S01.E08: This Young Woman Fought Like Hell

[Door County Cherry]

Airs 1/13/2019

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John and Debra's relationship comes to a head in an unexpected way.

[MerBearStare]

I turned my head away when Terra started stabbing John because I'm squeamish and have a thing with eyes. The sound effects themselves were pretty gross.

Ronnie's "Even his organs sucked" made me laugh out loud. I've enjoyed this series, but I will not miss the vocal fries. Hopefully next season won't take place in SoCal.

[GracieK]

I kept feeling like the whole story was nothing more exciting than your standard Lifetime movie fare.. but man that stuff is usually all made up and this was even more intense than even the most outrageous Lifetime thriller... yikes! Debra pissed me off to the end.. still hanging on how happy he looked in their wedding photo and showing almost jealousy over his online dating. Of course one wouldn’t stand much of a chance with a mother like hers.

[Bluedog100]

I won't miss it, either. Even though I enjoyed it. The vocal fry, the whispery voice, the naivete and Jean Smart as Madea? Ten episodes is enough for me.

[QQQQ]

13 minutes ago, Bluedog100 said:

Ten episodes is enough for me.

I believe it was 8.

 

With the exception of the 3-minute attack scene, I thought the rest of the episode was quite boring. It felt like they were stretching to fill the hour. Maybe I was bored because Eric Bana barely spoke and wasn't "there" after the first 20 minutes to liven things up... His portrayal of John really made the show for me!

Edited January 14, 2019 by QQQQ

[Madding crowd]

I didn’t like this episode. I know the daughters talk like that in real life but it comes across as silly on a TV show. They also made the attack on Terra kind of cynical and comical rather than the horrific thing it was. In real life there was no question that Terra was fighting for her life and a fourteen year old witness saw what happened.

Here they had Terra tell the cop John was trying to take her mother away and they didn’t emphasize the self defense angle. Also Debra smiling and insisting Terra meet John’s sister while she was still in the hospital?

The earlier episodes gave off a sense of suspense and terror-this just came off like a bit of a joke with Veronica giggling about John’s organs and Debra sighing over the wedding picture.

[princelina]

1 minute ago, Madding crowd said:

I didn’t like this episode. I know the daughters talk like that in real life but it comes across as silly on a TV show. They also made the attack on Terra kind of cynical and comical rather than the horrific thing it was. In real life there was no question that Terra was fighting for her life and a fourteen year old witness saw what happened.

Here they had Terra tell the cop John was trying to take her mother away and they didn’t emphasize the self defense angle. Also Debra smiling and insisting Terra meet John’s sister while she was still in the hospital?

The earlier episodes gave off a sense of suspense and terror-this just came off like a bit of a joke with Veronica giggling about John’s organs and Debra sighing over the wedding picture.

I felt like Debra was insisting that Denice meet Terra in the hospital to reassure her that is was okay that she had killed her brother, and I thought Denice responded in kind.  But it bothered me that not one person - family, police, hospital- ever ever said to her "It's not your fault - you did what you had to do."

[Madding crowd]

I don’t think it would ever be ok to put a relative of a person who tried to kill you in your hospital room while you were still recovering from the attack. And Debra was way more smiley than I would be if my deadbeat husband tried to kill my child. I never got the idea that Debra was horrified at what happened to her daughter. 

[CaliCheeseSucks]

I thought this would be much more intense, moving climax but it just made me mad all over again at Debra. Everything she exposed her daughters to and she is there smiling awkwardly at the sister and reflecting wistfully at the end? No.

[absolutelyido]

20 minutes ago, Madding crowd said:

I don’t think it would ever be ok to put a relative of a person who tried to kill you in your hospital room while you were still recovering from the attack. And Debra was way more smiley than I would be if my deadbeat husband tried to kill my child. I never got the idea that Debra was horrified at what happened to her daughter. 

Plus, Debra didn't really know anything about John's sister. What if she was a manipulative psycho just like John was. Just another example of Debra being too trusting. 

[Joimiaroxeu]

OMG, I knew it was coming and it was still shocking to see. If anything about the attack was lucky it was that it happened in broad daylight and there was a witness.

