To be fair, this series starts off okay, with the first three episodes focusing on the crime from which it draws its name. But even so, there's really no new ground broken and the content could have easily been edited down to 1.5 hours with absolutely no loss to the viewer.
Where it really falls apart is from episode 4 onward, where the producers stretch credulity by trying to tie other local crimes into what was supposedly the subject of this mini-series. It's clear the area is not affluent, with meth labs apparently very common according to many witness accounts, and yet the producers spend the last half of the series stretching the story well past the breaking point in an attempt to show that an entire town rising up to eradicate a local terrorist is somehow responsible for a host of other crimes in later years. Particularly unfortunate are a spate of overly emotional comments from an old lady "crime writer" who adds absolutely nothing to the original story.
I wish I'd stopped watching after episode 3 and, frankly, by the time episode 5 was over I wish I'd skipped the entire thing. The first three episodes might be of interest to serious fans of true crime or to those in the immediate area who are unfamiliar with the details, but honestly I'd skip this one. At ~4.5 hours total length there's very little substance for the time invested, even for this fan of true crime documentaries.
Where it really falls apart is from episode 4 onward, where the producers stretch credulity by trying to tie other local crimes into what was supposedly the subject of this mini-series. It's clear the area is not affluent, with meth labs apparently very common according to many witness accounts, and yet the producers spend the last half of the series stretching the story well past the breaking point in an attempt to show that an entire town rising up to eradicate a local terrorist is somehow responsible for a host of other crimes in later years. Particularly unfortunate are a spate of overly emotional comments from an old lady "crime writer" who adds absolutely nothing to the original story.
I wish I'd stopped watching after episode 3 and, frankly, by the time episode 5 was over I wish I'd skipped the entire thing. The first three episodes might be of interest to serious fans of true crime or to those in the immediate area who are unfamiliar with the details, but honestly I'd skip this one. At ~4.5 hours total length there's very little substance for the time invested, even for this fan of true crime documentaries.