Abhiroop Das
Created by Gabe Rotter, Netflix’s ‘The Beast in Me’ chronicles the life of Agatha Wiggs, a novelist whose personal tragedy gives way to a seemingly insurmountable professional hurdle. Years after her hit debut, she is unable to pump out a single chapter, and doubt, coupled with desperation, nearly pushes her to the brink. As fate would have it, her new neighbor turns out to be Nile Jarvis, a real-estate titan who was once the prime suspect in the disappearance of his wife.
However, with the public refusing to let him off the hook, he is desperate for a reinvented image, and in him Agatha finds all the inspiration she needs. While the two characters set out to collaborate, equal parts intrigued and put off by each other, a whole string of mysteries continues to unfold in the background, adding more depth to the enigma that is Nile Jarvis, best embodied by his equally controversial New York City land development project, Jarvis Yards.
Nile Jarvis is a Fictional Real-Estate Mogul With a Dark Past
Although Nile Jarvis is a fictional character, penned by Howard Gordon, Daniel Pearle, and Gabe Rotter, he is infused with enough realism to create a believable profile of a real estate mogul with a troubled backstory. Alongside being the heir to MHJ Real Estate Corp, Nile is most well-known for being accused of murdering his first wife, Madison Jarvis, and that sets the rest of his trajectory throughout the show. Although the creators have not spoken about any particular real-life figure that inspired Nile’s creation, his story bears a loose resemblance to that of Robert Durst, a real estate heir who was convicted of murder and suspected of serial killing. As such, there is a possibility that Robert Durst’s case was used as a reference point for the show, with additional creative touches being added to enrich Nile’s fictional arc.
Robert Alan Durst was the eldest son of real-estate icon Seymour Durst and heir to The Durst Organization, one of New York’s most well-known real-estate companies. Around January 1982, his wife, Kathleen McCormack Durst, disappeared from their Westchester County home, leading to a widespread search and police investigation. Although Robert was not charged at the time, he reportedly remained a suspect for several years. The case resurfaced nearly two decades later, when Susan Berman, a close friend of Robert’s who provided an alibi following Kathleen’s disappearance, was found murdered on December 24, 2000. Robert reportedly went into hiding in Galveston, Texas, to avoid police interrogations. Some time later, he was arrested for the dismemberment of his neighbor, Morris Black, and later sentenced to five years in prison on two counts of bail jumping and one count of evidence tampering as part of a plea bargain.
While Nile Jarvis’s story follows a distinctly fictional trajectory in the show, there are a few points of vague overlap with Robert’s case. In particular, both come from a real estate background and were accused of being involved in their first wife’s disappearance. However, given the vastly different contexts and time periods, Robert Durst is unlikely to be the exact source of inspiration, and it is possible that his case merely superficially informed the creative team’s choices for the series. In 2015, during the production of a documentary mini-series named ‘The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst,’ Robert was reportedly captured muttering what appeared to be a confession, and this eventually played a part in his arrest and conviction in the Susan Berman murder case, for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment on October 14, 2021.
Given that ‘The Beast in Me’ is about an author capturing the story of a person accused of murder, it is possible that Robert’s case influenced the show itself on some level. However, with no official reports confirming this link, the possibility is firmly in the realm of speculation. When talking about his character in relation to the larger premise of the show, actor Matthew Rhys told Good Morning America that “he (Nile) has a few issues that he is trying to clarify himself (…) he feels he’s been wronged in some ways and he would like to set the record straight for society.” As such, Rhys’s ability to step into and emulate Nile’s mindframe likely played a key role in grounding him further.
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Jarvis Yards is a Fictional Mega-Project Potentially Based on Hudson Yards
A huge chunk of the show is also dedicated to the business front of Nile Jarvis’ complicated life, and here we are introduced to his company’s flagship project, Jarvis Yards, which is touted to be the biggest land-development project in the city. While Jarvis Yards is a fictional real-estate project in the show, it likely draws loose inspiration from the real-life Hudson Yards, which is the largest private real-estate project ever built in the homeland. Primarily developed by Related Companies, the billion-dollar project is built over an active railyard and spans across the West Side Highway in the west and Eighth Avenue in the east. This architectural marvel bears a striking resemblance to the fictional Jarvis Yards, with the most apparent overlap being in their names. Additionally, just like its real-life counterpart, Jarvis Yards is designed to be a multi-purpose development project, with various high-end fixtures adding to its charm.
While Hudson Yards might have served as a partial reference for Jarvis Yard in ‘The Beast in Me,’ the show adds its own flair to the fictional construct, delving deeper into the political climate surrounding it. In particular, the completion of the project is met with stiff resistance from a protest group known as Right to Home. From there, criticisms of Jarvis Yards’ role in fueling the housing crisis begin to have a direct impact on the council’s vote to continue its construction, and a complex game of dirty politics unfolds. This entire plot thread, however, is created from scratch by the creative team of the show and bears no particular resemblance to the public perception of the real-life Hudson Yards.
