S02.E01: No Fault

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Betty thinks she can't be divorced by her rich lawyer husband without her consent.

Promo:

Original air date: 6/2/20

Edited May 31, 2020 by ElectricBoogaloo

[bkathi]

The first episode showed up on my DVR -  without commercials.  Interesting, very much from Betty's POV. Not a rehash of the tv movies (which are also on my DVR and watched this past week to prep for the new series, despite the despicable Mr. Collins).

[eXiled]

I'm a huge fan of Meredith Baxter's portrayal of Betty Broderick. I have always been fascinated by the story, so I decided to give this a try. I made it through about twenty-five minutes before shutting if off. I'll just say Amanda Peet is still the same actress she was twenty years ago. 

I was so looking forward to some "original" programming to watch during this downtime, but this is a no-go for me. I'm deleting it from my DVR list.

[Quilt Fairy]

I would much rather watch a story that I haven't heard of, and my impression is that there are many "fantastically bad relationship" stories to choose from.  To rehash the Betty Broderick story just seems lazy. 

[poeticlicensed]

I've been obsessed with this case for 20+ years and read numerous books about it. I'm having a hard time with the 2 main actors I just dont see Betty and Dan. I will definitely give it a chance if for nothing else than the 80s fashion. So far I'm not really feeling it.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

4 hours ago, eXiled said:

I'll just say Amanda Peet is still the same actress she was twenty years ago. 

This was the major reason I immediately had no interest in watching this season. Amanda Peet is one of those actresses that I don't get. She's not hideously ugly or the absolute worst actress I've ever seen, but I really don't understand how she keeps getting cast. Maybe she has a really great personality and she's a dream to work with?

My main interest in watching this is the case itself but Amanda Peet as the lead had me really questioning whether I wanted to sit through the whole season (as opposed to watching the Meredith Baxter version again).

I'm going to watch the first episode for the 80s fashion and in the hopes that they shot on location in San Diego so that I can see some fabulous beach locations, but I don't know how long I'll stick with this show.

[Armchair Critic]

I just started watching it and double checked to make sure I hadn't missed an episode because it started in the middle of their story. Dan and his new wife ("the f*ckhead and the c*nt" as she called them on their answering machine) used to taunt Betty about her weight, she doesn't even look like Betty.

[poeticlicensed]

Wow this series is very sympathetic to Betty so far. Waiting to see if it lasts 

[Kdawg82]

This story is a bit before my time (I didn't watch the headlines as an 8 yr old).  I hadn't heard it before but the names were familiar. I like it so far & feel they did well with the period- fashions, brands (groceries, etc) decor, & cars. I wish "This is Us" would take some tips from this show. 

I'm in. I have to see how it unfolds. I got the sense of how painful and devastating divorce can really be. I sensed the despair and the knife in the heart Betty must've felt.  Those inside jokes you have with your spouse. All of that. Only to be rejected. 😪

[ElectricBoogaloo]

A+ for the music and all the 80s sets/clothing/details! Pudding Pops!

Poor David Wallace. It's hard to represent a client who refuses to listen to anything you say and continues to violate court orders.

My only nitpick so far is that the area code Betty gave when she left a message (858) didn't exist until 1999. In the 80s and 90s, everything in San Diego County was 619.

I don't think that starting the show when they were already separated was a good idea because there's no one to root for. Both Betty and Dan came off as awful in the first episode.

Edited June 3, 2020 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Madding crowd]

I was fascinated with the TV movie and Meredith Baxter/Birney was perfect as Betty. I’m giving this a chance but the leads were an odd choice. Crazy Betty and entitled Dan really were a bad combination. 

[Retired at last]

I am watching the first episode now and I agree with everything people are saying that to start at the point where they are already divorcing was a dumb move. If we hadn't seen the Meredith Baxter one (which I assume most of us have), then I think it would be confusing and does not give us a chance to get to know these people and how their marriage was. They went right to her driving her car through Dan's mansion, so you start off thinking how nuts she is.

And I am not feeling the leads, either. In the first one (the REAL one), the character of Betty was really annoying, but she was played brilliantly. The producers have to know that there would be comparisons, so maybe that's why they started where they did, but so far, I am not too impressed. Although, I am sure I will stick with it. Hoping it gets better.

