Following the disturbing, gruesome real life events of the year 1980, HBO Max’s Love and Death starring Elizabeth Olsen again brought to life the much-told-about story of Betty Gore’s murder. While the series premiere on April 27 also made artistic liberties to include some fictional elements along the way, the newly released Love and Death Documentary Part 2 seeks to continue looking into the murder story that eventually turned into a ‘Why-dun-it’ instead of a Whodunit.
The first part of the Candy Montgomery Documentary aka Suburbia and Murder had already initiated this in-depth conversation surrounding the real facts, gathered evidence and everything that resided at the heart of the HBO Max series’ context and history on May 4 with a 4-part bonus exclusive content. Now, its follow-up will be more concerned with Montgomery’s legal team since the Episode 5 premiere of the true-crime series had finally initiated the investigation process and its following legal proceedings. Therefore, it only makes sense that we also take a look at the real-life picture of the people involved in the case.
As mentioned in Love and Death Episode 5, Candy entrusted her case to one of her most trusted acquaintances, a friend from the church community, Don Crowder (played by Tom Pelphrey). He was merely a personal injury lawyer, but due to their friendship, Candy directly went to him for help. The HBO Max series also shed light on how he was possibly the first person she opened up to about her own actions behind Betty Gore’s murder.
The series also reminded us that he’d never before taken on a criminal case. The upcoming episodes of Suburbia and Murder allow us a better look at his real life character and personality by revealing that “he was a passionate advocate… but when he was your opponent, he was tenacious”. And for the same reason, the series showed us Candy specifically asking him to represent her because she wanted someone she could trust, who was Don Crowder in this case, despite his lacking experience as a criminal attorney.
Also read: Love and Death Episode 6 Preview: When, Where and How to Watch!
Therefore, for assistance in the case, Crowder eventually enlisted the help of a criminal defence attorney – Robert Udashen (portrayed by Adam Cropper). The real life personality can be seen in the sneak peek video linked below as he claims of having trusted Candy’s words back then. After being a prime suspect in the case for a week, Candice Montgomery finally surrendered to the authorities. The same visuals have already been hinted at in Episode 5, titled ‘The Arrest’ as well.
Once scathing headlines made it to the newspapers after her arrest, Candy’s legal team decided to consult psychiatrist Dr Fred Fason in Houston (played by Brian d’Arcy James). This particular step was everything out of the box especially since Candy’s talks with Dr Fason hinged primarily on hypnosis, which equally stunned Don Crowder, but it also ended up becoming a lifeline for her case.
Watch the Sneak Peek of Love and Death Documentary Part 2
The American crime drama series also stars Jesse Plemons as Allan Gore, Lily Rabe as Betty Gore, Krysten Ritter as Sherry Cleckler, Elizabeth Marvel as Jackie Ponder and Patrick Fugit as Pat Montgomery as the main characters. It has been created and written for TV by David E Kelley, and directed by Lesli Linka Glatter, and is based on Texas Monthly articles and the book Evidence of Love by Jim Atkinson and John Bloom.
The exclusive Suburbia and Murder Candy Montgomery Documentary will be available to watch on HBO Max. Whereas, the Love and Death episodes are also streaming on Amazon Prime Video for some international audiences.
Also read: Our Reviews of Love and Death