Tonight is the finale for this Betty Broderick series. Betty is locked up in prison preparing to meet her fate. All the fan letters will surely bring her comfort, if only up until the trial. This will not be a good Betty’s finest hour. It’s only fitting this episode is on tonight. I hate that this is the last Betty Broderick recap. It was such a good show.
Tomorrow is the IRS tax deadline for 2019. One might think I would have worked on my taxes during the three month extension and I did, until I didn’t. The crazy I had under control by joining the old folks center, came back with a vengeance.So, I’ve spent hours a day, subtracting line 12b from line 9c and cubing the sum and adding to line 12c. I have have my best guesses ready to send to Uncle Sam and Georgia. I’m going to let them take it or send me a bill. So tomorrow, I have to figure out how to send my 2019 payments and half a year of tax for 2020. Amex is always trying to offer me a credit increase and I keep thinking,”there is no way I will spend that much money in a month.” That was probably a mistake. But, YAY! SKYMILES!
What Took Her So Long?
But enough about my trauma, let’s talk about poor Betty Broderick. Can we just send her a cake with a file baked in it or something? Enough is enough! But really aren’t we all in jail now? I mean the saner ones who read here. Not the ones like the moron 30 somethings who are going to COVID parties and dying. Le sigh. We start in court. Wow, was the prosecutor really a woman? She’s a bitch. Betty is getting through the trial by reading fan mail. The first jury was hungry. The some jurors actually seemed to side with her, even male ones. Or perhaps especially male ones. Women are the worst at supporting women.
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Now, Betty totally still has her hopes up. The prosecution is impaneling another jury for a second bite at the apple though. And her attorney cautions here not to get her hopes up. Betty jokes with her lawyer that she should have eaten her victims because Jeffery Dahmer got bail (he could not possibly make) and she didn’t.
I kind of love that Betty pranked called her “friends” saying she had escaped and she needed them to come get her. Her “friends” suck. Betty is and has been legally “temporarily insane” due to her circumstances for weeks. Her lawyer advises her not to do interviews with People, etc. She ignores him and that was a mistake.
The Second Trial
Betty is still manic when her boys arrive for a visit that was clearly arranged by her lawyer because they do not want to be there and they rightfully seem afraid of her. The same prosecutor retries the case. All of her “friends” testify. Most of them are bitches. I can’t imagine the children having to testify. Betty said the plan was to kill herself. We get a commercial for Love Fraud in Showtime as it is supposed to fill the hole this show left. And another commercial make me look up the Oxygen channel. They have a new Snapped series about Betty Broderick and I set it to record. It starts at 11pm right after this show ends. I’m kind of obsessed.
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The prosecutor tips Betty up a lot more this time. She was going to kill herself on, but she took the gun to Dan’s place at five a.m. to make him listen to her and if he didn’t she planned to kill herself there. I am way behind because I keep backing up so I don’t miss anything while typing. Betty says she doesn’t remember pulling the trigger at all. Betty talks to much on the witness chair. I would have found her guilty of premeditated murder. However, if there were some sort of temporary insanity, crime of passion, etc. I would have gone with that. Her letters from jail and interviews with journalists are what did her in.
“I Don’t Know If She Can Get Well. I Think She Just Needs To Get Old…”
Wow. It seems the jury had the option of involuntary manslaugher, or manslaugher. Am I hearing this wrong? Or was it just that if they felt that was the crime they could not convict her on the options they had? It looks like they had several options and met in the middle on second degree, for both. One juror threatened to hang the jury if they all went for first degree murder. The one holdout juror thought that meant Betty would be out in four or five years. Jurors are not privy to that information. She says she would have hung the jury again if she knew that. But, she trusts the judge not to do that. Betty basically got 30 years to life. Her daughter hugged her in the courtroom.
And that there ladies and gentlemen, is why I never got married. Straight men are assholes. Off to watch Snapped. And every time my parole came up, I’d say, “Nope not sorry. He needed killin. I did Linda a favor.”
I really liked this show very well done. I said this before but now after watching Its possible she suffered from post partum depression. She lost a newborn as well. She needed help because she became paranoid and violent. I just think this could have been prevented with help early on.
I think she had postpartum depression combined with hormones gone wild after getting pregnant so often. PMS was bad enough, I can’t even imagine postpartum.
