Making a Murderer Part 2 is true-crime turned plodding since it lacks the bombshell factor

Vulture

Making a Murderer couldn't re-create the surprises of Part 1, which was the talk of Christmas 2015. "Filmmakers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos essentially concede as much in the first episode by racing through news footage that captures the flood chatter generated by season one," says Jen Chaney. "The 'Making a Murderer was a game changer' snippets are a bit self-serving, but they make it clear that this Netflix series altered the course of the Teresa Halbach murder cases, and in turn, has altered the way the filmmakers will tell this story going forward. Making a Murderer Part Two, then, isn’t so much a narrative about a working-class Wisconsin family and how two of its members were potentially framed by law enforcement for committing murder. Instead, it is a less shocking, more plodding, in-depth procedural that depicts the legal steps required to attempt to overturn (Brendan) Dassey’s conviction by proving that his police confession was coerced, while relitigating (Steve) Avery’s case altogether to prove he was wrongly jailed for the second time in his life."

ALSO:

• Making a Murderer has clearly learned some lessons from Season 1 with attempts to head off any potential backlash
• As advocacy, Making a Murderer has achieved the exact opposite of its mission
• Brendan Dassey is able to watch his favorite show, Lethal Weapon, behind bars
• Filmmakers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos wanted Part 2 to explore the "black hole" of the post-conviction phase of the criminal justice process