Deconstructing the Monster: A Critical Analysis of the Series Finale of Netflix’s The Lizzie Borden Story

The final episode of Netflix’s true-crime anthology series The Lizzie Borden Story, created by Ian Brennan, presents a complex and polarizing narrative structure by framing its conclusion around the life and execution of notorious serial killer Aileen Wuornos. Rather than concluding solely with the historical arc of its primary subject, the season finale employs a circular narrative framework, beginning and ending with the trial, conviction, and 2002 lethal injection of Wuornos. This editorial choice serves as a thematic anchor for the series, bridging nineteenth-century folklore with late-twentieth-century capital punishment to interrogate systemic failures, patriarchy, and the societal consumption of female deviance.

Structural Framework and the Wuornos Narrative

The season finale utilizes a distinct aesthetic approach to contextualize the Wuornos segments, deploying vintage VHS visual effects to simulate archival news broadcasts and Court TV coverage from the early 1990s. This visual strategy is punctuated by a notable cameo from actress Ari Graynor as a courtroom reporter. The narrative unflinchingly presents Wuornos’s testimony regarding the severe physical and sexual assaults she endured, only to abruptly transition to the judge delivering a death sentence.

Legal and historical records indicate that Wuornos was executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison on October 3, 2002, after being convicted of six murders committed between 1989 and 1990. Throughout her legal proceedings, Wuornos maintained that her actions were acts of self-defense against men who had assaulted or attempted to assault her while she was working as a sex worker along Florida highways. The series highlights the systemic dismissal of her trauma, juxtaposing her final moments—accompanied by Natalie Merchant’s song "Carnival"—against the institutional machinery of the state.

Following her execution, the narrative transitions into the afterlife, where Wuornos is greeted by the spectral figures of Lizzie Borden and Bridget Sullivan. This surrealist sequence mirrors stylistic choices seen in previous iterations of Ryan Murphy’s Monster franchise, utilizing anachronistic elements to unify disparate historical figures under a shared banner of female isolation and societal condemnation.

The Evolution and Isolation of Lizzie Borden

While the bookends focus on Wuornos, the core of the episode traces the post-acquittal trajectory of Lizzie Borden, played against the backdrop of historical mythmaking and social ostracization. Following her 1893 acquittal for the brutal axe murders of her father and stepmother—Andrew and Abby Borden—Lizzie’s life in Fall River, Massachusetts, was marked by severe social isolation.

In the series, Borden attempts to navigate her newfound notoriety by living a life of relative luxury, serving as a patron to actress Nance O’Neil and transforming her estate into a sanctuary for animals. However, historical and narrative tensions persist:

• The Sisterly Rift: Her sister, Emma Borden, becomes deeply estranged, struggling with the unspoken reality of the murders.
• Bridget Sullivan’s Departure: The family maid, Bridget Sullivan, relocates to Montana and enters an unhappy frontier marriage before ultimately abandoning traditional domesticity to return to Lizzie.
• Public Scrutiny: Borden faces a barrage of intrusive visitors, sensationalized literature, and pervasive public suspicion, reflecting the enduring legacy of the Fall River murders in American folklore.

The narrative suggests that true absolution only begins when Borden reconciles with her past, seeks spiritual forgiveness, and turns her considerable financial resources toward the burgeoning women’s suffrage movement. By aligning herself with the campaign for the Nineteenth Amendment—which guaranteed women the constitutional right to vote in 1920—Borden participates in a collective sociopolitical shift, eventually living openly with Sullivan as her partner.

Meta-Commentary and the True-Crime Genre

Brennan’s script incorporates substantial meta-commentary regarding the true-crime genre itself. The inclusion of sensationalized accounts, Halloween costumes, and inquisitive tourists serves as a direct critique of how society commodifies historical violence. Furthermore, the narrative touches upon the distinct legal outcome of Lizzie Borden—who was famously acquitted by a jury in June 1893—contrasting her fate with that of Aileen Wuornos and Jeffrey Dahmer, both of whom faced conviction and state-sanctioned execution or imprisonment.

This contrast raises broader questions regarding gender, class, and the justice system. Borden, a wealthy white woman of high social standing in nineteenth-century New England, was acquitted despite overwhelming circumstantial suspicion. Conversely, Wuornos, a marginalized woman with a history of severe trauma, poverty, and sex work, faced a swift conviction and execution at the turn of the twenty-first century.

Broader Implications and Critical Reception

The artistic decision to connect these two historical figures has elicited significant discussion among television critics and historians. By juxtaposing the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment with the execution chamber, the series attempts to map a trajectory of women’s rights and state control over the span of a century.

Media analysts note that the Monster franchise consistently aims to humanize figures who have committed heinous acts without necessarily condoning their crimes. By examining the societal conditions that shaped individuals like Borden and Wuornos, the series invites viewers to evaluate the intersection of individual culpability and institutional failure.

Ultimately, the finale concludes with Fiona Apple’s song "I Know" playing over the credits, reinforcing a somber tone. The juxtaposition of historical triumph—the securement of suffrage—with the grim reality of capital punishment encapsulates the overarching thesis of the production: that society exists in a continuous tension between emancipation and systemic subjugation.