friend of Kathleen’s who was believed to know the identity of Kathleen’s killer, was found shot in the back of the head. And finally, while living in Texas cross-dressing in 2003, she murdered and dismembered a neighbor supposedly in self-defense, with a jury buying her version of events as self-defense.
What the trio of screenwriters could not expect was that, during a break in the interview where new incriminating evidence was presented, Durst would go to the bathroom with the microphone on and say out loud: “I killed them all, of course.” Hours before the episode aired on HBO, with the help of evidence discovered during the production of The Jinx, Durst was arrested in the lobby of a New Orleans hotel. He was sentenced to life in prison for the “premeditated murder” of Susan Berman and in 2022 he died in prison of natural causes.
This second part of The Jinx will premiere on April 22 on HBO Max with the promise of exploring Durst’s crimes in more detail in the eight years after the original series aired. With the Emmy for best documentary, it will have a high bar to justify its existence.
