The title Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story solves one mystery. The case of why Netflix’s Jeffrey Dahmer show had the SEO-dominating title Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is closed. Apparently, Ryan Murphy’s other true crime anthology series—the one not called American Crime Story—lives under the banner “Monster” or Monsters, depending on how many hot killers he’s casting in the show.
Another mystery solved with the series' latest trailer is how they plan to stretch this saga to the length of a series. While the previous looks at the series have been woefully thin on details, the latest trailer teases a bit more of the psychology (and shopping habits) of its titular monsters.
The second season of Monster, now very clearly called Monsters, follows the infamous Menendez brothers, who were convicted of killing their parents in 1996. Like Dahmer — Monster, the new series will attempt to prod our preconceived notions of these so-called monsters. In this case, the series explores, at least in part, the physical, sexual, and emotional abuse the Menendez brothers claim to have suffered under their parents’ hands, as well as the world’s fascination with true crime cases like this. As Nathan Lane points out in the trailer—again apparently playing a lawyer in a scripted Ryan Murphy true crime series—"You don't murder your parents that way. Literally de-facing them. That's not about money. That's about something deeper and darker."
Monsters stars Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny as parents José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez, Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez star as the brothers, and Nathan Lane rounding out the cast as is his wont. Will this be another case where the audience tunes in in droves? We’ll have to wait and see.
Monsters streams on September 19.
