The Act - General Discussion

[Melina22]

Can't wait to check it out! 

[Melina22]

7 hours ago, EdnasEdibles said:

Refinery29 is doing a good job of covering the show and breaking down what happened in real life vs what is fictionalized for the episode. This week they take a look at whether Dee Dee spent time in jail in real life. If you're curious about the real story, check it out. 

Whoa, her father actually said

Spoiler

"She got what she deserved"!!? Yikes! And the rest of it, about her mother and stepmother...

If a fraction of this is true, I feel like episode 5 should have been a lot more intense. I feel like they watered the truth down a lot, which seems like an odd creative choice. 

[Zima]

2 hours ago, Melina22 said:

Whoa, her father actually said

Spoiler

"She got what she deserved"!!? Yikes! And the rest of it, about her mother and stepmother...

If a fraction of this is true, I feel like episode 5 should have been a lot more intense. I feel like they watered the truth down a lot, which seems like an odd creative choice. 

I was coming here to say the same thing!

Spoiler

Like, didn't she purposefully feed her sick mom weed killer or something like that? 

I feel like this episode tried to make us feel sympathetic towards DeeDee, maybe because they want us to feel a certain way about the murder later? The truth would have made for much better television, IMO.

[Guest]

I know most people here are familiar with the facts surrounding the real-life story of Dee Dee and Gypsy, whether it be from the Michelle Dean article or the various documentaries or news stories about their case. One last reminder: anything that did not appear on an already aired-on-Hulu episode is considered a spoiler until the series ends—and then you can discuss anything and everything related without the use of spoiler tags. There is a blue mod note above the box where you type your replies—please read it. 

[onatrek]

10 hours ago, Zima said:

I was coming here to say the same thing!

  Reveal spoiler

Like, didn't she purposefully feed her sick mom weed killer or something like that? 

I feel like this episode tried to make us feel sympathetic towards DeeDee, maybe because they want us to feel a certain way about the murder later? The truth would have made for much better television, IMO.

I think it did a good job of showing D repeatedly emphasizing things along the lines of "it's just you and me, Gypsy" and "it's just the two of us" showing how she was trying to basically seclude Gypsy from 'outsiders' (anyone outside of the dyad of the two of them)

While it obviously could be fictionalized, I suspect things along those lines did happen. After all, trying to repeatedly send that message to her from such a young age sure conveyed her attempts to keep Gypsy relying on her/thinking of her as her only "person" and the person she wanted he to turn to/rely on/trust, laying the ground work for the alienation that really was a foundation of how she pulled everything off.  In doing so I think it really helped keep Gypsy from speaking up earlier in her life.

[Melina22]

http://www.pajiba.com/netflix_movies_and_tv/the-true-story-behind-the-act-and-the-reallife-gypsy-rose-and-dee-dee-blanchard-ep-6.php

Pajiba has an article after every episode fact checking it. This one answers many of our questions from this episode 6. 

I'm not spoiler tagging it because you can't see any non-episode info without actually clicking on the link. I hope this is okay. 

[bilgistic]

The guy playing Nick looks and acts like Jimmy Fallon when he does his sleepaway camp skits (costarring Justin Timberlake) on the Tonight Show. It's all I can see.

Edited April 23, 2019 by bilgistic

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S1.E7: Bonnie & Clyde

Gypsy is excited to start over with Nick in Wisconsin, but their new life doesn't match the happily-ever-after she imagined, and her anxiety worsens as past transgressions begin to catch up with them.

Original air date: 4/24/19

[mamadrama]

Juliette Lewis rocks my world. That is all. 

[Valny]

2 hours ago, mamadrama said:

Juliette Lewis rocks my world. That is all. 

I was so exited to see her as Nick's mom, I didn't know or remember she was in the cast. ake

If Nick's crappy home life was really life that(no food in the house?!) then that sucked.

Great ep. I really thought they'd end it just before they get caught. But glad they didn't because I wanted to see the parts where they go the police station or wherever that was.

I was also happy that they included the parts where the detective talks to Gypsy about what happened to her mom, because if I remember right,

Spoiler

it was pretty much verbatim from what I saw in the doc. Same with Nick and the mom's questioning.