So was John planning to kill Terra and bury her in the desert? Why, other than he was a murderous psycho?

"Doesn't he look happy?" Ugh, after everything that had happened Debra was still acting like John had been "normal" and gee, if only she could figure out what went wrong with him, gosh darnit.

At the end when Debra was looking at her family enjoying themselves like something terrible hadn't just happened, I felt like she was telling herself, "Well, that wasn't so bad, we're all just fine." I could see her getting taken in again by some guy though he'd have to use some different tricks than the ones John used.

[Quilt Fairy]

1 hour ago, MerBearStare said:

I turned my head away when Terra started stabbing John because I'm squeamish and have a thing with eyes. The sound effects themselves were pretty gross.

I did, too, although I was hoping they wouldn't show the knife in eye.  But I opened my eyes just in time to see it. 

[HunterHunted]

50 minutes ago, princelina said:

I felt like Debra was insisting that Denice meet Terra in the hospital to reassure her that is was okay that she had killed her brother, and I thought Denice responded in kind.  But it bothered me that not one person - family, police, hospital- ever ever said to her "It's not your fault - you did what you had to do."

I remembered in the podcast, one of John's sisters said something along the lines of what you wrote. I was able to find a news report from back then and it's way more screwed up than that. His sister brought Terra flowers and said "You did a good thing." Yikes. That just shows what his blood relatives thought of him at the end.

http://www.newser.com/story/249779/how-the-story-ends-dirty-john-goes-to-hell.html

This was sort of a boring episode, but it reaffirmed what a fucking dumbass Debra was. When Veronica revealed that John had a bunch of profiles on dating sites, Debra sadly replied "He's dating already?" How many times did she need to be confronted with evidence that the man was a grifter who never loved her? She was acting like it was a normal break up. "He's already moved on from me?" LMFTFY "He's already moved on from me my money, my stuff, and my lifestyle?" Because he sure as shit didn't care about Debra.

And frankly Debra didn't really care about him all that much either. That's why she was asking if he looked happy in their wedding photo. Someone who loves another actually pays attention to what is happening with the one they love. It's the reason Veronica continues to investigate John even though she was estranged from Debra. It's the reason Veronica sits outside of Terra's apartment. Unfortunately, Debra was more in love with the idea of being loved, wanted, and desired that she ignored the very obvious warning signs and estrangement from her family. 

Edited January 14, 2019 by HunterHunted

[Lady of nod]

I'm sorry, but this show was really disappointing to me. I liked the first episode all right but it went downhill after that. It was too long. Much of it was boring. I thought the acting sucked (except for Eric Bana). I don't get all the Connie Britton love - God that voice and puppy dog looks. I thought the podcast was great - as said upthread - this was a Lifetime movie.

Watching the Real Dirty John (not sure of title) on oxygen now. Much better.

Did enjoy watching Terra stab that bastard though. 

[princelina]

58 minutes ago, Madding crowd said:

I don’t think it would ever be ok to put a relative of a person who tried to kill you in your hospital room while you were still recovering from the attack. And Debra was way more smiley than I would be if my deadbeat husband tried to kill my child. I never got the idea that Debra was horrified at what happened to her daughter. 

I'm not arguing with any of this - but it still seemed to me that Debra wanted her daughter to see that she hadn't actually hurt his family.  Is Debra a sane and reasonable person?  Is that something normal people would do?  I don't think Debra herself is normal - I'm just looking at what seem to be her motives.

[Dance4Life]

Gosh, I hated this show!  With so much technology now....how can someone be so naive?  This woman can afford private detectives, bodyguards, etc.

 

The older daughter....tried way more than her own mother. Sold her own bag.....while mom had $100,000s in the bank and cash. WTF???

 

After he burned her car....she still went out of town and left the young vulnerable girls alone.  Then allowed the youngest one to go to a desert festival where John could get to her.

 

Each episode became cheesier and cheesier! 

 

Why was she lusting after John and his shitty trailer while her young daughter is at home traumatized??? Why didn’t she call a lawyer to protect her daughter?  Cops asking that child questions and shit!