My mom had my sister when I was nine. Looking back, both mom and I think she had postpartum depression; it didn’t completely go away until menopause. I just wondered at 9 years old where my “real” mom disappeared to. I don’t know if professionals knew about postpartum, but us laymen did not.
Depo Provera is the BEST MEDICINE EVER. No PMS, no cramps, no period. One shot every three months. Aside from hot flashes from hell during menopause it got me through without any serious hormone issues.
It made my hair start falling out which was a side effect my doctor said was rare but happens
I think she had affluenza sprinkled with a little with a bit of privilege.
Spending “his“ money was the only wasy she saw that made her feel of any value. Dan reminds me of the Hubby in “Diary of a Mad Housewife.” Too bad Betty didn’t follow Tina’s path.
Okay watching the Snapped episode now. Who is Brad and why did he walk into Dan’s house?
Brad was Betty’s boyfriend. She started dating him after her divorce from Dan (wasn’t mentioned in the series). He was at her condo during the murders.
Bradley Wright was 6 years younger than Betty, production claim that Betty did not take their relationship seriously, plus she told a lot of her friends Brad was gay therefore he was not included in the show.
Some of Betty’s friend claimed she was embarrassed by Brad as he was a blue collar worker and did not attend an Ivy League school.
Not sure why he was not included as they dated for a few years.
What I did find interesting was that Betty claimed Dan suffered from chronic alcoholism but the autopsy showed his liver looked normal and didn’t show any of the changes associated with alcoholism.”
My liver is WAY BETTER than normal when tested by GI specialist. None of them could believe how much and for how long I drank. My mom who maybe had a beer or two a week and a margarita twice a year had cirrhosis (from Lipitor). The liver is not always an indicator of alcoholism.
That’s why I found it so interesting my aunt was an alcoholic and we expected her liver to be in a total mess but it wasn’t. What is Liptor?
I thought she killed Linda and the baby fetus too.
Dan already was starting the controlling with Linda.
Today, a lawyer would have a lot more to play with — emotional abuse, postpartum depression (that never abated), etc. And conflict of interest — Dan was president of the bar. All those deductions for calling him an asshole. Not being able to prove she took the wedding list, but stopping her money anyway. A lawyer would argue Linda made that up, etc. So many missed opportunities.
You are correct that Betty’s Lawyer would have more to work with, this day in time. Back then, the deck was stacked against her from the beginning. Dan, who was the President of the Bar Association and a well know lawyer in San Diego, basically Black Balled her to the entire Law Community. He was controlling and devious, even to his children. I remember when all this was going on and even watched a “Special” on one of the News Shows, maybe 60 Minutes, or the likes. I cannot remember which one, but even the Media seemed to play into Dan’s side, and the reporting of the trial was very much against her. Dan played mind games and penalized Betty in ways that were not legal, but no one stood up for her. He even took one of his daughter’s out of his will, for some reason that has never come to light. Betty, however, did not help herself either. She came over as a crazy loon on all the interviews she gave! I just wonder what would have been the outcome if it was a present day event.
And Betty was only 17 when she met Dan. She was also a model. She turned down is first request for a date. She met him again later as he kept followin up with her after they graduated from college.
TT, what did you make of that scene at the end where she’s seeing young Dan and then Dan and Linda together? I found that whole little scene so strange and I can’t really figure it out.
It goes back to different times in their lives and she makes better choices. Is this like a “hypothetically this would have never happened if she behaved this way rather than lashing out all the time” type thing? I’m so confused. And what was the significance of her yanking the phone out of the bedroom and dropping it at the top of the stairs. What was that all about? Helllp! I’m sad it’s over, too. It’s a great show
After she shot Dan he was trying to get to the phone to call for help. She yanked it from the wall and left it in the hall where he couldn’t get to it.
Thanks! I was confused because I thought they were shot dead in their sleep, so I wasn’t sure why she needed to take the phone. And then my dumbass is like “well then he’ll just use his cell to call 911” ??♀️ But now that you say it, I guess Dan did sit up and say she got him. Don’t mind me, I was high last night ?
…and I think that the girl Betty “saw” in the jail cell was young Betty.
The 2 actresses looked a lot alike!
Hmmmmm… how positive are we about that? I just rewatched it and I would swear it was Dan and Linda. Am I losing it? Am I still high….? ?
