Reality is often more chilling than fiction. Case in point: the story of John Meehan and Debra Newell. Newell, a 50-something interior designer from California, met Meehan, a nurse anaesthetist, on a dating site and they hit it off immediately. They got married two months after they met. He made fruit juice for her every morning, warmed water for her daily bath and squeezed paste on her toothbrush—talk about getting spoilt rotten.
But her dream soon turned into a nightmare when she realised that Prince Charming was a stalker and drug addict who had conned and swindled several women. A hit podcast—Dirty John—was made on Meehan by journalist Christopher Goffard and the Los Angeles Times. On Valentine’s Day, a series based on the podcast was released internationally, with Eric Bana and Connie Britton playing Meehan and Newell, respectively.
Meehan is as dirty as it gets and Bana puts up a great act as the con man you want to hate with all your gut. Britton, too, delivers a convincing performance as the woman who falls for the anti-hero. When she is torn between going back to Meehan or heeding her daughter's warning, you can feel her frustration. Writer-creator Alexandra Cunningham and director Jeffrey Reiner sure know how to loop you into the world of Newell and Meehan, layered with the parallel stories of Newell's daughters Terra and Veronica, her sister Cindi, and Meehan's relationships with his father and sister. The narration that goes back and forth in time works well. The jumps, in fact, give you 'ah' moments, especially when it comes to Meehan's story arc. The cinematography and background score fit the tone of the series.
One does wish, however, that the makers could delve a little deeper into what makes Meehan the sociopath that he is. He is handsome and intelligent. He knows just what to say, but is a pathological liar. He is sadistic, shady and preys on the vulnerabilities of women. The complex matrix of his personality is potential gold waiting to be mined.
It is frustrating to see Newell fall for his wiles when all the signs were there for her to pick up on—the suspicions of her daughters; his insistence on installing cameras in the house and open a safe deposit locker to keep their “valuables”; his anger when she refuses to sleep with him after their first outing…. But the sad truth is that there are too many Newells out there for men like Meehan to exploit. Love is such a potent force that it is difficult to discern when it turns deadly.