Joey King, I bow down to your amazing acting skills, especially the crying scenes. Man the girl can really bring the tears. When she was crying in the courtroom scene, I didn't see it as JK the actress crying in a role, I saw her as Gypsy,feeling the same emotions as she did,tapping into all those emotions are truly amazing. I hope she wins all the awards.
 
Since ep 1, I've been wanting to find out more about her and the Gypsy role in interviews and such.The kid has a great head on her shoulders and sound pretty well spoken. Here is one of the better interviews I've heard so far if you want to take a listen.

[DangerousMinds]

To be fair, Nick was a grown man so I'm not sure why it's so terrible that his mom wasn't providing every meal for him. I bet he got free rent.

[bmasters9]

3 hours ago, Valny said:

Joey King, I bow down to your amazing acting skills, especially the crying scenes. Man the girl can really bring the tears. When she was crying in the courtroom scene, I didn't see it as JK the actress crying in a role, I saw her as Gypsy,feeling the same emotions as she did,tapping into all those emotions are truly amazing. I hope she wins all the awards.

I've just now completed through the 7th episode, and Joey deserves every award she can get for how she's done to this point!

[Melina22]

I just finished episode 7. I can't remember the last time I was this mesmerized by a show. I'll frequently watch shows while looking at my phone or doing other things but not during this one! It was particularly surreal to watch the reenactment of the interrogation with Gypsy, since I watched the real thing so recently. It was very accurate, for sure. 

Spoiler

Watching Gypsy's friends reaction to seeing her walk reminded of the interview with Gypsy's dad who said that the first time he knew she could walk was when he saw the footage of her walking into court. He admits that his first reaction was, "That's wonderful! She can walk now!" until the ramifications of this set in. 

[QuinnInND]

6 hours ago, DangerousMinds said:

To be fair, Nick was a grown man so I'm not sure why it's so terrible that his mom wasn't providing every meal for him. I bet he got free rent.

Well since she said he had the mind of a 16 year old, and obviously had some delays, it's not surprising. He was still a teen mentally and probably not able to take care of himself. 

This show is awesome. I'm really enjoying it. 

[Melina22]

http://www.pajiba.com/netflix_movies_and_tv/how-the-act-reallife-dee-dee-blanchard-never-got-caught.php

Interesting article, although I'm not sure I agree with the author's speculation about the reason for Dee Dee's frumpiness. 

[meatball77]

In some ways I feel as bad for him as I do for her.  He was autistic, mentally impaired and probably easily manipulated and I think that Gypsy probably manipulated him into the murder.  Not that Gypsy was living in the real world either being severely abused and raised by a controlling manipulative parent who didn't allow her to experience real life.

[jammaker]

I feel so bad for both of them. Gypsy was so obviously abused for so long and felt she had no escape - but would she have even thought of violence if not for Nick's (Victor's) influence?  Would he have actually ever turned violent if not for his love of Gypsy/her influence?

The serial nature of the show also has me putting more blame on Gypsy than I would have just based on reading articles, etc, because I'm a week removed from Dee Dee's abuse as I'm watching Gypsy plan and lie and worry about seeing Star Wars. It was an interesting perspective shift for me this week, having to remind myself how she got to this point.

[jackjill89]

I wish we would have seen more of the time from when she first put Gypsy in that wheel chair to when she was a teen -- how the lies kept coming how she "made" her sick. While I've enjoyed this series, I feel like I have a lot of background knowledge on this and I would have liked the series to fill in more of the blanks of Dee Dee going from one disease to another with her and building this persona of being the "mother of the year."

[jammaker]

39 minutes ago, jackjill89 said:

I wish we would have seen more of the time from when she first put Gypsy in that wheel chair to when she was a teen -- how the lies kept coming how she "made" her sick. While I've enjoyed this series, I feel like I have a lot of background knowledge on this and I would have liked the series to fill in more of the blanks of Dee Dee going from one disease to another with her and building this persona of being the "mother of the year."

Same!

