See No Evil

Does Walmart sponsor this show? Great idea for a series, very entertaining, just wondering about Walmart as it seems every episode has Walmart cctv

"See No Evil" is my favorite show on Discovery ID. When it first aired in February 2015, I was blown away. I was naïve and had NO idea how often we were on camera. (And since then, the number of cameras has significantly increased.) After watching every single episode to date, some of the "novelty" has worn off, but I still like it. When the killer is revealed, it is surprising to find out who it was and how it is usually someone close to the victim [friend, boyfriend, spouse, in-law or even child (!)]. When they show video from media coverage showing the victim's family pleading for their safe return, family members look so distraught. It is amazing how often one of them happens to be the killer! Anyway, I find it fascinating how investigators are able to piece things together and solve crimes by using various videotapes. Two drawbacks to the show is that it can be redundant, as in they often repeat the same information a few times within the same episode. Also, the show has a lot of commercials, but those can be avoided by recording the show and fast-forwarding through the ads. I always enjoy seeing the criminal busted in the end!

Like others, this is one of the better documentaries on crime.

I like that they show actual footage, interview friends and family and take you for the ride on the investigation.

I've just watched an episode from Season 5 and noticed something that seems to be in every show.

These are the reasons I didn't score higher.

The overly and unnecessary dramatic music to amp up the tension. It's just not necessary and has become annoying. I now watch with low sound and subtitles. The actors who don't resemble their real life counterparts. A large family member who was portrayed by a petite actor. This was shameful. A maroon car that changed colour and model when they set the scene up for the forensics. If you can't find the right props to accurately portray the scene then look harder or don't show it. Replaying CCTV footage over and over and over. Then in slow motion and detectives that see something that's clearly not shown like a passenger. I came to the conclusion that the production of the footage is intentionally grained to make it seem as if the Detectives have super powers. A dark car on a dark night was spotted in broad day light and the officer noticed the rusty wheel which you could not see in the CCTV footage because it was too grainy. The car (actual surveillance) as crystal clear but went grainy when they reshowed it in slow motion. I just don't believe that all Walmarts, Costcos and other stores all use old VHS tapes or low level CCTV, what would be the point when you can't make anything out? The narrator is a drama queen. As soon as he spies a CCTV camera, the music goes up and the old 'could we have a eye witness to this horrible crime?' gets trotted out. It's the whole reason for the programme! And then announcing a find that will 'dramatically change the direction of the investigation', or offer 'a twist that no one saw coming'. Then it doesn't.

On the whole it's a great idea, great concept and good story spoiled by being overly produced and under acted. A shame really. If it was presented better and offered as a true documentary with better actors then it really would blow the competition away.

It's a 6 for could have been if they hadn't been sucked into reality hell.

The subject matter is excellent. People will always be interested in criminal cases, so no complaints there. The victim and their family are treated with respect, but there are flaws:

1. Laborious storytelling with far too much repetition 2. Annoying sound effects and background music 3. Hiding key parts of the footage to play gotcha with the audience

The third point bugged me the most and happened in the first episode. They showed security footage of a crime. It lasted about 60 seconds but no crime was apparent. Then they decided to show it again, while detectives told us how easy it is to overlook something. On the second viewing, they pointed out an important detail that everyone missed the first time. But this is the annoying part: They edited out the key part of the footage from what they initially showed us, so none of us had a chance to catch the key moment either.

I have only watched season 2 on Netflix and I love the stories chosen. They explain everything really well and use family and friends to talk about the victim.

However the downsides are that they play the footage over and over which is a bit excessive and the dialogue is very repetitive. The amount of time spent on telling us how great footage is and constantly referring to the security cameras is over the top. I found myself after a couple of episodes getting frustrated because they seem to state the obvious and repeat the same lines.