‘Making A Murderer Part 2’ Review: As Gripping As Ever, With A Few Major Changes - HuffPost Verdict

K E Y   P O I N T S

• ‘Making A Murderer Part 2’ is the second instalment of the documentary centring around Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey, who are both serving life sentences for the murder of Teresa Halbach
• Like ‘Part 1’, Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos co-directed all 10 episodes of the new documentary
• The show opens with a montage revealing how all of the key figures have dealt with the attention the first run of ‘Making A Murderer’ has brought them, the accused, the families and the advocates
• We’re reintroduced to Brendan’s legal team, as well as new attorney Katherine Zellner
• While Part 1 was filmed over 10 years, ‘Part 2’ takes place over a period running from 2016 to 2018

S N A P   V E R D I C T

This review is based on the first four episodes

Before ‘Part 2’ of ‘Making A Murderer’ debuted on Netflix, director Lauren Ricciardi told HuffPost UK that when she and co-director Moira Demos picked up Steven Avery’s story once again, in 2016, it was immediately apparent the characters were living in a “changed world”.

 

There are two major differences: the first, most obvious one, is the fact that the accused, Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey, have now been convicted, and at the beginning of the new series, are already almost a decade into their life sentences. The other, is that the mammoth success of the first series has made this one of the most talked-about murder cases not just in Manitowoc county, Missouri, or in America, but across the world.

 

This attention has its pros and cons. When we’re first reintroduced to the always-loyal Avery family, at their same home in Manitowoc, they’re no longer the social pariahs we met in ‘Part 1’. In fact, they are now receiving countless letters from supporters all over the globe, who believe in Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey’s innocence, after their stories were brought to light, and want to see their convictions overturned.

 

But on the other hand, documentarians Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos go out of their way to remind us that while Avery’s profile has skyrocketed, at the centre of this story is Teresa Halbach, a young woman whose life was taken in 2005, and whose family is still grieving the loss. In ‘Making A Murderer Part 2’, we see not just her family’s unrest at the documentary’s announcement (a title card at the end of each episode explains they declined to be interviewed), but also members of the community who are upset that Teresa’s murder is once again being called into question. “There’s a whole world that’s looking at the wrong side of the story,” laments one young woman, running a race in Wisconsin in Teresa’s memory, at a time when it looked as though Dassey was about to be released.

 

Time is also spent on Steven Avery’s love life. In the space of four episodes, he’s bombarded with letters from women who have seen his story play out thanks to the hit Netflix series, and whose photos he says have adorned the walls of his prison cell. In that time, he also gets engaged not once but twice, the second of which ends badly when he winds up being put through to talk to his fiancée live on ‘Dr Phil’, seemingly without having been aware beforehand.

 

So, not only is ‘Making A Murderer Part 2’ about a man incarcerated and protesting his innocence, it’s also about a man who has somehow found himself an unlikely celebrity, thanks to a documentary he’s never even been able to watch.

 

‘Part 1’ caught the eye of Kathleen Zellner, a lawyer who has helped overturn the false convictions of 19 prisoners, (more than any other attorney in America). She agreed to help fight for Avery’s freedom shortly after his story was turned into the documentary. Zellner is the most prominent new figure, and she’s definitely the scene-stealer of ‘Part 2’. From the moment she’s first on screen, perfectly-manicured and bejewelled, it’s clear she means business, and whether or not you believe in Steven Avery’s innocence, Zellner’s apparent faith in her client is compelling to watch.

 

But she has a markedly different approach to overturning her client’s conviction to Dassey’s legal team. While she is searching for new evidence to try and kickstart the campaign for Avery’s freedom, Dassey’s team (who we met briefly in the last episode of ‘Part 1’, but make up a lot of the action in the follow-up) are taking his case to a federal level, and using his confession - which Dassey has always maintained is not accurate - as the main basis of their argument. It’s interesting to compare these two contrasting strategies, and switching between two different teams handling the post-conviction cases of two men imprisoned for the same murder in two completely different ways makes for a strong narrative.

 

The trouble as a viewer is that Zellner’s approach is much more hands-on. We see her recreating parts of the murder to try and disprove certain things and getting stuck in on location, while much of Dassey’s defence requires much more explanation of legal teams. It’s all important information in terms of following the story, but by the same token, it can sometimes veer into information overload, and (as cruel as a thought this may be when a potentially innocent man’s freedom is hanging in the balance) there are times when a switch to Zellner looking into Avery’s case can come as a relief. Anyone who felt ‘Part 1’ was a little on the more slow-moving side will struggle with this in particular.

 

Indeed, another major difference between parts 1 and 2 was that when the first series was released, the premise was that two men were in prison, and we were being taken on the journey as to how they wound up there, ending with their incarceration. However, with these 10 new episodes, the future of Avery and Dassey is much less certain. This does have its advantages, so we get the sense we’re on the frustrating journeys with the accused and their families thanks to this lack of clarity, but there’s also a feeling of not really knowing what we’re working towards. But then again, maybe that’s the intention too.

B E S T   L I N E S

T A K E   H O M E   M E S S A G E

Even in its slower moments, the Steven Avery story remains just as gripping in ‘Making A Murderer Part 2’, with just as many twists and turns, and just as little indication of what’s going to happen next.

T R A I L E R

‘Making A Murderer Part 2’ is streaming now on Netflix.