 

The only thing she did right was not make the decision on pulling the plug. That could get her sue.  

WTF? 

[TomGirl]

1 hour ago, QQQQ said:

1 hour ago, Bluedog100 said:

Ten episodes is enough for me.

I believe it was 8.

Well, it felt like ten.  At least!

[emcmac87]

So I’ve been waiting to watch this, but have read episode synopsis so I decided to see how they dealt with this final, horrible conclusion. And they did awful. I knew about this before the podcast, but this did a  disservice to the real life human beings still dealing with this. Terra has severe PTSD. Multiple people heard and saw what was happening in the parking garage and ignored it, besides the one teen girl who came down with the towel. And there was no cute Uber driver ever involved obviously. 

 

I didn’t watch the last 15 min cuz I knew it would just piss me off. Debra Newell was recently on WWHL talking about the romance of her relationship with him. But her mother also chose to defend the man who murdered her daughter(Debra’s sister) so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised 

ETA: So I saw that Terra did promotion etc for this. Honestly don’t blame her, cuz get that money however you can. She wasn’t able to return to her job she loved, or her future career because of PTSD involving everything that happened. No judgment and her sister got a really lucky edit considering how she knew John was shady. 

Edited January 14, 2019 by emcmac87
Adding info

[CaliCheeseSucks]

33 minutes ago, emcmac87 said:

ETA: So I saw that Terra did promotion etc for this. Honestly don’t blame her, cuz get that money however you can. She wasn’t able to return to her job she loved, or her future career because of PTSD involving everything that happened. No judgment and her sister got a really lucky edit considering how she knew John was shady. 

Hopefully, she'll be able to return to working with animals, maybe in a way that helps match people to support animals - which might be both fulfilling and healing to her. She didn't survive that attack by chance; she is truly resilient and found inner strength to save herself when almost no one (but a brave teenager) was willing to help. I came off thinking very highly of the daughters (vocal fry be damned) and very, very little of Debra.

[newyawk]

That expression on John's face when he fumbled the knife and lost it was THE BEST.  But that EYEBALL stab?  My God. I had to Google that to see if that really happened and apparently it did. GO, TERRA GO.  I can't imagine ever nopt having nightmares again after having to do something like that. 

 

Had I not read some articles about it beforehand, and had this just been a TV movie, I would have thought Veronica would have been the one to do the deed. 

 

How could they have let that lady cop question Terra without a lawyer present and before her mother even got there? The hospital staff shouldn't have let a cop anywhere near her at that point.

[DrivingSideways]

This was beyond cheesy, sub-Lifetime level viewing.  Wouldn't have believed it if it wasn't true.  But this episode in particularly was incredibly corny in the pacing, filming, acting, all of it. 

Oh, and I strongly dislike Debra Newell.  Seeing the resolution of this story, and then remembering her giggling behind the bar on Andy Cohen's cheesy talk show?   Awful.  I hope she has put herself on a moratorium from dating ever again, because her instincts cannot be trusted.

When Debra heard that John was still on dating sites, I couldn't help but wonder if she got a pang of jealousy.  She was probably about to run back into his arms.  Also, why didn't she tell the doctors to unplug John?  She couldn't even end it at that point.

Not sure why I'm having such an intensely negative reaction to this show.  But it really took my less than flattering opinion of Debra and dropped it way lower than expected.

I enjoyed Debra overhearing what an idiot she was in the bathroom at the end, although I would have preferred the attorneys to use stronger language to describe how less than smart she is.  And I kept waiting for Jean Smart to suggest they all take flowers to John's grave, right after she completely absolved Debra of any blame in the situation.

Edited January 14, 2019 by DrivingSideways

[newyawk]

After everything that happened, this episode really sped by, bam-bam-bam. 

 

Too bad it's over. It was nice to have something to really get into.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Even though Veronica's demanding and self centered attitude has bothered me most of the time, I loved that she commandeered the Lyft driver into following John and then checking the garage at Terra's apartment.

