Betrayal: Dirty Secrets – Season 4 (2026) TV Review: A Devastating True Crime Story of a Double Life Exposed

Betrayal: Dirty Secrets – Season 4 (2026) TV Review: A Devastating True Crime Story of a Double Life Exposed

There's a particular kind of dread that sets in early in any Betrayal season — the moment you realise the "meet-cute" being described in dreamy, wistful detail is about to curdle into something much darker. Betrayal: Dirty Secrets, the fourth installment of Hulu and ABC News Studios' true crime anthology, opens exactly that way, and it doesn't let up. Based on the No. 1 true crime podcast of the same name, this three-part season centers on Karoline Borega, whose husband, decorated Colorado Springs police officer Joel Kern, was living a secret double life that eventually unraveled through a department internal affairs investigation. It's the show's format at its sharpest: intimate, first-person, and unflinching about what it costs to rebuild after discovering the person closest to you was never entirely who you thought.

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Betrayal: Dirty Secrets Plot Summary: A Badge, a Double Life, and the Fallout

Season 4 centers on Karoline Borega, who married Joel Kern believing she'd found a devoted husband and father. The series traces how Kern, a respected Colorado Springs police officer, allegedly used his position of authority to pursue a secret sexual life with multiple women over years, and how that "split-screen" existence — as podcast host Andrea Gunning describes it — finally came apart through a Colorado Springs Police Department internal affairs investigation, which the docuseries draws on for exclusive footage. The three episodes weave together interviews with Borega, her daughter Nicole, one of Kern's former partners, and Gunning herself, giving the season a layered, multi-perspective structure rather than a single victim narrative. What sets this season apart within the Betrayal format is the institutional weight behind it — this isn't just a personal betrayal, but one committed by someone the community trusted to uphold the law, which gives the series an added, uncomfortable dimension.

Director's Style & Cinematic Elements: The Betrayal Formula, Refined

Produced by Glass Entertainment and ABC News Studios, Dirty Secrets leans on the intimate, confessional interview style that's defined the Betrayal franchise since The Perfect Husband premiered in 2023. The show favors close, unhurried camera work on its interview subjects, letting silences and hesitations carry as much weight as the testimony itself, while archival footage and internal affairs documentation are used sparingly enough to feel like evidence rather than spectacle. Executive producers Nancy Glass and Jon Hirsch, along with ABC News Studios' David Sloan and Muriel Pearson, keep the pacing tight across the three-episode run, a format choice that suits the story's escalating structure — from idyllic beginning to investigative unraveling to Borega's rebuilding. For readers interested in how documentary-style storytelling handles difficult real-world subject matter, That Love Podcast's coverage of The Pitt explores similar ground in scripted form.

Themes & Deeper Meaning: Trust, Institutions, and What Gets Left Behind

Dirty Secrets is ultimately less about the specifics of Kern's misconduct than about what it means to rebuild identity after learning your reality was curated by someone else. The season repeatedly returns to Nicole's experience of having her own childhood memories thrown into question — a theme that resonates well beyond this particular story, touching on how betrayal doesn't just wound the direct victim but ripples outward through an entire family's sense of the past. There's also a pointed subtext running through the season about institutional accountability: Kern retired amid the CSPD investigation, and the series doesn't shy away from asking what that means for public trust in the badge itself.

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Performances (Real-Life Interviews): Honesty Over Polish

As a docuseries, Dirty Secrets lives and dies on the candor of its subjects, and Karoline Borega carries the season with remarkable clarity. Speaking on Good Morming America ahead of the premiere, Borega described the process of seeing the investigation files as something that let her "begin to feel this sense of validation and truth" after years of living what she calls a split-screen life. Her daughter Nicole's segments add a different register entirely — the specific pain of a child re-examining a parent she thought she knew. Andrea Gunning, the Betrayal podcast's original host, threads the season together as narrator and interviewer, bringing the same measured, non-sensational tone that's made the podcast a chart-topper.

