Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal Review – Stream It or Skip It?

For all the true crime fanatics, Netflix has released a unique docu-series titled “Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal.” We call this three-part docu-series unique because some elements of the series are still undergoing investigation and trial.

While the series gives the viewers an interesting take on everything that happened in the Murdaugh family, they still need to find the answers they have been looking for. Should Netflix have waited a few more years to release this series, maybe when the case had more answers or was this the right time to do so?

We’ll try to answer those questions in this review of Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal.

When we first spoke about Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal, we were expecting a slightly different take in this series, which focussed more on the death of the teenager Mallory and hearing from her friends and family.

While some of this docu-series dealt with Mallory’s death, most of it focused on Alex Murdaugh, whose case is still developing as we write this review.

There’s a lot to wrap your head around regarding Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal, but we’re here to simplify this three-part series for you. So, keep reading this review to clarify what you can expect from this docu-series and whether it’s worth your time!

A True Crime Docu-Series with Limited Information and Little to Offer

One of the main things that led people to watch Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal was that the viewers would get access to interviews and information they didn’t have prior knowledge of. While some of that was true, none of it amounted to the mystery of Alex Murdaugh and his ongoing case, which still has a lot of missing puzzle pieces.

If Netflix had waited a couple more years, Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal would have made more sense and offered a lot more to its viewers. A lot of information was thrown around in three episodes, barely an hour long.

For starters, many people wanted to learn about Mallory’s case, which was a big part of the trailer, but not much came of it.

By the looks of it, Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal seemed like a docu-series which got all its information from a few interviews and google. It also made sense to have a few more episodes because unloading all the information was difficult to wrap our heads around.

The first episode of Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal was titled “Where is Mallory?” We were convinced this episode would focus on Mallory and her family for most of it, but that wasn’t the case. Instead, the first episode was more focused on Paul and Morgan.

Paul Murdaugh was the young man driving the boat, which crashed and eventually led to Mallory’s death, and Morgan was one of Mallory’s friends and Paul’s girlfriend. This episode should have been titled “Morgan and Paul’s Relationship” or “Paul’s Alcoholism.”

If you watch the episode, you will know precisely why we chose this title. Morgan was interviewed the most in this episode as she could accurately describe who Paul was as a person.

Paul came off as an incredibly disturbed teenager who drank too much and lashed out at his friends and girlfriend, unbothered about the consequences because he belonged to an influential family.

What should have been a heartbreaking episode dedicated to Mallory turned into the story of an alcoholic teen whose actions eventually had consequences.

The second episode gave us some closure on Mallory and the emotional aspect of the series that we were looking forward to. The first half of this episode focused on Mallory’s body being found and how her friends and family were trying to cope with the loss while Paul was living his best life, drinking again.

He was never put in cuffs. He was never in a jumpsuit. But the case continued. This episode of Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal also highlighted how cruel the Murdaughs were because they cared little about Mallory’s death and more about trying to shift the blame from Paul to Connor, who was also on the boat.

The one thing we like about this docu-series is that they have clearly explained the timeline of all events, which only a few people were aware of or understood before this docu-series.

Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal finally picks up some pace towards the second half of the second episode when Paul and his mother, Maggie, are shot dead at their hunting lodge. By this point, the focus shifts more to Alex Murdaugh, but again, these are facts that we could have googled.

By the third and final episode of Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal, two more deaths have been spoken about, all about the Murdaughs. This episode details Steven Smith, whose death turned into a cold case in 2015 but was reopened years later concerning Buster Murdaugh.

The death of Gloria Satterfield, the housekeeper of the Murdaughs who allegedly tripped over their dogs and suffered a severe head injury, resurfaced after insurance fraud and other financial fraud allegations about Alex Murdaugh were brought to light.

As we said, there is a lot to wrap your head around while watching Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal because even though the series has been structured in a way that shows the eventual rise and fall of Alex Murdaugh, it will leave you with more questions than answers.

Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal confirms that there was much more to Alex Murdaugh than what people saw on the surface. There are a lot of interviews and opinions about Alex Murdaugh too, but at the end of the day, there are no answers. 

We believe that docu-series work best when viewers are provided with shocking new information, but sadly, there wasn’t much of that in Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal.

The interviews with Mallory’s friends and family were heartfelt and gave us insight into who Paul Murdaugh was. If he were alive, we are more than specific that none of these interviews would have occurred.

Netflix has a winning streak when it comes to true crime documentaries. However, they might have dropped the ball regarding Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal.

Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal was announced to be a limited series, but this series needs another season since most of the case is still ongoing.

We still think Netflix needs to revisit this case in a few years and maybe release another three-part series that focuses on Alex Murdaugh and his son Buster.

If you enjoy true crime, and Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal seems like your cup of tea, we recommend watching it. However, Netflix has a better collection of true crime documentaries on their platform, and Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal isn’t their best addition.

Conclusion

If you have already watched Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal, do let us know in the comments what you thought of it and whether or not you agree with our review!