[preeya]

3 minutes ago, Retired at last said:

I am watching the first episode now and I agree with everything people are saying that to start at the point where they are already divorcing was a dumb move. If we hadn't seen the Meredith Baxter one (which I assume most of us have), then I think it would be confusing and does not give us a chance to get to know these people and how their marriage was. They went right to her driving her car through Dan's mansion, so you start off thinking how nuts she is.

Without revealing anything plot related, episode 2 is sort of a series of flashbacks revealing the history of their relationship(s). 

[poeticlicensed]

3 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

A+ for the music and all the 80s sets/clothing/details! Pudding Pops!

Poor David Wallace. It's hard to represent a client who refuses to listen to anything you say and continues to violate court orders.

My only nitpick so far is that the area code Betty gave when she left a message (858) didn't exist until 1999. In the 80s and 90s, everything in San Diego County was 619.

I don't think that starting the show when they were already separated was a good idea because there's no one to root for. Both Betty and Dan came off as awful in the first episode.

There is no one to root for in this. Both were equally awful in their actions up until the murders. I'm going to be disappointed if it turns into a poor Betty or poor Dan equation. 

[txhorns79]

1 minute ago, poeticlicensed said:

There is no one to root for in this. Both were equally awful in their actions up until the murders. I'm going to be disappointed if it turns into a poor Betty or poor Dan equation. 

No, they weren't equally awful up until the murders.  Listen to some of Betty's messages to her husband, look at the fact that Betty drove her car into Dan's home (with the children inside), Betty dropped off her kids at Dan's house one by one (i.e. the idea being that they were his responsibility now) as a way to punish him.  There are other examples as well.  I don't pretend that Dan was entirely innocent, but I view it as analogous to him giving her a paper cut, and she responding by blowing up his house.     

[poeticlicensed]

20 minutes ago, txhorns79 said:

No, they weren't equally awful up until the murders.  Listen to some of Betty's messages to her husband, look at the fact that Betty drove her car into Dan's home (with the children inside), Betty dropped off her kids at Dan's house one by one (i.e. the idea being that they were his responsibility now) as a way to punish him.  There are other examples as well.  I don't pretend that Dan was entirely innocent, but I view it as analogous to him giving her a paper cut, and she responding by blowing up his house.     

Read Bella Stumbo's book. She went into great detail about how he systematically screwed her over financially and gaslit her for years. Yeah, I think they were equally terrible, Until the murders. She is completely responsible for that. 

[heatherchandler]

5 minutes ago, poeticlicensed said:

Read Bella Stumbo's book. She went into great detail about how he systematically screwed her over financially and gaslit her for years. Yeah, I think they were equally terrible, Until the murders. She is completely responsible for that. 

I really want to read that book, but I can only find it on Amazon for $68 (!!) or at another local library, which is not allowing inter-library borrowing.  I can't find it on kindle.

[Armchair Critic]

On 6/3/2020 at 1:02 PM, heatherchandler said:

I really want to read that book, but I can only find it on Amazon for $68 (!!) or at another local library, which is not allowing inter-library borrowing.  I can't find it on kindle.

Openlibrary.org has it for free. https://openlibrary.org/works/OL17735327W/Until_the_twelfth_of_never

I became more sympathetic to Betty after reading the book.

Forgot to mention I love that her dad is being played by Joe Jr. from While You Were Sleeping (I know he's been in other things but he's great in that movie). 

Edited June 5, 2020 by Armchair Critic

[heatherchandler]

34 minutes ago, Armchair Critic said:

Openlibrary.org has it for free. https://openlibrary.org/works/OL17735327W/Until_the_twelfth_of_never

I became more sympathetic to Betty after reading the book.

Forgot to mention I love that her dad is being played by Joe Jr. from When You Were Sleeping (I know he's been in other things but he's great in that movie). 

Thank you!  How did I not know open library existed??  

And he played Jackie on Sopranos!

[chocolatine]

15 hours ago, Kdawg82 said:

This story is a bit before my time (I didn't watch the headlines as an 8 yr old).  I hadn't heard it before but the names were familiar. I like it so far & feel they did well with the period- fashions, brands (groceries, etc) decor, & cars.

Same here. I was too young and not living in the US when the original events happened, and I haven't seen the TV movie (and never will because of Stephen Collins), so this is new material for me.

