The Staircase part deux

Blow it out your blow poke, OP!

Previous Thread

I used to envy actors, but if ia uccessful and Oscar-winning career necessitated eating off Toni Colette's ass I would have to refuse. On the other hand, maybe I would feel differently if I were heterosexual.

btw, this is one of the few shows I've ever seen where Toni actually looks vaguely attractive.

Will one of y'all tell me again what the hell RIMMIN' is?

It's interesting that even though Freda clearly played on the jury's homophobia to convict Peterson, he still likely did it.

R2 I feel privileged to have wrapped it at 600.

On the subject of Todd, seeing as he admits to being an alcoholic and drug addict, I want to know how he went from thicc meaty hunk to the shredded knife-jawed man he is today. Alcohol and drugs?

Very upset they’re releasing episodes weekly. I want to binge!

R8 It's meant to inspire community buzz, such as this. Even Netflix is debating reverting to staged releases.

I'm going to put this here to start off the multiple, annoying, postings of this owl thumbnail to the Audubon article

My sister keeps chickens and has a rooster that tries to attack everyone. When he succeeds there are feathers everywhere. A microscopic feather that may or may not be from an owl doesn't cut it for that theory.

The French filmmakers feel BETRAYED by the HBO Max series!

B U M P

The show is so gripping, even though I already know how it will end. HBO has never ceased to amaze me.

[quote] The French filmmakers feel BETRAYED by the HBO Max series!

Tsk, Awww.

I love that they do one episode/week. I prefer that over the dump release. As mentioned, it has more of a “communal” watch feel like back in the days before Netflix. How I miss those days!

Todd zooms around town in his corvette hoping to be noticed and then gets weird when people do. The cartel, y'know.

The sons are such losers.

Parker Posey's best work yet.

Next to Clockwatchers and that Drunk History of the brassier episode.

I wish she'd get a supporting nomination for this, but the role is too small, right?

[quote] Parker Posey's best work yet.

Her part in Best In Show was described as an adult woman with braces. She showed up for first day of shooting with actual orthodontics installed on her teeth. That's commitment to a role.

[quote] The French filmmakers feel BETRAYED by the HBO Max series!

That’s because the French doc crew actually were betrayed by the Max drama. So I guess that explains it.

Parker was quite good as Dr. Smith in Lost in Space.

[quote]R19 Her part in Best In Show was described as an adult woman with braces. She showed up for first day of shooting with actual orthodontics installed on her teeth. That's commitment to a role.

This mini series, and the cancer thing with Laurra Linney, are the only things I’ve liked her in, actually.

Parker Posey as Fredda is the main thing keeping me watching.

Air-raid you freshmen bitches!

She was outstanding in Dazed and Confused, Waiting for Guffman, Broken English, the Mary K telefilm she did with Shirley MacLaine, the guest spot as Amy Poehler’s nemesis on Parks & Recs. She was quite good in Party Girl. And I’m leaving out work not yet mentioned including some straight-to-video caca where she gives her all.

Natasha!!!

There's a fun little straight-to-DVD movie Parker Posey did with Amy Poehler, Rachel Dratch, Jane Lynch, Missy Pyle, and Seth Myers (and DL fave Justin Hartley) called Spring Breakdown.

Parker Posey in Josie and the Pussycats is unimpeachable brilliance.

Forget which one, but I saw Elizabeth Banks as a guest on a talk show, the host remarked on her similarity to Parker appearance wise. Her face fell, she blanched, and then she tried to recover with a smile. very awkward.

The de Lestrade documentary was fascinating. I can't imagine why anyone would bother to sit through hours of a dramatization.

R29 It's good.

She takes a look back, ca.2016.

[quote]I can't imagine why anyone would bother to sit through hours of a dramatization.

I can't stand the real Michael Peterson.

PS. Parker Posey was quite fascinating in "The House of Yes" too. Love love her!

[quote] I can't imagine why anyone would bother to sit through hours of a dramatization.

R29, the dramatisation gives Kathleen a voice.

^^Exactly.

The doc lovers need to stop repeating some variations of “why are people watching this when we have the brilliant doc” on Part Two of this thread. You said it enough in Part One.

How about the fact that the doc team was firmly planted up Michael Peterson’s asshole?

Try as the filmmakers might, if Michael Peterson were alternately the focus of a documentary about a small city political candidate who is outed for his closeted life - he would still not be a sympathetic character, because on camera he is simply repellant. For some, their in-person facade just doesn't translate on film.

An excerpt from Written in Blood by Diane Fanning-

"Barbara saw a change in Mike—a more violent, aggressive side of him emerged. He became mean and impatient. She had suspicions about the cause, but he was her employer and she kept her thoughts to herself. Mike displayed a clear favoritism for Margaret, who was a friendly, outgoing and intelligent girl. Martha was more shy and sensitive. She developed a fear of Mike, hiding behind Barbara whenever he came to the house. Martha came home from the Peterson’s on a number of occasions with black-and-blue marks on her body, but Barbara overlooked it—children often get bruised in play. Then, Barbara went away for a week and left the girls with the Petersons. When she returned, Martha had two black eyes and blue marks behind her ears. This time, Barbara confronted Mike about what had happened. He said that Martha was a “bad, bad girl” and she needed “to learn manners.” Barbara swore Mike’s voice was filled with glee when he told her that he had rubbed Martha’s nose in the carpet like a dog when she’d wet the floor. Soon after that incident, Mike Peterson moved back to the States, taking Margaret and Martha with him. After six months of being a mother to the girls, Barbara missed them. It tore at her heart. But how much more, she wondered, did the little girls suffer? Barbara helped the packers crate up Liz’s things. Then she cleaned the house one last time, locked the door and walked away. Leaving that house of death brought her a strong sense of relief."

Who is Barbara?

She was Elizabeth Ratliff's housekeeper. She began working for the Petersons after Elizabeth's death.

[quote]R37 Who is Barbara?

You know very well!

And where was Agnes Schafer, the nanny? She worked for the Petersons after Liz's death too. They must be loaded to be able to employ a housekeeper and a nanny.

Michael Peterson is such a vile man, i can see why the French love him since they have terrible taste in people, lauding sleazy cornballs and egotistical blowhards.

I love you r39 🤣

Is the bathroom scene where Todd gets a woody over another guy based on any fact? His IG is full of thirst traps and it sure seems he’s targeting gays.

R43 He looks like he's auditioning for adult A&F model. He's 46 and clearly going through mid-life crisis, with the red convertible implant on wheels. But he definitely looks good. It's when he opens his mouth that it gets dicey. His take from today on the BLM and Buffalo is bonkers and scary.

Link r44?

at your own peril.

wrong post, try this.

That rimming scene must have been awkward to film.

Wow, he's awful:

White Republican males - please show up for the white kids and drive your corvettes, Camaros, chargers, and awesome trucks…and let them know they aren’t alone.

R48 Toni Collette declined the services of the intimacy coordinator, but Colin did not.

Maybe they used a stunt ass for the rimming scene.

Interesting that of the 5 kids, the girls all seem to be functioning members of society and the boys are both colossal fuckups

Is there a solid, reasonably unbiased book on the case?

Have you seen House of Yes r22?