I think it was young Dan and Betty too. You’re not losing it. The girl who played young Betty in the earlier episodes looked a bit like the girl who played Linda.
Thanks Fizz! I’m thinking of the last hallucination where Dan is sitting there with Linda (or maybe Betty) and she turns and looks like him. That’s Linda right? If I missed that twice just put me out of my misery
I’m experiencing FOMO for not having watched this show yet.
That means you have eight juicy episodes to catch up on at your leisure. The acting and production is excellent. (You might yell at “Dan” on your TV.)
Is this the first season?
It is Dirty John – Season 2 – Crack open the wine and get ready to shout at the TV.
This season deserves an award..it was so good I actually stopped watching as it was giving me anxiety.
Thanks TT for the recap… highly appreciated.
It is the first season of Betty Broderick, second season of a Dirty John. The first season was about John “Dirty John” Meehan. It is excellent. The stories are unrelated, except by production team.
Overall I don’t feel like we learned anything new about Dan or Betty in this series. It was a longer version of the Meredith Baxter miniseries that just showed additional crazy Betty behavior. Maybe because I remember the trial and that version I‘m harder to please. I was hoping they would spend at least one episode on her life in jail, her refusals to show remorse, her relationships with her kids. Missed the Snapped ep but have it set to record tomorrow.
I don’t think you are harder to please, perhaps you have a better understanding as you remember the trial.
I just watched Dateline 2017 – A Woman Scorned Elisabeth Betty Broderick- that showed some of the trial which included the phone call between her and the 11 year old son.
OMG it was seriously shocking, they only showed a few minutes however the call lasted 30 mins, The number of times she swore at him and told him his father was fucking his secretary and how it was all Linda’s fault.
Imagine an 11 year old attempting to explain to his mother that his parents had issues before his father met Linda and they had been arguing for years and Betty refused to accept anything he was saying.
That was the phone call the jury listened to before they reached their verdict in the 2nd trial.
They also explained that although she was getting 16k a month, Dan was earning 140K per month and the 16k was not enough for her to actually afford the house she also received in the settlement.
I still despise Dan, believe he groomed Betty he declared he was going to marry her the first time they met, now that raises alarms straight away.
Dan was originally a doctor and then became a lawyer and dealt with medical malpractice suits he made his money showing the psychological affects of trauma on his clients, he was trained in how to psychological destroy people and that is what he did to his wife.
He called himself Count de Money. FFS!!
She should never have removed the phone from the bedroom or stolen the keys from her daughter, she killed 2 people and was actually lucky she wasn’t charged with 1st degree murder.
Men had to much power back then and woman’s medical problems in regard to hormones was a no-no subject.
Betty was her own worst enemy and still believes to this day she is a victim, they were all victims especially the children.
There definitely is a fine line between Love & Hate
Great commentary and thanks the background. They both were assholes. Dan was always an obnoxious jerk but so was Betty. Thats why they were drawn to each other. Betty knew how vicious Daniel Broderick was in the courtroom and that lawyers and even judges kissed his butt. She liked the power and lifestyle that it afforded them. Betty was a mean, angry, greedy, vulgar mouth, selfish, entitled woman. She felt entitled to kill Linda and Dan. No ma’am. I dont care how angry someone makes you. You are not entitled escalate to violence if your not physically in danger. Thats that Porsha Williams “I was PROVOKED defense” ? I suspect that Bettys cantankerous personality had alot to do with why her parents werent very invloved with her.
Betty paid for his medical and law educations. That scene where Betty is explaining she needs to pay for food and electricity and then he justifies his CUSTOM lab/doctor coat shows the real Dan Broderick.
I cannot disagree with you Nanette however I am going to change the subject – New TV show on Apple – Little Voice – Created by Sara Bareilles.
Not to minizmixe bettys contibutions to the household finances but i doubt she paid for Dans tuition. He said he got student loans. He was a senior in college when he met Betty so i doubt Betty financed his education. Consdering he went to a private university for medical and law school Dan probably had 6 figure student loan debt. Being a school teacher and sellling Tupperware could never pay tuitin at Harvard.