15 hours ago, poeticlicensed said:

Wow this series is very sympathetic to Betty so far. Waiting to see if it lasts 

I interpreted it more as the show being told from Betty's POV, and not the show presenting Betty as a sympathetic character. We hear her narrative of herself as a victim, but we also see her driving her car into Dan's house knowing her two daughters are inside, and her sons needing therapy to process her behavior.

[txhorns79]

3 hours ago, poeticlicensed said:

She went into great detail about how he systematically screwed her over financially and gaslit her for years. Yeah, I think they were equally terrible, Until the murders. She is completely responsible for that. 

She put her kids at risk for serious bodily harm when she ran her car into Dan's house.  Even if you think Dan was a monster, as far as I know, he never escalated to a point where the kids were in that kind of danger. 

[poeticlicensed]

5 minutes ago, txhorns79 said:

She put her kids at risk for serious bodily harm when she ran her car into Dan's house.  Even if you think Dan was a monster, as far as I know, he never escalated to a point where the kids were in that kind of danger. 

Not saying she wasn't awful. Criminally so. She clearly lacked impulse control and had mental health issues that she chose to ignore. But I can't ignore his contribution to the situation. Not just having an affair and telling her she was crazy, that happens all the time and doesn't result in murder. He knew her so well that he knew exactly what to do and say to get her to react. And that combined with her impluse control problem just escalated the situation. 

 

[anniebird]

4 hours ago, Armchair Critic said:

Openlibrary.org has it for free. https://openlibrary.org/works/OL17735327W/Until_the_twelfth_of_never

I became more sympathetic to Betty after reading the book.

Forgot to mention I love that her dad is being played by Joe Jr. from When You Were Sleeping (I know he's been in other things but he's great in that movie). 

I love Joe Jr.! I didn't even recognize him, so thanks.

[poeticlicensed]

38 minutes ago, anniebird said:

I love Joe Jr.! I didn't even recognize him, so thanks.

He will always be Jackie Aprile from the Sopranos to me

[Kdawg82]

4 hours ago, chocolatine said:

I interpreted it more as the show being told from Betty's POV, and not the show presenting Betty as a sympathetic character. We hear her narrative of herself as a victim, 

Yes! Was just thinking about how Betty is portrayed and wondered if it's called "Dirty John" keeping with the kind of victimized female scenario. Like are all men in this series going to be the bad one? (Which they are but i mean it's not called "Dirty Joanna").

[mamadrama]

6 hours ago, poeticlicensed said:

Not saying she wasn't awful. Criminally so. She clearly lacked impulse control and had mental health issues that she chose to ignore. But I can't ignore his contribution to the situation. Not just having an affair and telling her she was crazy, that happens all the time and doesn't result in murder. He knew her so well that he knew exactly what to do and say to get her to react. And that combined with her impluse control problem just escalated the situation. 

 

Yeah, I'm not sure why it has to be an either/or. They were both terrible. Betty's gestures might have been bigger, but Dan was also terrible in his own way. Emotional abuse and gaslighting is awful. She was already unstable, but he contributed to her fragile state of mind and gave her a push. He still didn't deserve to die, of course, and his new wife really didn't.

[Chaos Theory]

4 hours ago, Kdawg82 said:

Yes! Was just thinking about how Betty is portrayed and wondered if it's called "Dirty John" keeping with the kind of victimized female scenario. Like are all men in this series going to be the bad one? (Which they are but i mean it's not called "Dirty Joanna").

Well CBS All Access has a show called Why Women Kill.     The why may seem justified or at least fascinating otherwise there wouldn’t be a story.   BB came from a time when women were housewives and suddenly poof it was all gone and she had little or no power to fight it.   Everything belonged to her husband and expected Betty to just go away with whatever peanuts he was gracious enough to give her out of the goodness of his heart.   He genuinely didn’t understand why she wasn’t greatful . He was a good guy.  He deserved to be happy.   He didn’t understand why she didn’t love him enough to not want him to be happy.   

[ElectricBoogaloo]

On 6/2/2020 at 7:57 PM, poeticlicensed said:

Wow this series is very sympathetic to Betty so far. Waiting to see if it lasts 

I don't think this episode was sympathetic to Betty at all. She was the one who refused to go upstairs to sign the legal documents, still wouldn't sign them when the lawyer brought them down to her, drove her car into Dan's house when she knew that her kids were inside, and said that what she did was crazy but that doing it didn't make HER crazy. If anything, this episode portrayed her as irrational at best.

