Greg and Zanna consider the relevance of plausibility.
SCORES
Number of hot prisoners: 1
Number of hot cops: 1
Number of dull moments: 0
SHE SAW
Women may be the primary consumers of true crime but personally I would take ghosts, zombies, possessed persons or aliens exploding gruesomely from bellies over a man
in a van any day. The real world is far too frightening to be able to consume it as a relaxing evening's entertainment. When Greg told me the premise of Black Bird and I expressed my reticence, he said "You can't only watch shows about mums having comedy sex, Zanna", which I think is a dig at Canadian series Working Moms.
According to Greg, Black Bird is the hottest television show in the world right now and nothing has so clearly illustrated to me the separate worlds the algorithms create for us because I had never heard of it and even after watching it, it has not penetrated my online bubble at all. But, I can see why it's created buzz in other bubbles. It's an irresistible blend of true crime intrigue with Hollywood hotness. If there's one thing Hollywood knows how to do, it's make murder sexy.
For me, the thing about "based on a true story" shows is that I tend to get fixated on detecting which elements have been fabricated for entertainment value and therefore scoff at storylines that I might not question in a straight drama. For example, there's a lot of sexual tension between Taron Egerton's ridiculously chiseled drug dealer James Keene (real person) and the equally attractive female detective Lauren McCauley (made up) who's responsible for giving him the challenge of eliciting a confession from suspected serial killer Larry Hall. In truth, an FBI agent did pose as his girlfriend like McCauley does but Janice Butkus, which is the real agent's name, certainly wasn't convincing Keene to take the assignment through flirtation; she actually wasn't involved in that process at all. We'll probably never know how much Butkus enjoyed that prison roleplay though, so I guess that's the definition of open to interpretation, and the interpretation is that she made it hot.
The omnipresence of technical aptitude in even the most basic of television shows these days means the only thing that really differentiates a good show from a not so good show is story. Everyone knows how to do a beautiful shot with low depth of field and some beguiling light flare but not everyone can tell a compelling story as well as Black Bird does. We're still only two episodes into the six-episode mini-series, but it's such a well-paced show, building tension so expertly, that despite my fear and loathing of true crime, there's no turning back now. We're buckled in for the full ride.
