Will Dirty John’s Betty Broderick story continue in season 3?

Dirty John season 2 aired its season finale on July 14, but we’re still thinking about Betty Broderick.

What Dirty John began as a podcast is now a beloved and acclaimed true crime drama series. Criminally underwatched, the second season told the story of Betty Broderick, the ’80s housewife currently serving a life sentence for murdering her ex-husband and his new wife.

Betty’s case was scandalous from the start, a lightning rod of controversy regarding feminism and infidelity. The second season ended in July, but will we see more of Dirty John‘s Betty?

Who is Dirty John’s Betty Broderick?

Betty Broderick is the main character of Dirty John‘s second season. Played by Amanda Peet, Betty is a ’80s housewife who shot and killed her ex-husband and his second wife. The crime quickly became a sensational scandal. Betty lived a sheltered life and later said she felt like she trained to be a housewife since the day she was born, citing a life trajectory of going to good Catholic schools, meeting and marrying a good Catholic man, supporting him and starting a family ad infinitum.

So when her husband Dan had an affair, moved out, took custody of her kids, divorced her and remarried — well, she snapped, as they say. It took four years for the divorce to be finalized and she became violent and irrational in that time, leaving profane voicemails, ignoring restraining orders and vandalizing his home. This behavior tragically culminated in her entering his home using a key she stole from her daughter and shooting Dan and his new wife Linda while they slept.

Dirty John season 2: The Betty Broderick Story summary

USA describes Dirty John’s Betty story as follows:

"Betty Broderick (Amanda Peet) was the perfect Southern California blonde wife and mother. Married to her handsome college boyfriend Dan (Christian Slater), Betty charms everyone she meets. After years of sacrifice and suffering while supporting Dan through both medical and law school until he exploded into the San Diego legal community as a superstar, Betty is finally enjoying the fruits of their labors. That is, until Dan hires Linda, a bright, beautiful young woman without baggage with whom he can happily forget the struggles of his past. Betty’s attempts to fight back and enraged refusals to accept reality only serve to isolate and destabilize her until she loses her very identity. And Dan’s cold confidence blinds him to the bear he has created, and won’t stop poking … until it’s too late."

It tells the story from the beginning of their divorce — “In the premiere episode of Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story, Dan and Betty Broderick are in the midst of a separation that’s teetering on the brink of becoming a contentious divorce” — through the sentencing of her second trial, ending with an eery scene of her in jail, reminiscing about all the ways her life could have gone different and singing a haunting tune.

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Dirty John season 3: Will Betty Broderick return?

Dirty John has been a cult and critical hit since its premiere, but it hasn’t exactly broken through as a ratings juggernaut. So it goes when you switch networks between seasons (Bravo, then USA) and aren’t available to stream on Netflix. Which is just to say, it’s still TBD whether the true crime drama series will get a third season.

If, however, it does, Betty Broderick won’t be back. Dirty John is an anthology series, meaning it changes subject each season. A third season would pick a new crime, with new leads. Goodbye, Betty.

For more, explore everything we know about Dirty John season 3.