[lucindabelle]

Huh. I didn’t think she sounded wistful or jealous looking at the wedding picture or online dating.

re the dating I thought she was shocked and worried about other women being hurt- which ties in to the end.

with the picture I think she was trying to puzzle out how she could have been so fooled. Having the cop validate that yes he looked that way helped. He was GOOD at this.

i found it riveting. Shocked that he would try to stab her in broad daylight.

thanks fo those who point out that DJ had a sadistic streak: a golddigger who was primarily a golddigger had it good with Debra, all he had to do was nothing to be taken care of. 

I was mad about the cop questioning her too and thinking she seemed guilty but 1) though she seems young, we know she’s in college so over 18 2) I figured that as soon as they began investigating they’d find out about the burned car the stalking of other women restraining orders etc. it would be an unwinnable case at best. 

[Tabbygirl521]

4 hours ago, Bluedog100 said:

I won't miss it, either. Even though I enjoyed it. The vocal fry, the whispery voice, the naivete and Jean Smart as Madea? Ten episodes is enough for me.

I am dying here...

[QQQQ]

2 hours ago, lucindabelle said:

was mad about the cop questioning her too and thinking she seemed guilty but 1) though she seems young, we know she’s in college so over 18

She was 25. Throughout the show, I kept thinking she was around 14! 

Edited January 14, 2019 by QQQQ

[walnutqueen]

4 minutes ago, QQQQ said:

She was 25.

And alive.

[movingtargetgal]

When the doctor asked her if she wanted to take the bastard off life support, I couldn't believe she said no.  I get that she did not want to get into trouble but he tried to murder her daughter.  I don't think I could ever be that compassionate or smart.  If my rotten stalker of an ex harmed anyone I love especially one of my children, they would not have to ask me twice to take him off life support.  I would ask which button do I push or which plug to pull and I would volunteer to do the job myself.  ;)  

[HunterHunted]

12 hours ago, newyawk said:

How could they have let that lady cop question Terra without a lawyer present and before her mother even got there? The hospital staff shouldn't have let a cop anywhere near her at that point.

10 hours ago, lucindabelle said:

I was mad about the cop questioning her too and thinking she seemed guilty but 1) though she seems young, we know she’s in college so over 18 2) I figured that as soon as they began investigating they’d find out about the burned car the stalking of other women restraining orders etc. it would be an unwinnable case at best. 

 

Most people think that every time the police question a person, the police must give the person a Miranda warning. That's not true. The police have to give a Miranda warning if the individual is in police custody. One of the key aspects of determining whether or not Tara had been in custody is whether Tara felt to free to leave after the police questioned her. Considering that she was discharged from the hospital the next day, Tara was probably not in custody. However, the fact that the police barred Debra and Veronica from the room suggests that Tara could make a decent argument in court that she might have thought she was in custody and her statements should be excluded assuming the police failed to give the warning.

Most importantly even if both parties agree that it was a custodial interrogation and she was given a Miranda warning, an attorney only has to be present if the suspect invokes their right to have an attorney present. Many people get the warning and NEVER ask to have an attorney present during questioning.

Additionally, the police had no knowledge about whether what occurred was a crime. Yes, John was near death, but they had no understanding of the circumstances that precipitated it. Was it self-defense? Was Tara mentally ill and delusional? That's why the investigator was asking her about whether she thought the zombie apocalypse was real. Later after questioning witnesses and relevant parties, doing an investigation, and performing an autopsy, we see the DA inform Tara and Debra that no crime was committed.

Finally, the hospital can only bar the police from a patient's room if it could be dangerous to the health and safety of the patient, other patients, the staff, or the police. Even then, those bars tend to only be temporary. For example if the patient was so mentally unstable that the police aren't going to get anything useful from the patient and the questioning might further destabilize the patient, the patient is so immuno-compromised that allowing the police to enter without masks, gloves, and clean suits was going to introduce something fatal, or the patient was sick with  something so infectious and deadly that it would spread and cause a pandemic (these are obviously extreme examples).

So the police didn't know what happened, they weren't sure if Tara's actions were a crime, she wasn't in custody, and she never asked go have her lawyer present.