I have a medically complex kid. He's had a lot of surgeries, he had a feeding tube for a long time, we see a lot of doctors. (All totally legit, I swear.)  I'm utterly fascinated by how she pulled this off. How did she con so many doctors? How did she get it all paid for? Insurance requires so much documentation, and then still denies it half the time. I have so many questions!

I guess with Dee Dee dead though, there's only so much they can tell with some degree of fidelity to the real-life events. There's fictionalizing relatively known events, and then there's speculating on what may have come before.

[Nordly Beaumont]

1 hour ago, jackjill89 said:

I wish we would have seen more of the time from when she first put Gypsy in that wheel chair to when she was a teen -- how the lies kept coming how she "made" her sick. While I've enjoyed this series, I feel like I have a lot of background knowledge on this and I would have liked the series to fill in more of the blanks of Dee Dee going from one disease to another with her and building this persona of being the "mother of the year."

This hits the nail on the head for me. I'm fascinated by the story, but this series is leaving me cold (or at least lukewarm) and you articulated why. To see Dee Dee interact with doctors and benefactors other than her neighbor would have added a lot. Just Gypsy and Dee Dee hasn't been enough for me. And, while I'm sure she'll get an Emmy nod, I don't think Patricia Arquette sold the character. She seemed to be more into doing an accent (which Dee Dee didnt' seem to have) than portraying the terrible woman Dee Dee was.

[bmasters9]

6 hours ago, Nordly Beaumont said:

And, while I'm sure she'll get an Emmy nod, I don't think Patricia Arquette sold the character.

That's right on-- I think Joey did a better job selling Gypsy, than Patricia w/Dee Dee!

[mamadrama]

4 hours ago, bmasters9 said:

That's right on-- I think Joey did a better job selling Gypsy, than Patricia w/Dee Dee!

Patty did a great job with the role, but I don't think the role is Dee. Joey King is channeling Gypsy for sure, but there's something a little "off" with Dee's role. She's still fun to watch, though, and acting wise she's very good. 

[MilkMachine]

There doesn't seem to be a lot of readily-available video footage of Dee Dee. I've seen the doc twice (last time was a couple of weeks ago) and have scoured YouTube. I've seen some short videos of Gypsy and Dee Dee together, but most often with Gypsy doing the talking. To that end, it seems likely that Joey King had a lot more to work with because there's tons and tons of footage of Gypsy from both before and after the murder. It would make sense that Arquette's role is more interpretive.

[truebluesmoky]

In the show, the house gets messy and cluttered because Dee Dee’s diabetes is out of control and she doesn’t feel well enough to take care of it. But, if I recall correctly, the house really was messy and cluttered when the police found Dee Dee’s body in real life. Does anyone know what real life events caused Dee Dee to become lax with her housekeeping? For most of Gypsy’s life, she kept the house perfect as part of her perfect caretaker routine.

[Melina22]

12 minutes ago, truebluesmoky said:

For most of Gypsy’s life, she kept the house perfect as part of her perfect caretaker routine.

I didn't realize this, although they did show it in the show. Now I'm curious about it too. 

[Dakisela]

Was that the last episode?

[peachmangosteen]

3 hours ago, Dakisela said:

Was that the last episode?

There's one more.

[bmasters9]

7 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

There's one more.

Which I am very definitely looking forward to!

[Armchair Critic]

I just watched episode 4 and finally figured out where I knew the actor who is playing her boyfriend online, he played Dez on Austin & Ally a Disney Channel show. I already know what happens from reading about it and watching documentaries but am still finding the show interesting. Joey King is doing a great job and Patricia Arquette and Chloe Sevigny are good at playing offbeat characters.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

SEASON FINALE!

S1.E8: Free

Quote

Gypsy fights for her life by defending her actions, while Mel and Lacey realize that behind closed doors things were not always as they seemed.

Original air date: 5/1/19

[Armchair Critic]

They hit the jackpot with the actresses who play slightly crazy lower class moms with Chloe Sevigny and Juliette Lewis. Juliette Lewis made me laugh when she met Gyspy and said to her son "You found a chirpy one".

