This is the Netflix moment we have all been waiting for; Zac Efron's debut as the most notorious serial killers in the history of serial killers, Ted Bundy. This story is told from the perspective of Liz Kendall, Bundy's long time girlfriend, who later became his fiance.
It is a classic love story of a boy meets girl in a bar, they fall in love and then nothing about their lives will ever be the same again. Momma always told me never to pick up guys at bars..lol. But in this case, the affair blossomed into something alluring and so extremely toxic at the same time and it continued that way for many years. It is not fair to say that Liz should have seen all the tell tale signs that her boyfriend, the love of her life, was some kind of deviant monster, because the signs were so invisible and faded into the depth of Ted's magnetic charm that he could easily convince her that he was innocent of all of the heinous crimes. The tragedy of it is that she was in way too deep that she could not let him go and it was leading her down a very dark path of alcoholism. Ted had this hold over her. How could someone so handsome and charming, and so loving towards her own daughter, even to the point where she left her alone with him so many times, and someone whom was ready to spend the rest of his life with her, do such ghastly things? Underneath that handsome facade was a monster that hibernated where his personal love life was concerned but only resurfaced when faced with his potential victims. There is a part of Ted Bundy that longed to be normal, but his abhorrent addiction had a hold on him and he could not resist the urge. I love you Liz and want to spend the rest of my life with you, but I love my addiction too and in the very end, I will choose it over you. But let's face it, Ted was never going to admit to that. He fought until the very end even with all the abundance of circumstantial evidence that was stacked up against him, to convince Liz that he was innocent. Kidnapping, rape, disappearances, breaking into sorority houses, murder, incriminating bite marks, etc. was all conclusive in Bundy's conviction for execution. When Liz finally musters up enough strength to walk away from Ted, there remains another woman who loves Ted just as much and would fight for his innocence until the very end; Carol Anne Boone, who worked with Ted a long time before he met Liz. She would stay by his side and go on to marry him on the stand and get pregnant with his child soon after. But it was also very evident he was not completely over Liz and nor was she completely over him. It was that toxic power. He succeeded with his killings due to his alluring charm which made it hard for girls to turn away. The side of him that longed to be human sought loving relationships that did not have a chance of succeeding in the end because the monster in him would eventually wake up and no longer hide. He was so intelligent that he could even represent himself in court so he could manipulate the jury and the judge after 2 escapes from prison. He was the true court jester and yes pun is intended there.
Liz' downward spiral into alcoholism gave Ted all the more fuel to kill her emotionally if not physically. It is a tragic love story of a waste of humanity. Ted Bundy could have been a very successful lawyer, whom even the judge who sentenced him said to him, "I would have loved to have you practice in front of me someday, but you chose a different path". He acted as the perfect boyfriend, fiance, lover, and father figure, which is no wonder women fell hard for him and could not find their way back up. What could have been could never be. A monster has more than one face. A charming one and an evil one. Both alter egos destroy lives, dead or not and in this case, Liz' only true demise was an emotional one.
This is a picture of the real life Ted Bundy and Liz Kendall.
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