Monsters: The Lizzie Borden Story changes the facts quite a bit. But the most shocking one occurs in the last fifteen minutes of the eighth and final episode of this portrait of an ax murderer.
At this point, the story has jumped to the 1910s, about twenty years later, when Lizzie (played by Ella Beatty) brutally murdered her father, Andrew Borden (played by Charlie Hunnam), and stepmother, Abby (played by Rebecca Hall). In 1893, the elderly and haunted Lizzie was acquitted, begging forgiveness for the crimes she had committed but which she never publicly admitted in real life. She then tells Maggie (Vicki Cripps)—her lover/former housekeeper/murder accomplice, at least according to “Monster’s” version of events—that she wants her notoriety to “mean something.” The show then immediately cuts to a group of suffragists gathered in Borden’s living room to sing “The Women’s March,” a hymn sung by pioneering women who sought to win the right to vote in 1920.
Yes, “Monster” wants us to believe that Lizzie Borden eventually redeemed herself by becoming an active member of the suffragette movement. If you’re scratching your head right now, “Huh, I don’t remember that line from the musical Suffs,” that’s because it’s not there, and it’s not true. But making Borden appear to have played a small role in the success of the 19th Amendment—she even announced its passage to a room full of jubilant women—caches a narrative thread that Monsters season 4 was pulling so hard: Borden is a feminist hero unfairly resented for venting her legitimate rage against her abusive parents and defying the ostracism of an inherently misogynistic society.
(Netflix) Ella Beatty as Lizzie Borden and Vicky Krieps as Maggie Sullivan in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story
Making it seem like Boden played a small role in the successful pursuit of the 19th Amendment ends the narrative thread that Monsters Season 4 was pulling so hard: Boden is a feminist hero.
Throughout its four seasons, Monsters always played very fast and loose with the facts. The show is co-created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, who serves as writer for this entire season. The show sometimes embellishes details to help viewers understand the real-life killers it depicts in fictional form. (Jeffrey Dahmer, the Menendez brothers, and Ed Gein are all previous subjects.) However, trying to assert that Lizzie Borden is a child by suggesting that her name belongs in the same sentence as Susan B. Anthony and Ida B. Wells Borden’s correlation, especially ridiculous, especially ridiculous, especially ridiculous, especially ridiculous, especially ridiculous, especially ridiculous, especially ridiculous, especially ridiculous, especially ridiculous, especially ridiculous, especially ridiculous, especially ridiculous, especially ridiculous, especially ridiculous, especially ridiculous, especially ridiculous, especially ridiculous, especially ridiculous, especially ridiculous, especially ridiculous, especially ridiculous, especially ridiculous, especially ridiculous, especially ridiculous, especially ridiculous, especially ridiculous). Such glibness feels especially galling as the U.S. midterm elections approach, with voting rights at stake on multiple levels and reproductive rights set to be largely front and center on the ballot.
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This development doesn’t even make sense from a logic and storytelling perspective. Several scenes before Lizzie enters feminist politics, she realizes that she has become a public laughing stock and a disgraceful figure that no one wants to be associated with. Once, when she realized a young trick-or-treater was dressed as Lizzie Borden for Halloween, she actually slapped her in the face. The idea that a group of women who wanted to be taken seriously as savvy citizens would happily gather at the home of the country’s most famous murderess, or march with her for suffrage, simply didn’t count.
This is just one of the ways “Monsters: The Lizzie Borden Story” attempts to emphasize Borden’s importance and influence. Like seasons of “Edgeon,” this one also connects its title character to a would-be murderer inspired by her: Aileen Wuornos, portrayed here with almost campy intensity by Murphy muse Sarah Paulson. Wuornos appeared in multiple episodes, including one where she and her girlfriend Shelby stayed in the Lizzie Borden house in the 1980s when it was a horrible bed and breakfast. (Which actually never happens.) After having sex on the same passed-out couch where Lizzie stabbed her father to death (!), Wuornos talks to Borden’s ghost and tells her, “You’re like a woman who doesn’t take any shit.” In an absolutely ridiculous fantasy sequence at the end of the episode, Erin, Shelby, Lizzie, and Maggie dance together in the episode’s Birdie.
(Netflix) Sarah Paulson as Aileen Wuornos in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story
It is particularly absurd to try to assert Lizzie Borden’s relevance by suggesting that her name belongs in the same sentence as Susan B. Anthony and Ida B. Wells.
The idea conveyed unsubtle here is that these women are connected through shared experiences of trauma and the resilience to face them. While Wuornos was working as a prostitute in Florida, multiple men were murdered as a result of violent acts. During her trial — and yes, we could see some of that in the season finale, because why not? – She insists she acted in self-defense after being attacked and raped. Wuornos was abused throughout his childhood, as was Borden. In its early episodes, “Monster” depicted the cruelty often inflicted on Lizzie by her alcoholic, neglectful father and her evil stepmother, who constantly told her stepdaughter how useless she was. The once gore-obsessed “monster” shows us this multiple times when Lizzie finally violently cuts them down, which feels like an act of self-defense. She was ultimately acquitted by an all-male jury, not because they bought a plea of self-defense, but because they didn’t believe a woman was capable of such massacre. Even after unleashing her rage in the most horrific of ways, Lizzie remains somewhat underrated. To some extent, the central thesis of “Monster” is nothing more than: “Women: We can kill just like men!”
In fact, both Boden’s and Wuornos’ experiences reflect a reality faced by women in the 1800s and 1980s that remains true in 2026: Society often turns a blind eye when women are attacked, which in some cases forces these women to resort to extreme measures. If you need the latest example of turning a blind eye, look no further than the recent reopening of an alleged gang rape case at Cornell University.
In a culture that seems increasingly misogynistic, the underlying rage that burns inside many women—those who don’t resort to ax murder, by the way—is a legitimate, real thing, which is why it’s so frustrating to watch “The Monster” tell lies to explore that truth. These themes speak loud and clear and need no hint that when women go to vote in November, we should be whispering our thanks to Lizzie Borden for making it all possible.
“The Lizzie Borden Story” wants us to see Lizzie as the ultimate dirty bitch who would defiantly don a pink pussy hat if she lived to see Donald Trump elected. It’s not just a stretch; This is an insult to women who stand up to their oppressors and continue to resist without resorting to violence.
The most honest and self-centered moment in “Monster” is the scene in the final episode when Lizzie visits a bookstore and asks the landlady to stop selling recent books about her life because “they are full of lies.”
“Miss Borden,” the shopkeeper said, “I can’t control what’s written about you. And I certainly can’t control people’s desire to read what’s written about you.”
“Of course you’re happy to profit from it,” Lizzie replied.
“Very true,” the seller replied. Then she looked her companion in the eye and added: “You sell it well, Miss Borden.”
Based on “Monsters”‘s popularity on Netflix (it has been one of the most-watched shows on the platform since its premiere in mid-September), “Miss Bourdain” is still selling well. The makers of this show are more than happy to benefit from it, even if their story is also filled with lies.
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