I was looking forward to seeing the neighbor's reaction when they found out Gypsy could walk.

Just watched the final episode and it didn't change the way I initially felt about the case. 

I still think Gypsy was abused and didn't see a way out without getting rid of Dee Dee. I still feel bad for Nick that he got life without parole because he is not right mentally and would not have done it without prompting from Gypsy.  Gypsy learned to be calculating from her mother and she needs good mental help and I don't think she is getting it in jail.

Edited May 1, 2019 by Armchair Critic
removed Spoiler tag

[bmasters9]

If Hulu moves to a second season of this series, will they go to a new case to dramatize?

[Melina22]

If they do, I'll watch. Clearly this kind of thing fascinates me, for whatever messed up reason. 

[kelslamu]

I wonder just how the pills Gypsy took helped her through the murder.  She seems to channel the "happy" Gypsy when things become overwhelming, but she's also popping a pill here and there.   I liken Gypsy to a hostage of sorts.  You live with someone long enough and hear how they are the ONLY one who will take care of you over and over, then that's gotta mess with your psyche.  

Spoiler

I don't know if this is a spoiler or not as I can't remember if it was in the series or a documentary.   DeeDee did make Gypsy aware that they would both be in trouble if people knew should could walk and such.  I believe she told her this close to Gypsy killing her.  Remember she had to sign the power of attorney so that Deedee could "protect" them both?  Of course, DeeDee was only protecting herself if Gypsy ever started talking she could declare her mentally incompetent and such.  I don't remember if in the show she was able to pull that off or not though.    

[kelslamu]

I was thinking there was one more episode.  Oh well, this last one kind of bored me anyway.

[Melina22]

Well, I just finished the last episode and I'm exhausted! Wow. 

I was so relieved they finally showed her father and he had a bit of time to explain the real story, although it was a rare case where the real person is better looking than the actor who portrayed him.

I found this series riveting, but I did find some of the scenes sort of contrived, like the scene in jail between Gypsy and the neighbour, or the last scene with Dee Dee talking about stars and angels. They didn't ring true to me as conversation real people would actually have. 

Other than that, though, it was a great series. If there were more episodes, with more detail, I'd keep watching. 

[Nordly Beaumont]

5 hours ago, Melina22 said:

it was a rare case where the real person is better looking than the actor who portrayed him.

Yeah, her real life daddy is hot!

To me, the story of Dee Dee and Gypsy is meat and potatoes and this series was a salad. If they get a second season, I'll probably still watch though. I didn't think it was bad at all. But I feel like it was a missed opportunity.

[Zima]

IMO, this series would have been so much better if it had focused much more on Dee Dee and Gypsy's lives in the past, even if the show-runners had to guess at how the events in their past transpired.  Dee Dee's Munchhausen by proxy, and Gypsy being a prisoner because of it, were more compelling to me than the murder/escape/prison parts of the story. 

[bmasters9]

23 hours ago, Melina22 said:

If they do, I'll watch. Clearly this kind of thing fascinates me, for whatever messed up reason. 

If they do indeed pick a new case, will they use the same people who were in this one (King, Arquette, et al.), or choose new ones?

[Melina22]

44 minutes ago, bmasters9 said:

they do indeed pick a new case, will they use the same people who were in this one (King, Arquette, et al.), or choose new ones?

My guess is they'll use all new cast, like they have in other true crime series. 

[angelamh66]

In the beginning I had all the sympathy in the world for Gypsy.  What an awful way to grow up and I could understand how she would feel like murdering her mother was the only way out.  However, after the last couple of episodes and seeing her interviewed in real life, it is clear to me that she is a huge manipulator as well.  It is probably all she knows, but people like that tend to not change.  It is sad really.  Her mother ruined her, but she is who she is now.

[Melina22]

13 minutes ago, angelamh66 said:

However, after the last couple of episodes and seeing her interviewed in real life, it is clear to me that she is a huge manipulator as well.  

That really stood out in her first police interview, and how easily she was able to feign shock and horror. As you said, she learned very young how to "pretend". 

