Fear Thy Neighbor - General Discussion

[Irate Panda]

I just watched Boom Town and boy did everyone seem awful.  Now don’t get me wrong I don’t think a mob of people should set your house on fire while you’re in it and then later BLOW IT UP, but the family seemed scummy too.  Kids are thieves, mother’s fist-fighting in the street, etc. and unrelated but why in the world is the dad carrying around his wife’s adopted-out first child’s birth certificate in his wallet?   That was just weird.

Was it just me or did the lady whose money is stolen from her purse seem sedated during her interview? It kept looking like she was ready to fall asleep . You’d think she’d be a little more animated talking about an arson, shootings, and angry mobs.
 

Also, I get it’s a common theme on this show that the police don’t do anything, but the family calls saying a mob of people is breaking into the home and set their truck and home on fire and the police are like basically like yeah, we’re good…we’ll just stay here until you shoot somebody.

[North of Eden]

On 9/14/2022 at 8:32 AM, libgirl2 said:

I just watched it last night on demand. I was wondering why in God's name did Bruce go over there with food for Ed? It made me wonder if he went there to taunt/tease him or was it really a "peace offering"? And that Helen! WTH was up with her? I agree, I bet she broke the mower. 

I don't know but I wish I could make a burger like Bruces.They looked delicious!

[Irate Panda]

OMG the 8 Mile one was crazy! How dare Mark just takeover somebody else’s home and property and make it a junkyard!! I also hated the neighbor who tried to make it seem like this was a perfectly normal thing to do and acting like Charles was being unreasonable   Then this idiotic guy ask Charles to sell him his home for a thousand dollars 🙄, this episode really irritated me.  I felt really bad for Charles. This is one episode where I think it was totally one person’s fault, I’m glad the jury realized this was self defense. 

[Cobb Salad]

New episodes starting October 16:

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/fear_thy_neighbor/s09

[JudyObscure]

New episodes start tonight.  Yall better watch or I'll put a dead squirrel in your mailbox.

[Guest]

15 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

New episodes start tonight.  Yall better watch or I'll put a dead squirrel in your mailbox.

😀

I’ll see your dead squirrel and raise it to a nasty note about your garden rocks pressing up against my fence. 

[Annber03]

....okay. So. THAT was a hell of a way to kick off this season. Holy shit, these two stories...

The first one...oh, my god. Ana. Poor Ana. Her poor mom. That whole escape scene when they were getting Hector's wife, her mother, and her baby out of the house was intense as hell and I was literally sitting here chanting, "Go, go, go, go..." the whole time. I was so terrified for her, her mom, and her baby when they returned to the U.S., but I am so, so glad that nothing happened to them, at least, that they did manage to get away to safety. I hope they're doing okay now, wherever they are, and I'm glad that Ana and her mom at least got to help them get away and were willing to take the risks involved to do so. 

My mom was wondering why Ana and Victoria didn't call the police, but I pointed out to her that we've seen far too many examples on the show where the police's hands were either tied or they proved utterly useless, and considering Hector got out on bail mere hours after shooting and killing Ana, well...let's just say I wouldn't have had much faith in the police's ability to stop things before they escalated to this point in the first place. 

But ugh. What a horrific creep. That "Dr. Phil" appearance - on the one hand, why give him any sort of media attention at all, but on the other hand, his appearance totally fucked him over in the civil trial and he's sitting in jail, so hey. 

Sure am glad he had access to so many guns, too, mmhm :/. 

As for the second episode, man, given their behavior throughout the episode, I was not even remotely surprised by each new revelation that came out about James and Lisa and the kind of people they were. They sounded like absolute pills to be around, and I don't blame any of the neighbors for trying to stay out of their way or just saying, "Fuck it" and moving out. 

(Loved, too, how James would get so bent out of shape about people driving down the road a little too fast for his liking. Dude, you were lighting off firecrackers in the street for no reason other than to antagonize your neighbor 'cause that's how you got your jollies. Sit down and shut up.)

But good lord, that video of the shooting. On the one hand, I mean, they were out there openly confronting Jeffrey and had to know that, as a veteran, he would've had access to guns, so, y'know, what the hell exactly they were expecting him to do, I don't know. And there was a very strong irony in James calling Jeffrey a coward only to scurry away the moment the shooting began. Talk about eating your words.

