Badlands, Texas

I visited the Big Bend area in late October 2017. Frequent stops at the only gas station in Terlingua were a feature of this visit, as well as a breakfast or two at its built-in cafe. I knew nothing of the crime or this Nat Geo series at the time. I found it after coming back from the trip.

One other reviewer described this as the 'gloomiest, most depressing thing I've ever watched'. I cannot agree more. The sad truth is that the reality of Terlingua is every bit as depressing as this show. Two things about this series:

1. Since clips of an interview with Glen Phelps were included in the series, one can only assume this started out as a series on Terlingua itself, and before the video work completed (or even begun) the entire focus of the series shifted to the murder and the trial. It might have actually been a better, more focused product had the crime not got in the way.

2. The continual re-use of certain scenes, along with the lengthy and depressing intro, leaves the impression that the producers had barely enough material to fill out the eight episodes, and had to 'pad' the episodes with this stuff to get through each hour.

Terlingua is the last place anyone but a misfit would seek out and gravitate to as a place to live. It is one of those few places in the United States that is one step removed from being a Third World environment. God help anyone with an injury or a medical condition requiring immediate attention.

I'm not sure if this was first intended to be about the few living in a "ghost town" but they were able to capture an interview with Glenn (victim) then proceeded to tell about his murder and how it affected the community. I agree that it's a slow watch; however, I enjoyed learning more about the people and their struggles, their loyalty to one another, etc. If you're looking for a strictly gory true-crime murder, this isn't the documentary for you. This is a well made insight into a tiny community of interesting people living in an area in Texas that most wouldn't want to stay there for a week. I'm glad I found this on Hulu and learned about this tragedy as well as more about our country.

The producers of this went down to Terlingua after hearing about the brutal murder and picked out a half dozen characters in the town to build the story around What transpires is a disjointed tedious concoction of drunken ramblings of eccentric people. Repetition of the same video footage, cheesy high altitude drone shots, and wildlife clips, combined with irrelevant moments of the everyday lives of the characters who live there, resulted in dragging out this pathetic story outover eight episodes. At times, this documentary seemed like it was nothing more than an audio/video class project for a bunch of high school kids. Rhonda, the cougar character is so wasted in some of the footage, she makes Charlie Sheen's coke infused rants now seem genius.....

The pacing is very slow and every time a new feeling is presented by a member of the town they each have to take turns sharing the same feelings in their own words so the whole thing feels like it's just repeating over and over. One female citizen seems to make the murder all about how it affects her. The whole story could have been so much more interesting if it could have been less repetitive and shortened down to about an hour instead of five 45 min episodes that all really drug.

I watch this a few years ago and was riveted. Could've been done in a four part series but my favorite was the cowboy commentary. That guy was great. Love to see more of him. I would love to find the clip but I paraphrase-"People often confuse freedom with comfort..." If anyone can quote that accurately, I'd appreciate it. Got admit I had a little crush on Rhonda.