It must have been a horrible shock to her to go from being the little sick girl everyone adored and babied and pampered (maybe not her mother, though) to having people say, in effect, "You're a liar and a murderer. We hate you." Suddenly, there was nothing she could do to win people over or make them give her presents or feel sorry for her. 

Even after all I've seen and heard, I still don't know how to assess her guilt. And I don't know if she can ever be a "normal" person. Maybe that's why this case is so fascinating. 

[EdnasEdibles]

I feel that Gypsy is a victim of her mother's crimes and then also a planner of her own crimes. I don't know that she would have been able to manipulate others to do this crime if she hadn't been a victim of her mother's for so long but still, she did do the crime. So I feel bad for her but not 100% bad. Like 60% bad. She had other options. They weren't great but she had some other things she could have done.

I loved the scene with the neighbor where she tried to be like "I need a mom now" and the neighbor was like "I'm not your mom, Gypsy. You're on your own." 

A friend who also watches this was texting with me last night and I was sending her links of other fascinating munchausen by proxy stories and I swear I could watch a whole show just about those stories. Law & Order M by P. Fascinating terrible stuff. 

[Zima]

15 minutes ago, EdnasEdibles said:

A friend who also watches this was texting with me last night and I was sending her links of other fascinating munchausen by proxy stories and I swear I could watch a whole show just about those stories. Law & Order M by P. Fascinating terrible stuff. 

I totally agree! 

[MonicaM]

My sympathy for Gypsy is limited.  Yes, she had a terrible mother who abused her mentally, emotionally and physically.  I could see how she would come to believe that Dee Dee's death was her only way out.  

However, Gypsy managed to manipulate a mentally and emotionally challenged young man to do the dirty work for her.  As her mother was murdered, Gypsy shaved her legs.  With her mother dead in the next room, Gypsy had sex and even made a video of it.  In her court appearances and interviews, I saw explanations of her behavior, but no remorse.  She learned a good false front, but I think she's almost as cold as Dee Dee behind that squeaky voice.

If she serves every single day, I guess the ten year sentence isn't too lenient.  However, her real life father is circulating a petition to get her out of prison sooner so she can get mental health treatment.  I agree she needs extensive treatment, but I'm not too eager for her to be back out in society.  

There was also a story recently that she's engaged and plans to marry as soon as she's released.  I guess we should just hope this relationship works out better than the last one did?  

[DangerousMinds]

2 hours ago, EdnasEdibles said:

I feel that Gypsy is a victim of her mother's crimes and then also a planner of her own crimes. I don't know that she would have been able to manipulate others to do this crime if she hadn't been a victim of her mother's for so long but still, she did do the crime. So I feel bad for her but not 100% bad. Like 60% bad. She had other options. They weren't great but she had some other things she could have done.

I loved the scene with the neighbor where she tried to be like "I need a mom now" and the neighbor was like "I'm not your mom, Gypsy. You're on your own." 

A friend who also watches this was texting with me last night and I was sending her links of other fascinating munchausen by proxy stories and I swear I could watch a whole show just about those stories. Law & Order M by P. Fascinating terrible stuff. 

Yes, it’s just so sad because Gypsy said in a jail interview that in retrospect, she wished she had called her dad. He could and would have helped her her out of the trapped situation with her mother. For whatever reason, she chose murder instead.

[Stiggs]

3 hours ago, EdnasEdibles said:

I feel that Gypsy is a victim of her mother's crimes and then also a planner of her own crimes. I don't know that she would have been able to manipulate others to do this crime if she hadn't been a victim of her mother's for so long but still, she did do the crime. So I feel bad for her but not 100% bad. Like 60% bad. She had other options. They weren't great but she had some other things she could have done.

I loved the scene with the neighbor where she tried to be like "I need a mom now" and the neighbor was like "I'm not your mom, Gypsy. You're on your own." 

A friend who also watches this was texting with me last night and I was sending her links of other fascinating munchausen by proxy stories and I swear I could watch a whole show just about those stories. Law & Order M by P. Fascinating terrible stuff. 

Love your name and your pic! Mrs. Garrett never goes out of style. 

