[Minor Spoilers]
So, I watched the entire show today. I have to say it was one of those stories you just couldn't leave lying. I had to finish it. To put it briefly, it was an incredibly solid true crime Tv Show. Highly reminiscent of True Detective and Mindhunters. Right up there in the same caliber.
I don't think it was better than Mindhunters, but I do think it was better than True Detective S1. So that is where I stand.
Now this show was great. It lacked some details about the main character I would have liked, they never really explored him. I never really felt like I got to know him. Even when he was telling the antagonist it didn't feel genuine, and I don't think it was supposed too anyway. He was lying very often to garner the thing he needed from the antagonist.
Perhaps the highlight of the show would be the character of Larry Hall, played surrealistically by Paul Walter Hauser. Who said he was incredibly happy to be able to work with Ray Liotta, who passed during the filming of this show. Paul's acting elevated to an entirely new level. He continues playing the soft-spoken innocent guy mostly, until he can't help but show his true dark side. It's uncanny how well Hauser did. Definitely reminds me of Mindhunters and Ed Kemper's actor.
There is a sense of being played with by the antagonist throughout the show that makes you feel like the main character, being toyed with almost.
I suppose the rest of the show wasn't really too standout. It was shot well. Especially the episode before the finale. The director really nailed the tension in that beginning scene with the therapist. I suppose the show stands out as 4 stars to me because I couldn't drop it all day. I suppose I should change the rating to 3.5 to better reflect that its certainly above average but perhaps not in Zodiac (fincher) territory.
If it's a question about these filmmakers talents? It has been answered. Solid, Solid show. It felt a little rushed at the end in that last episode but ok.
Really recommend it. My particular bent for this type of story is that the Antagonist really makes me wonder why God creates serial killers.
There is a line in a Koan poem by a Zen monk, that I was reminded of while watching it. Thich Naht Hanh wrote it.
"I am the pirate who is raping the child,
but I am also the child being raped.
Call me and know me by my true self."