I didn't recognize her in The Staircase until she smiled. I think for me a big part of identity is her voice and she uses a very thick but believable accent. The hair is crazy too. She's really the most interesting character after Toni Collette, imo

R52 different gene pool.

The formerly hot son looks poz now

R56 He's weird enough that his facial wasting is self-induced. And he's trying to sell it as a face-shaping regimen on IG.

^ Batshit crazy grifter

R55 the girls are from different gene pools as well.

Has Todd launched and OnlyFans?

It was brought up in the previous thread that Margaret could have been fathered by Michael.

[quote] How about the fact that the doc team was firmly planted up Michael Peterson’s asshole?

R34 The French documentary portrayed Peterson as completely calculating and self-serving. Your assertion makes one wonder if you viewed it.

[quote] the boys are both colossal fuckups

[R59] Sorry. let me clarify. The boys are from a

[quote] different gene pool.

One that they share. Which might explain (half-seriously) why they are fuckups, considering their paternity.

R61 If Margaret also has Peterson DNA, please ignore my comment.

Margaret looks just like Michael.

She really does r64, and just like her older brother.

I really hope we see a theory vision of the death with the owl attack. Toni will do a great job with that

Excuse me, gurlzzz, while I'm fending off these vile creatures!

R64, no, she just looks ugly

R61, a claim that was debunked.

This interview with Kathleen's friends wasn't included in the documentary. Kathleen compared Michael to Johnny Wad.😳

After George Ratliff's death Michael stepped into the “husband” role with Elizabeth, would eat dinner with her and the girls most nights, help put the girls to bed, then go home to Patty. He also took care of Elizabeth’s finances. So Michael pretty much had two families. I have no doubt he was also sleeping with Elizabeth.

He already fathered at least one daughter with her!

Parker Posey is playing in an entirely different show than the rest of the cast.

She thinks she is in an arch, over-the-top satire.

She would be funny if that is what it were, but it is not and she is just showing her limited range.

You people are hysterical.

"He lied about being bi, he's really gay! But he also fathered kids outside his marriage!"

R73, Freda was over-the-top. If anything, he's underplaying it

r74, YET ONCE AGAIN you have mistaken everyone else on DL for one person and one voice.

How can you not understand we are many, many different people with many, many different opinions? The universe does not just consist of "You" and "That Which is Other to You, and Therefore Unitary."

[quote] Kathleen compared Michael to Johnny Wad.

Have we heard anything about what sort of action he saw while in prison?

[quote] She thinks she is in an arch, over-the-top satire.

I thought her line when evaluating the escort's assets, "We'll let the jury decide", was very funny.

R78 and delivered appropriately deadpan. nothing over-the-top about it.

This thread is Pure-D filth!

Interesting that the real Margaret and Martha ok-ed the docu-series, with Margaret being in touch with the creators over the years, but they declined to meet the actresses playing them. I wonder what they think of the episodes so far or if they even watched them.

WHAT did I just hear?

Michael Peterson voted for Al Gore???? OMFG!!!! hahahahahahaha

The series without Toni Collette is so bland. More and more of Toni, please.

^^^ Well, you’re in luck, while many characters only die once she is bound to die again and again in this show.

Reminds me of this Monty Python sketch.

[quote] It was brought up in the previous thread that Margaret could have been fathered by Michael.

[quote] Margaret looks just like Michael.

From Written in Blood, Page 354:

"The revelation that the Durham police had done DNA testing of Margaret Ratliff to determine if Michael Peterson was her biological father created the frenzy. Since before the trial, a rumor that Mike was Margaret’s father had rampaged through the city and on the Internet. Now, the [bold]negative[/bold] results of the DNA test put that ugly lie to rest".

R82, Ted Bundy was a young Republican. Your point?

This last episode did give the series a chance to stretch its legs a bit, since this part of the story is less thoroughly covered (if at all) in the documentary.

I find this show watchable for sure, but I wonder if it’s building up to any kind of thematic purpose. Was it just made for people who haven’t seen the earlier series?

That Todd is creepy as fuck. Yeah, he has a nice body but he's crazier than his dad. I wouldn't be surprised if he has some bitches buried somewhere.

[quote]Michael Peterson voted for Al Gore???? OMFG!!!! hahahahahahaha

My point was he was lying again to save his neck. R87, don't be too daft.

“You lift bro?”

I’m mean it’s a great story, but how mind blowing it would be if the actual Juliette Binoche had fallen in love with Michael?

What is the history of the documentary series being show in the US? How was it received?

Patrick got his tiddies out and a pair of tight clingy square cut undies.

Couldn't get through all the documentarian squabbling in French. Does he ever hook-up with his prison yard lifting bud?

When Patrick's character woke up covered in blood I really thought his friend was going to emerge from the closet screaming " Bro, I just punk' d you so hard! Haha you should have seen the look on your face!".

The lingering homoerotic closeups of Patrick Schwarzenegger's body wearing only tight boxer-briefs were the only thing I liked about this episode. Life in prison is scary but not very interesting.

A lot of things this episode really confused me. Why did Michael freak out so badly about Margaret's grades? Why didn't Kathleen confront him in private about that? Why did Todd forgot to send Michael his money in prison?

Margaret could have lost her scholarship/ financial aid. He didn't have the money to pay her tuition.

Todd was boozing it up in Cabo and fucked up.

I think now they are starting to peel back the layers of the Michael Peterson onion to show he's more than just an adoring husband and beloved dad who maybe tends to exaggerated and might have took his wife for granted: underneath, he is a judgemental user with a short temper and a father who at turns bullies and indulgences his children so they love him but never know where they stand with him. In short: he's a narcissist who may well have killed Kathleen. And he's about to go free.

This episode held my interest the least amount although dramatically it did have that nice moment of Juliette Binoche when the audience was applauding the movie.

I could have done without ever watching Darcy rim Muriel Heslop. Nasty.

Will Ms. Binoche be rimmed by Mr. Firth too?

Maybe he was eating her vag from the back.

Long, didn’t read all, but others may want too

13 years?! I assumed that it was a brief fling.

The previews showed that next episode will be the owl theory episode, and it looks like we will be shown how it could have happened.

I want to see more gayness from Todd, and I also want to see more of what's happening with Caitlyn and her aunts while Michael is in prison. I also want to see more of nutty Patty, the boys' mother.

It's utterly embarrassing for the documentary filmmakers to have kept the jailbird pen pal editor on knowing she was besotted with Michael and thought he was innocent. The director seemed biased as well.

R102 With the key exception of the Peterson-Firth, generally speaking the real-life male "characters" are more fuckable than the actors playing them. And the opposite is true for the female actors and their real-life counterparts, as their early 2000's selves.

[quote]R106 The previews showed that next episode will be the owl theory episode, and it looks like we will be shown how it could have happened.

[bold]#TeamOwl

We get to see Toni Collette fight an owl next week! I’m so excited.

Just a reminder that Michael had blood spatter up his shorts. He's guilty.

Are we sure it wasn’t his time of the month.

Quite frankly I’m a bit surprised that a man with a military background would have that hard of a time adapting to prison, and one would think he’d finally get the chance to indulge in his bisexuality to its fullest and unimpeded?

Michael Peterson should really give up the whole innocence charade. A frank book detailing his career as a liar and conman would be refreshing.

