![]() ![]() After their parents divorced, their dad (played in the series by Whigham), who ran a shady casino and surrounded himself with low-level scam artists, carried on raising John and his sister Karen in San Jose. Though as John’s sister Donna recounts (he has two sisters and one brother), he was practically born into hustling. When Debra Newell first got to know then-55-year-old John Meehan via a dating app in 2014, he came across too good to be true: a strapping, handsome, and doting physician and war vet with a heart of gold. In the interest of veracity, and as an assist to viewers who haven’t consumed all of Goffard’s investigative pieces and subsequent podcast interviews with key players, here’s a quick breakdown of Dirty John’s main men and women (and one canine), and their roles in a twisted, totally real 21st-century tale of love, betrayal, and death. And, as disclaimers throughout Dirty John readily concede, events and characterizations are frequently fictionalized for the sake of narrative expediency and - in some cases - to respect the wishes of those involved. Times articles) about one really bad guy (that would be John) who manipulated a spectacularly wealthy woman (self-made successful designer Debra Newell) as part of a long con that led to an incredibly violent end.ĭespite the adaptation’s impressive cast (including Connie Britton, Eric Bana, Juno Temple, Jean Smart, Julia Garner, Shea Whigham, Sprague Grayden, and Joelle Carter), it never quite matches the morbid sensationalism of the actual story. Luckily for the Newells, their fight with John ended thanks to Terra's bravery and tenacity to fight back.īe sure to watch the cast explain the rest of the shocking finale in Dirty John After the Episode above, and watch what happens when Terra comes face-to-face with John's sister in the Dirty John episode clip below.Spoilers below for Dirty John, both TV series and podcast.ĭirty John is a Bravo original series adapted from an extremely popular true-crime podcast (itself inspired by host Christopher Goffard’s series of L.A. "I did ask Debra, and I asked Terra and Chris Goffard what they felt they felt that he was probably going to kidnap Terra and then use that to bring Debra to wherever Terra was and he was probably going to kill both of them," said Executive Producer Richard Suckle. "He finally met his match."ĭebra Newell and her daughters might have had an idea as to what John's plan may have been, though. "It's really interesting to contemplate what his end game actually was, and I'm not completely convinced as to what that was other than I think it came more from an obsession with chaos and distraction and damage which ultimately was his downfall," he said in Dirty John After the Episode. It was painful for her."Įric Bana, who plays John Meehan, added that his character finally met his match in Debra's daughter. And I could tell that it was difficult for her. "Julia Garner really dug in, and you had to give her her space because she really takes on the character. Jeffrey also revealed that Julia Garner, who portrays Terra, had a pivotal role in recreating this scene as well. She gave us a lot of imagery, so when you look at the sequence it's really kind of told from her point of view." "So, I actually met with Terra for an hour and recorded her telling me what she smelled, what she saw, what she felt, what her heart was feeling like, what her body was feeling like, and she was unbelievably giving in the moment. "The most important thing in the fight was seeing it through Terra's eyes," Executive Producer Jeffrey Reiner shared in Dirty John After the Episode. And according to Dirty John's producers, the real-life Terra Newell was vital in bringing her harrowing attack to life on the small screen. In a contrast to her usual quiet demeanor, Terra fought off John's attempt to stab her by grabbing his knife and using it on him, instead. In an unexpected twist, viewers saw John attack Debra's daughter, Terra Newell, in her apartment complex parking lot in broad daylight. Bravo's limited series Dirty John came to a shocking climax in the finale episode this week as Debra Newell and her family found themselves face-to-face with John Meehan one last time. ![]()
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