In 2021, Alex Murdaugh of the South Carolina legal dynasty was found guilty of murdering his wife Maggie and their youngest son Paul. Now a new series Murdo: Death in the Family (the premiere will take place Disney+ in Canada on October 15) starring Jason Clarke, Patricia Arquette, Jonny Berthold, Will Harrison and Brittany Snow, dives into this crime story inspired by journalist Mandy Matney's novel. Murdo Murders Podcast.
While the circumstances of the murder case and the scandal surrounding this family are grim and unimaginably brutal, the eight-episode series dives deep into its characters. In particular, it explores the emotional connections and relationships within the Murdo family.
“It’s very interesting to have all this and know some of these opinions. There is no shortage of information on this case, especially with our team because they were so close to it. So they gave us an insane amount of research… that was really carefully crafted and easy to follow,” said Harrison, who plays Maggie (Arquette) and Alex's (Clark) son Buster. Yahoo Canada. “Because it’s easy to get confused when you just type this thing into Google. It’s a kind of infinity, rabbit holes you can go down.”
“We really wanted to just focus on the human aspects because the darkness and tragic events will be present on screen and it will be prominent. So I think what we realized is that we can add just a more human level of context to this in a really dark story, which makes the tragedy that much worse when you understand it on that human level. And I think that's what the audience is going to take away and hopefully contextualize how tragic and crazy this story is.”
“Protecting our mental health in a story like this”
Murdo: Death in the Family really highlights the relationships in this story as the relationship between Maggie and Paul develops.
Early in the series, we see how close Paul is to the family's housekeeper, Gloria (Kathleen Wilhoite), who is affectionately known as “Go-Go.” And especially after it death 2018 has an interesting exploration of the evolution of Maggie and Paul's relationship and how it differs from each of their dynamics with Alex.
Co-creator Erin Lee Carr emphasized that there was a “softness” to the relationships between Maggie and Paul, and Paul and Gloria, and they wanted to “lift the veil” throughout the series.
“I think what was really important to us, of course, is that we have these big moments in the headlines, but it's these quiet moments in between that I think help color the story,” said Bertholdt, who plays Paul. “And especially with Patricia, of course she’s so incredible, but she’s also an incredible person, and she kind of became my mother figure on set.”
“We had so many incredible conversations about protecting our mental health in a story like this, and she was such a big source of comfort… So when we were filming those scenes, it was so important to tell… especially with the two of them, something terrible happened to them, and they're part of something terrible, and it made the headlines a lot of times, and… it was really important for us to dig into those scenes.”
“Having this woman in Gloria, this selfless woman, this God-loving woman who was so devoted to this family and really raised these two sons as her own and cared for them in that way. And then what does that create in terms of the relationship with Maggie?” Co-creator and showrunner Michael D. Fuller spoke about this in a separate interview. “We make things up, we adapt and we dramatize things, but I think for us this show really exists in what happens outside the lens of the crime, the victim, the perpetrator and the perpetrator.”
Mandy Matney attends the New York City Premiere of Hulu's 'Murdo: A Death in the Family' held at 7 Hudson Square on October 13, 2025 in New York, NY. (Photo by Christina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images)
“We can do good in the world”
In addition to delving into the history of the Murdo family, the series also includes the work of Mandy Matney as a journalist, played by Brittany Snow, who sought to uncover the truth about Alex and the rest of the Murdo family.
As we see early in the series, Matney's interest in Murdo was rebuffed, citing the fact that she is a young woman, as well as concerns about investigating one of the most powerful families in the state.
“Many journalists, especially young female journalists, can be uncomfortable with being asked about your instincts, constantly subjected to second-guessing, and treated as if you don’t belong here,” Matney said. “But I think ultimately my story will end up being a positive one and hopefully continue to inspire.”
Fuller added that the circumstances that led to her being so successful in investigative reporting were things that some people blamed on her, such as her youth.
“What struck me in reading Mandy's incredible book and just talking to her was that what made her the person who could figure out how to make sense of this and gain insight into it was the ability to communicate with young people and the ability to understand technology, which was obviously a fundamental part of how this true story played out,” Fuller said.
“What was happening to her… was the mentality of the old guard where she worked, who did not understand the new rules. And this obviously happens a lot within the community as a whole. And then someone comes along who can connect with the generation that is directly impacted by these events and can navigate social media in a way that is able to make connections… There was an irony there that I thought was worth exploring. she made the way.”
“Journalism is in such a difficult place, but I think the incredible thing about Mandy is that she saw something bad happening,” Carr added. “A lot of other people would say, 'I have to protect my life.' And when people watch it… it's like you can make a difference. … Isn’t it good to remind ourselves that we can do good in the world?”
