McMillions

Doug Mathews is the FBI equivalent of Barnie Fife. In the first episode you'll learn he was ambitious, slightly hyperactive, bored, and not trusted with much. One day he happens to notice a post it note on his bosses computer and asks if he can look into it.

What follows is a honest documentary about how the FBI fumbled into this huge conspiracy. You see agents relating how they didn't think things would work, practically rolling their eyes while talking about Mathews.

It shows how these guys are just normal humans, with tedious jobs and not some sort of super sleuth agency people imagine they are. It's more like the Mayberry police than the Silence of The Lambs FBI Agent Clair Starling.

I was stunned to see a new DVR recording every week. Six hour long episodes. Six! Don't expect a big pay off. The final/6th episode turns willing scam participants into sad victims. The only real victims were Simon Marketing employees and factory workers who produced the game tickets.

Mob ties, a snitching Mama, a custody battle, taking out 2nd mortgages, 7 ex-wives, car accident/maybe murder plot...why not just focus on the scam and investigation?

The colorful characters will make you laugh at times, but it still didn't need to be a six-hour loooooooong docu-series.

Watch Ep 1 (was very good) and skip to Ep 6 (to see how the scam unfolded) and keep it moving.

Loved it! Fun, , interesting. Very good duco. Very well made. Live the collage of people and all the mini stories.

Couldn't they have referred to one Jerry as "Jacobson" and the other as "Colombo?" So frickin confusing!!!

I thoroughly enjoyed McMillions. Unlike some other reviewers, I didn't find it overly long, and liked learning about the participants' backgrounds-it helps explain why they may have been motivated to get in on this thing. I especially liked the single mom with the little boy. When she described having to remortgage her house to get $50K for the dude to get his cut-*before* she even got a penny of her 'winnings'-WOW. I actually felt afraid for her. There was definitely a sinister, scary undertone here. Everyone interviewed was articulate and interesting, some more likable than others. Again, unlike some other reviews, I looked forward to the scenes with Doug Mathews-he's funny and charming and obviously clever and good at his job. All in all, it was entertaining, alternating between comical and creepy. A solid 8