This was published 3 years ago
Why I'll Be Gone in the Dark is so addictive
By Staff writers
There are so many true crime shows that sometimes it's hard to know where to begin.
But one program that stands out from the rest is HBO's new six-part documentary I'll Be Gone in the Dark, according to television experts at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
The late crime writer Michelle McNamara.Credit: HBO
The show revolves around the late crime writer Michelle McNamara's hunt for the Golden State Killer and is the subject of this week's Televisonaries podcast. Host Louise Rugendyke says I'll Be Gone in the Dark is different from other true crime programs because how it is framed.
"It's less about the killer and more about the woman who pursued him," Rugendyke says. "In that sense, it's a story about obsession. It is Michelle McNamara's unceasing quest to identify the killer who had evaded police for more than 40 years. It's also about what that obsession cost her."
Green Guide critic Debi Enker says the show's writers and producers should be praised for giving survivors so much air-time and for the way they decided to narrate the episodes.
"The series makes a lot of really smart decisions," Enker says. "It doesn't use dramatised recreation sequences, which I always find a kind of cheap, shoddy shortcut to get you into the head space. Instead, it uses long pans through the neighbourhoods where the crimes occurred ... photos and shots of objects.
"It is the sort of thing you think about when you go to bed that night. The detail haunts you."
Spectrum deputy editor Kylie Northover agrees, pointing out that I'll Be Gone in the Dark reminds us of the victim-blaming that occurred in the 1970s.
"It's a really interesting snapshot of the time," Northover says. "The way these women – these victims of crime – were treated. They've got news clips from the time and they had this horrible educational film about how women should behave. They have a woman walking and [say], 'Look at what she's doing wrong!'"
Later in the episode, the critics revisit the 1980s American drama Magnum, P.I. and test their knowledge of popular documentaries.
Previous episodes of The Televisionaries explore the hit Netflix show Tiger King, the historical comedy The Great and the young adult series Alex Rider.