That being said, uh, yeah, Jeffrey's response was THE definition of overkill, and he could've put any of the other neighbors' lives in danger, too, as they came out to try and lend aid and see what was going on*, so, yeah, kinda lost any sympathy I'd built up for him in that moment, too. Again, another situation where a bunch of people had guns despite clearly showing they really weren't responsible enough to have them, or have access to them. 

But then the way things ended rendered any further consequences moot, so... 

Whew. Yeah. Terrifying, horrifying stories, the both of them. 

*It says a lot about how the neighbors in general, though, that despite their own personal histories and issues with James and Lisa, they still came rushing to their aid to try and save their lives. I don't blame any of them for being deeply shaken by all of this - the one neighbor talking about how snow hits him differently now especially got to me - but I hope they are able to lean on each other when possible, and find some comfort and support in each other going forward. 

Edited October 17, 2023 by Annber03

[Cobb Salad]

Regarding that first episode, that guy Hector was a real control freak.  When they first showed his wife and explained how she was locked in the house all the time I was thinking she was a kidnap victim before I realized he was just a control freak and a jerk.  I’m glad he’s locked up for a long time but sad that it took years for it to happen.  Ana seemed like a sweet person and she didn’t deserve what she got for helping her neighbor. 
 

That second episode … I’ll never understand how anyone could keep bullying someone else and not expect a blowup of epic proportions eventually, especially when both sides have guns.  Those kids who went outside to see what was happening should have just stayed inside for their safety.  

[Guest]

I’m totally serious when I say this…I would rather live in my car than live next door to those trashy Goys.  

That neighborhood was held hostage by those loud mouthed idiots.  Even now that they’re no longer around the neighborhood still seems to tap dance around them.  Even the police were afraid of them.  

I know they had a 15 year old special needs son.  You’d think with that on their plate they wouldn’t have time to torment the neighbors with their foul, vulgar mouths.   They would have been better off focusing on him and setting a good example.

What a season opener. 

Edited October 17, 2023 by PsychoKlown
Because.

[Annber03]

Me early on in this episode: Hm, I'm going to take a wild guess that this "oh-so-Christian" pastor also has a gun in his home.

Also me, when it's revealed that he does, indeed, have a gun in his home: Called it!

Yeah, between the particular flag he had up and how incredibly strict he was with his religious beliefs and fervor and all that...let's just say I've seen enough of these stories to where that kind of reveal becomes pretty predictable after a time. That, and the fact that so many of the stories on this show feature people owning guns, so it just seemed an obvious guess.

Also, for someone who's all about wanting to protect his family from "sin" and all that sort of thing, living in suburban Vegas, of all places, is certainly...a choice. As is shooting someone in front of your child. Really teaching her good moral values there, mmhm. 

(I also can't help but wonder if some of his issues with Mildred and Bob had to do with some racial elements. Like, I get the feeling it wasn't just that she was having men over in general, that there was more to it than that.)

All of that being said...okay, Bob? Not your fight. Not your issue. Stay out of it. And don't yell at the kid, she has nothing to do with any of this. Quit dragging her into your dumb rivalry. I get these people are frustrated at the lack of police response, understandably so in some cases (I'm thinking when it's to the point where people are getting protective orders and whatnot, that's probably the time the police might want to step in, even if no actual crime, per se, has been committed, if only to help keep things from escalating further to where a crime is committed?), but holy shit, that was about the dumbest way to go about dealing with this guy. 

But yeah, Andrew's shooting them both...that was overkill. They were both down and clearly not posing any immediate threat. He already shot them once. He didn't need to do it again. I'm glad he got life in prison. He knew exactly what he was planning to do, and I think he would've eventually done it even if Bob hadn't challenged him. 

[Cobb Salad]

16 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

Also, for someone who's all about wanting to protect his family from "sin" and all that sort of thing, living in suburban Vegas, of all places, is certainly...a choice. As is shooting someone in front of your child. Really teaching her good moral values there, mmhm. 

