What to watch: Gone Girls, Dying for Sex, MobLand, Australian Idol and Restoration Australia

Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer

Monday, streaming on Netflix

Netflix is carving a niche for itself as THE go-to streamer for fascinating, binge-worthy true crime doco series — this one is certainly compelling.

The three-parter kicks off in 2010 with the disappearance of a sex worker, Shannan Gilbert, in the Long Island area, just outside of New York. While searching for her whereabouts, police discover four bodies buried along a 500m stretch of scrubland near the popular Gilgo Beach — but none of them are Shannan Gilbert.

The following year, six additional sets of human remains are discovered nearby, which leads police to believe they’re the work of a serial killer operating out of the area.

Remarkably, it’s over 13 years before a break is made in the case and a man is arrested. The accused, Rex Heuermann, a married father-of-two from Long Island, is currently facing court — he’s pleaded not guilty to murder charges relating to the deaths of seven women spanning from 1993 to 2011.

This documentary takes a look at the stories of the disappeared girls, as well as the troubled police investigation that stalled all those years prior, making a case for connecting their cases with the disappeared woman, Shannan Gilbert.

How police join the dots and eventually make an arrest will feel eerily familiar to anyone with a knowledge of the Claremont Serial Killer case — it has chilling parallels.

This series is directed by award-winning filmmaker Liz Garbus who is behind Lost Girls, a 2020 Netflix drama that fictionalised the story — this is all the more powerful for being entirely true, and for putting the victims and their families front and centre.

Haunting from the get-go, this will get people talking — especially as the case is unfolding in real time as we speak.

One for true crime enthusiasts.

Dying for Sex

Friday, streaming on Disney Plus

Michelle Williams is terrific as terminally ill woman Molly Kochan, who decides to leave her husband and embark on a journey of sexual discovery, with the help of her bestie, Nikki (Jenny Slate). Molly is determined to have as many sexual adventures as she can before she dies — it’s a wild ride. Remarkably, this is based on a true story, with the real Molly detailing her journey for a podcast — her pal Nikki is EP on this. Loved it.

MobLand

Sunday, streaming on Paramount Plus

Guy Ritchie’s creative endeavours don’t always land, but this new series has ‘TV hit’ written all over it. It tells the story of two rival crime families operating out of London, and focuses on ‘fixer’ Harry Da Souza, whose job it is to protect the Harrigan family. This boasts a truly sensational cast, including Tom Hardy as Harry, Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan as the married heads of the Harrigan family, as well as Paddy Considine and Joanne Froggatt — all are terrific. Not to be missed.

Australian Idol

Monday, 7pm, Seven

We’re getting to the pointy end of the competition, people — and you best believe we’ll be tuning in to see how young Perth superstar Gisella Colletti fares in the finals. With John Van Beek missing out a berth, it’s up to her to fly the flag for WA. But given the Corpus Christi student’s powerhouse performance of Break Free, we have no doubt she’s got what it takes to make it all the way. This year’s contestants sure are a talented bunch.

Restoration Australia

Thursday, 8pm, ABC

Architecture expert Anthony Burke is back, following the renovation journeys of a whole new crop of grand, old houses in need of a face lift. He’s kicking off in the Victorian Goldfields town of Inglewood, where there’s a beautiful old home just waiting for its intrepid out-of-town owners to get stuck in. Oh, to have the kind of funds that would enable one to embark on this kind of journey! Alas, we can only watch as someone else’s dream takes shape.