[Sweet-tea]

Quote

'm a huge fan of Meredith Baxter's portrayal of Betty Broderick. I have always been fascinated by the story, so I decided to give this a try. I made it through about twenty-five minutes before shutting if off. I'll just say Amanda Peet is still the same actress she was twenty years ago. 

I was so looking forward to some "original" programming to watch during this downtime, but this is a no-go for me. I

I feel the same. It's been a long time since I've seen MB's portrayal of Betty, but I remember being really impressed by her performance and the overall production. I was disappointed in this update. I don't know if it's the writing, direction, Amanda Peet's acting or a combination, but it doesn't hold up to the original. It's not even close IMO.

I'm going to give it a few more episodes to see if it improves. 

Was MB nominated for an Emmy? I can't remember. 

[txhorns79]

1 hour ago, Sweet-tea said:

Was MB nominated for an Emmy? I can't remember. 

She was nominated.  I think Baxter is a stronger actress than Peet, and was better able to play a damaged woman liked Broderick.  Having said that, it's quite possible that Peet will improve as the series progresses.  Right now, I feel almost like I'm watching an 80's themed costume party.

[divsc]

2 hours ago, Sweet-tea said:

I feel the same. It's been a long time since I've seen MB's portrayal of Betty, but I remember being really impressed by her performance and the overall production. I was disappointed in this update. I don't know if it's the writing, direction, Amanda Peet's acting or a combination, but it doesn't hold up to the original. It's not even close IMO.

I'm going to give it a few more episodes to see if it improves. 

Was MB nominated for an Emmy? I can't remember. 

The original movie is free to watch on YouTube! I feel like I watched that on Lifetime so many times. Betty is nuts and sounds to this day like she never felt much remorse, but it's such a compelling case. I'm sure there are other women whose husbands discarded them for younger models have felt rage and hurt and maybe even a fantasy of doing the same - but would never act on it. This lady was off her rocker. Family Ties mom played the part perfectly. I like Amanda Peet, but this role doesn't seem to fit. 

[methadonna]

For those who don't like the non-linear chronology story telling (I happened to really like the shift from her being interviewed in the psychiatric ward drab room to her being interviewed in the parallel police interrogation room, and the events' being shown to fill in the exposition, but I understand why others wouldn't), I *just*  started reading Stumbo's book (like, literally, *just* ... I signed up for an account five minutes ago, thanks @Armchair Critic), and, a page into the prologue, I came across this, which suggests it's more than just an artistic choice to tell the story in such a seemingly scattered way:

Spoiler

She reminded me, in that first conversation, of an overheated radiator on the road to Yuma in August. Hissing, spewing, a pressure cooker exploding in my face. There was no way to interview her in any conventional fashion. She could hear my questions, and even begin to answer them but then her overflowing mind would take off in its own direction. She was trying to cram her whole life story into one phone conversation, frantic to put it into order, but utterly incapable of sorting it out or presenting it in any coherent way. It was dizzying. From the topic at hand, she would suddenly shoot five years ahead, or fifteen years into the past, and then almost shriek in frustration that her listener couldn't keep the pieces in place. She spoke disjointedly about fines, jailings, legal conspiracies, and sealed courtrooms-all the result of her ex-husband's clout, Dan's power, then she was talking about her wedding day, about Tupperware; the back to Dan's lies about his affair with his pretty young office Assistant, Linda; then the divorce, how he cheated her in the settlement, tortured her children she found lice on their heads after he took them away; Linda sent her cruel ads about fat and wrinkles; the judges let him legally rape her in court, he fined her for merely dropping the boys dogs at his house; she was denied visitation; he sold her house out from under her, etc., etc., etc.

I do think this was an odd choice as a follow up to Dirty John[/]: I understand why and  

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I was impressed with how well the sets and costumes felt authentically 80s (as opposed to some shows that seem to have stuff from the general 80s but they often have stuff that wasn't around until later included) but then I saw how accurately they matched the exteriors of the houses, which is a detail that most people wouldn't know enough about to care about. They didn't shoot on location but they found houses that looked almost identical.

