History Series / WhyWomenKill

* OoohMeAccentsSlipping: In-universe, later when [[spoiler: her life starts falling apart, Rita's cultured accent gives way to show her Texas twang.]]

* IgnorantOfTheirIgnorance: Rita [[spoiler: had long believed her abusive first husband was shot dead by Isabel and she ran off. It takes Catherine to let her know Harry is very much alive and since they were never divorced, that means Rita's marriage to Carlo was never legal and thus she inherits nothing.]]

* MurderByInaction: [[spoiler:How Beth Ann kills her husband. She and Mary hatch a plan to get rid of their husbands by making Ralph think Mary had an affair with Rob, igniting a fight between them. Then when the guns come out, Beth Ann tosses Rob a gun with [[ItWorksBetterWithBullets all the bullets removed]], letting him be gunned down by Ralph.]]

* InformedJudaism: Aside from Eli mentioning it, there's no real sign that he's Jewish (aside from this being a common Jewish male first name). [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] as he seems to be a cultural/secular Jew.

* MoreDiverseSequel: Season 1 had two significant characters of color: Simone in the 1980s, and Taylor in 2019. 1949 replaces this with a Latina family: the Castillos (Catherine, her father Carlos, Carlos's wife Rita, and [[spoiler:her cousin]] Isabella), and a black LoveInterest (Vern), who is also disabled.

*** Karl met Simone at a high-society benefit. She made a grand entrance, wearing a PimpedOutDress and diamonds, and [[PowerWalk strutted her heart out, letting the whole world know how fabulous she was.]]

''Why Women Kill'' premiered its first season on Creator/CBSAllAccess on August 15, 2019. The second season aired on June 3, 2021. In January 2022, it was canceled despite initial reports that it had been renewed for Season 3, and will not be made.

* MrsRobinson: Simone reciprocates Tommy's affections (though he's just eighteen and she's already 40, if not past it). Later, [[spoiler:we see that she also has a personal assistant/masseuse who's also decades younger whom it's heavily implied she also has sex with]].

** Simone has has three husbands, including Karl, none of which truly loved her. Tommy, while much younger than she is, truly adores her. At first, she only sleeps with him to get back at his mom for knowing that Karl was cheating (though not with men) and keeping it a secret. But over time, she develops real feelings for him, and they even make plans for a life together [[spoiler: before it’s all derailed by Karl’s illness]].

* {{Blackmail}}: Karl gets out of Simone threatening to throw him out by saying that he'll go to her friends and come out, humiliating her.

* MyBelovedSmother: Naomi Harte, Simone's friend worries that Tommy is doing drugs and she coddles him. [[spoiler: She almost goes so far as to kill Simone, only failing due to Tommy pushing her out of the way and Naomi getting injured]]. Naomi even tries to rip open his diary, only to be stopped by Simone, and later goes full [[ObnoxiousEntitledHousewife Karen]].

** Simone starts out as a demanding diva, only to reform as a person and focus on the needs of others. Her friend Naomi is a straight example, trying to intrude on her son's personal space and spreading rumors about Karl's health condition and sexuality and falsely saying Simone is molesting her Tommy (not true). These get Simone banned from the hospital and both the Groves banned from the Country Club they frequented.

* {{Polyamory}}: Taylor and her husband have an open marriage, with two basic rules: no getting emotionally invested in their hookups, and no bringing their hookups back to the house. Both rules are broken within the first episode.

** Tommy's father and Naomi's late husband talks about how unpleasant Naomi is and how she needs to lay off of Tommy because he's a grown man now. He hopes his son will push back against Naomi's smothering.

* SassyBlackWoman: April's sisters, good Lord. They are snappy and funny and say sassy, cutting lines about Eli and their mother. Averted with the smart ass but more logical Taylor.

* BaitAndSwitch: Bertram's SerialKiller reveal. Initially, it looked like he would be pursuing an affair but as soon as Maisie felt faint and sedated he began to make the same euthanasia speech he gave on the dogs...

** Alma has no problem disposing of Mrs. Host’s remains and planning an alibi. She's increasingly [[spoiler: violent and has a simmering rage]].

