Oh boy, Cooper Koch is living the dream… and the nightmare. He’s being showered with praise for his portrayal of Erik Menendez in the latest Netflix drama, Monsters, but also getting roasted over the coals faster than burnt marshmallows at a bad campfire. Why? Because the show’s facing some serious heat for, as critics are putting it, serving up a steaming plate of “blatant lies” about the Menendez brothers. It’s like the series turned into an accidental alternate history channel, and people aren’t having it. Even the real-life Menendez family is giving it the side-eye.
Now, Cooper, being the mysterious, off-the-grid type, doesn’t have social media to post some snappy clapbacks. But no worries—enter his brother, Payton, who swooped in like a knight with an iPhone. Payton jumped on Instagram, sword drawn (okay, it was just a long caption, but still), to defend his brother’s honor like it was a medieval tournament of truth.
In the Instagram post, Payton basically said, “Listen, people, Cooper is a sensitive guy. He cares immensely about this story. He’s not out here to stir the pot; he’s standing with the boys and all victims of abuse. He poured his heart into this role like it was a smoothie full of empathy and dedication.” And then he drops the mic with, “Watch episode 5, people—it’s obvious where he stands!”
Speaking of episode 5, hold on to your popcorn. The whole thing was shot in one glorious take. That’s right, no cutaways, no distractions—just Cooper’s face slowly becoming the center of the universe as the camera zooms in. Picture it: him sitting in a prison interview room, dropping the heaviest lines about sexual abuse with a lawyer across the table. If that’s not intense enough for you, imagine the zoom happening so slowly you start to wonder if your screen’s frozen. It’s dramatic, it’s emotional, it’s… well, really up-close.
Cooper Koch, praised and pummeled, all in a day’s work. Episode 5 is basically his acting Olympics, but will it be enough to fend off the haters? Stay tuned.
