I'll Be Gone in the Dark

While I don't share the frustration of those who expected a documentary focused primarily on the Golden State Killer, I do think "I'll Be Gone in the Dark" has problems, despite the many strengths of the series. Liz Garbus is an exceptionally talented filmmaker who has directed several superior documentaries. This is not her best work.

Michelle McNamara is the lead story. As the episodes accumulate it becomes increasingly clear that while smart, passionate and dedicated, she is not especially interesting. We learn about her family, upbringing, blogging, fact gathering, obsession, and drug abuse. Great care is taken not to judge her or question the decisions that led to her death.

Her husband comes across as a well-intentioned enabler, woefully out of touch with changes in McNamara's health. Viewers are left to wonder how much child rearing was left to a nanny we never meet. When McNamara's sister shares that she ordered a full toxicology, which revealed fentanyl from black market drugs, the implications are left hanging.

We never learn what shape the incomplete draft of the book was in, or the extent of the revisions and additions. Much more interesting are the interviews with survivors of the GSK. The honest reflections and painful revelations say more about the vast harm done by the murderer/rapist than anything we learn about McNamara. They were brave to share. Their stories are chilling. They live with pain that never really goes away.

McNamara did not solve the case. In some ways, she became another victim of the GSK. The film casts her in as favorable a light as is possible, yet the real heroes are the dedicated law enforcement officers (some retired), and the courageous survivors. The advancement of DNA testing, along with a growing database, was essential to bringing long delayed justice to become a reality. There were many victims of the GSK. The brave survivors are the true heart of the series. Tragically, McNamara was a victim of her own making.