Alice Oscura, Featured Writer
Warning: Contains minor spoilers and reference to true crime events
HBO Max’s recently released miniseries Love & Death brings the story of the brutal axe murder of suburban housewife Betty Gore to the screen for the second time. The previously released Hulu miniseries entitled Candy was released last year on May 9th starring Jessica Biel as the real-life Candy Montgomery. Honestly, when it came out last year, this one slipped beneath my radar, and since then I haven’t gotten a chance to watch this one as yet. Somehow, Love & Death attracted me because it stars our favorite Scarlet Witch, Elizabeth Olsen, in the role of real-life Candy Montgomery. I have no excuses or explanation for this oversight on my part. I do plan to post a future review for the Hulu series Candy pretty soon.
Love & Death follows the story of two suburban, church-going couples living in the small-town Wylie in the state of Texas. The timeline begins in the year 1978, approximately one year after Candy Montgomery and her family move to the town. Candy (Olsen) is very popular among the church congregation by being extremely active in both church and community events. She also appears to have all the trimmings necessary for a proper suburban housewife and mother. However, this perfection soon leads Candy onto a path of recklessness that only comes with boredom and lack of self-fulfillment. She becomes attracted to her best friend Betty Gore’s (Lily Rabe of American Horror Story) husband, Allan (Jesse Plemons of Breaking Bad) one night during an inter-parish volleyball tournament. Candy proposes the idea of having an affair with Allan soon afterward, and the two spend a few months weighing the odds of having said affair. They come up with a set list of rules and if any of them are broken the affair will be terminated immediately. Except they eventually break all of the rules and people get hurt in the process.
The first three episodes of the carded seven-episode series were released simultaneously for your true crime junkie, binge-watching pleasure. These three episodes encompass the lead-up to Candy and Allan’s affair while showcasing Betty Gore’s state of mind. There’s noticeable emphasis paid to Betty’s complicated personality, and one might be able to at least reason why Allan felt encouraged to have the affair with Candy in the first place. The real-life Betty Gore was known to be needy and clingy with her husband and also had issues whenever he had to travel out of state for his job. Her behaviour also seemed to be exacerbated by her pregnancy just before Allan and Candy commenced their affair.
The real-life true crime story of the brutal axe murder in Wylie, Texas remained obscure for more than 40 years until the release of Hulu’s aforementioned miniseries Candy. The true events follow a similar route to the HBO Max series which we know will end deadly for Betty Gore. The audience can presume, especially after the final scene cliffhanger in Episode 3 titled “Stepping Stone”, that the remaining four episodes will cover the discovery of Betty’s body, the fouled-up investigation, the trial and subsequent acquittal of Candy Montgomery, and the reaction of the other members of the same community.
Elizabeth Olsen as Candy Montgomery is decidedly smart and channels just enough darkly, twisted Scarlet Witch nuances into her performance. The actress managed to capture the attractive personality of Candy. Olsen draws the audience into the story, almost eliciting sympathy from the viewer as she weighs the pros and cons of having an affair with Allan, as well as the naiveté in not wanting either’s spouse to be hurt in the process because they both still genuinely loved their spouses. You can’t help but feel like you want to shout at the screen the deeper that Candy and Allan get involved knowing full well the disastrous results that are to come.
I can only imagine that release of the Love & Death miniseries would only manage to dredge up unhappy memories for the Gore family, especially so close on the heels of last year’s Hulu series Candy. However, there’s been an upsurge in the popularity and interest in true crime within the last decade including documentaries, podcasts, and made-for-television series. People just like to listen to morbid facts about horrendous crimes because firstly, human nature is to be curious, and secondly, there is an adrenaline rush similar to that of watching a horror movie. Except it’s real life!
Love & Death has commenced with strong cast performances as well as being able to keep up a good rhythm to the story. With just four episodes left in the limited series, you can be assured that you’re in for a wild ride when we get to the trial stage and final judgement.
Alice’s Score: 8 out of 10
Have you checked out the first three episodes of Love & Death? What did you think of it? And you can check out more true crime content below:
Dark Alice has an old soul and a curious mind. I believe that anyone can be a hero and that the good guys should always win! I dislike cruelty to animals and think that they have far superior qualities to humans. My motto is there is no future without the past. I also have a weird penchant for Paranormal TV shows even though the slightest sound makes me jump. I enjoy writing reviews and throwing in fun facts to pique the readers’ curiosity. My ultimate goal in life would be to become a published writer one day. Read More