Dan's Hillcrest home in real life, which featured a half circle driveway:

The show's version of the Hillcrest house:

They even put the brick columns in the driveway

The La Jolla house in real life:

The house used on the show:

 

[poeticlicensed]

1 hour ago, txhorns79 said:

She was nominated.  I think Baxter is a stronger actress than Peet, and was better able to play a damaged woman liked Broderick.  Having said that, it's quite possible that Peet will improve as the series progresses.  Right now, I feel almost like I'm watching an 80's themed costume party.

It's an 80s flashback!

 

[DanaMB]

I had to check in here before even finishing the first so, because it’s just not grabbing me like the first season did. I’m seriously considering taking it off my DVR, but I feel like I should give it another chance. 
 

How many episodes are in this season?

[Stats Queen]

On 6/3/2020 at 1:02 PM, heatherchandler said:

I really want to read that book, but I can only find it on Amazon for $68 (!!) or at another local library, which is not allowing inter-library borrowing.  I can't find it on kindle.

$9.99 on Kindle.

https://smile.amazon.com/Until-Twelfth-Never-Should-Broderick-ebook/dp/B00BBKEEVO/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3CTD99OF9OAXK&dchild=1&keywords=betty+broderick+book&qid=1591583628&sprefix=Betty+b%2Caps%2C162&sr=8-1

[Annber03]

On 6/3/2020 at 10:16 PM, Chaos Theory said:

Well CBS All Access has a show called Why Women Kill.     The why may seem justified or at least fascinating otherwise there wouldn’t be a story.   BB came from a time when women were housewives and suddenly poof it was all gone and she had little or no power to fight it.   Everything belonged to her husband and expected Betty to just go away with whatever peanuts he was gracious enough to give her out of the goodness of his heart.   He genuinely didn’t understand why she wasn’t greatful . He was a good guy.  He deserved to be happy.   He didn’t understand why she didn’t love him enough to not want him to be happy.   

Seriously, the kind of life she lived would drive me bonkers. Her crimes were wrong, no question, but I can very much sympathize with her frustration in and of itself. 

I was five when this crime happened, and I haven't seen the TV movie with Meredith Baxter (though knowing it's on YouTube, I may have to sit down and check it out) But I have heard about this case on various true crime shows over the years. I'm interested to see how they tackle it here. I agree that the time jumps are a little jarring and weird, but it does seem to fit with the jumpy nature of Betty's storytelling that @methadonna mentioned. 

[Persnickety1]

On 6/4/2020 at 8:17 AM, methadonna said:

For those who don't like the non-linear chronology story telling (I happened to really like the shift from her being interviewed in the psychiatric ward drab room to her being interviewed in the parallel police interrogation room, and the events' being shown to fill in the exposition, but I understand why others wouldn't), I *just*  started reading Stumbo's book (like, literally, *just* ... I signed up for an account five minutes ago, thanks @Armchair Critic), and, a page into the prologue, I came across this, which suggests it's more than just an artistic choice to tell the story in such a seemingly scattered way:

 

 

That book is a fantastic read.  I read it about 10+ years ago and it was a real eye opener.

My best friend's husband pulled a Dan Broderick on her, except he chose a bright yellow corvette.  He, too, was having an affair with a co-worker and telling my best friend she was paranoid, crazy, in menopause, PMS'ing, and any other belittling gaslighting comment you can think of.  He also sold the family home out from under her, under the ruse of moving into a smaller residence to make it "easier" for her to maintain.  He would send her spousal support checks with the check stapled all around the outline of the check inside so it would take her at least an hour to carefully extricate the check intact.  He would also write "sousal support" in the memo area just to insult her, as she didn't even drink.  He was a real piece of work.  They had been married about 22 years when the affair and subsequent ugly divorce happened.  This was in about 1992, right there in the Betty/Dan era.

She and I often compared what she went through and what Betty went through.  It was so similar it was like a parallel universe, except my best friend only had one child who had just turned 18 when the affair started.  I see so much of her husband in Dan Broderick that it's frightening.  Fortunately, my best friend had a great support system and leaned on us to get through the rough patches.  As I recall from Strumbo's book, Betty's "friends" were actually she and Dan's friends as a couple, and with few exceptions, most of them chose to stand on Dan's side and left her hanging out to dry.  IIRC, one even wouldn't let Betty take her to lunch on her (the friend's) birthday because "we've been socializing with Dan and Linda."  With friends like those...