That now his daughter is now growing up with a father in prison, I’m sorry to say with the way he was depicted in the episode maybe that is a good thing.  

 When the dog escaped out of the yard then Andrew built the barrier to keep it from leaving again I thought it was a good idea since the dog could run out in to the street and get hit by a car.  Then when it went missing I wonder now if it high tailed it out of there because of Andrew, lol.  It seems like with this show whenever there’s a loose dog involved the other neighbor has a problem with it but not this time.  

[Annber03]

29 minutes ago, Cobb Salad said:

That now his daughter is now growing up with a father in prison, I’m sorry to say with the way he was depicted in the episode maybe that is a good thing.  

I was genuinely afraid for a moment there that something would happen and she would accidentally wind up getting shot as a result of the confrontation.  Like I've said before with this show, that's the thing that really gets me about so many of these confrontations that end in gunfire. They wind up putting the lives of totally innocent people who had no dog in these stupid fights in danger, too, alongside the lives of their neighbors. Innocent people shouldn't have to worry about whether or not they'll get shot because two people can't seem to sort out their personal issues like mature adults. 

Quote

When the dog escaped out of the yard then Andrew built the barrier to keep it from leaving again I thought it was a good idea since the dog could run out in to the street and get hit by a car.  Then when it went missing I wonder now if it high tailed it out of there because of Andrew, lol.  It seems like with this show whenever there’s a loose dog involved the other neighbor has a problem with it but not this time.  

Yeah, he was so sure that Mildred had taken his dog, but...maybe he just wasn't that good at keeping her in his yard? 

I wonder whatever did become of that dog, if it ever was found okay and is in a safe  and happy home now. I hope so. 

[Cobb Salad]

Also at least this time the aggressor didn’t try the “I was acting in self defense” nonsense.  

[Guest]

After seeing this new season I’d be terrified to purchase a new house. 

What if you moved next door to some gun totin’ nut who accuses you of stealing their dog?  Or next to some woman who drops F-bombs while squirting you with a hose?

You could also move into a home that is situated by a lunatic who keeps their spouse hostage.  Or you could get real lucky and purchase a bungalow that has a beautiful garden.  You just need to make sure none of your decorations abuts the nasty neighbors fence.  If it does be prepared for a childish scrawled note that threatens you with bodily harm. 

But my all time favorite cautionary tale is to make sure there are no secret tunnels from your neighbors home to yours.  That was from a few seasons back but has stayed with me all these years. 

Better yet… rent.  In a cave.  In West Virginia, where your only neighbors are deers, raccoons and wild boars. 

Much safer. 

[Cobb Salad]

2 hours ago, PsychoKlown said:

After seeing this new season I’d be terrified to purchase a new house. 

I live in a first floor condo that I own.   The unit upstairs has been a rental for most of the time I’ve lived here.  Each time a new tenant moves in I cross my fingers that they’re not going to be a lunatic.  It’s mostly been okay (except for one extremely noisy one that I sort of succeeded in getting to quiet down without having to ever call the police) but I know what you mean.  

A while back ID used to have the roommate equivalent of this show that made me wary of ever letting anyone, even people who I’d think I know pretty well to move in with me if they’d fall on hard times.  That’s when you find out they’re crazy and they’d do anything, even murder you to get what they want.  

[JudyObscure]

6 hours ago, PsychoKlown said:

 

Better yet… rent.  In a cave.  In West Virginia, where your only neighbors are deers, raccoons and wild boars. 

Much safer. 

Don't forget Season 8 Episode 5, Clendenin WV. Where the nice old couple lived out on the mountain in peace, until they saw some young guy stealing tools from their garage.  Old man follows him to the neighbors down the road.  The neighbors all come out  and stand in a row like an old west gang and swear the thief never left the house.  Yet the hood of his car was hot.  The old guy called the police and it. was. on.  Because evidently stealing is no big deal but calling "the law" is. 

I loved that one because I grew up a few miles from Clendenin.  

21 hours ago, Annber03 said:

They wind up putting the lives of totally innocent people who had no dog in these stupid fights in danger, too, alongside the lives of their neighbors.