Strengths: What Makes This Season Hit Hard

Dirty Secrets is strongest when it lets its subjects control the pacing of their own disclosures rather than rushing toward the "reveal." The decision to include one of Kern's former partners as an interview subject adds a perspective the franchise hasn't always prioritized, complicating the story beyond a simple villain/victim framing. The season's use of internal affairs footage also gives it a documentary rigor that elevates it above pure tabloid true crime — this is a story grounded in an actual institutional record, not just testimony.

Areas for Improvement

At three episodes, Dirty Secrets is the most compact season in the Betrayal anthology, and that brevity occasionally means secondary threads — particularly around the department's internal response to Kern's conduct — get less room to breathe than they might deserve. Viewers looking for a deep procedural dive into the CSPD investigation itself may find themselves wanting a fourth episode.

Comparative Analysis: Dirty Secrets vs Betrayal's Earlier Seasons

Compared to Betrayal: The Perfect Husband and Betrayal: A Father's Secret, Dirty Secrets trades some of the earlier seasons' financial-fraud intrigue for a story rooted in institutional betrayal, which gives it a different, heavier weight. It sits closer in tone to Betrayal: Under His Eye than to the franchise's earlier, more twist-driven entries. Fans debating which season hits hardest will find Dirty Secrets among the more emotionally direct, thanks largely to Nicole's segments. For further true crime viewing, previous Betrayal seasons remain streaming on Hulu, and comparable true-crime documentary collections are available through Amazon.

Target Audience: Who Should Watch Dirty Secrets

This season is built for true crime audiences who prefer the character-driven, testimonial style of shows like Betrayal over procedural or true-crime-thriller formats. It's a strong fit for listeners of the original podcast, and for viewers interested in stories about institutional trust and its collapse. Given the subject matter — infidelity, abuse of authority, and its impact on children — this isn't a light watch, and viewers sensitive to themes of domestic deception should go in aware of that.

Personal Impact

What lingers after Dirty Secrets isn't the specifics of Kern's conduct but Nicole's account of having to re-examine an entire childhood through new information — a reminder of how betrayal's damage rarely stays contained to the person it was aimed at. It's a season that sits with you, not because of any twist, but because of how plainly its subjects speak about rebuilding.

Conclusion: Is Betrayal: Dirty Secrets Worth Watching?

Betrayal: Dirty Secrets is a compact, unflinching entry in Hulu's true crime anthology, anchored by Karoline Borega's clarity and her daughter Nicole's harder, more complicated reckoning. Stream it on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ starting August 4. If you've followed the Betrayal podcast or franchise, this is a season worth making time for.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Betrayal: Dirty Secrets worth watching? Yes — it's one of the franchise's most emotionally direct seasons, anchored by candid interviews with Karoline and Nicole Borega.

Do I need to have seen previous Betrayal seasons to watch Dirty Secrets? No — each season is a self-contained story, so Dirty Secrets works as a standalone watch.

Where can I watch Betrayal: Dirty Secrets? It streams on Hulu and on Hulu via Disney+ for US bundle subscribers, from August 4.

Is Betrayal: Dirty Secrets suitable for families? It deals with infidelity, abuse of authority, and family trauma — best suited to adult viewers.

Is Betrayal: Dirty Secrets based on a true story? Yes — it's based on real events and the No. 1 true crime podcast Betrayal, hosted by Andrea Gunning.

How many episodes does Betrayal: Dirty Secrets have? The season runs three episodes.

Betrayal: Dirty Secrets vs Betrayal: Under His Eye — which is better? Both are strong, but Dirty Secrets' institutional angle — a police officer abusing his position — gives it a distinct, heavier weight than the franchise's earlier entries.

Will there be a Season 5 of Betrayal? No confirmation yet, though the franchise has released a new season annually since 2023, alongside the spin-off Betrayal: Secrets and Lies.

About the Series

Betrayal is based on the chart-topping iHeartPodcasts true crime series of the same name, hosted by Andrea Gunning. The anthology is produced by Glass Entertainment and ABC News Studios, with Nancy Glass and Jon Hirsch executive producing for Glass Entertainment and David Sloan, Muriel Pearson, and Eileen Murphy leading for ABC News Studios. IMDb | Rotten Tomatoes | Hulu

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