Making A Murderer Season 3 Release Date & Story Details

Part 2 of Netflix's true crime documentary series Making a Murderer is now on Netflix, and those who are gripped by Steven Avery's pursuit of exoneration may already be wondering when to expect Making a Murderer season 3. This season split its focus between the efforts of Avery's new attorney Kathleen Zellner, and his nephew Brendan Dassey's legal team, Laura Nirider and Steven Drizin. It also shows the impact of the two men's incarceration on their families - in particular, Steven Avery's ageing parents.

Opinions are divided on Making a Murderer, with some maintaining that both Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey are innocent, others saying they're guilty, and others saying that they could be guilty, but there's enough reasonable doubt to demand a retrial. The post-conviction efforts for both have been slow and difficult, with their legal teams facing a major challenge in even getting their convictions given a second look, let alone overturned.

Due to the drawn-out nature of legal proceedings, there's not much change over the two years that Making a Murderer season 2 covers - the main development being Brendan Dassey exhausting his chances at appeal after taking his case to the 7th Circuit and eventually the Supreme Court (who denied a hearing). So can we expect to see any forward movement in a potential third season?

This Page: When Will Making a Murderer Season 3 Release?
Page 2: What Could Making a Murderer Season 3 Be About?

Making A Murderer Season 3 May Not Happen

In contrast to the breathless chatter elicited by Making a Murderer's first season, reviews have criticized the second season of the show for feeling emptier, and lacking the same kind of momentum or big reveals. This was somewhat inevitable, given that so much of season 1 was spent going over Steven Avery's first conviction and release, then laying out the details of Teresa Halbach's murder and building up "characters" like sleazy prosecutor Ken Kratz and Steven's dogged defense team, Dean Strang and Jerry Buting. Though season 2 actually took longer to film, it feels like there's less ground covered and a lot less hype following its release. With that in mind, it would be understandable if Netflix decided to cap the documentary series at two seasons.

That said, filmmakers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos certainly haven't written off the possibility of a third season. Speaking to Cosmopolitan, Demos gave a "Maybe!" when asked about season 3, so it seems like the duo are up for returning to the case if Netflix decides to order season 3.

Making A Murderer Season 3's Release Date Is A Long Way Off

Making a Murderer - Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos

There was a three-year gap between the releases of Making a Murderer season 1 and season 2, and a third season could be even longer in the making. Post-conviction cases don't exactly move quickly (it's been more than 11 years since Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey were jailed for the murder of Teresa Halbach), so it would take some tie for Ricciardi and Demos to gather enough material and have enough of a story to fill another ten episodes. Much is dependent on whether or not any progress is made over the next couple of years, or whether Zellner's search for exonerating evidence proves to be fruitless. In any case, we probably shouldn't expect another season of Making a Murderer until 2020 at the very earliest - and it could take a lot longer.

Page 2: What Could Making a Murderer Season 3 Be About?

What Making A Murderer Season 3's Story Could Be

One possibility for season 3 would be to turn Making a Murderer into an anthology series, and focus on a new subject who is also believed to have been wrongly convicted. The popular true crime podcast Serial - to which Making a Murderer is often compared - took this approach, focusing on different stories in season 1 and 2, and then in season 3 dedicating each episode to a different case in order to take a more expansive look at justice in America.

However, Ricciardi and Demos may be reluctant to shift their attention away from Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey after becoming so deeply involved in their lives and cases, and growing close to their families. Demos told Cosmopolitan that "she, Laura and Kathleen are committed for the long haul," and offered an idea of what a third season of the show would look like:

"For us, the questions of continuing past this Part Two will be the same questions that were there when we finished Part One: What is the story that’s taking place at this point? Can we maintain or gain access to it and does it offer something new? So we will continue asking those questions."

Supporters of Brendan Dassey and Steven Avery are still holding out hope that the two men will be able to walk out of prison, and if that actually happens (for either one or both of them) then that would naturally make for a very compelling season 3. Zellner has an extremely difficult task still ahead of her, but she has already managed to get 17 wrongful convictions overturned, so she probably stands a better chance than anyone of clearing Steven Avery's name (if, indeed, he is innocent).

One final possibility - and this is admittedly a long shot - would be to focus on Teresa Halbach's family and their experiences of the long, drawn-out legal proceedings surrounding the death of a loved one. Prosecutors have consistently cited the suffering of the Halbach family and their need to move on as a reason not to allow a retrial, but we haven't really seen their side of things first-hand. The sticking point, of course, is the fact that the Halbach family seem to want nothing to do with Making a Murderer (season 2's credits begin with a list of people who declined or didn't respond to requests to be included, and Teresa's friends and family make up a large number of the names). However, if Demos and Ricciardi could convince the Halbachs to speak to them, season 3 could offer an interesting counterpoint to the previous two seasons.

Until Netflix reveals whether or not Making a Murderer will continue, we'll have to settle for following the latest developments in the news, as Zellner continues to fight for a retrial.