"This Is a Robbery" occasionally delivers on the promise of its engrossing introduction, but is largely held back by the creators' obvious desire to methodically introduce and dismiss various theories, as well as an unfortunate lack of visual interest (especially for a series centered on art).
The series' creators stripped "Beartown" of the melodrama that's often inherent to stories centered on teenagers, and of the salaciousness that lesser series lean on when writing about sex crimes. In its place, they revealed a narrative that's chilling in its survey of how we can lose what makes of human in the pursuit of a win.
Writer and director Tobias Lindholm resists portraying the murder and its perpetrator as masterful and instead turns the lens on the grinding policework and overwhelming sense of familial loss left in Wall's wake. This makes "The Investigation" feel laborious in its pacing at times, deliberately so, rendering it authentically poignant in a way that's unique for crime dramas.
"Lady and the Dale" is almost like embarking on a road trip; you have an idea of your destination, but it's really the stops and detours along the way that make it memorable, and that make the periods where things kind of stall-out easily forgivable.
The potential emotional revelations of "How To with John Wilson" pale in comparison to what it can teach viewers about what we probably used to take for granted when operating in public spaces. This series is built on some of the most meticulously captured B-roll I have ever seen in my life. ... Wilson crafts visual punchlines that elicit belly laughs and landscapes that will make you ache for the days you could have been outside, actually noticing things.
A robust selection of archived news clips which feature concerned citizens discussing their fears for themselves and their communities clearly demonstrates the way this serial killer dominated the collective consciousness. When, in the fourth and final episode, Carillo and Salerno finally identify the killer and bring him into custody (aided by a band of community members), it feels like justice has been served — both narratively and, more importantly, for the victims.
"All Creatures" doesn't just stop at being pleasant in a wholesomely British kind of way. Coursing through the entire seven-episode series is such an amount of heart, the kind that ensures that goodness and decency inevitably win the day, that it will leave you yearning for better times, especially amid the unprecedented stress the last year has brought us.
With equal parts sensitivity and suspense, "Elizabeth is Missing" displays an emotional range that is sometimes uncommon in crime by interweaving it with an intensely personal drama. The result is mesmerizing.
While the series "The Ripper" attempts to dismantle some of that celebrity, instead putting police incompetence in the spotlight, it still neglects to truly center Sutcliffe's victims. Perhaps it's time to retire both the moniker and the same tired retellings of stories where sex workers are portrayed as one-dimensional or culpable in some way for the killer's crimes.
It's a thoughtfully paced series, rich in original source material and striking watercolor animations in place of reenactments. ... Where "Heaven's Gate: Cult of Cults" falls a little short is in its explanation or exploration of Applegate and Nettles' appeal. As leaders, they lack any kind of discernable charisma.
