Betrayal Season 5: The Making of Season 5 | BONUS

Podcast: Betrayal (iHeartPodcasts / Glass Podcasts)
Release Date: April 9, 2026

Episode Overview

This bonus episode brings together the core creative team behind Betrayal Season 5 to reflect on how the season came together, their most impactful moments, and the themes that surfaced in telling Saskia Inwood’s harrowing story. The team explores key questions about truth, trauma, legal loopholes, and the larger myth of the "perfect victim." Listeners are given a behind-the-scenes look at the difficult emotional labor of producing a season centered around exposing hidden abuse and the process of survivor-led storytelling.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Finding Saskia’s Story

• Caitlin Golden shares the origin: Saskia first reached out via email in September 2024 with her story of marital betrayal and a legal quirk in Maryland law that failed to fully criminalize her abuse.
  • Quote (Monique Laborde, reading Saskia’s email, 05:01):

    “Everyone thought he was smart and kind and successful. Ended up he was doing horrible things to me while I was unconscious, night after night... In between being the perfect husband, father, and stepfather, things only got worse when I found out what he was doing.”

• The team notes it took nearly 18 months from that email for the season to be completed and aired.

2. Why This Became a Full Season

• Andrea Gunning (Host, 06:18):

  "The fact that he could watch this person spiral...and to know that you were doing something in the dark that could contribute to that is just so cruel to me. That’s why I thought this was a really good season. Like, the two things that were happening in the light of day and in the darkness."

• Andrea highlights the dual lives and the emotional weight that marked the narrative as one deserving deep exploration.

3. Confronting the 'Perfect Victim' Myth

• Andrea (07:32):

  “I’ve always really wanted to dismantle the idea of the perfect victim… Saskia’s story kind of defies that archetype, but it still doesn’t change what happened to her.”

• The team discusses how this season used both the criminal and divorce trials to challenge deeply-held cultural beliefs about who is worthy of being believed.

4. Legal and Societal Failing: Spousal Rape Laws

• Team members react with shock and disgust to the legal loophole allowing marital rape in Maryland at the time of Saskia’s case.
  • Caitlin Golden (08:30):

    “She gets to the point in her story where he only gets 18 months in jail… this was completely legal in my state. And I was like, wait, what? How in the world.”

  • Matt Dalvecchio (08:46):

    “That law was on the books at the time was just… I don’t understand how that could even be.”

5. Perpetrator Mindset & Lack of Accountability

• Tanner Robbins (09:31):

  “What shocked me maybe the most in the story was a quote from the perpetrator, Mike. He didn’t believe in his heart that he raped her. Mike is having sex with his unconscious wife. What did he think that he was doing?”

• The team explores the societal entitlement to women’s bodies and how existing laws reinforced that sense of privilege.
  • Andrea (10:12):

    “There is an entitlement that exists in our society...in the state in which he lives with his wife that embolden and validate that entitlement.”

6. Impact of Telling the Story—For Survivors and Listeners

• Carrie Hartman (18:21):

  “This kind of crime is a trend… it’s underreported, and it’s probably underreported because people are too shame-filled to report it.”

• The positive ripple effects for both the storytellers and the audience are emphasized.
  • Caitlin Golden (19:05):

    “One of the most impactful parts this season was talking to all these other women who had experienced the crime…watching the three of them in their progression and their healing journey has been really impactful.”

7. Broadcasting Healing and Transformation

• The team reflects on survivor transformation over months or years.
  • Caitlin (20:38):

    “That’s the thing, realizing that you’re not alone.”

  • Andrea (20:53):

    “She couldn’t even look in the mirror. And she’s just now reclaiming her body. It’s astonishing to see what she’s done and the work that she’s put in and how she came out on the other side.”

8. No Redemption Arc for the Perpetrator

• The showrunners discuss the contrast with “Burden of Guilt”—here, true amends were never made.
  • Monique Laborde (14:31):

    “If there was genuinely an effort Mike Levengood had made to acknowledge the harm he had done, to make amends… he did not take those opportunities. And so we can’t report a redemption arc because it isn’t there, and it’s disappointing, honestly.”

• Caitlin Golden (15:35):

  “What makes this season different… is that we’re talking about a perpetrator who has gone on to make a career off his criminal past… he really did not see the connection between what he did to Saskia and what he is doing in his business now. That’s a privilege Saskia will never be afforded.”

Highlighted Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Saskia’s Original Email (05:01–05:55): Sets the stage for the season’s emotional and legal journey.
• Andrea Gunning’s summary of Saskia’s trauma (06:18): Captures the heart of the show’s empathy and outrage.
• Tanner Robbins on perpetrator’s denial (09:31):

  “Mike is having sex with his unconscious wife. What did he think that he was doing?”

• Matt Dalvecchio on legal reforms (10:46):

  “It’s good to see lawmakers, at least, are waking up to some of this.”

• Caitlin Golden on healing (19:05–20:38): Observes a survivor’s visible transformation as testament to the power of telling.
• Monique Laborde on the antidote to difficult reporting (21:31):

  “The antidote for me is really getting to see the healing and the connections and the progress the survivors are making.”

Notable Timestamps

• 03:25 – Team introductions and how each member contributed
• 04:29–06:00 – How the story was found; reading of Saskia’s email
• 06:18–07:32 – Decision to make Saskia’s story a whole season
• 07:32–08:28 – Challenging the “perfect victim” concept
• 08:30–10:12 – Shock at legal loopholes and perpetrator denial
• 10:12–11:20 – Impact of legal reforms and societal implications
• 13:19–15:35 – Concept of amends and lack of perpetrator redemption
• 15:35–16:48 – Perpetrator’s career built on criminal past
• 16:48–18:06 – Editors' favorite episodes: catharsis in the courtroom
• 18:21–20:38 – Importance of surfacing underreported crimes and survivor healing
• 21:31 – The healing value for survivors and for the production team

Episode Tone and Language

The conversation is candid, empathetic, and emotionally charged—colleagues speak with evident care about their work, survivors, and the reality of trauma. There’s a notable balance of outrage (toward systemic and individual failure) and hope (in survivor transformation).

Conclusion

The bonus episode serves both as a window into the making of Betrayal Season 5 and a meditation on the power of survivor storytelling. It emphasizes legal shortcomings, challenges cultural myths about victimhood, and ultimately centers the healing and empowerment possible when silenced stories are brought into the light.