“If I Did It”

R109 Considering the known evidence of their presence, how come there isn't a rampaging bat theory?

Maybe Batman killed her!

Why does the non-hot son, Clayton, always have bags under his eyes?

[quote]“If I Did It”

-- An Owl Tell-All

Dane Dehaan just kinda looks like that R118. Even when he broke out in his early 20s he looked like he's never had a good night's sleep.

R118 The real-life Clayton looks no where near as bedraggled. He's not as square-jawed handsome as RL Todd, but he actually looks younger and fresh-faced. Speaking wrt the time of the original docu-series.

Dane Dehaan gave a fairly decent performance as James Dean. In some movie.

Dane hasn't aged well, but still I'd love to see his dong.

Is one of the producers a gay man? Surely so. How else does on explain an extended scene of Patrick in tight underwear for no reason.

I can't imagine a straight director providing that cocaine snorting scene in the restroom between Todd and his friend.

[quote] Parker Posey is playing in an entirely different show than the rest of the cast.

It happens.

Does Michael hook up with the black fitness guy in prison?

Juliette Binoche reminds me of a younger Jessica Walter.

[R102] With the key exception of the Peterson-Firth, generally speaking the real-life male "characters" are more fuckable than the actors playing them.

That's true of most TV series based on real life people. Prince Charles was never so fuckable as josh O'Connor is.

Suicide is always sad.

Does Parker Posey return to the series or is she done?

She was the best part.

[quote] Does Parker Posey return to the series or is she done?

How do you think we would know? The last few episodes haven't aired yet.

IMDB says Parker is in 7 of the 8 episodes, including the final three, 1.6, 1.7 & 1.8.

The real male Petersons are creepy and quite ugly when they open their mouths.

I'd agree with creepy, but not ugly for sons Todd or Clayton. The real brother Bill is also kind of cute.

R134 Are you referring to their teeth?

I'm still stunned Maria and Arnold's son is that hot. Dude is hot to death. What the fuck? Great genes. He's fucking adorable and a decent actor. I have to admit I'd never seen him before. Gorgeous. I thought the real Todd was hot when I first saw the doc and did get a bit of a bi vibe about him. Him and the father have weird thing going on. Thought it back then too

Michael Peterson looks to me looks like one of those weird really furry moths.

I couldn't believe Freda Black actually was like that... and now I'm watching the original mini-series and not only did Freda talk exactly like that, but she LOOKED exactly like Parker Posey!

The other remarkable lookalike is Tim Guinee looking exactly like the real Bill Peterson. And though Toni Colette is not Kathleen Peterson's lookalike, there is a little bit of a resemblance between them.

I feel sorry for the hapless Clayton Peterson, because he is played by an actor (Dane DeHaan) not as handsome as he is in real life, while his sibling and half-siblings and step-siblings are all being played by actors who are better looking than they are.

Also: the real Michael Peterson is more sexually attractive than Colin Firth is, though not handsomer.

The real Michael Peterson has a nicer body than Firth.

He was also 8 thick according to his stats to the whore online

r141, gay men don't get fat!!!!

It was mentioned in one of these threads that Kathleen compared Michael to Johnny Wad.

Do we think Michael participated in some slurping. circle jerks and ass pounding in the Marines?

^ I'd be surprised if he didn't

This whole story is creepy including the documentary filmmakers. This guy clearly murdered his wife and they are giving him airtime… TWICE!!!

Well, DUH, r145. What do you think: that he only fucked guys AFTER leaving all the hot ass he met with on a daily basis in the Marines, back when he was in the hottest shape of his life?

Don't set yourself up for a Rose/Dorothy joke...

IMO, Michael Peterson is fugly, all the way back to the time of The Staircase. He may have been handsome when younger. I'm not seeing what you all are seeing.

Whenever RL Peterson is confronted with anything to do with his homosexuality, or with evidence that could implicate him as a murderer, he switches into this squeaky voice. I think it's meant to imply "that's ridiculous", or alternately "that's perfectly natural. so what". Either way he's clearly trying to mask his discomfort with whatever the topic. And in the end, it just succeeds in making him sound guilty as fuck.

I had to stop and wank with that stud in undies last episode. He must be serviced at all times. Who has had him in Hollywood?

I have!

[quote] I had to stop and wank with that stud in undies last episode.

You might try "surfing the web" a bit more. You'd be surprised what's out there!

OMG! The fucking owl attacked Toni Collette! But the reenaction made it look even more absurd and far-fetched.

[quote] the real Michael Peterson is more sexually attractive than Colin Firth is

No, the real Michael is creepier and slimier. And I haven't taken Colin's Oscar and star power into consideration.

I can't believe they went there and actually re-enacted the owl attack scenario. Toni Colette was so believable--it was painful to watch rather than funny (as i had assumed it would be since the theory is so nuts).

This is such a good show--it's so well written, and the actors who play the children are so good at making the children seem so miserable, each in their own way.

What I also like about this (and what makes it better than the documentary, which i was watching and had to give up on) is that it's not all about Michael, who is such an awful narcissistic person.

I hope the girls had better lives as they got older. They seem so lost in the miniseries. Caitlyn says she gets off on her bitter vengefulness, and Margaret and Martha just have no one except each other (and their illusion of Michael, who is in actuality such a disaster for them).

Firth makes Michael much more interesting in the mini-series than he comes across in the documentary.

It seemed to be confirmed this episode that Michael’s prison friend had romantic feelings for him?

With the overhead view of the property, it really became obvious just how huge their estate was. How much would a house like that have cost in North Carolina?

It sold for 1.6M in 2020. Of course Zillow has it valued at 3.2M Looks like it was sold after the trial in 2004 for 650K.

The back staircase is not featured in the photos.

The young Todd looking fine. The prematurely aging Michael looking guilty.

I wish Toni had been singing or humming “We Need A Little Christmas” as she put the deer in the yard.

Sadly it appears that Todd is now a meth head or suffers from some type of mental illness.

What’s left? A murder by aliens possibility?

She was killed by rap music, violent video games, and Critical Race Theory

r157

I thought that scene was going to end very differently

Toni Collette had better win an Emmy for this.

Juliette may get Supporting.

[quote] She was killed by rap music, violent video games, and Critical Race Theory.

Tippi Hedren was remotely instrumental.

Or Michael could try the Twinkie defense.

Toni Colette's work in this is amazing. I can't think of anyone else who could have not only done the subtle work involved in Kathleen's fights with her sister, her children, and Michael, and her scenes of deep loneliness musing on her problematic marriage and family situations, but who also would have been believable (anddeeply pitiable) in all the depictions of how Kathleen might have died (each one enormous physically painful for the real Kathleen Peterson, and difficult for an actress to replicate).

I know it’s wrong of me, but I hate Kathleen’s snobby, bitchy sister so much and I’m glad her last memory of being with her is tainted by how terrible she was to her and she has to live with that.

Don't feel bad, the sister is a homophobe and probably a Trump voter.

Rosemarie Witt is terrific as Kathleen's highly conflicted sister. You can believe she resents the shit out of her sister's success, and yet she would also be fanatical at going after Michael for her sister's death.

