Be Patient & Wacth As It Weaves A Likely Conclusion In A Cluster

AudioFileZ

The title is the thing here. Right away it's a disclaimer as in whatever the implied claims and people named there is only speculation as put forth here. But, is this really what this series is saying? After watching, and often being confused by the jumping timeline of the two major later day investigations, I think this film tells what is probably the closest thing to what went down. It basically implies that there were two shooters who between them killed the two rappers reagrdless if Suge Knight was the flashpoint and/or mastermind. The investigations seem to lead to this much and they were hamstrung by a wall of silence among any insiders who weren't talking as well as the stentch of the cross-polination of off-duty policemen working for the rappers. I may be wrong as I had pretty close to zero knowledge of this case prior to watching, but that is what I believe is here. The producers tell who they think are most responsible and as in the title leave it all as unproven.

So, is this drama based on facts? As far as one can cipher from the myriad other docs, movies, and articles it seems highly accurate. Accuracy, however, doesn't make a drama always compelling or entertaining. Furthermore, I'm guessing this particular drama will separate viewers just due to fact it is told back and forth with multiple timelines making it harder to follow if what one seeks is a fact based linear time line of a sensational crime. That said if, like I did, the viewer can just keep watching the confusion settles allowing the pieces to fit given time. This series requires a patient and committed viewer because it wants to tell the story of the investigations more so than simply entertain.

In sum this is the best look into these two most sensational music celebrity related murders. It sums up years of speculation and the related questionable police investigations. It does so with an excellent feel mostly punched home by the well chosen cast. Standouts include Jimmi Simpson as detective detective Russell Poole. Simpson nails the way this case literally took over his life, alienating him from his co-workers and superiors in the department. His dogged pursuit not only resulting in his dismissal from the case and subsequent strange early retirement (6-months before he would achieve a pension), but in the end causing his downward health spiral and death. I can only hope the real Poole wasn't as consumed as the riveting Poole Simpson portrays. Yes, he's that good. And what can you say about Marc Rose other than it is like watching the real Tupac. Bokeem Woodbine is also notable as federal task force assigned officer Daryl Dupree often stealing the scenes he appears in. All in all some care has been given to what the producers are showing us. You just have to work around the jumping timeline and go the full ten episodes. Unsolved cases are often the most frustrating kind for a viewer to watch since there's no payoff. If you stick with this though and see what the story is saying pretty much happened it's believable and credible...not really frustrating if you give it you time and attention. I'm sure it's the closest to the truth and the best of any production that will ever be made regarding this sensational "Unsolved" case.

score 8/10

AudioFileZ 21 September 2019

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw5133009/