I know.  Why did Mildred have to call Bob.  The poor man got killed and it wasn't even his issue.  She just brought him right into the middle of her fight. All Mildred needed to do was stay inside.  We're always hearing these people say they were so afraid. But then they leave the safety of their home to go outside and confront the threat.  Why?

I really have to wonder why that little girl went back outside just to stand and stare at Bob while he was telling her to go inside.  A chip off the old block I'm thinking.

I'm also thinking she, her brother, and her mother are all safer with good ol' Dad in prison.  Now the little dog can return from wherever he's been hiding.

[Annber03]

...so...Mark's mom signed something for him without properly reading it...and it turned out to be an application for a firearm. And this comes after she's already known that he was clearly struggling, and was actively trying to plead with him to get help. 

Okay. 

And then the cops don't bother to ask his family if they have any weapons in the house. Gosh, yeah, total shock that things ended as they did. 

I also feel like this whole thing was a self-fulfilling prophecy in a lot of ways. He's paranoid that people are talking about and spying on him, so he does stuff to try and see if they are...which leads to them talking about him and trying to record his suspicious behavior. 

Ugh. This one was frustrating with all the very obvious steps that could've and should've been taken to avoid things ending as they did. 

[JudyObscure]

10 hours ago, Annber03 said:

.so...Mark's mom signed something for him without properly reading it...and it turned out to be an application for a firearm. And this comes after she's already known that he was clearly struggling, and was actively trying to plead with him to get help. 

Really.  what a sad episode. I know you can't force people to see a doctor but they knew he was ill and didn't keep a close eye on him.  signing those forms?  What in the world did she think that was about? 

The NRA keeps trying to sell the idea that we can keep guns out of the hands of the "wrong" people, but it will always be impossible to predict just who those people will be.  Schizophrenia usually strikes young men in their early twenties and they can amass a huge gun collection before they are ever diagnosed

Plus the mentally ill only account for about 8% of gun deaths and most are actually less likely than well people to be violent.

I felt sorry for everyone in this episode.  Let's get back to the escalation of petty complaints, show!

[libgirl2]

Our HOA sent out information on two people running for the board. Each person mentioned how they want neighbors to get to know each other and have community events, block parties..... I looked at my husband and said "no thanks", I watch Fear Thy Neighbor.

We already have a guy next to us who got into it with my husband on some branches and wrote a nasty note to him. When my husband wrote a note back, the guy crumpled it up and threw it at our door. I told my husband just stay out of his way, don't look at him,  don't smile at him, pretend he doesn't exist, I don't want to be featured on the show. It has worked so far. 

So no, I don't want to buddy with my neighbors. I can be pleasant to them, I might say hello to them but we are not friends. 

[Cobb Salad]

5 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

Our HOA sent out information on two people running for the board. Each person mentioned how they want neighbors to get to know each other and have community events, block parties..... I looked at my husband and said "no thanks", I watch Fear Thy Neighbor

Forced socialization … ugh.  If people in your neighborhood were interested they’d be doing it on their own.  A bunch of my neighbors the next street over hang out outside their homes to socialize when it’s warm and it’s not HOA sponsored or whatever.  In your case I’d be questioning how these activities would be funded, through HOA membership or participants paying. 

Anyway, about this week’s episode, I hope the family suing the neighbor and the town get the $$ they’re looking for.  Major failure on the police department, I’d think they’d be asking both parties the same set of questions.  Perhaps then this tragedy could have been averted since the people in that neighborhood otherwise seemed like they got along.  

[libgirl2]

1 minute ago, Cobb Salad said:

Forced socialization … ugh.  If people in your neighborhood were interested they’d be doing it on their own.  A bunch of my neighbors the next street over hang out outside their homes to socialize when it’s warm and it’s not HOA sponsored or whatever.  In your case I’d be questioning how these activities would be funded, through HOA membership or participants paying. 

Anyway, about this week’s episode, I hope the family suing the neighbor and the town get the $$ they’re looking for.  Major failure on the police department, I’d think they’d be asking both parties the same set of questions.  Perhaps then this tragedy could have been averted since the people in that neighborhood otherwise seemed like they got along.  