The scenes with Firth and Binoche make me queasy. Imagining the real life Peterson and Brunet even more so. Prefer the thought of Peterson in a tryst with his dogs.

The story line about Michael and the editor is totally creepy and bonkers. She dropped everything in France, left her son and bought a house in the US, so that she could be with a murderer. She's certifiably mental.

Interesting that they had Larry mention specifically that Michael's dogs react to owls in the area...but the dogs had no inkling of the owl in the reenactment.

The kids are not alright up in this story. I mean Clayton has turned a corner but Todd is off the rails, Martha is still depressed, and Margaret's seems like she inherited Kathleen's burden of keeping it all inside to keep it all together.

[quote] The story line about Michael and the editor is totally creepy and bonkers.

I had no idea of the extent of it, until this series. Isn't there a known psychological condition, women who are attracted to inmates, especially those who are convicted murderers.

Their assumption being they are safe as long as their love interest is incarcerated for life. Yet she was still trying to exonerate him. Maybe that's why she dumped him after he got out. And he slinks back to his doormat of a first wife.

They were together 13 years.

The French director and producer didn't think it was weird or odd that their editor skipped out on her family to date jailbird Michael? The fat French producer seemed creeped out by it but the director was apparently fine with it? Even seemed friendly with Michael? This is why I can't stomach watching the Netflix doc.

[quote] They were together 13 years.

Peterson was released from prison 2 weeks before the New Year 2012.

They separated in 2017.

He moved back in with Patricia in 2019.

She died in 2021.

The French editor lucked out, otherwise, she'd be the one who died in 2021.

Was the French editor also found at the bottom of the stairs?

[quote] Parker Posey, when do I come back?

I revisited IMDB. It now claims she is in 6 of the 8 episodes, not the previous stated 7. Apparently they update as the shows are aired. The unnamed unaired episodes, 1.7 & 1.8, are still included, but supposedly still could fall off her list. We'll just have to watch to find out.

Parker does appear in the Episode 6 bonus materials, as herself, in the extra on the owl theory.

Todd's take on the HBO production. Their evil is reflected in their work…

He laughably holds up a bunch of "evidence" - some of which contains text - but because he was previously using his phone to admire himself, the camera was left in mirror-image mode.

How did this wacky family not come out of this trial without a Reality TV Family show? It the Plath’s and Chiseley’s could, the Petersen would have made a killing. (Disclaimer: I only know those names from DL)

How was that man @ R182 hot once? He looks poz and like 65.

He sounds cray and looks like an aging Catalina bottom

[quote] like an aging Catalina bottom

Please enlighten. Nothing on Urban Dictionary really seemed to apply.

I think it’s so funny that Colette & DeWitt played sisters before (United States of Tara).

I’m 99.99% sure of Peterson’s guilt BUT the owl theory is so intriguing & crazy, I’m kinda bummed Caitlyn didn’t agree to the exhumation just to have it ruled out.

I’ve loved Parker Posey in this, she’s so underrated. And I agree that Toni needs an Emmy for this!

I watched the first two episodes of the documentary with a friend last night. She’s only seen the HBO version. She was amazed at how well Freda was captured by Parker Posey. This was my first time watching it since it first aired on Netflix…I’d forgotten how hot the sons were.

R184 I've wondered if he inherited his daddy's massive schwanz.

r189

how do we know about this alleged massive schwanz

R190 No pics that I know of, but several references to him as Johnny Wad, including a card from his former wife. One of his defense attorneys raises the topic with family friends, in the video clip previously shared in post R70

That doesn't really prove anything

R192 What's your point?

R193 Exactly that. It's an excellent point. Excellent.

R182, I’m so fascinated by Todd and still think he’s attractive but man, what a mess. He has his dad’s habit of ending a sentence in a higher voice.

Juliette Binoche was superb in this episode, even though she's been given so relatively little to play with this character. but I loved her phone conversation with Olivia DeJonge as Caitlyn. Her character (Sophie) knew what a horrible thing she was asking if Caitlyn (ie. her mother's exhumation), but she was so bewitched by Michael Peterson she had to ask anyway. And, as she knew would happen, Caitlyn just let her have it and she had to just take it.

I'm sorry Binoche has not done more work Americans have seen since The English Patient. She is such a fine actress.

It's nice that she works a lot. No English Patient, but Chocolat did relatively well here, probably even better on video.

Intriguing, the IMDB description of the final episode ends with, "Sophie comes to terms with a revelation."

Juliette Binoche, in this episode, gives the impression of being an aggressive, unhinged, and menopausal woman which is very good. If I were Caitlyn, I would be so nonplussed by that telephone call.

PS. Juliette was also superb in Haneke's CODE UNKNOWN, and pretty funny in SLACK BAY.

Binoche is without question one of the more respected actresses in world cinema... not so much in the US. I was curious why she took this part... but again, she works a lot.

Her performance in Blue is one of my favorite ever. Although she always "Binoche" the superstar, she has a real range.

Agreed, the scene with her on the phone with the daughter, pleading to exhume the mother's body, is a brilliant study in carefully presented obsession.

In French she's one of my favorite actresses, but the little work she's done in the US has always been her least interesting. Beside The English Patient, which she's wonderful in and she deserved that Oscar. And the work she's doing here is fascinating as well, but she's getting to mostly act in French so maybe that helps

So one more episode right? I thought the season needed to be concluded by May 31 for Emmy eligibility, but I guessing there’s a loop hole for one episode in June or something?

Two more episodes. Not sure about the Emmys; I wonder if they want it to have eligibility for the 2023 Emmys to have less competition? I surprised shows like Squid Game are eligible this year because that feels like it came out forever ago.

Isn’t Michael Peterson’s sex drive pretty high for a man of 60? Juliette Binoche is prettier now than when she was in her 20’s imo. I seem to be the only one who doesn’t find young Todd Peterson attractive at all (that nose is all dad). Patrick Schwarzenegger is far better looking. Whomever said in the last thread that Colin Firth plays Peterson in a more dignified and classy way is right. The real MP is a loathsome opportunistic Queen.

You can nominate individual episodes which has been shown before the cut-off date this year, and the rest can go for the next year. I believe the mini-series Chernobyl also did something like that.

I know casting won't be able to get everything right, but one drawback with Firth for me, having seen the doc-series, is his physical size. He is matched well with Toni Colette. But the real Michael Peterson is a scrawny, and later shriveled, character. It does confer a different response to the man.

As good an actor as he is, Firth isn't someone who can easily mask his internal dignity. The CaryGrant-like silver locks he gets in later scenes don't help.

R202 This answers my question.

[quote] Juliette Binoche was superb in this episode

Not sure why I always think of her as French Canadian. Geneviève Bujold maybe.

Fuck, the budget was extravagant enough to purchase music rights for GaGa’s Bad Romance? How many tens of thousands of dollars did that cost?

That family chalice they drink out of looks like some FTD holiday centerpiece vessel that would have held a floral foam block with a cut flower arrangement.

Kathleen was a friend to the Gays!

R209 Not to mention Phil Spector`s Frosty the Snowman.

I so wanted Prue & Trude to show up at that mall Christmas store and rip Toni to shreds before reluctantly helping her.

Whoa!!! Freada Black as a dry cleaner??? How could one have fallen from a ADA to a dry cleaner? Or was she disbarred or something?

