I'm a fan of Michelle Trachtenberg, and of true crime which is why I had this on my watchlist.
That's why it sucks that the show is a total letdown. Trachtenberg, while being a good actress, is so thoroughly out of her element here. Her cadence is bizarre and it seems as though she's having trouble reading her lines fluidly or in a way that sounds natural. If the show manages to get a renewal for a second season, I hope she can improve.
It's also weird that the narrator of a crime documentary series refers to herself in the first person and states personal opinions (even though they're obviously pre-written) regularly. It's also strange to show the host. It's just completely unnecessary and feels crass that they are leaning into a celebrity personality so hard. It all just feels so wrong and a tad disrespectful to the victims of these crimes.
The crimes themselves are interesting enough, I guess. But they aren't presented in an overly compelling way and often feel padded out and repetitive to fill the runtime. It seems very by-the-numbers, and there are plenty of other shows that not only present true crime better, but have presented some of the very same crimes featured in this show better, and without the stilted narration and repetition.
I really can't understand why this made it past the pilot/pitch, to be honest. If it didn't have the star power of Michelle Trachtenberg, it would have died immediately, of that I have no doubt.
That's why it sucks that the show is a total letdown. Trachtenberg, while being a good actress, is so thoroughly out of her element here. Her cadence is bizarre and it seems as though she's having trouble reading her lines fluidly or in a way that sounds natural. If the show manages to get a renewal for a second season, I hope she can improve.
It's also weird that the narrator of a crime documentary series refers to herself in the first person and states personal opinions (even though they're obviously pre-written) regularly. It's also strange to show the host. It's just completely unnecessary and feels crass that they are leaning into a celebrity personality so hard. It all just feels so wrong and a tad disrespectful to the victims of these crimes.
The crimes themselves are interesting enough, I guess. But they aren't presented in an overly compelling way and often feel padded out and repetitive to fill the runtime. It seems very by-the-numbers, and there are plenty of other shows that not only present true crime better, but have presented some of the very same crimes featured in this show better, and without the stilted narration and repetition.
I really can't understand why this made it past the pilot/pitch, to be honest. If it didn't have the star power of Michelle Trachtenberg, it would have died immediately, of that I have no doubt.