They are being funded by association dues! We already have funds allocated to social events in our budget. Complain about it and people think you are an ogre. Even got us blocked from our community page. 

Growing up, we were very good friends with several of our neighbors. We had parties, we even went on vacations together, but we didn't expect the entire subdivision to take part! 

I still have to watch the latest episode. 

[Annber03]

47 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

Growing up, we were very good friends with several of our neighbors. We had parties, we even went on vacations together, but we didn't expect the entire subdivision to take part! 

I think about that sometimes when people make a big thing on this show about how there's always that neighbor who never wants to socialize, who likes to keep to themselves. Either the other neighbors try and draw them out, with deadly consequences, or, by the end of the episode, when watching all the other neighbors fight and shoot and kill each other, you're sitting there thinking, "No, actually the neighbor who wanted to keep to themselves had the right idea."

Some people just aren't all that social. Or they can be social, once we've gotten comfortable enough to reach out. There's nothing wrong with that, and I don't get why so many people don't seem to get that and try and force these social interactions and whatnot. You're not going to get genuine friendships or other kinds of interactions that way. 

[libgirl2]

That Andrew guy is a nut. What a man of God, not. Yes, she had a temper but he had real issues.. And this is why I ignore my neighbors. 

Edited November 4, 2023 by libgirl2

[Annber03]

So. Tonight's episode. Hoo, boy, Ann was...truly something, to say the very least. What a psycho. 

It's wild that Donna survived her injuries and her husband didn't, given how and where they were each shot. I'm glad Donna survived, but yeah, I can't imagine what she and her family have had to deal with in the aftermath of all that. The older guy was clearly right with his "bad vibe" feeling about Ann. 

I agree 35 years doesn't seem like nearly enough for Ann, but depending on how old she is, she might also be relatively old by the time she gets out, so...who knows. 

[Cobb Salad]

Ann is a vile woman.  I thought it was ironic that she wanted Donna to be put in jail yet she’s now there for a long time.  I thought 35 years wasn’t enough either, she should have gotten life.  I thought since Donna was shot in the face she wasn’t going to make it.  I can’t imagine what it was like for her to find out later her husband was also shot but didn’t survive.  

[Annber03]

24 minutes ago, Cobb Salad said:

 I thought it was ironic that she wanted Donna to be put in jail yet she’s now there for a long time. 

My mom said the same thing. 

The whole thing of her walking around exposing herself was wild, too. Like, it's one thing to be more revealing with how you dress, she might've been able to get by with "My body, I can dress how I want" with that. 

But no, she's out here openly flashing people, not caring if any kids come across her... People have been arrested for that. They get put on sex offender registries for exposing themselves to or around minors. If she had any ability to reason, that might've been something for her to consider. 

The thing that makes Donna's husband's death all the more tragic is that he was largely trying to stay out of the whole mess. He was the one telling everyone else to just let it go and leave her be. And that's what he gets for his attempts to keep the peace. 

[Guest]

9 hours ago, Annber03 said:

The thing that makes Donna's husband's death all the more tragic is that he was largely trying to stay out of the whole mess. He was the one telling everyone else to just let it go and leave her be. And that's what he gets for his attempts to keep the peace. 

So true.  In every encounter he was the voice of reason.  I know many people just can’t up and leave their home but if this show isn’t a cautionary tale I don’t know what would be. I’d do everything in my power to get out of Dodge. 

Another thing is that there are rarely if ever winners in these contests.  Your home is supposed to be your refuge from the world not ground zero for plans to annihilate your neighbors.  But some of these neighbors are so hell bent on being right they’ll take a life sentence in prison to prove that point.

[JudyObscure]

Ann entered the picture because she was going though "an ugly divorce" and I'll just bet it was ugly with Ann involved.  I'd like to hear her husbands side of it.

This was another case of no good deed goes unpunished. Donna just wanted to give Ann a place to live while she got her life in order and right from the start Ann was doing and saying things no houseguest should ever do.   I think I would have told her that maybe we weren't going to be able to live together after all the minute Ann mocked the way the little boy ran.

I wonder how those neighbors who sided with Ann feel now?  How could they have ever thought Ann was right when Donna had done nothing to her, but tell her it was time to leave.  Which every host has the right to do.

