The Jinx Part Two Recaptures the Original Documentary’s Strange, Dark Charm
Robert Durst’s unsettling tale finally ends.
“Killed them all, of course.”
Those five words vaulted The Jinx to a new level of fame. The HBO docuseries made headlines in 2015 by seemingly catching a hot mic confession from real estate scion and suspected multiple murderer Robert Durst. But the story didn’t end with that statement — the real story only got stranger after Durst became a dark pop culture phenomenon.
Now, The Jinx Part Two is concluding the story. And despite the added notoriety, it manages to sidestep many thorny true crime issues and focus on what made the first part so captivating by allowing the facts and people involved to speak for themselves.
After the release of The Jinx, Durst reached the kind of fame that wouldn’t be seen by another documentary star until Joe Exotic. He became a figure in stand-up routines and Saturday Night Live skits, and was even skewered on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. But the real Durst was terrified of his newfound fame and eventually wound up back in jail.
Season 2 of The Jinx follows the long journey from 2015 to today, including a trial that sees the district attorney track down all of Durst’s old friends and ask them for information. Durst’s strange charm — the same charm that made him so memorable for viewers — has a hold over his friends, and getting them to cooperate is a saga in itself.
Director Andrew Jarecki, who first made the Ryan Gosling movie All Good Things about Durst’s life before interviewing Durst for The Jinx, learned all the right lessons from Season 1. As other documentaries are hamstrung by tricky editing or distracting AI-generated images, The Jinx Part Two remains laser-focused on painting portraits of complicated human beings.
The figures surrounding Durst — like Deputy DA John Lewin — help The Jinx Part Two recapture the initial fascination of the case.
Aside from the haunting look at Durst himself, who’s changed from a steely-eyed man about town to a wizened prisoner who has to be wheeled into the courtroom, the series finds intriguing people throughout the saga, like a secret witness with a past as a “Country Porn” singer and identical twin law clerks who initially thought they were investigating Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst. The series is aware of its ridiculousness, but never lets that obscure a story about three victims who need justice.
The Jinx is the tale of a charismatic man who seems to get away with everything, which always makes for compelling television. But seeing the fall is just as exciting as the rise, especially when it’s a true story. It’s not a spoiler to say Durst eventually faces consequences for his actions, but it’s up to the viewer to conclude whether it was too little, too late.
