Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story – Episode 5 Recap & Review

The Hurt Man

Episode 5 of Monsters: Lyle and Erik Menendez Story begins with Erik talking to Leslie while in prison. Tony seems to have gone, out of nowhere, so he’s been feeling alone. Leslie smokes, and it’s a habit that Jose used to have too.

Leslie reinforces that despite their love for Jose, the man is still a monster. She also brings up how Lyle mentioned last episode that Erik’s abuse was worse than his. Erik agrees and reveals in detail exactly what happened.

Erik was always afraid of his father and looked at Lyle as his protector, even when he was abusing him. This is something Erik is quick to shrug off and claims he wasn’t.

Erik tried running away but that just doesn’t work and he likens the family’s grip to octopus tentacles. The massages started with him too, just like Lyle, and Erik speaks fondly of this.

Erik knew that Jose never loved him and would call him names like stupid and faggot. The pair (That being Kitty and Jose) would gang up on him and force Eric to confront his fears. Jose did not like weakness and demanded his boys be the best, using barbaric Spartan techniques to “tough then them”.

The only time he’d tell Erik that he loved him was during the abuse. The times of just him and Jose, getting massages, are some of Erik’s treasured memories.

The abuse though came in four different styles and I won’t repeat them in this recap. Suffice to say, it’s stomach turning and shocking. And even here, Erik points out the heartbreaking way his father never saw him as anything other than second best to Lyle. This abuse was ongoing, all the way up to a few months before they died.

Erik has had time to think and discusses how he still loves his father, and how difficult it is to have all of this rattling around in his mind.

Leslie retorts back how brave Erik is and how he’s an incredible person. She points out her father was awful as well, having abandoned her and that she hasn’t heard from him in 34 years. However, it’s no comparison to Jose Menendez and Leslie promises she will never, ever forgive her own father… and Erik has that same choice too.

Unfortunately, this abuse also extends to Kitty too, who used to get naked with Lyle and “inspect” Eric in case he had AIDs. This backs up how she reacted to Lyle inviting a girl over. Erik tries to make excuses for his mother’s behaviour, eventually revealing that this fear stems from Erik having sexual relations with another kid his age as a teenager.

However, Erik believes this isn’t normal, because of what happened in his past, and he was in love with the kid. When they had sex, it was beautiful and nice, not like how it was with his father. Erik disassociated himself with all of this and calls himself the Hurt Man, and as he struggles to hold back tears, the episode comes to an agonizing end.

The Episode Review

Wow, what a masterful episode. The fact that we get a single shot of Erik and the camera just very slowly zooms in throughout, is such a great way of telling this story and really focusing exclusively on the words being said and the impact this story has on Erik, and the case as a whole.

There are parts of this that feel inspired by Mindhunter; that relentless pursuit of having the absolute best dialogue and using the camera to tell a story, turning this into a masterful expression of art.

It’s actually insane the juxtaposition between the beautiful choreography and acting alongside the sickening and disgusting abuse revealed through Erik’s confessions.

This is an incredible episode and Cooper Koch’s performance in particular, to hold that level of intensity all the way through without a single cut? Damn man, this is an Oscar-worthy performance to what is otherwise an insanely good chapter.