The Lizzie Borden Chronicles
Episode 1.8 “Capsize”
Directed by Constantine Makris
Teleplay by Richard Blaney, Gregory Small
Story by by Richard Blaney, Gregory Small, David Simkins
Starring Christina Ricci, Clea DuVall, Chris Bauer, Cody Ray Thompson, Matthew Le Nevez, Amy Forsyth, Michelle Fairley
Lifetime
Air Date: Sunday, May 24th, 2015, 10pm ET

This is the end! It’s the last episode of the really fun ride known as The Lizzie Borden Chronicles! Spinning the tale of what life was like for Lizzie and Emma Borden (Christina Ricci and Clea DuVall) after the sensational trial of which she was acquitted, the story lands back in Fall River, and the blood never stops flowing.

Lifetime’s The Lizzie Borden Chronicles comes to an end tonight, and I think I might miss it most of all. This fun and campy limited series, a continuation of the Lifetime movie, Lizzie Borden Took An Ax, gave us a fictionalized account of what Lizzie Borden’s life was like once she was acquitted of the murder of her parents. That life, which interwined real and unreal (really unreal!) characters, was a bloody romp. That couldn’t have happened without Christina Ricci and Clea Duvall, who played Lizzie and Emma Borden, respectively. Nor could it have happened without the writers Greg Small, Rich Blaney, Barbara Nance, Jason Grote, and David Simkins.

I had interviewed Rich and Greg previously, and then got the bonus chance of interviewing David Simkins, veteran TV writer and producer of such shows as Charmed, Roswell, Warehouse 13, Dark Angel, Grimm, and so much more.

The Lizzie Borden Chronicles
Episode 1.7 “The Sisters Grimke”
Directed by Constantine Makris
Written by Richard Blaney, Gregory Small
Starring Christina Ricci, Clea DuVall, Chris Bauer, Ronan Vilbert, Steven McCarthy, Gage Munroe, Robert B. Kennedy, Adrian G. Griffiths, Gianpaolo Venuta
Lifetime
Air Date: Sunday, May 17, 2015, 10pm ET

Last week was the unofficial finale of sorts for The Lizzie Borden Chronicles. We know, thanks to writers, Rich Blaney and Greg Small, that originally the plan was for 6 episodes. Then, when two more were ordered, after the arc was pretty set for those six, the last 2 episodes were really an “opportunity” to explore, leaving the 6th episode with a finale-like feel. And boy! They weren’t kidding!

The Lizzie Borden Chronicles debuted on April 5th, 2015, on Lifetime, as a continuation of the Lifetime movie, Lizzie Borden Took An Ax. It tells the fictionalized story of what life was like for the Borden sisters, Lizzie and Emma (Christina Ricci and Clea DuVall), after the sensational trial of the murder of their parents, of which Lizzie was acquitted. As can be expected, life in Fall River was not ponies and rainbows, but chock full of more death and tons of blood.

Geeks of Doom got the chance to speak with 3 of the writers (Part 2 with David Simkins posts Monday) of this campy series (think 1890s Evil Dead-y), and while they didn’t give us spoilers, they did give us some insight into the story process, Christina Ricci’s dynamite input, and how lucky they were with the fantastic casting.

The Lizzie Borden Chronicles
Episode 1.6 “Fugitive Kind”
Directed by Howard Deutch
Written by David Simkins
Starring Christina Ricci, Clea DuVall, Cole Hauser, Bradley Stryker, Jeff Wincott, Dylan Taylor, John Ralston
Lifetime
Air Date: Sunday, May 10, 2015, 10pm ET

Last week on The Lizzie Borden Chronicles, the tableau I mentioned really was art. Isabel (Olivia Llewellyn), sprawled, newly killed on the bed, with Spencer’s head tucked neatly between her legs. That’s not the kind of thing you can unsee. The lesson here is… check behind doors when you hear a suspicious noise. When Lizzie (Christina Ricci) was revealed behind that door, I screamed “Run!” at the TV. And even though Hilliard (Jeff Wincott) had been with Siringo (Cole Hauser) pretty much the whole time, it seems Siringo is damned. I KNEW she was dead meat as soon as she and Siringo hit the hay, and talked of the future. They will not get a happy ending. That is not this show.

One thing that is surprising is how long Skipjack (Bradley Stryker) has lasted. I pegged him to be offed in Episode 2.

Check out the “Body Count” video and the clip from last week’s episode below.