I read Holly’s book and she made it sound like Hefner at least asked, “Would you like some quaaludes?” before dosing his partners.

I never imagined a world in which that felt less gross to say, but here we are.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for this article! I have been talking about the connection here for days! It is not played up enough! All of the regulars to the mansion back in the 70s need to be put under a huge fucking magnifying glass.

There are a few things cats are awesome at. Two of them are breeding and killing things. I freaking love cats, but free roaming cats are an invasive species, and they will decimate native species.

I agree. It may be when he hears about interests that don't correlate with his, it makes him doubt that he's his son instead of just realizing your kid doesn't always like what you like. Everything is so weighted bc of the unknown.

I have a feeling that this cloud of the rape and aftermath has been around the boy forever, like a 4th member of the family. I can see that the boy loves him bc he seemed upset when he found out he wasn’t going to be around. I’m not sure how long the couple has been divorced, but long enough to have a new husband and…

“It was just a bunch of old rich dudes banging drugged prostitutes in front of each other and I kind of think that is the point. It was creepy, and depressing.” I absolutely agree, and I was glad the violence played out with Bezzarides coming close to being killed, but not being stripped, beaten, raped or almost-raped…

Right? That knife scene was so badass!

Sorry, I meant paring knife.

Yeah, pretty awesome job. My guess is she nailed the femoral artery and that’s why he bled out so quickly.

It wasn’t a cheese knife, it was a hooked Shun pairing knife—or a *bird beak* pairing knife. That thing will slice through just about any type of meat or bone. (sorry for large image)

I wish we had a few scenes of his mother/stepfather interacting with the son. I'd like to see how they discuss CF in front of the boy. So far, I haven't seen CF disrespect the mother to the son which I feel is a plus.

No one’s watching it, but Aquarius — the show about Charlie Manson, like Mad Men: Serial Killer Unit — is really good on this point. It’s not a great show, imho, but that aspect of manipulation and exploitation of younger women as part of the counter culture was really interesting.

Ani was a fucking bad ass with that cheese knife though; she killed that bear-wall of a guard in like .5 seconds, and he just wasn’t aware he was dead yet, she nailed all the major arteries.

Well said but I do think it’s also a necessary examination of alternative California culture and how it allowed some predators the freedom to find victims. The hippie molester character was an all too believable figure for a girl raised like she was. It’s a trope when writing female characters, sure, but perhaps also…

Just a friendly heads up! I wanted to comment she didn’t stab two people - she only uses the knife on the second fellow. The first she breaks his wrist. I rewatched it a few times to get the choreography down!

I LIKED the scene in the mansion - I like that it wasn’t this excited weird orgy, it was just a bunch of old rich dudes banging drugged prostitues in front of each other and I kind of think that is the point. It was creepy, and depressing. I also like that Ani was the one to rescue the girl not Ray or Paul, and that…

So the girl who pawned the stuff did it for a guy she said was a cop. She said he was white and big, right?

I totally understand HER need to know, but I sort of loved when he was like, “just don’t tell him that’s how he got here, I’ll be a deadbeat who disappears if that’s what you want, but just don’t tell him that’s where he came from.”

I was hoping this orgy would live up to the hype, but no dice. Underwhelming is right. Where was the weirdness? The perversity? Such a bland, heteronormative vision for a bacchanalia of the 1%.

I’m local. While I hope this is the guy and this madness will end, I think we all need to slow our roll a little before passing out the high fives.