Critic Reviews

In the well-crafted three-part Hulu documentary series, “Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons,” director Matt Tyrnauer does an outstanding job of taking us through the fascinating history of the company, augmented by interviews with former executives who were there from the beginning — and models such as Frederique van der Wal.

This series exists as an intriguing and startling statement about just how many buried assumptions and associations lie beneath the wings that defined shopping for a while. Those eager to learn more about a familiar brand-name will get much out of it; those looking for a nostalgia trip about the glory days of Angel fashion shows will emerge bleary-eyed.

It’s telling that Wexner himself did not want to be interviewed for the docuseries. That association with Epstein is going to be explored in-depth in the subsequent two episodes, especially episode 2, and it seems like that is what is going to dominate, more than even the usual vagaries of the fast fashion world that Wexner helped pioneer.

The challenge in repeatedly returning to the Epstein of it all is that it potentially adds a salacious "ick" factor to the narrative without bringing much new to the party. "Victoria's Secret: Angels and Demons" mostly overcomes that criticism in a way that's well worth watching, even if, by the standards of the best docuseries, it doesn't rise to the level necessary to completely earn its wings.

A purported investigation into industry abuses needs to produce the rotting carcass by the end. In the absence of such, we are asked to make do with such insights as the damage Victoria’s Secret has (probably) done to women over the decades by promoting of tall, skinny-yet-busty white women as the only acceptable form of beauty.

It’s a chronicle of the brand’s ascent and descent, a look back at its place in our culture and an exposé of the rich, powerful men behind it, who inevitably connect — like so many of the U.S.’s richest, most powerful men seem to — to Jeffrey Epstein. But in trying to braid all these threads together at the same time, Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons ends up a hopeless tangle.