Wow! Your post was informative. I’m going to have to see if I can find that recording. The whole thing was so tragic. Those kids have been through far too much
I remember years ago I sent in my taxes and my calculation was a $2,000 refund. Man was I pumped, and ended up getting a hundred or so refund. After that if I couldn’t figure something out I just filled in the spaces and let them do my taxes.
on one hand I think that Betty played all of her cards wrong, on the other hand I am 100 percent certain Dan was a dirtbag as I have always said, except for the paper lawyers, it takes a certain kind of person to do what lawyers do, and there really isn’t any compartmentalizing that, you have to be the kind of person who is willing under any circumstance, to do whatever it takes to win even if it means other people who don’t deserve it get screwed. It’s hard not to feel like this was justified even if she was wrong for doi g it.
Can I just say too that Amanda Peet played the HELL out of this role?! It was riveting television.
I so rooted for Betty and wish there was a place in her pathology that would have derailed her from her ultimate fate. Betty was groomed from birth to be the perfect Catholic wife…so in essence, she did what she was raised to do. And when that didn’t turn out like it was supposed to, it set all of these players up on a dangerous path.
Like I said, I rooted for her, but in so many ways she became her own worst enemy. A tragedy MASTERFULLY brought to life by Amanda Peet’s unforgettable performance.
They all played the hell out of these roles. This was riviting television. Im so glad scripted television with professional cast is back in style.
I hated the way Dan took EVERYTHING from Betty. He couldn’t even leave her memories for her. He took the events that Betty thought were unique and special and repeated the “improved” versions with Linda. And rubbed the morning jacket in Betty’s face — “your wedding didn’t deserve a morning jacket, Linda’s does.” He was a ? asshole of the nth degree.
“Your wedding didn’t deserve a morning jacket, Linda’s does.” – Psychologically destroying her.
One of the “little” things that pissed me off was Dan’s conceit of the red rose buttonaire tradition that Betty started. That must have been one if the licenses taken by the show. In a Google image search, none of the photos of Dan show him wearing a rose.
Notice that real Betty is the stereotype of the middle-aged wife, the “starter wife”; the bloom is off the rose.Her figure and her skin have thickened, her features grown more porcine with age. That fug “mom ‘do” — complete matron. Real Linda is the stereotype of the “brighter, shinier trophy wife” that “every successful man” is so deserving of. Dan was the archetype of the aging asshole whose financial success and power have made him entitled and cruel. Even the staunch Catholicism, which he used to keep Betty pregnant, gets tossed by the wayside when he becomes too important to have the religious constraints meant for mere plebeians.
I don’t know about anyone else but I ugly cried the last 10 minutes. Betty really needed some professional help and someone in her corner for support. Instead she had to sit an watch her so called friends testify against her along with her children being put on the stand. That should be against the law like testifying against a spouse. I love your site TT long time reader.
Sweets i saw you struggling on Twitter about paying taxes, email if you truly need help beyond just hating the tax system, we are not as scary as we sound… evil government employee talking….
It has been a real struggle for me. Not financially. Just mentally. The mail didn’t come today to pick up my handwritten forms until 5:47. Shockingly, I am a rule followerer. At least when it comes to the government. Anxiety is so bad I could not make it to the PO today. I lost my mind on the phone with Nanette last night, I’m not holing up well. Now all I have to do is pays SIX SEPARATE tax bills 2019 and two estimated taxes to both state and country, I had to do it all the old fashioned way. I’ll just be glad when this is over. My brain hurts. On line 2539, multiple that figure by three and add to line 2501. Take the square root and refer to Chart 8973 to see what number to put on line 13… OUR TAX SYSTEM IS RIDICULOUS! And even when I PAY LITERALLY $500 for someone to do it, I still get either a bill or 12 dollars because they did it wrong. Venting, Sorry. And thanks for the kind words.
Ok with venting. Our tax system is crazy!
IT IS FINISH ED! I think I paid everything but my printer has decided to crap out one one of the four times I year I use it to print out tax payment receipts. It’s just a whatever can go wrong will go wrong kind of days.
Merlot Queen should we be raising a glass to celebrate you are FINISH ED! or to commiserate that your printer’s having a paddy?
Slàinte Mhaith
Thanks for the recap! I am excited to watch the snapped Episodes.
Long time ( years ) lurker. I could have done your taxes. Seriously though, take care of yourself.
Glad you are out of lurkerdom, FINALLY!