Jessica Biel Is Scary Good in Hulu's True-Life Terror Tale "Candy"

Created by Nick Antosca (co-creator of Hulu's The Act) and Mad Men writer Robin Veith, Candy stars Biel (pictured at top) as the title character, Melanie Lynskey (Yellowjackets) as Betty Gore, Pablo Schreiber (Halo) as her husband Allan Gore, Jonah Ryan (Veep) as Candy's husband Pat, and Biel's real life husband Justin Timberlake, who has a rather unexpected cameo as a deputy. Now streaming on Hulu, Candy tells the grizzly tale of infidelity and axe murder that took a quiet Texas suburb by storm in the 1980s. Even more interesting than that is the fact that all of it actually happened. (Warning: Spoilers ahead!)

On Friday, June 13, 1980, "Candy" Montgomery went over to Betty Gore's house, and while no one but Candy knows what really happened, two things are known for sure. Candy had been sleeping with Betty's husband, and Betty would die that day, specifically from being hit 41 times with a wood splitting axe.

Now, right off bat, I noticed the tone and aesthetic. The hairstyles, clothing, sets and southern accents were all expertly replicated. The light yet simple intro music set against the crispy textures and classic late 70's/early 80's colors and images of the intro sequence also evoked the simple yet sinister nature of the story being told. Color and light also play a big part in this production. Candy's home has high ceilings and big windows (through which the trees outside are visible), and she wears a red button-down shirt for almost the entire first episode. (The color red, and red lighting, are prevalent throughout this show.) In contrast, most everyone else's colors are pretty muted, especially the inside of the Gore home, which has smaller windows, a lower ceiling as it's a single-level house, and dark wood paneling on the inside -- making it very drab in comparison. Betty also seems significantly more stressed out than Candy when it comes with being a mother and a homemaker; roles in which Candy seems to effortlessly thrive.

The story of what happens and how it all goes down is a relatively simple one, which is probably the reason that the show does as much time jumping as it does. Rather than give us a linear timeline of events (which would've been boring), Candy prefers to jump to whatever seems relevant for each episode. Having known nothing about the real case before watching the show, I found this method of releasing information to be most effective.

The best part of Candy,besides Biel's pitch-perfect performance, might be the built-in ambiguity of it all. It's unclear how sinister of an individual Candy is. She seems to be genuine throughout the slow burn that is these five episodes, in the sense that she doesn't seem, like, overtly evil. She does lie for most of the show, however. Not only does she lie about her whereabouts around the time of Betty's death, she also lies about how many affairs she was having (turns out Allan wasn't the only married man she was getting with).

The fact is, there's no way to tell if Candy's story (which ends up being one of self-defense) is the actual truth, or if she went in there and murdered Betty in cold blood.

Because the real events of this story are so easy to find on Google, I don't mind saying that Candy does end up getting off in the end. As a person of color, my first thought was about how likely her keeping her freedom would be if she were Black. This was Texas in the early '80s, folks. Had she been Black, or anything other than white really, I seriously doubt she'd ever have had a chance. Regardless, that's neither here nor there. My big takeaway here is that Candy is not about its ending. It's about the journey there, and the gruesome truth of what went down in that laundry room (of which we at least get to see Candy's version).

My second viewing of the first episode after finishing the series was even more enlightening, because I still don't know if Candy told the truth. Have I missed a clue? Is there some dialogue, or facial expression, or some other moment that indicates anything other than what she said in court? So far all I've noticed the second time around is the word "AXE" written in magnetic letters on Candy's fridge. Is that a clue? Or just a simple Easter egg from some detail-oriented set director?

Maybe I'll get a little more insight into the case when HBO Max's telling of the same story, Love and Death, eventually drops. For now, I'll stick to Hulu, as it is currently the only place where I can get my fix of this (probably) homicidal homemaker. I guess you could say that Candy gave me a sweet tooth, and for the moment, this particular telling of the story is all that will satisfy it.

Candy is now streaming on Hulu.

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