I (Almost) Got Away with It

This is a fascinating show about fugitives and their attempts to evade capture. The amount of time that the fugitives are on the run vary from several days to several decades. (Subsequently, the episodes about fugitives who evade capture for years are more interesting.) Crimes include murder, burglary, bank robbery, drug dealing, con games, and video piracy.

The re-enactment actors turn in professional, believable performances, and the production values are mostly top-notch. If you watch enough episodes, however, you'll notice a lot of actors and locations are used repeatedly. (e.g. almost every fugitive or fugitives' family members live in the same house.) Other than those obvious budget-friendly shortcuts, the show looks professionally produced.

What makes this show unique is that the actual fugitives are interviewed, so viewers hear a first-person account of events. Particularly interesting is the fugitives' backstories. Most are career criminals who come from dysfunctional families and began offending at a young age. For the episodes featuring a convicted murderer, it's disturbing hearing how easily they rationalize and justify their crimes. Some are remorseful but not all of them. It's also sad to see how a lapse in judgement can change the trajectory of so many lives-from the perpetrators to the victims to the families to innocent bystanders.

INTERESTING FOOTNOTE: In the season-one episode, "Got the Wrong Four People Killed," the actress playing the fugitive's mother is Kathy Garver, who played Cissy in the '60s sitcom Family Affair.