Great acting from Toni Collette, again.

While she's having her sputtering laughing fit, I first expected she was simply happy that she wasn't being let go. Great performance.

R215 She says she just lost her retirement - all of it. Wouldn't an executive at her level have received stock grants, not just options? Even after a 27% drop they'd still have most of their value. Plus what about her 401k, not an enormous amount, but she couldn't have been dumb enough to have that all invested in Nortel.

I can’t believe how much this story evolved over the course of 7 episodes.

The fall from grace of Freda.

The twists and turns of Kathleen

The children drama

Juliette Binoche’s unfortunate wigs and “who farted?” face

Anybody notice that Colin Firth gets better looking the longer he’s in prison? What’s that about?

How much did Coca Cola have to pay the production?

I also loved Trini Alvarado in this episode. Her character is so bizarre--her weirdly over-formal way of talking, her glasses which are off-kilter and need to be professionally re-adjusted, her age spots.

I’m watching this & the Netflix doc concurrently (caught up with HBO, 3 eps left on Netflix). I don’t want to know any ultimate spoilers, but…am I the only one who thinks he’s really guilty? The cockamamie defenses are intriguing but pretty laughable. I feel like Michael is getting a sympathetic edit from HBO. Am I just cynical, or am I missing something here? Yes, the prosecution was shady & NC is steeped in homophobia (my dad’s family is from there), but to me it’s clear he did it, murder weapon or no murder weapon.

How do you go from being a chief prosecutor of Durham County, NC to becoming a wino dry cleaner?

She’s a dry cleaner for winos? It makes sense, they’re probably sloppy eaters & drinkers.

R223 The wino part probably came first. I think she had a few D.U.I.'s.

[quote] I don’t want to know any ultimate spoilers, but…am I the only one who thinks he’s really guilty? The cockamamie defenses are intriguing but pretty laughable. I feel like Michael is getting a sympathetic edit from HBO. Am I just cynical, or am I missing something here? Yes, the prosecution was shady & NC is steeped in homophobia (my dad’s family is from there), but to me it’s clear he did it, murder weapon or no murder weapon.

There are no ultimate spoilers, because no one knows for sure what really happened to Kathleen Peterson even today. Michael Peterson knows, but he will likely go to his grave without anyone else knowing for sure.

That's why the case is so fascinating--it's like the Sunny von Bulow case. You think you know the answer, but you can't really know for sure. You probably never will.

Poor Freda. In real life, she more closely resembled Debi Mazar than Parker Posey, but Posey is so good in this.

[quote] Her character is so bizarre--her weirdly over-formal way of talking,

If you haven't, check out the real Patricia in the docu-series. She speaks in an even more stilted fashion. An over-the-top school marmy enunciation. Proper diction. girls, is paramount.

Toni Collette with that diner speech and then stripping off her top and going full Sigourney Weaver in Aliens was everything. Episode 7 was some of the best TV I'll watch this year.

R227 you're right. It's eerie. I wonder if anyone called Debi

R219 Well he is lifting weights in there...

After watching the Netflix documentary, I didn’t think this story could get any more batshit crazy, but the whole ex-trick storyline really took this case into the stratosphere. Also, no one seems to have been able to explain the girls’ mom’s death in Germany, and it’s bizarre they never originally investigated that as a homicide.

[quote] and it’s bizarre they never originally investigated that as a homicide.

the cause of death was given as aneurysm.

R233, initially yes, but not after the second autopsy.

I didn't know that one of his tricks was murdered

Dennis Rowe died in 2004. The show kind of fudged the timeline.

The other aspect that the series makes public is that Michael & sometimes Patricia weren't the adoring adoptive parents they've been made out to be. They tried and temporarily succeeded in farming out the girls to others - Michael even wanting to split them up.

Also that there were some hairline cracks in their steadfast support of his innocence.

[quote] Dennis Rowe died in 2004. The show kind of fudged the timeline.

Gaga in 2004.

Liz Ratcliff had been dead for 20 years. I highly doubt there was enough brain tissue left to determine whether it was homicide or an aneurysm.

R239 She suffered head injuries from blows by a blunt object, inconsistent with a fall. Sounds familiar. The aneurysm was something postulated by Peterson himself, not by the first autopsy.

U.S. Army doctor Dr. Larry A. Barnes carried out an autopsy on Elizabeth and confirmed that a cerebral haemorrhage was her cause of death.

R241, that may very well be, but what what caused the cerebral hemorrhage? Repeated blows with a blunt object could do that, as the second autopsy found.

Liz had been diagnosed with Von Willebrand disease which causes excessive bleeding. She had been experiencing severe headaches in the weeks before her death.

Aneurysms can happen to anyone at any time. There doesn't have to be a specific cause.

Picture of Michael Peterson when he was at Duke in the 60s

Another

shifty eyed, even then, for sure.

The French editor should have made sure she rented a ranch house with no basement if she was smart.

Was there Marine action in his past?

R249 Always unspoken. Always the reach around. Semper Fi.

If Toni doesn't get an Emmy for this, I will be upset. She was great , especially in this last episode.

R251 bitch was nothing without me

I heard the Owl was angry that she didn't get more screen time. She also resented how one dimensional her character was.

R253 Yeah, the owl was told the role would be something she could really sink her talons into...

Spoiler-alert ...

I love how people in here gave him the benefit of the doubt like a breadwinning, vivacious North Carolinian woman who had been cheated on before circa 2001 would accept her ne'er-do-well husband's side-studs.

Pathetic.

He lied about his bisexuality by his own admission. Kathleen never knew.

Gee, I wonder why he lied.

Juliette Binoche is a fine actress but I feel bad that they put her in a wig from Dollar General for the finale.

As soon as they briefly showed Parker Posey at the party, I was waiting for her and Toni to have a moment together. It was very well done.

L'Arbre Dollar is probably where Sophie got hers.

I loved the “I heard the owl call my name” moment Michael had in the driveway!

Patrick Schwarzenegger was terrific as the handsome shallow idiot.

The last episode was so sad. It was clear the children knew what a creep and a loser Michael was when he was being so nasty to them all at the Mexican restaurant, and how depressed they were by it. They had wasted years of their lives supporting him.

I loved that sequence at the end where Michael tells Kathleen how impossible it is for anyone to truly know someone else, and they intercut it with the children all making genuine connections with other people (at meals with their new families, with Patty caring for Todd, with Margaret being deeply moved by Martha's choreography). In the end Michael, the sociopath and compulsive liar, was the only one left alone because of his own inadequacies, and he was left only with his photos of his family representing the illusion of perfection he wanted from them even though he was unable to care for them or treat them well.

This was a great series. Both Firth and Colette deserve Emmys, and I would not be sorry at all if Posey and/or Binoche got a nomination for BSA.

[r261] thank you for your analysis! I agree with what you wrote.

Rosemarie DeWitt really brought it in the final few episodes as well.

I thought DeWitt was phenomenal in this. Her bitter speech about Michael in court was so venomous, but you understand how much guilt she felt over her petty squabbles with and angry envy of Kathleen.

What happened to Michael Peterson after the release from prison? Didn't he get back together with Patty, and then she also died?

Was Joyce DeWitt unavailable?

