Zodiackillersite.com

There’s no true-crime saga in modern history as palpable as the case of The Zodiac Killer. It’s been turned into books, acclaimed films and been featured in countless documentaries. It is, quite simply, the most infamous murder case in American history short of, maybe, the Kennedy assassination. But, the case is also fifty years old at this point, which means what there is to know about it is known. At least, that’s what we thought until Gary L. Stewart came along with a theory that must be heard to be believed.

Based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Gary L. Stewart and Susan Mustafa, The Most Dangerous Game of All is a four-part docu-series following the journey of a man to uncover the identity of his long lost biological father only to discover that, that very man might also be the most famous serial killer in American history.

For fans of true-crime stories, The Most Dangerous Game of All hits all the right notes. It’s compelling and puts a new twist on a story everyone thinks they know all the twists and turns of. Gary’s journey of finding out who his biological father is, is so compelling in it of itself that the series makes no attempt to even tie it to the Zodiac case until the end of the first episode. In terms of straight documentary storytelling, this one gets a gold star for sure.

Following that revelation, the series moves into a more standard recounting of the Zodiac story but now with the added personal story of Gary’s struggle to deal with the fact that his biological father might also be the infamous killer, which brings a nice amount of freshness to the whole thing. Of course, the idea of bringing freshness to such a grizzly tale feels… a little icky when broken down into its components.

Overall, The Most Dangerous Game of All is a solid entry into the true-crime docu-series genre from a network not that accustomed to doing this kind of storytelling. But, if FX is going to do something you can bet they’ll do it right. The episodes are swift and engrossing while never overstaying their welcome. They are what they need to be and do a heck of a job succeeding where they wish to succeed. Those seeking a fresh true-crime story to sink their teeth into this mid-season will be hard-pressed to do much better than this one.

doranchak wrote:There's an interesting tonal shift in the trailer towards the end. Seems to highlight Gary's obsession with the case in a negative way.

Shawn wrote:I wonder who the woman is at 28 seconds talking about this is the only picture we have of Gary's father and it is a mugshot.