A Season in Purgatory (1996)

Overview

Mini-series based on Dominick Dunne's bestseller, which was a thinly disguised version of the real-life drama revolving around the Skakel family, a branch of the Kennedy clan, and their son Michael, whose murder of a neighbor girl was kept secret for years. (Dunne's novel was influential in reopening the investigation, which lead to Skakel's arrest and subsequent trial.) The television version is a glossy, engrossing tale of how a conspiracy can succeed when wealth is involved, only to unravel when one participant's guilt becomes too heavy a burden to bear.