6 hours ago, movingtargetgal said:

When the doctor asked her if she wanted to take the bastard off life support, I couldn't believe she said no.  I get that she did not want to get into trouble but he tried to murder her daughter.  I don't think I could ever be that compassionate or smart.  If my rotten stalker of an ex harmed anyone I love especially one of my children, they would not have to ask me twice to take him off life support.  I would ask which button do I push or which plug to pull and I would volunteer to do the job myself.  ;)  

I don't think Deb said no because she didn't want to get into trouble. I think she said no because her head was too mixed up to thimk about the decision rationally or compassionately. She didn't have the emotional distance.

Edited January 14, 2019 by HunterHunted

[preeya]

I watched Dr. Phil last week. Debra's description of the stabbings was very different from what was portrayed in the series.

She also mentioned that Tara is currently suffering from PTSD.

 

ETA: Actually, she did NOT seem as ditzy as the Bravo series made her out to be.

Edited January 14, 2019 by preeya

[Vivigirl10]

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And Debra was way more smiley than I would be if my deadbeat husband tried to kill my child. I never got the idea that Debra was horrified at what happened to her daughter. 

My hatred of Debra was just solidified and amplified at the end.  She is lucky she has such forgiving daughters (and family).  I think both girls would be rightly justified to never speak to their idiot Mother again.  

I know it's by nature that a series like this can't go into every little detail.  But I was often left wondering, for those who didn't listen to the podcast before, if John's horrors were truly understood.  It seems they glossed over much of what he did to Debra until it was just suddenly, boom, he's a dangerous grifter!  Even the final scene with Terra seemed lackluster.  And one of the most compelling parts of it was the teenager, fresh from her lifeguarding class, who ran to her aid when no one else would.  You'd have no idea of that whole piece from the show.    

[TattleTeeny]

 

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After he burned her car....she still went out of town and left the young vulnerable girls alone.  Then allowed the youngest one to go to a desert festival where John could get to her.

Why was she lusting after John and his shitty trailer while her young daughter is at home traumatized??? Why didn’t she call a lawyer to protect her daughter?  Cops asking that child questions and shit!

Well, I can't say that I would be eager to leave town in the middle of all this, but both daughters were adults. And I'd guess that Terra would have been better off had she been at the desert thing; it would be really hard to find someone at a festival, much less stab her to death with no witnesses. 

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The only thing she did right was not make the decision on pulling the plug. That could get her sue.  

WTF? 

Sued by whom? I would have said to pull it before they even finished asking the question. 

Edited January 14, 2019 by TattleTeeny

[Adiba]

As terrible as it sounds to wish death to someone, I was glad John got his in the end. I was thinking if he survived, he would do all he could with his con man ways and lawyers to claim he hadn’t meant to try to kill/kidnap Terra and make up some outlandish scenario that he could get someone to believe.

I agree with others that this episode was not very good— it dragged until the ending. The whole series was too long, imo. 

I looked up the real Debra, and on a shallow note, it was her speech with the sibilant  “s” sound that I found distracting, although that could haven been due to the recording.

Edited January 14, 2019 by Adiba
spelling

[Madding crowd]

46 minutes ago, HunterHunted said:

Most people think that every time the police question a person, the police must give the person a Miranda warning. That's not true. The police have to give a Miranda warning if the individual is in police custody. One of the key aspects of determining whether or not Tara had been in custody is whether Tara felt to free to leave after the police questioned her. Considering that she was discharged from the hospital the next day, Tara was probably not in custody. However, the fact that the police barred Debra and Veronica from the room suggests that Tara could make a decent argument in court that she might have thought she was in custody and her statements should be excluded assuming the police failed to give the warning.

Most importantly even if both parties agree that it was a custodial interrogation and she was given a Miranda warning, an attorney only has to be present if the suspect invokes their right to have an attorney present. Many people get the warning and NEVER ask to have an attorney present during questioning.

