Low Country: The Murdaugh Dynasty review: Murders, mysteries & dynastic influence

Low Country: The Murdaugh Dynasty is a three-part docuseries that follows the many mysterious and unsolved murders surrounding and related to the titular family of great dynastic influence over their local region.

Story

On February 23, 2019, six friends all ranging from 18 to 20 years old set off to a mutual friend’s oyster roast party. Driving his father’s boat, illegally, on top of being inebriated despite being underage, Paul Murdaugh eventually crashed the boat at the Archers Creek Bridge.

While all the other friends alleged that Paul was the prime suspect and the one at fault for the crash that took Mallory Beach’s life, Paul’s incredibly powerful family of a long line of lawyers set out to save their own from the repercussions.

After a lot of time elapsed due to the Murdaugh family’s interference in the judicial process, a court hearing was set. However, three days before the hearing and in a shocking twist to the case, Paul and his mother Maggie Murdaugh were shot to death at their home.

Amid many speculations and theories, fingers started being pointed towards Alex Murdaugh himself. However, nothing of concrete substance ever took shape.

What did end up taking shape, however, was a long line of other murder and fraud cases that all had the Murdaugh family at the epicentres.

While old cases of homicide that involved the Murdaugh family and remain unsolved did not exhibit a significant development, Alex Murdaugh’s history of financial theft and crimes got the spotlight, spiralling him into a web of many other allegations and lawsuits.

The end of Low Country: The Murdaugh Dynasty sees the titular dynasty come crumbling down as several of its members receive the blots of allegations and worse.

Positives

Low Country: The Murdaugh Dynasty is a tight, well-paced, and concise retelling of all the reprehensible acts and allegations surrounding a powerful family and empire.

The docuseries flows through its three episodes seamlessly and the new developments to the case are retraced with a dexterous treatment.

Low Country also avoids falling into the kitschy pitfalls that most true crime documentaries tend to be a victim of. The subject matter and hence the treatment of the said matter is serious here, without an effort to unnecessarily dramatise or sensationalist any of it.

Negatives

Due to the nature of a lot of discussion around the case and family in question, the docuseries delves a lot into the rumours and unsubstantiated parts of the story. Sometimes, the interviewees might seem a bit too gossipy for a subject matter of this grave nature.

Verdict

Low Country: The Murdaugh Dynasty is a deftly made true crime docuseries that delves into the story without the unnecessary and usually offensive clutter that a lot of other similar documentaries take part in.

Through its three concise episodes, the docuseries does a great job of taking the viewer through a harrowing case involving dynastic power and the corruption and grave repercussions that result from it.

Also Read: Low Country: The Murdaugh Dynasty explained: Who killed Paul and Maggie Murdaugh?