Vanity Fair piece on Parker Posey, who says the key to her portrayal of Freda Black was saying the phrase "gay military men."

God I love her!

I hoe the kids did okay after all this. You got the sense from the miniseries that all of them except Todd were going to be okay--that he was just ultimately too damaged and too much in denial.

I kinda felt sorry for him in the scene where we talked about how his father caught him with another boy and beat him up

[quote] You got the sense from the miniseries that all of them except Todd were going to be okay

Todd within the past week took his Instagram page down. He had been regularly posting multiple videos a day of himself doing his "American Flow" movement routine, with ceremonial swords and beagle stuffed animals. Along with endless photos of his red convertible Corvette. And rants about racism, homelessness, and that the series filmmakers were evil.

Then he set his IG to private. When it came back, all recent posts had been removed, leaving lots of glam shots of him in Cabo. Now gone completely.

He appeared to be in need of an intervention.

Michael comments- he and the family were pimped out, doesn’t feel sorry for the French director who is like a whore getting a deserved STD.

Todd's slow fall from his father's grace once a straightened out Clayton was of more use to Michael was sad as hell, as well as his dismissing of Martha and how the guilt of that weighed on Margaret. It's good that the kids all seem to understand at least that Michael is toxic and needs to be kept at a distance but, especially since Patty's passed away, Todd definitely hasn't healed. I thought for sure they were gonna show a version of Kathleen's death where Todd kills her, but I guess that doesn't really make sense.

I love Toni Collette but she can lay off the nudity.

I can’t believe how many times we saw Toni Collette fucked/fingered/eaten out/rimmed/etc. in this series. I lost count.

'Part DEUX'???

So Americans are so envious of the French language that they use it and steal French words systematicaly all the time now? What a true confession of jealousy and hypocrisy. Deux = Two. In english we say TWO, not deux.

She looked amazing in Ep.7. I don't know what y'all are smoking. She had been hitting the gym for sure.

JFC. The DL standards for beauty are just stupidly unattainable.

Who, R276?

Binoche (finally) looked old. Not in the "woman of an uncertain age is beautiful!" way of the French (Deneuve, Huppert, Moreau et. al.) just tired, old, dried up... and I say this about perhaps my favorite actress.

It almost seemed like Juliette Binoche’s character was going to get “Kathleen’d” at the end. Colin Firth looked like he was about to hit her. Or worse.

I can see why the real Michael Peterson did not like this series. He comes off horribly in it. And that smile directly to the camera told me exactly which scenario of Kathleen’s death they were really choosing to promote.

I totally believe Michael Peterson killed Kathleen. No other theory makes one hundred percent sense except the simplest, and what reason to we have to trust that sociopath's word? I feel bad that we live in a world where men with same sex urges (I won't call him gay because he seems truly bi) have to twist themselves into lying machines - lord knows I'm capable of lying like there's nothing to it, trained since childhood to be great at it because of this fucked up world. So we gays should see through his shit the easiest. He's a murderer. And an asshole, even besides that. His poor kids.

In the last episode, I really liked the cross-cutting between the two court scenes: Peterson's hearing for a new trial (when his children, except Caitlin, still believed in him) and his Alford plea (when his kids had pretty much abandoned him).

“Jean should have known that when you sell your ass/property, you assume the risk of getting fucked/betrayed,” Peterson says. “Every hooker knows this"

PAM DAWBER, R277!!!

I know the docu-series filmmakers said that they were betrayed, or whatever word they used, by Campos. Is it clear that they shared unseen footage from the original series? For stuff like Peterson's memory of his father catching him in flagrante with another guy - does that come from the doc filmmakers or something Michael has shared through writing or whatever?

I was confused by the final poolside scene. Kathleen seems to be talking about the family in the future - like Caitlin is married with a kid, etc. Telling him everyone will be okay. Is this meant to be Michael imaging her speaking to him from the past? And then briefly being pissed he didn't share his same sex attractions with her?

I don't quite get it.

R285 Further complicating it: "why couldn't you have just told me?" Seemingly this was Kathleen finding the male escort stuff on the computer?

I take it all as the jumbled mind of Michael, wanting to "memorialize" the night he killed his wife in a way that is acceptable to him... here's how she should have/could have reacted (there was a short clip of her raging in tears at him, the way perhaps she actually did react). He killed her (see his flare up of dangerous, violent, out of control anger at Sophie... and man capable of violence).

His mind was trying to cover over/suppress horrendous memories of his killing his wife.

Did Peterson really admit that he never told Kathleen that he was bisexual?

r287 I was sad there wasn't a "Making Of" at the end of this episode (at least not that I saw on HBO Max last night anyway) because I feel like that moment must have come from the footage Campos got access to that we have never seen before? I don't remember it but I haven't watched the original doc in awhile, somebody correct me if I am wrong. Has Campos given any interviews?

The acting was really superb from all the cast.

Agreed, R289. I even think Odessa Young (as Martha) should be in the conversation for awards consideration. She was fantastic.

It's one of the best cast series, top to bottom, I've seen in ages. Can't think of a single weak link. Even Patrick Schwarzenegger was great!

The finale was breathtaking. Masterful acting by everyone. That breakup scene with Colin Firth and Binoche - my god. That was so intense.

Was really impressed by this show and the cast.

MARY!

Also there is an inside the episode for the finale. Check HBO max again. Just watched it. Campos said Jean told him about the scene where MP admitted that Kathleen didn’t know about his bisexuality.

Sophie Turner was so beautiful in this. I never really thought so on Game of Thrones. Brunette hair suits her better.

R282 Peterson's multiple analogies to pimping, hookers, peddling ass, and STD's, in a grievance email to Vanity Fair, that's otherwise relatively short on specifics, reveal just the kind of weirdo that he is.

^^ my mistake, Variety not Vanity Fair.

Agree r295 - that was so vulgar and inappropriate for a letter for publication. The tone was like he was posting on DL.

Maybe MP is a DLer?

My feeling about Kathleen’s death is that Michael attacked her during a fight and she went running for the stairs thereby slipping and falling and he let her lay there to die.

Agree R298. I don’t think he intended to murder her, but I think he pushed her or did something physical in a moment of rage and then freaked out and called 911.

Very moved by Sophie Turner and Odessa Young. Thought their scenes together were really strong and their story was so tragic. The show was really well written.

Interesting how Colin Firth is now with the showrunner Maggie Cohn.

If MP is a DLer, he needs to reveal himself. I’d love to hear his opinions on cak, the Yellow Skin Troll and the soft butch sous chef. At LEAST.

R299, she was bludgeoned repeatedly (thus all the blood); it was not an accident.

R301 but no skull fracture. What was the murder weapon?

There is also the huge window of time between when she died and when he called 911

[QUOTE] What was the murder weapon?

The base board at the foot of the staircase as they show in scenario #2.

Oh wow i googled the guy who played the lab tech Cory Allen and apparently he passed away 6 months ago.

I forgot to put a comma. The actors name was Cory Allen. The characters name was Art Holland. I usually Google info on a shows cast after I'm done watching and I was very surprised to see he had passed away. He was very young.

Do Petersons children still speak to him?

His behavior at that post-jail dinner at the Mexican restaurant was almost as bad as murdering Kathleen. Such an asshole.