Additionally, the police had no knowledge about whether what occurred was a crime. Yes, John was near death, but they had no understanding of the circumstances that precipitated it. Was it self-defense? Was Tara mentally ill and delusional? That's why the investigator was asking her about whether she thought the zombie apocalypse was real. Later after questioning witnesses and relevant parties, doing an investigation, and performing an autopsy, we see the DA inform Tara and Debra that no crime was committed.

Finally, the hospital can only bar the police from a patient's room if it could be dangerous to the health and safety of the patient, other patients, the staff, or the police. Even then, those bars tend to only be temporary. For example if the patient was so mentally unstable that the police aren't going to get anything useful from the patient and the questioning might further destabilize the patient, the patient is so immuno-compromised that allowing the police to enter without masks, gloves, and clean suits was going to introduce something fatal, or the patient was sick with  something so infectious and deadly that it would spread and cause a pandemic (these are obviously extreme examples).

So the police didn't know what happened, they weren't sure if Tara's actions were a crime, she wasn't in custody, and she never asked go have her lawyer present.

I don't think Deb said no because age didn't want to get into trouble. I think she said no because her head was too mixed up to thimk about the decision rationally or compassionately. She didn't have the emotional distance.

My husband is a police officer so I know how this works. However this was a fictionalized TV show and they were telling the story of Dirty John. No fiction show will be 100% accurate and they will not show every detail. Most people will expect to be entertained but also for the story to make sense and be relatively accurate.

In real life there was a witness on the scene who immediately verified Terra was fighting for her life. While the police did need to ask questions, they never suspected her of anything than self defense and I don’t think the show portrayed it that way. They also condensed the time frames giving the impression the police questioned her the moment she arrived at the hospital when again this wasn’t the case. I don’t think people here are ignorant about how the law works as much as frustrated as to how this episode was structured. 

As far as Debra not wanting to be responsible to discontinue life support, I can see why she wouldn’t want to be in that position. Her daughter just attacked the man who was trying to kill her and it would look like revenge for Debra to pull the plug and it also implies a family relationship she no longer felt.

[Ohwell]

I decided to stick with this until the end but I'm so glad that this nightmare of a show is over.

*blink blink staring into the distance like Debra*

[teddysmom]

58 minutes ago, preeya said:

watched Dr. Phil last week. Debra's description of the stabbings was very different from what was portrayed in the series.

The podcast described it almost exactly as it was portrayed. 

Considering how Debra behaved throughout I don't know what protection she would be for the daughters.  

[Duke2801]

11 hours ago, MerBearStare said:

I turned my head away when Terra started stabbing John because I'm squeamish and have a thing with eyes. The sound effects themselves were pretty gross.

Ronnie's "Even his organs sucked" made me laugh out loud. I've enjoyed this series, but I will not miss the vocal fries. Hopefully next season won't take place in SoCal.

There's a second season in the works?  I assume it will focus on another true crime story? 

[EdnasEdibles]

I had listened to the podcast so I was spoiled with how John died but I thought that the actual portrayal of the attack on this show was really terrible and boring. They could have made it more interesting. In reality I think she stabbed John 13 times and on this it was like twice. And yes, like others had mentioned, a teenager had overheard and ran to see if she was OK. And I can't find any evidence of it online but I'm pretty sure Terra's injuries were more severe than they showed. 

I like Connie as an actress but the choices she made for Debra were weird. Her breathy voice and then even the "Honey, what's wrong?" calm and drugged out response when her daughter calls screaming that she killed her husband. And the show made it look like Debra visited John before she visited her daughter. WTF if that's true. Come on, Debra! 

[gotta watch]

I hadn't listened to the podcast, so I was completely unspoiled when this series started. Then I came here and accidentally clicked on a spoiler bar! It said "John attacks Terra & she shoots him in self defense." I WAS SO SAD I KNEW HOW IT ENDED. Color me shocked when I actually watched the episode and that's not how it ends. Lol. 
For all the concern & talk about what a terrible role model Debra is, I'm glad and relieved BOTH her girls are way stronger and more capable than she is. Kudos to Ronnie and Terra (and whatever Ronnie's real life name is.)

[MerBearHou]

1 hour ago, Ohwell said:

I decided to stick with this until the end but I'm so glad that this nightmare of a show is over.