[Guest]

I wonder why she needed to stay with Donna and her family after her “difficult” divorce?  She evidently had enough money for a down payment on a home so that would mean she had enough money to rent a room at the Comfort Inn.

[Cobb Salad]

3 hours ago, PsychoKlown said:

I wonder why she needed to stay with Donna and her family after her “difficult” divorce?  She evidently had enough money for a down payment on a home so that would mean she had enough money to rent a room at the Comfort Inn.

Waiting for the division of assets to be finalized?  Good question, who knows what the deal was.  It wasn’t like come stay with me until you close on the house next door, if it was working out that house likely would have been sitting on the market longer.  I’ve been trying to find additional information about this incident online and I can’t find anything.  Sometimes those online articles have an additional detail or two that the show didn’t cover for whatever reason.  

[JudyObscure]

1 hour ago, Cobb Salad said:

I’ve been trying to find additional information about this incident online and I can’t find anything.

I couldn't find anything either until I searched on Mount Sterling murder.  This has to be it but the names are different -- and still no further details:

https://www.wtvq.com/mt-sterling-woman-shoots-neighbors-1-dead-1-hurt/

[Guest]

Thank you JudyObscure 

If you search Frances Zaayer there are more articles about the case.   Her name is spelled with an “i” in the article and it should be an “e”. 

It seems that at Donna’s husbands funeral some attendees wore shirts with the saying “It is what it is”.  

For the life of me I can’t wrap my head around the senseless violence I see on this show.  I would normally say these people need more things to do but as we saw with the infamous Goys in spite of having their plates full with a special needs child they chose to torment a neighbor who primarily kept to himself. 

Truly a head scratcher.

[Annber03]

9 hours ago, PsychoKlown said:

I wonder why she needed to stay with Donna and her family after her “difficult” divorce?  She evidently had enough money for a down payment on a home so that would mean she had enough money to rent a room at the Comfort Inn.

I am so glad I wasn't the only one wondering this throughout the episode! Maybe things might've turned out a little differently had she moved right into her own place from the start? Or maybe not, she did seem pretty...yikes for some time, so....

[JudyObscure]

8 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Maybe things might've turned out a little differently had she moved right into her own place from the start?

Yes, at least she wouldn't have had the "She kicked me out without a moments notice," excuse. 

I think it probably all went back to the divorce.  She may have been inwardly raging over it and almost anything would have acted as a focus for all her anger at her husband.

And yet... some things ... like her strange hatred of children and basic lack of good manners, probably go back forever.  I want to hear from her ex.  I'll bet he has stories.

[lu1535]

I kept screaming at my TV for them to call the police about indecent exposure! Surely they would have gotten somewhere for that. Argh....

[JudyObscure]

1 hour ago, lu1535 said:

I kept screaming at my TV for them to call the police about indecent exposure! Surely they would have gotten somewhere for that. Argh....

That would have prompted me to get those cameras installed much sooner than they did. 

[Annber03]

...all right. Well. That was...deeply unpleasant, to say the very least. I think we can easily hazard a guess as to why Angela's kids didn't stay in the house very long. I just kept imagining the detectives leaving Angela's house while she's just ominously standing in the corner watching them - if I were them I'd be scurrying the hell out of there, like, "Well, thanks for letting us look, bye, now!" I can only begin to imagine how creepy and unsettling that visit was for them. 

I suppose we should be thankful for small mercies that she didn't

Spoiler

eat the body parts. That's where I was afraid this story might go at first, once they showed a flashforward of the boiling pot.

As horrifying and inexcusable as Angela's actions were, she was also right to be angry at James, because he made quite a few dumbass moves as well. It was clear she wasn't even remotely stable, and yet she was the one he decided to use for his financial dealings? I've watched some of those court shows that play on TV in the daytime, and if I've learned anything from those, it's that co-signing/letting someone use your bank account like that never, EVER ends well. Granted, most cases don't end in this horrific a fashion, but still. You get your finances tangled up with someone else's like this, you're gonna have problems. It's just inevitable. Unfortunately for James, he learned that lesson in the most awful way possible. 