On another personal note, my sister-in-law was a paralegal in San Diego and had worked with (not for, just with) Dan and later had a few encounters with Betty through the criminal courts after the murder.  She said both were pleasant and she never had an issue with either of them on a professional level.  

I'm going to let this season play out.  I'm enjoying it so far, although I have to really suspend reality to accept Slater as Dan and Peet as Betty.  

 

[psychoticstate]

On 6/3/2020 at 12:55 PM, poeticlicensed said:

Read Bella Stumbo's book. She went into great detail about how he systematically screwed her over financially and gaslit her for years. Yeah, I think they were equally terrible, Until the murders. She is completely responsible for that. 

Agree with this.  I know someone who knew both of them and this person told me that Dan was a class A fuckwit.  He was never around for the kids' school or extracurricular things and before Dan and Linda were a thing, Betty was not like that at all.  I think Meredith Baxter did a fantastic job but that movie was made with the cooperation of Dan's family so of course they are going to make her look even worse than she already did.

IMO, all adults concerned -- Betty, Dan and Linda -- behaved abominably.  Dan and Linda didn't deserve to be murdered, no matter how shitty they were.  I wish Betty had been able to just continue collecting the alimony and wait for Dan and Linda's relationship to blow up instead of taking things in her own hands.

[renatae]

On 6/3/2020 at 11:23 AM, poeticlicensed said:

There is no one to root for in this. Both were equally awful in their actions up until the murders. I'm going to be disappointed if it turns into a poor Betty or poor Dan equation. 

I just finished episode 3, and at this point I'm wondering which one is the "Dirty John." Very sympathetic to Betty, and Dan seems like a complete jerk. I've always had some sympathy for Betty, as it seems she gave her all to the marriage. I understand her feelings that marriage is a sacred commitment and that she had been betrayed in a most callous way. 

Of course, it's no excuse for her own reprehensible actions and of course not for the murder, but she's mentally off and I understand how she felt her world had become incomprehensible.

I wish I could find the superior Meredith Baxter version, but it doesn't seem to be available anywhere.

[Razzberry]

On 6/7/2020 at 7:40 PM, Stats Queen said:

$9.99 on Kindle.

https://smile.amazon.com/Until-Twelfth-Never-Should-Broderick-ebook/dp/B00BBKEEVO/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3CTD99OF9OAXK&dchild=1&keywords=betty+broderick+book&qid=1591583628&sprefix=Betty+b%2Caps%2C162&sr=8-1

You can download the first 5 chapters too as a good sized sample. The very first paragraph underscores my main problem with the show re: Amanda Peet.  I'm not seeing or hearing how truly obnoxious and crazy Betty must have been and how much her appearance had changed.

Other than that I'm enjoying the hell out of it, but that's a pretty big part of this.  I mean, look at the care they took in getting the houses right.  They couldn't get Peet in fat suit?

[divsc]

I've been reading Stumbo's book. It's pretty compelling. They were both so dysfunctional. Although Betty was clearly mentally unstable. I don't think she was insane, but she definitely had some major personality disorders going on. Dan tried to control her through the court system, because that is what he knew how to manipulate, but in reality, the lady needed major help and intervention that went well beyond a divorce fight. Dan and the judges would fine her or even throw her in jail for brief periods. But just the amount of psycho, crude, obscene voice mails alone that she would leave on her children's answering machine showed this was a women needed major psychological help. 

Yea, Stumbo almost seems obsessed with letting the readers know how fat Betty had gotten, how ugly, how frumpy, how she was covered in rolls of fat, how many chins she had, how her friends thought she looked like a fat pig. I mean we get the picture, but Stumbo really hammers the point throughout the book.

Definitely not feeling Peet in the role. 

[Joimiaroxeu]

Why did that guy complain about flying all the way from Beverly Hills to San Diego for the divorce settlement meeting? Is that even an hour flight?

So had Betty's husband deliberately poisoned the well as far as local attorneys Betty could hire or was everyone just loath to deal with her?

I'm not sure I saw the Meredith Baxter version of Betty Broderick's story; I don't remember seeing it. I'm okay with Amanda Peet so far even though I guess she's physically wrong for the depiction. I think she's portraying Betty's emotional instability very well.

[divsc]

On 6/13/2020 at 11:44 PM, Joimiaroxeu said:

Why did that guy complain about flying all the way from Beverly Hills to San Diego for the divorce settlement meeting? Is that even an hour flight?

