Like others who read reviews on IMDB before investing 6 hours into a docu-series, I was skeptical based on the 7.0 overall rating at the time of this writing.
But what led me to invest in watching it was that the reviews were polarized between 7 and 10. I wanted to understand why and hoped that I'd come out in the 10 camp.
IMO, those who rated it a 6, 7 or 8 wanted a "Making a Murderer" or "Serial" type of open-ended mystery and were disappointed the weird side story about a small-town play getting in the way of the cold hard facts. As far as true crime, it's interesting but just OK and certainly took too long to tell that story. If I had stopped watching after 5.5 episodes, I would have been in that camp.
But the final half episode changed everything and moved me into the 10 camp. Hell, I would rate it an 11 and say it was one of the most profound explorations of humanity in the context of tragedy I've ever watched.
It moved me to absolute tears as the story the series creators were actually telling all along suddenly came to light and we watched the individuals of the previous 5 episodes begin to heal from an absolutely tragic situation and we watched others double down in their ego and pride. The "twist" caught me by complete surprise as I finally understood that this docu-series was using the True Crime genre to tell human story about healing. It hit me like a ton of bricks and was relatable at personal level, even tho I've never experienced loss even close to that experienced by the people in this series.
My personal take away: At different times I play both the Victim and Villain in tragedies of my own life. Time and self-compassion for both sides of myself are the pathway to healing.
But what led me to invest in watching it was that the reviews were polarized between 7 and 10. I wanted to understand why and hoped that I'd come out in the 10 camp.
IMO, those who rated it a 6, 7 or 8 wanted a "Making a Murderer" or "Serial" type of open-ended mystery and were disappointed the weird side story about a small-town play getting in the way of the cold hard facts. As far as true crime, it's interesting but just OK and certainly took too long to tell that story. If I had stopped watching after 5.5 episodes, I would have been in that camp.
But the final half episode changed everything and moved me into the 10 camp. Hell, I would rate it an 11 and say it was one of the most profound explorations of humanity in the context of tragedy I've ever watched.
It moved me to absolute tears as the story the series creators were actually telling all along suddenly came to light and we watched the individuals of the previous 5 episodes begin to heal from an absolutely tragic situation and we watched others double down in their ego and pride. The "twist" caught me by complete surprise as I finally understood that this docu-series was using the True Crime genre to tell human story about healing. It hit me like a ton of bricks and was relatable at personal level, even tho I've never experienced loss even close to that experienced by the people in this series.
My personal take away: At different times I play both the Victim and Villain in tragedies of my own life. Time and self-compassion for both sides of myself are the pathway to healing.