[Cobb Salad]

Yeah, co-signing and letting a neighbor/friend access your bank account is never a good idea.  You might as well be waving bye-bye to all of your money.  I’ve always figured when you loan money to someone you’ll never see it again.  James didn’t deserve what he got but with the way he was treating Angela what was it going to take to end this.  Then he wanted to borrow money from her father.  Was he going to ruin that man’s credit as well?   I guess Angela didn’t own a gun, I don’t recall how many other times on this show that the killer didn’t use a gun to murder the victim.  

[JudyObscure]

Whoa, that was more horrible than I've bargained for with this show.  Bring back the escalating feuds. Enough with the mentally ill people.

Do you think maybe Angela's men keep leaving her because she spends every night drinking on the sofa with other men?

James's family annoyed me even more. "Oh dad was so wonderful!  He had such a charming personality.  He just lived to take care of his family."  "James took good care of us.  He just needed rides to work so I could use the truck. How could Angela let her household go like that?"

Well she let everything go like that, because your wonderful husband was using her money to spoil your kids.

Dead beats one and all, but Angela had serious mental problems.  James should have been more careful about who he chose to rip off and take advantage of.

 

[mmecorday]

Quote

Whoa, that was more horrible than I've bargained for with this show.  Bring back the escalating feuds. 

This episode would have been more ideally suited for "Deadly Women." 

[Cobb Salad]

21 minutes ago, JudyObscure said:

Dead beats one and all, but Angela had serious mental problems.  James should have been more careful about who he chose to rip off and take advantage of.

James should have considered that since she’s not able to work and her husband left her that her finances were not that great.  He probably also saw her as an easy mark as I’m sure other people around him saw him as the dead beat that he was.   Something I was wondering during the part of the segment where someone was banging on his door looking for the money he owed them if that person was a loan shark.  I found an article online that said he had a gambling habit so no wonder he was constantly looking for money.  

5 minutes ago, mmecorday said:

This episode would have been more ideally suited for "Deadly Women." 

A couple of shows on Oxygen (Snapped, Floribama Murders) profiled this case too:

https://www.oxygen.com/snapped/martinis-murder/woman-cooks-neighbors-head-stove-stabbing-ice-pick-dismembering-body

[North of Eden]

I found this latest case very atypical. First, there is usually one side that is sympathetic but not here! What a fantastic collection of grifters, scammers, and free-loaders.  James drawing SS when he appears able-bodied, his wife getting disability payments for a likely dubious reason and she appeared fully on board with his SS scam with the crazy woman. Angela not working because she has PTS from a few bad relationships? The only likable person was the son who was awfully cheerful considering the case was about his murdered dad. He seemed like he was baked on marijuana the whole interview and I found his laid-back demeanor inviting.

Secondly no police involvement until after the murder. Usually, these episodes have hapless or ineffective cops showing up multiple times before someone bites the dust.

Anyway, I don't know why she didn't just close the account early on when the charges started racking up. Part of me thinks there might have been an affair going on there at 3 am..

[JudyObscure]

7 hours ago, North of Eden said:

The only likable person was the son who was awfully cheerful considering the case was about his murdered dad. He seemed like he was baked on marijuana the whole interview and I found his laid-back demeanor inviting.

LOL It's people like him who make this show so much fun.  I wish they had more episodes. I know there's no shortage of neighbor feuds, they don't have to end in grizzly murders. The Brits have a nightmare neighbor show where they get mad and tip over next-doors wheelie bins.  It's still pretty good.

[Cobb Salad]

Oxygen also has its own series profiling neighbors who don’t get along however the 2 episodes I watched were their versions of stories I already saw on “Fear Thy Neighbor”.   

[North of Eden]

Late to the game here but just watched the JOY/JEFFREY-Wilkes Barre episode. I found this another atypical episode where everything was flipped on its head. I hate to say it but halfway in I was thinking whatever happens to the Joy family-they've got it coming. And for the first time, I felt sympathy for the killer because he was left with no choice but kill himself or spend the rest of his life in prison and that would be the Joys getting revenge from beyond the grave. They truly brought it on themselves and Jeffrey was a victim.

PS Another great teen narrator-some of his comments were priceless.