That Ryan Murphy really is slick. The showrunner subtly referenced some of his other shows within the writing for Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, which premiered on September 19.
While this is the second installment of Netflix’s Monster franchise, this is hardly Murphy’s first rodeo when it comes to TV. The Hollywood veteran has created an empire at this point and his show telling the story of Lyle and Erik Menéndez has shot straight to the top of it.
Starring newcomers Nicholas Chavez (Lyle) and Cooper Koch (Erik) as the controversial brothers, Murphy created a hit that made viewers question the truth about what went down in 1989 when the siblings killed their parents, José and Kitty Menéndez.
Lyle and Erik are currently serving life in prison without parole after being convicted of the murders in 1996. Murphy’s take on the highly publicized trial has garnered some backlash — even from the brothers themselves. The real-life Erik slammed the show, calling out “Netflix’s dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime,” in a statement.
Murphy has since responded, saying he stands by the portrayal.
“I think it’s interesting that he’s issued a statement without having seen the show,” Murphy told Entertainment Tonight after the show’s release. “It’s really, really hard — if it’s your life — to see your life up on screen.”
Keep scrolling to see which references Murphy made to his past work in Monsters:
‘9-1-1: Lone Star’
While it wasn’t a direct reference to the FOX show that started airing in 2020, Murphy gave a nod to the show’s leading man, Rob Lowe.
“There’s gonna be a movie. You know that, right?” Lyle asks Erik while they’re sitting on the prison transport van in episode 8. “Erik, they’re gonna make a f—ing movie about us. E, who’s gonna play us.”
The fictionalized version of Lyle threw out Brian Bosworth’s name when casting this so-called movie. “I was thinking maybe Rob Lowe could play you,” he continued. “He’s sexy.”
‘Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’
Murphy managed to make two references in one scene. He also had Lyle make a not-so-subtle dig at Jeffrey Dahmer, who was played by Evan Peters in the first installment of Netflix’s Monster series.
“We f—ing did it!” Lyle declared during episode 8, prematurely thinking he and brother Erik won their trial. “And all those f—heads who say that we’re, what, we’re serial killers like Jeffrey Dahmer? They can eat s—.”
Erik noted that he and Lyle had been referred to as “Dahmer’s cousins.”
‘The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story’
The end of Monsters episode 8 reveals a true crime — and Murphy — crossover when a fictionalized version of O.J. Simpson takes up the L.A. County Jail cell next to Erik. The younger Menéndez brother attempts to give the disgraced NFL star, who stays faceless throughout his entire cameo, some legal advice.
“You should consider a plea bargain,” Erik told O.J. before the episode came to an end. The Monsters season finale opened with Lyle losing his mind over O.J. getting acquitted following his trial, one year after the 1994 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman.
“So what are you saying, that we’re f—ed now? Because I gotta level with you, I just don’t see it that way,” Lyle tells attorney Leslie Abramson (Ari Graynor). “O.J. is, like, the biggest f—ing killer of all time, right? And he got away with it. And the best part, Leslie, is that the guy didn’t even have to take the f—ing stand.”
He continued: “I think we can all take a page out of the f—ing guy’s book, OK. Because the guy clearly had something f—ing figured out. You know what he had figured out? He had a f—ing catchphrase. And I think that we would all benefit from a catchphrase. I think that our catchphrase can be: ‘I’ve you’ve been abused, you cannot be accused.’”
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is now streaming on Netflix