So had Betty's husband deliberately poisoned the well as far as local attorneys Betty could hire or was everyone just loath to deal with her?

I'm not sure I saw the Meredith Baxter version of Betty Broderick's story; I don't remember seeing it. I'm okay with Amanda Peet so far even though I guess she's physically wrong for the depiction. I think she's portraying Betty's emotional instability very well.

That guy was her attorney, Daniel Jaffe. Basically that meeting was more about the house than the whole divorce settlement. He was really caught in the middle of all the insanity. Betty didn't want to sell the house - at all. She didn't want to be getting the divorce. Dan wanted to sell the house as quickly as possible - he was now paying three mortgages on homes - his, hers, and the Coral Reef property. There had previously been one buyer lined up - but Betty refused to sign the papers properly and the buyer walked out in frustration. A second buyer was found months later, but Betty was doing the same thing and giving the run-around.

Jaffe flew up from Beverly Hills to try to deal with this - doing his best to represent Betty. They drove to Dan Broderick's attorney's office to finally finalize the paperwork. Jaffe had negotiated not only that Dan would pay Betty half the selling price, but an additional $16,000 for Betty to make repairs on her own home. Jaffe's attorney fee was also supposed to come out of the proceeds.

But upon arriving at Dan Broderick's attorney's office, Betty refused to get out of the car. Jaffe went inside, talked to Dan and his attorney, finalized the papers, brought them out to Betty to sign - and now cornered without being able to pull her usual tricks, Betty refused. She said she "had to think about it." Jaffe flew back to LA, exasperated.

So I don't think he was complaining about the length of the flight or hassle as much as it was a total waste of his time and he was dealing with an unreasonable client. She was stalling and holding up the house sale. The next week, a judge agreed. Dan Broderick got a court order to sell the house without Betty's consent. Something Jaffe said he told Betty was not only standard, but probable in cases where one spouse in a divorce was holding up a house sale.

(My summary from Bella Stumbo's books and other articles)

Edited June 16, 2020 by divsc

[divsc]

On 6/13/2020 at 11:44 PM, Joimiaroxeu said:

Why did that guy complain about flying all the way from Beverly Hills to San Diego for the divorce settlement meeting? Is that even an hour flight?

So had Betty's husband deliberately poisoned the well as far as local attorneys Betty could hire or was everyone just loath to deal with her?

I'm not sure I saw the Meredith Baxter version of Betty Broderick's story; I don't remember seeing it. I'm okay with Amanda Peet so far even though I guess she's physically wrong for the depiction. I think she's portraying Betty's emotional instability very well.

As far as being able to find a local attorney who would take on Dan, I think it was really a little of both. Yes, it's a tight knit community and there were probably many local lawyers who had a conflict of interest or didn't want to take on Dan Broderick. At the same time, he was a medical malpractice attorney/plantiff attorney/civil, not family law, and it was a big money case with a lot of assets and properties, and there were likely many local lawyers who would have loved to take on the case, especially one where they knew they would get paid. Betty was a very difficult client, she also didn't like what they had to tell her, she refused the majority of counseling, she vandalized property, drove her car through Dan's front door, left insane voice mails that were abusive to her children, didn't listen to any legal advice. 

Dan's friend, an attorney Sharon Blanchet talks about this here - (if you can stand the host's kinda grating voice (imo)..It starts about the 31:50 mark... (Sharon was a friend of Dan so she's likely biased in that regard, but she also is an attorney and speaks on it here.) Sharon speaks very highly of Dan's attorney Dan Jaffe. But yea, Betty probably could have found a good, capable attorney in San Diego. She just didn't let anyone do their jobs.

https://www.blogtalkradio.com/talk_radio49/2018/10/24/clear-convincing--ep-26--ca-v-elisabeth-anne-broderick-wsharon-blanchet

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Opening scene:

Betty Is Confused About Court Date

Dan’s Peace Offering To Betty

 

Edited June 28, 2020 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Bobcatkitten]

I know I am slow on getting to this show but if that was a sympathetic view of Betty that's crazy. I thought she came off as a ridiculous loon. 

 

Also I have ZERO knowledge of this case. So I'm in for the ride. 

[Twig]

Didn't think I agreed with Betty. But damn EVERYTHING she did for that jerk! I don't believe in killing people BUT....... Think he deserved it! Linda too..