*blink blink staring into the distance like Debra*

I feel the same way.  I don't want to spend one more minute in the presence of Debra and John.  For different reasons obviously, I loathed both of them. 

[preeya]

1 hour ago, EdnasEdibles said:

And I can't find any evidence of it online but I'm pretty sure Terra's injuries were more severe than they showed. 

I saw Debra on Dr. Phil's show and yes, she did describe Terra's wounds as more severe than was shown. She (Debra) said DJ wounded her four times and tried to stab her left eye. He missed and wounded her on the left side of her forehead. This was not shown in the stabbing scene.

Edited January 14, 2019 by preeya

[DrivingSideways]

What was with the scene of Terra's boss (?) questioning her about her weekend activities?  Was she set up to do that by DJ?  Did I blink and miss something?  It seemed disconnected from the rest of the show.

Terra is EXTREMELY lucky.  She's lucky John attacked her in broad daylight, she's lucky she had the dog helping her (from what was on the show, that dog saved her life, not sure if it was fictionalized).

I think whoever wrote this script just rushed this last episode.  Roni and Terra both sounded insane and incoherent... with Terra it could definitely be forgiven, but Roni was so extremely rude to her Uber driver, and then sounded like a crazy person at the end rattling off a list of names and trying to enter a building that for all the driver knew, could be a stranger.  And what kind of power move was it when she jumps into the Uber and talks for about ten minutes in her horrible voice about how she doesn't want to be spoken to?  First of all - shut up, and don't flatter yourself; second of all - I have to admire her delusion to order everyone around as if she's a captain of industry or Miranda Priestly, when she is... not.

I hate to trash the victims, but Debra's assault on her family only continued when she immediately called the LA Times - she opened up her family to ridicule and questioning.  I get an uncomfortable famewhore vibes from her.  Glad to be done with this story.

[TattleTeeny]

2 hours ago, EdnasEdibles said:

They could have made it more interesting. In reality I think she stabbed John 13 times and on this it was like twice. And yes, like others had mentioned, a teenager had overheard and ran to see if she was OK.

I swear that I saw her repeatedly stabbing him in the back as his body was on top of hers and also someone running out to her with a towel or blanket. Am I nuts?

Quote

What was with the scene of Terra's boss (?) questioning her about her weekend activities?  Was she set up to do that by DJ?  Did I blink and miss something?  It seemed disconnected from the rest of the show.

I could be wrong but I took it as a just a clunky way to remind us what Terra's schedule was supposed to be, and then show us why she didn't keep to it (which would have kept her safe, probably) -- because she forgot her bag. 

Edited January 14, 2019 by TattleTeeny

[Dance4Life]

Wait?  So, the girl that killed John was supposed to be 25?

 

I am so confused. Quite frankly don’t care to look up the true story.

 

I love true crime...but, not giving this one any attention.

 

I think it is because Vicky from Real Housewives of OC attached herself to this story.  Vicky was no victim!  She pulled a cancer scam with Crooks!

[Barb23]

12 hours ago, Madding crowd said:

I don’t think it would ever be ok to put a relative of a person who tried to kill you in your hospital room while you were still recovering from the attack. And Debra was way more smiley than I would be if my deadbeat husband tried to kill my child. I never got the idea that Debra was horrified at what happened to her daughter. 

Debra acted all giggly when she met Denise like she was meeting a long lost friend & they were making a date for coffee.  If it was me, I would have still been in shock over everything & probably would have been in the bathroom throwing up. Forget the niceties at a time like this.

Then Debra didn't even have the courtesy to check with Kera if she wanted to see Denise right then & there.  She just walked her in her room like "Surprise,  look who I found."

[teddysmom]

51 minutes ago, EdnasEdibles said:

In reality I think she stabbed John 13 times and on this it was like twice.

She stabbed him at least 5 times in the back on the show, got him in the stomach, and then went for the eyes. 

[DrivingSideways]

1 minute ago, Barb23 said:

Debra acted all giggly when she met Denise like she was meeting a long lost friend & they were making a date for coffee.  If it was me, I would have still been in shock over everything & probably would have been in the bathroom throwing up. Forget the niceties at a time like this.