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Scooter and Bertram survive their wounds via Catherine, who ran off back to Texas with her father's fortune. But Rita gets murdered by Alma before Scooter can reconcile with her, Bertram commits suicide, Alma about gives up and let's the police arrest her, she is disgraced for her crimes, Scooter starts a new life being able to move on from Rita's tragic death and achieved popularity through his almost being framed by Alma, Dee and Vern have a happy family life with a baby boy and Mrs. Yost's dog, and Alma loses her sanity imagining she is at a premiere of her own movie with adoring fans and not reporters and onlookers jeering at her as she is walked off to a likely death sentence.]]

** Rita's maid [[spoiler:and cousin]] Isabel tries to blackmail Alma and Bertram with one of the aforementioned photos, which show Alma's presence the night Carlo as murdered. This also backfired on her [[spoiler:resulting since Alma murdered her when Isabel breaks their deal]].

* DespairEventHorizon: Bertram in the penultimate episode, drinking himself day in and out for weeks. At this point, his wife worries far more about the garden club and her new lifestyle than him and their marriage (the last seen interaction between them is a shot of them arguing quietly in the kitchen and the final shot is Bertram reading the newspaper in the silence while Alma looks cautious); his daughter is avoiding them and he has his suspicions confirmed when she came to confront him. He sees through the lies his wife told their daughter and just takes the fall because the love of his daughter matters more now than his wife who is willing to throw him under the bus, pinning all the blame on him. He wants to protect his wife but at the same time, Alma is incredibly gleeful about throwing him to the wolves to protect her new lifestyle.

* FreudianExcuse: It turns out that Bertram was told to euthanize his mother at her instruction. Ever since, he's felt it was his duty to do the same for everyone with a painful, incurable disease (not bothering to ask if they want this though). His priest telling him he could be forgiven as well was taken by Bertram as his ''carte blanche'' afterward (although that wasn't the priest's intention).

** Father Tim Keegan, Bertram's former priest, is horrified to learn that when he told Bertram as a child that euthanizing his mother could be forgiven, Bertram took it to mean that (involuntary) euthanasia of other people was ''also'' okay, and he's killed ''26 people'' since.

''Why Women Kill'' premiered its first season on Creator/CBSAllAccess on August 15, 2019. The second season aired on June 3, 2021. A CharacterSheet is now in progress.

* JerkToNiceGuyPlot: Simone starts out as a haughty, shallow woman who's very rude to most people. However, over the course of the series she grows into a much nicer person, and even [[spoiler:becomes a philanthropist]].
* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Played with. On the one hand, Ralph does get the death penalty for murdering Rob and Jade is killed by Taylor in their fight after trying to kill Eli, and it's revealed that Simone "killed" Karl with his full consent. But all three of the wives murder someone and have no legal consequences, because they either weren't directly involved, it was the victim's wish, or it was self-defense.]]

* NiceToTheWaiter: Played with. When Karl collapses in the front yard, none of the neighbors will help Simone bring him to the car because he has AIDS, but a gardener does. Simone thanks the man profusely and offers to hire him to work for them... only for Karl to inform her he ''does'' work for them, and has for six years. [[JerkToNiceGuyPlot Simone caring enough to notice "the help" is a rather recent development]].

* '''1963''': Beth Ann Stanton (Creator/GinniferGoodwin) is a docile housewife content with her role in society until she learns that her husband Rob (Sam Jaeger) is having an affair with a young waitress named April Warner (Sadie Calvano). Beth Ann finds herself becoming more assertive as she works to end her husband's infidelity through befriending his mistress.

* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: A unique variation: in the final scene, it's shown how [[spoiler: Simone meets an older Beth Ann when buying the house in 1974. With Beth Ann is April's daughter, who she's helped raise as April is now becoming a singer on Broadway with Beth Ann joining her. Then in 2014, an older, wheelchair bound Simone gives the keys to Eli and Taylor, revealing she's let go of her material obsessions and dedicating her life to AIDS research while Tommy is now a famous painter. Finally, in 2020, Eli and Taylor give the keys to a new couple as they head off to a quieter life.]]