R306 Anyway it led me to the wiki bio of actor Corey Allen, who had a pivotal role in Rebel Without a Cause - Buzz Gunderson. No relation to Marge.

r275? The doctors just called. I'm afraid they won't be able to get that huge pole extracted from up your ass--yes, it's up there permanently.

Peterson was under house arrest with an ankle monitor for 937 days, until the terms of his release were eased in 2014. Holed up with Sophie for that period, it must have driven both of them crazy. Yet he kept it together, right up until the time he didn't need her anymore.

What a sweetheart.

R311 I found it a tiny bit funny though when he screamed at her that he didn’t want to live with WOMEN anymore - that he was DONE!!!!!

I wonder how much dick he got after banishing her back to France.

[quote] I wonder how much dick he got after banishing her back to France.

He was in his Seventies by that time, and broke. I doubt much.

And then he ended up living with Patty.

I don't understand why he stayed living in Durham afterwards. Just to rub his freedom in everyone's faces? I would have thought he'd want to start fresh somewhere else even if Paris was a bust.

I think there may be pretty strict rules about moving when you’re under house arrest. I don’t really know, though.

Had to mooch off Patty, who was a crunchy granola type.

I suppose she may have seen it as a victory over Kathleen who stole her husband.

Her house right down the street from The House.

This was after he plead guility, R316. His sentence was completed.

I think he liked mooching and being coddled by women. Did he ever have relationships with men or was it just sex?

Quite incredible how he always had to be financially supported by women.

[quote] Her house right down the street from The House.

That is the part of the timeline I'm fuzzy on. So sometime after Michael and Patricia adopt the girls, they all move back to Durham from Germany. Over time, he dogs around and starts shtupping neighbor Kathleen. He and Patricia separate and divorce. He and the kids move in with Kathleen. Patricia then moves back to Germany by herself, and starts teaching again. Does that sound right?

No, R320. My understanding is Michael left Germany by himself without the boys.

Oh okay. And then how does "Patricia's house" play in? Was she present when homewrecker Kathleen stole her man?

So if Michael just would have settled down with a hot man, there’d be no dead bodies at the bottom of the stairs?

Kind of nuts how Michael insisted on taking those 2 little girls (just neighbors - completely unrelated to him) instead of giving them to their aunt. Wtf was that about?

He seemed extremely controlling. Glad he wasn’t able to split up the sisters as kids and someone put a stop to that shit.

My understanding is that the couple had requested in some way for the Petersons to be legal guardians if anything were to happen to them. Then Michael at several points attempted to offload them separately and together on other family members.

Margaret Peterson looks like his real daughter.

But isn't. Been verified.

I don't know that Patty went back to Germany. She may have and then rented out the house on University Drive, but I know for sure that the boys spent their teenage years in that house and that's where they were all living when Michael hooked up with Kathleen.

Was Michael just looking for a lifestyle upgrade when he hooked up with Kathleen? She must have looked much more financially solvent than she’d later become at Nortel.

Michael is a consummate manipulator so I doubt it was some high romance.

Why on earth would there be a publicly announced DNA test on Margaret and Michael?

I call utter bullshit on that.

Yes I was watching the documentary after the series and Margaret really does look like him.

She owned one of the 5 most beautiful properties in Durham at the time. 3 acres in an awesome location. Fabulous house.

Michael was receiving a fairly healthy allowance for being the girls’ legal guardian, and other financial payments because of their military father’s death. They were cash cows to him.

Well THAT makes sense R333.

[quote] I call utter bullshit on that.

From coverage of the trial in 2003:

Prosecutors believe Mike Peterson not only killed his wife, but also Ratliff. After her death, Peterson raised Ratliff's two girls. The DNA test showed no biological link between Peterson and the older daughter.

"Margaret Ratliff was excluded as being the daughter of Mike Peterson, isn't that right?" defense attorney David Rudolf asked Holland.

"That's correct," Holland responded.

[quote] She owned one of the 5 most beautiful properties in Durham at the time.

Who did? There are something like seven different women being discussed in this thread.

[quote] I don't know that Patty went back to Germany.

She was living there during the time of the trial, and years later when Martha went to visit. Not clear when she returned.

I would bet there were more scenes with Patty left on the cutting room floor, which makes me sad--she was such an interesting character. She was so strange, and had that ridiculous precise diction and elaborate vocabulary, but she was also such a kind person. I thought Trini Alvarado was terrific, but we hardly got to see her.

I also would have liked to have seen more of Caitlyn, and more of Kathleen's sisters.

The New Yorker reviewed it recently and said this is the rare miniseries where you wished it were longer rather than shorter.

I had never seen or heard of Trini previous to this, thought she did a great job of capturing Patricia's essence.

r336 Well Kathleen obviously. Didn't you watch the show? That beautiful house. 1810 Cedar Dr.

Patty was a teacher. She couldn't own a house like that.

Patty and Michael lived down the street from Kathleen and her husband. The 4 kids went to Durham schools. I'm not sure Patty ever went back to Germany as the show screwed around with facts so much. But Patty got her house 1632 University Drive in the divorce. And Michael was living with her up until last fall.

I was impressed how in the show they portrayed the life of leisure that Michael lived on Kathleen’s dime. All he apparently did for YEARS was schlub around to the gym, drink a bunch of good wine, pompously smoke that stupid pipe, and fuck every down-low dude in Durham. Nice life!

Kathleen kept him around because he was well hung and knew how to fuck.

R341 Oh but he got that princely sum of $10 thousand dollars from a big time Hollywood producer who wanted to option one of his blockbuster novels. It's all really on the backend where you clean up, as you know.

[quote] [R336] Well Kathleen obviously.

Not "obviously." It might have been Freda Black before she lost her job at the DA's office (she had enough money to start a dry cleaning business); it could have been one of the daughters as an adult, since the show didn't follow up with what happened to them as adults in the present day; it could have been a sister of Kathleen's.

You clearly know the ins and outs of this case so closely you actually have the street address memorized (!!!), but the actual show (which I did watch) did not tell us much about what happened to everyone else after 2017, nor how rich everyone was.

Nice try to aggressively shift the blame onto me instead, though, when you couldn't even be bothered to say who "she" was in your post--and the only "she" mentioned in the post before you was Margaret. (Obviously you're having a big conversation with yourself in your head.)

There was only one fabulous house in the show. Kathleen's.

Freda didn't own a dry cleaners, she was reduced to working at one.

I live in Durham you jackass. That's how I know the addresses.

R345 I appreciate the info thank you. Question - did Kathleen and Michael meet when they they were neighbors and both still married to other people?

It was weird to me how the girls called Kathleen “mom” and then you find out they were teenagers when Michael and Kathleen married. I assumed Kathleen had come into their lives when they were little girls. Why didn’t they call Patty mom?

R346, they were teenagers when they married but Michael and Kathleen moved in together in 1989, when the girls were still children.

Patty’s house is EXACTLY what you’d think.

I like Patty’s home a lot

Why were his adopted daughters so loyal? He must have had the ability to at least fake love and warmth.

R323 or maybe there would be a hot man at the bottom of the stairs.

The Staircase’ Star Patrick Schwarzenegger Reveals He Shot More Explicit Scenes That Showed Character Exploring Sexuality

R350 they were orphaned as toddlers and he took them in?