Then Debra didn't even have the courtesy to check with Kera if she wanted to see Denise right then & there.  She just walked her in her room like "Surprise,  look who I found."

Thank you!  This enraged me too!  Your daughter just barely survived an attack by a grown ass man, and has KILLED SOMEONE.  Can you give her a minute to breathe, you selfish bitch?

Does the hospital really allow the dog to stay with her?  Because I thought that was awesome.  Terra and the dog are the only ones I don't despise on this show.  

[TexasGal]

9 minutes ago, DrivingSideways said:

What was with the scene of Terra's boss (?) questioning her about her weekend activities?  Was she set up to do that by DJ?  Did I blink and miss something?  It seemed disconnected from the rest of the show.

 

Not sure if we still have to spoiler things from the podcast, so I'll be safe rather than sorry.  :)

Spoiler

IRL, DJ was trying to track Terra's schedule by calling her work and claiming he wanted to schedule a dog for grooming by her. I assume they were trying to show us that but it failed in the editing. 

 

[BusyOctober]

Glad this is over.  The mind blowing dumbness, the baby voices, the vocal fry, the entitled bitchiness frayed my last nerve.  The daughters were legal adults but I can understand why some viewers may have thought they were teens.  The older one acted like a “Clueless” and “Mean Girl” 17 year old.  Her bitchy way of speaking to everyone is atrocious.  Nasty attitude with anyone she deems “lower” than she is??? What was that whole Lyft scene (after the car chase) supposed to be...”meet cute” rom-com trope?  The younger one spoke like a 3 year old and had the IQ to match.  Talking about killing zombies???  If this is an accurate portrayal of the daughters, then Debra is to blame for more than her own stupidity.

And Debra’s meet up with Denice in the hospital hallway... Debra acted like she was meeting someone at a conference or in line waiting to get a drink.  She was all, “la-la...so nice to meet you!  Come and meet my mentally fragile, traumatized and wounded daughter!  She’ll really want to meet you! You know, cuz she’s the one who stabbed your estranged brother in the eyeball...you guys probably have a lot in common!”  

THEN Debra goes to John’s RV and is <<baby breathlessly ah-mazed>> by how John was living.  She picks up the wedding picture is STILL wistful about how happy John looked on their wedding day!! She is still convinced she and John had some good times!!! 

I can’t even with the scenes at Debra mom’s house....GAHHHH!  More mealy mouthed jibbering about “love” being an excuse for behaving recklessly & marrying (for the FIFTH time). More mousy asking for and receiving “forgiveness”...the idiot mother forgave her SIL for murdering her daughter, for chrissake. 

After watching this, I have decided that people like Debra are why living things had to evolve with involuntary reflexes.  Some people are too stupid to breathe.

[Dance4Life]

2 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

 

Well, I can't say that I would be eager to leave town in the middle of all this, but both daughters were adults. And I'd guess that Terra would have been better off had she been at the desert thing; it would be really hard to find someone at a festival, much less stab her to death with no witnesses. 

Sued by whom? I would have said to pull it before they even finished asking the question. 

My point about the festival is that the Mother cannot track her own daughter and keep her safe.

If there is drinking, drugging, partying it would lower her sense of security.  The festival sounds like a Coachella type. 

(I am sure the true story tells yah). 

 

 

A good lawyer can turn this around and say that Debra pulled the plug because she didn’t want to pay for him or be out any more money in the divorce.  She didn’t give his family a chance to say good-bye, etc.

 

You have to remember Debra invited most of this into her life. She failed to hire personal security.....which she could easily afford. Instead, bought a wig for herself but not the girls!

 

 Her divorce was going to be messy and expensive.

I believe John has children who can legally inherit his divorce settlement, etc.  Even the sister can go after her. 

 

This is how it works in my state.  You have to remember there is no room in the law for.....’eye for an eye.’  

(No pun intended)

 

This is the only compliment she gets from me.  She did the right thing by not involving herself in ‘his ultimate death.’