‘The Jinx,’ TV’s True-Crime Triumph, Returns With More Robert Durst Shockers

The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst, Andrew Jarecki’s 2015 HBO docuseries about real estate heir and accused murderer Robert Durst, is true-crime’s holy grail. A work of endlessly captivating convolutions, it climaxed with one of television’s—and investigative journalism’s—all-time endings: a candid last-second confession from the suspect at the center of its homicidal tale. Rich in detail and character, verifiable realities, and unanswerable questions, it’s the masterpiece to which all likeminded efforts aspire. It’s no exaggeration to say that, along with Errol Morris’ seminal The Thin Blue Line, it stands at the absolute apex of its genre.

Thus, it’s also not hyperbole to state that Jarecki’s decision to revisit his triumph—nine long years after it left viewers’ jaws on the floor—is exciting news, no matter that Durst’s subsequent fate was lustily covered by the media. And while there’s seemingly no way for it to match the lightning-in-a-bottle magic of its predecessor, whose ultimate bombshell is what all sleuthing docs dream about, the six-installment The Jinx—Part Two (April 21) proves a worthy twisty-turny sequel. Picking up with its story (which the series is now a key part of!) in the immediate aftermath of its prior conclusion, and following Durst as he’s prosecuted for the execution-style 2000 slaying of his confidant Susan Berman, it affords myriad insider perspectives on its mysteries and its players’ tangled loyalties, all while presenting new characters, unearthing fresh clues and testimony, and digging deeper into Durst’s cold, cunning psyche.

Moreover, the sequel appears—unbelievably, and tantalizingly—to be hiding a last-second shocker of its own. Given that only four of its six episodes were provided to press ahead of its premiere, however, any such revelations will stay buried until this follow-up’s finale on May 26.

The Jinx’s closing scene involved Durst being confronted with an envelope he’d addressed to Berman with an extra “e” added to “Beverly Hills”—a mistake that, like his block handwriting, was an identical match to the “Cadaver note” sent to police (presumably by Berman’s killer) to inform them that a dead body was at her residence. In the wake of this presentation, a rattled Durst retreated to the bathroom. Forgetting that his mic was still on (for the second time during production), he reprimanded himself under his breath for this colossal slip-up, culminating with the declaration, “What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.” This was the heart-stopping moment of heart-stopping moments, and in The Jinx—Part Two, Jarecki revisits it, albeit this time from the perspective of his original docuseries’ numerous participants, all of whom gather to view the finale at his house. To watch their faces as Durst mutters those infamous words is to relive the shock and awe all over again, except with even more heart-rending power than before.

The Los Angeles Police Department arrested Durst for Berman’s murder the day before that episode aired, and The Jinx—Part Two begins by recounting not simply the build-up to its initial run’s dénouement, but law enforcement’s efforts to track down and apprehend Durst, which they eventually did in New Orleans. From there, the series focuses heavily on L.A. Deputy District Attorney John Lewin, who interviews Durst in custody and then sets about assembling a case against him that’s predicated on his culpability in the 1982 disappearance (and alleged murder) of his 29-year-old wife Kathie. Even before that gets going, though, Jarecki plants a stick of stranger-than-fiction dynamite into the proceedings: After he fled for the Big Easy, Durst had his Houston apartment cleaned out by Chris Lovell, the very juror from his Galveston case—in which Durst was acquitted of murdering his neighbor Morris Black, whose body he dismembered and discarded in garbage bags—who in The Jinx had vociferously proclaimed Durst’s innocence.

Durst obviously doesn’t cooperate with Jarecki as he did the first time around. Nonetheless, the sociopathic killer’s face and voice stay front and center throughout The Jinx—Part Two courtesy of audio and video recordings of his prison phone calls. Those are mainly with wife Debrah Lee Charatan as well as a gaggle of long-time friends who didn’t appear in The Jinx, including Doug Oliver (a “playboy”), Susie Giordano (Durst’s “platonic” girlfriend), and Nick Chavin, who launched a real estate advertising career with Durst’s assistance, and who before that was known as Chinga Chavin, a pornographic country music singer (sample song: “Cum Stains on the Pillow”). Nick’s enlightening testimony at trial is one of the show’s biggest twists, and yet it’s far from the only one. Informative details are also divulged under oath by Stewart and Emily Altman, the former of whom is a high-school pal who occasionally served as Durst’s small-time attorney, and both of whom are ultimately grilled by Lewin before Judge Mark E. Windham in court.

In addition to these figures, The Jinx—Part Two boasts some familiar participants, including New York Times reporter Charles V. Bagli (who spoke with Durst following each airing of The Jinx) and defense attorney Dick DeGuerin (who agrees to represent his client in the Berman trial). Together, these contributors are an amazingly colorful and compelling lot, and the anecdotes they deliver—such as Chavin and his wife’s stories about Debrah’s armpit-sniffing professional conduct—are the sort that would seem like absurd inventions if they weren’t true. Between its chilling villain, its outrageous personalities, its spiraling developments, its taut legal gambits and conflicts (in which every punch is met with an equally forceful counterpunch), and its slippery certainties, the series continues to be the perfect true-crime tale. Better yet, Jarecki is the finest modern purveyor of this non-fiction form, and his patient and canny stewardship allows the action to be simultaneously funny, illuminating, and edge-of-your-seat nerve-wracking.

Anyone with an internet connection can easily find out what happened to Durst in the Berman trial and afterwards, but the brilliance of The Jinx is that it gets so close to its chief protagonists, and paints such a three-dimensional portrait of its complex narrative, that it plays like both an exceptional in-depth magazine feature and an unbearably gripping thriller. At present, there’s no way to ascertain if Jarecki will once again rock the world with another legendary capper. Considering The Jinx’s greatness to this point, however, I wouldn’t bet against him.

The Cam Model Addict Who Murdered His Whole FamilyWORLD WIDE WEB OF LIES

Nick Schager, Madeline Roth