I want to see the EXPLICIT Patrick S. scenes. It is literal violence that we were denied those scenes.

[quote] Why were his adopted daughters so loyal? R350

It is a mystery how he gets so many women to support him in so many ways. Up until the point that he leaves or kills them.

He's the only dad they've ever known...

[quote]It is a mystery how he gets so many women to support him in so many ways. Up until the point that he leaves or kills them.

There are people who are just incredibly charismatic and who can bend other people to do their bidding. Usually they are sociopathic, and that personality trait seems to play a part in their charisma.

Cult leaders have this ability, and so do some serial killers (like that guy whom the Netflix series "The Serpent" was all about). Certain politicians seem to have it too.

Michael had this with both his wives and with Sophie the editor as well. He also had it with his daughters, although they wised up to him (or so the show suggested). It sounds like his sons are still under his sway.

I don't know if you've ever met anyone like this, but they are pretty scary when you meet them. You want more than anything to please them because if you do the sun shines from them upon you. It's not simply a learned trait--it seems to require something innate as well.

[quote] Certain politicians seem to have it too.

We're all living through how dangerous that can be.

It sounds like the daughter Margaret is still close with him…

It says Patty’s house sold a week ago. Where is Michael living these days?

A new interview with Peterson, claims he hasn't watched the HBO series ("No, no, no") except for one minute of the trailer, but says he still knows everything about it. Colin Firth is a good actor, his roles are "dull as dirt", and they should have cast Brad Pitt.

Anyway he's mostly aggrieved by the way Kathleen and the kids are portrayed. At least no discussion of pimps, hookers & STD's

Who only watches 60seconds of a trailer? Who says they have had enough at that point and can’t hangin there for another 90 seconds?

Someone who's lying.

It's funny that Peterson doesn't question the way the series depicted his relationship with his youngest daughter Martha. In the series, Martha is a lesbian confronting her sexuality (and presented as a pretty stable teenager/twentysomething sorting through life during some incredibly difficult times) and reaching out to her queer (or gay or bi or whatever) father for guidance and he shuts her down. For a guy who professes to be bi and claims his murdered wife knew all along, he certainly wasn't there for his daughter when she needed it, and doesn't appear to have a problem with the series presenting this as truth.

This speaks volumes about Michael Peterson, his sexuality, his relationship with himself, with Kathleen, etc.

He's a liar and he's using the series as his one last gasp of relevancy to try to set the record straight. The record is evident: narcissistic killer who lies and probably doesn't understand/accept his own sexuality.

[quote] Who only watches 60seconds of a trailer? Who says they have had enough at that point and can’t hangin there for another 90 seconds?

A DLer, that's who. So many are easily exhausted.

Wow, he comes across as a huge bitch and manages to shade both Colin Firth and Dane DeHaan. And he wanted Brad Pitt to play him? Gurl, please

The performances were all excellent. I hope they get multiple Emmys. I had never heard of Odessa Young before. Apparently she's Australian, I didn't get a hint of an accent from her and usual Aussie actors have a weird flatness to their voice when they do American roles. I'm going to be paying attention to her from now on, she was really good.

Thought Sophie Turner was also very convincing as the first American I've seen her play..

Yes the relationship between Martha and Margie was really lovely in the series. Felt very real, even the way it was written. The actresses were great.

I agree with him about Dane DeHaan though. He always looks like he hasn't slept in weeks

Mmmmmmm okay....but the character he's playing is a fucked up hot mess and Michael Peterson looks like 10 miles of bad road so he's not in a position to judge

If you want technical analysis of what a fucking liar Michael Peterson is, these guys break it down, at length. They choose some of the more obvious video clips to pick apart.

Am I crazy or does peterson resemble an owl?

Peterson is such a bitchy old cunt. He’s GOT to be a Datalounger. He’d fit in perfectly.

Yes he fits the DL profile.

We have a profile? How comes no one ever shares these things with me!

R376 You don't get to sit at the cool kids' table.

[quote] Am I crazy or does peterson resemble an owl?

Looks to me like an ugly moth.

He looks like the moth eaten love child of Wallace Langham and John C McGinley

Christ, this is what he chooses to do off an all time career high?

Holy Christ, Maria Shriver looks like her entire face has melted.

r367 if you want more Odessa Young you should see the Shirley Jackson bio-pic Shirley with Elizabeth Moss - Odessa Young plays the lead, a young woman who befriends Jackson, and she's wonderful in it. That's the first thing I ever saw her in and I immediately fell for her.

She's also in Mothering Sunday opposite DL fave Josh O'Connor's gigantic cock

Oh, she’s the one that gets to have sex with Logan Lerman huh?

[quote] Christ, this is what he chooses to do off an all time career high?

He's got a role in a spin-off of AMZ Prime's The Boys - a show I never made past the episode one.

Off topic - trying here before a wider query.

I've got an annual HBOMax subscription that expires in September. It's no longer being offered. I see promo's for an ad-based version of HBOMax. Is anyone here using that, and how awful is it?

Todd.B.Peterson is back on Instagram.

Looking more like Dad every day.

Is he hiring exmilitary Gay escorts like Dad did everyday too?

I learned it from watching you, dad

Just to clear up some confusion earlier in this thread, if you watch the last episode of the documentary, Michael Peterson admits that he lied about telling Kathleen he was bisexual. She didn't know (and may very well have only found out on the night of her death).

R390 His older son caught him beating off to gay porn. How clueless would she have to be?

Emmy nominations for Toni Colette and Colin Firth

Had Miz Lindzey known, she would have been there to protect Kavanaugh, and have a hissy fit to chase those hussies away.

Lady G.? Kavanaugh? I'm puzzled, how are they rel to a thread about The Staircase?

Congrats to Toni and Colin! Well deserved and I hope they both win.

Toni should get it, but I'm afraid it's going to Seyfried.

I liked Rosemarie DeWitt better as Don Draper's lover than this prissy bitch she plays here

R397 You get that she was playing someone dislikeable, right?

Surprised that The Staircase didn't get more Emmy nominations (2). Especially when compared to piffle like Only Murders In The Building (17).

Disappointed in the Emmy nominations, Glad for Toni and Colin, but thought this series deserved so much more.

I completely agree, r399.

I wish Parker Posey had been nominated.

I’m shocked this didn’t even get a best limited series now and I agree that Parker was unfairly snubbed.

Stop it! I'm still in denial about Posey. Ungrateful Emmy voters!

Juliette Binoche could have replaced at least ONE of The White Lotus nominees. Please.

R398 That’s why I said “plays here”

R405 Okay, I thought she excelled at playing a bitch.

This show was a thousand times better than the highly over-rated The White Lotus and the acting was better than that series as well, across the board.

Odessa Young, Parker Posey, and Juliette Binoche were robbed of nominations.

I didn't realise his own sister--who originally came to his defence--finally decided that she thought he did it. She was also froze out by all three brothers.

When’s the Broadway musical coming out? I’m assuming Michael Cerveris will play him? Maybe Idina for her, and they can do a rif on Undefying Gravity in the big second act closing number set piece where she tumbles down the stairs in slow motion splattering blood and gently hitting her head, not enough for extensive trauma.