The Cinderella Murder, on MHz choice, is the second in the popular Belgian courtroom drama series The Twelve (De Twaalf). Each season features a headline-grabbing murder case and a new group of jurors. While the trial is the focus of the show, it also follows the personal lives of several of the jurors. This season, Anton Bergman (Koen De Graeve) and his 19-year-old daughter Julie (Louisa Peeters) are on trial for the murder of the father’s girlfriend, Marianne Coens (Katrien de Ruysscher). Although Julie confessed to “accidentally” pushing Marianne down the basement stairs, Anton is arrested because he is found passed out in the living room with Marianne’s blood all over him. More interesting than the case, however, are the problems that individual jurors face at home. I would qualify The Cinderella Murder more of a family drama than a crime drama, with this season focusing more on the jurors than the case. As in season 1, the series features excellent writing and casting as well as a high production value.
You can read out review of The Twelve here.
The Crime
Julie and Anton were once part of a happy family, until Julie’s mother died of an unspecified illness. Reeling from grief, and drinking too much, Anton was not able to give Julie the support she needed, and they grew apart. Things got worse when Anton took up with restaurateur Marianne Coens. When Marianne and teen daughter Romy (Emma Van Raemdonck) move into Anton and Julie’s house, the father/daughter relationship went from bad to worse, culminating in Julie being threatened with boarding school. But before she can be sent away, Marianne is killed. While she was pushed down the basement stairs, the coroner found that she had been hit over the head twice, AND suffocated, neither of which Julie confessed to. Complicating the situation is that Marianne is the wife of Julie’s triathalon coach, Dennis Pycke (Wouter Hendrickx), who, while not a suspect, also had several motives to kill Marianne.
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The Jurors
The featured jurors include Nico Willems (Emelie De Roo), a court reporter whose teen son is accused by his ex-girlfriend of posting naked pictures of her on the internet; Simon (Bart Hollanders), a kind young musician struggling to care for his girlfriend Esther (Anemone Valcke), who was paralyzed in a kiteboarding accident three years ago; Murad Koumiza (Yassine Ouaich), a successful real estate developer whose drug addict sister, Loubna (Lara Chedraoui), asks him for help, claiming that she’s really clean this time; and Catherine Degryse (Chris Nietveit) a lonely and reticent woman in her 60’s who catches the eye of fellow juror Jacob Dreyer, also in his 60’s. The problems these jurors face defy easy solutions, and I found these stories to be well written and compelling.
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Our Take on The Cinderella Murder
I really enjoy the format of The Twelve series. Not only are the characters’ stories interesting, but it’s fascinating to see the Belgian trial system at work. It’s completely different and less formal than the American system, and the judge participates a lot more than our judges. In fact, she leads the prosecution’s case, versus the actual prosecutor who is there simply to answer questions. Also, jurors are allowed to ask questions of those testifying. Even the oath that witnesses take is unique: “I swear to speak without hatred or fear and to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” And, as I mentioned in my review of The Twelve, the jurors get one chance to vote, after deliberating in front of the judge for only 1 day. As for the crime, there are the usual red herrings, shown in flashback, and surprises on the witness stand. Julie especially is a frustrating client, emotionally immature, a little dim, and stubbornly mum about what happened. Overall, I found The Cinderella Murder compelling and thought-provoking.
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