I agree with you about Gypsy. I really feel for her, but she's guilty of a pretty heinous crime. I'm quite sure her version of what life was supposed to be like and what reality actually consists of was WAY skewed. She lived in fairy tales and love stories and absolutes. She had fantasies about being saved. She had no real clue. Even though she clearly had other ways out (like just standing up and walking out), she was basically kept prisoner and I can see why she thought killing her mom was the only way out—and it was also a very dramatic, movie-like thing to do. She just wasn't living far enough in reality. 

I think finding out that she was legally an adult, she was scared of getting in trouble for the schemes, so she had her boyfriend kill her mother so nobody would find out and she could live happily ever after in one of her wigs. It's all so fucked up. I have sympathy for her, but I'm not signing her hot dad's petition. I think her prison sentence is fair. Then again, had she stayed there, pretty sure Dee Dee would have killed her...

My mom is nuttier than a fruitcake and my sisters and I joke about how hard she tried M by P our whole lives and we were like, "no, we're fine," so it never quite took, lol. Our favorite mom diagnoses were scarlet fever, unintentional anorexia and the time she was convinced we all had a stomach parasite (we did not). She has always been an armchair doctor and psychologist and like, got excited when she heard one of us cough so she could ferry us off to the medical center. She actually did convince my doctor when I was 6 that I had asthma. (I have never had asthma and never used the inhaler) My mom told people for years I had asthma and I'd be like NO I DO NOT STOP LYING. We were never, ever isolated or told it was just us and Mom or anything like that, but when this series came out we were like MOM THIS COULD HAVE BEEN US and she's like, YOU HAD ASTHMA!!! Still sticking with her story, lol.  

[TheInstigation]

I don’t know if the creators did this on purpose, but in the last couple of episodes. I really came to despise Gypsy. She is just a crooked as her mom (although that’s no surprise considering her situation). I’m very confused as to why she kept denying that she killed her mom, and saying how great her mom is. If she was so great, then why did she kill her? I also think she’s a bitch for throwing Nick under the bus, and pleading her innocence throughout the whole thing. What I found amusing was how she finally got a taste of reality and what real life is like when nobody would kiss her ass and bend over backwards for her in prison. Lastly, I understand she was fed lies about her dad, but the way she’s portrayed to defend her mom against what he was saying makes me think that she’s seriously ill and delusional by saying how great her mom was. If she was so great, why did you kill her????

[Zima]

1 hour ago, TheInstigation said:

I don’t know if the creators did this on purpose, but in the last couple of episodes. I really came to despise Gypsy. She is just a crooked as her mom (although that’s no surprise considering her situation). I’m very confused as to why she kept denying that she killed her mom, and saying how great her mom is. If she was so great, then why did she kill her? I also think she’s a bitch for throwing Nick under the bus, and pleading her innocence throughout the whole thing. What I found amusing was how she finally got a taste of reality and what real life is like when nobody would kiss her ass and bend over backwards for her in prison. Lastly, I understand she was fed lies about her dad, but the way she’s portrayed to defend her mom against what he was saying makes me think that she’s seriously ill and delusional by saying how great her mom was. If she was so great, why did you kill her????

This mentality and behavior is very typical for victims of abuse. 

[Hellohappylife]

As shitty as gypsy mother was, I believe gypsy is just as guilty as Nick. Gypsy could have easily stopped nick during the stabbings before it got deadly to seek medical care. Yet gypsy did nothing. 

I think most people would want/ wish for  revenge & their abuser dead. The only difference is most people don’t react on those emotions with murder.

I can understand if she felt it was her only way out, but even so it doesn’t make murder okay. 

Gypsy could have easily just ran off to wisconsin (or any other state) that night while her mother slept. Even if deedee did find her Wisconsin, I find it hard to believe that Any out of state Officers/judge would force gypsy Who is an adult to go back to Missouri. About 70% of brutal murders are rage filled from someone close to the victim. 

They could have easily just drugged deedee with all those medications, suffocate her, burn down the house. Etc. 

Killing her Wasn’t about wanting her dead. It was about control, anger,revenge.