User reviews

N 2014, a podcast called "Serial" went viral when doing its first season on the Adnan Syed murder case. Apparently it's been downloaded 175 million times. Think about that! That's more than half the country's population. Now 5 years later comes this 4 part documentary from HBO, in essence a visual rehash and update of the podcast. As the documentary opens, we get a short introduction as to the main persons involved in this matter, including 18 year old Hae Min Lee, who was brutally murdered in early 1999, 17 year old school mate (and ex-boyfriend) Adnan Syed, their respective families, and others. The attention of the Baltimore Police focuses quickly on Syed, a Pakistani American whose family is super-strict, but he himself is not.

Couple of comments: this documentary is written and directed by highly respected and long-time documentarian Amy Berg (whose 2006 "Deliver Us From Evil" was nominated for Best Documentary Oscar). The documentary is in 4 parts, and I have now seen 3 of the 4 parts (I'll watch the last part surely later this week). The documentary feels at times s bit heavy-handed, if not one-sided, at least through the initial 3 parts, mostly telling the story from Syed's and his lawyer's and family's perspective. Part 2 ("In Between the Truth") looks up close at the various testimonials. Because so many aspects and angles of the case come up, I admit that at times I lost track of certain things. It's not very often these days that one gets too much information! When Berg lets the Korean American family and Baltimore community speak their minds, it only reinforces how little attention is paid to them overall. One interesting item that came up a number of times is how the "Serial" podcast has impacted the people involved, even those just on the fringes (a HS classmate comments that she wishes she'd never gotten involved in the podcast).

Despite its flaws, I nevertheless found this pretty compelling viewing. I think one reason for the podcast's extraordinary success and now the strong ratings for this documentary is that the appetite from the public at large for a murder case in which we may never fully know what truly and really happened, is simply insatiable.

*UPDATE* I saw the 4th and final episode and it doesn't change my overall view of this documentary series: heavily tilted towards the Syed camp's view of events, but in the end we really don't know know what happened 20 years ago

Writing a short review to counterbalance some of the more negative reviews (of the armchair detectives that happily pass judgement). Though, I do agree the documentary doesn't present the case particularly well, or their argument of the case's failures, and without Serial and Undisclosed, this documentary wouldn't receive any attention/acclaim, which is a pity.

I have no idea if Adnan is guilty, but what is clear is, that the police investigation, trial, and succeeding actions of the judicial system, have little interest in providing justice on the basis of evidence (which should be of concern to everyone). Is that due to it being an inconvenience, general incompetence or institutional corruption?

In any event, reviewers should look to the title of the documentary, and then consider whether the state made its case (based on information/evidence available) before offering their opinions. The documentary highlights that it didn't, though this could have been argued better.

The first episode was somewhat slow and it is probably the reason for so many bad reviews. The second episode, though, it is much better with better pace and all of this contradictory information which make this case such a mystery

Regardless of whether Adnan is guilty or not, it's proven many times that the justice system is broken. Many people consider it as sacred but in reality, it's just a man made system and doesn't always become successful in delivering justice. It works on the ability of people to present the truth in order to serve justice, but people can be biased, easily manipulated, and influenced. This includes everyone in the justice system. The many innocent people, who were put in jail and later exonerated, and the people who were let go freely even though they were guilty, are the biggest proof of it. The system prefers the rich and powerful. If you have the money, you can hire the biggest lawyer with the biggest mouth, whether you are guilty or not, and that lawyer will try to manipulate the system to prove your innocence.

If you are familiar with this story from Serial you will quickly notice the strong bias towards Adnans innocence and how conveniently they gloss over or totally leave out the items that point to his guilt. Too much time is spent on Rabia rather than focusing on the facts of the case.

Knowing what we know now? Shame on every single person who left a review stating Adnan was where he belonged/the murderer.

Now that ACTUAL DNA evidence completely exonerates him, and what this series (in my opinion does poorly) tries to do is cast reasonable doubt upon him as the person guilty for her demise.

There's a reason the Baltimore County prosecutor has joined with the defense to completely dismiss and vacate, and a strong argument against the death penalty. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

That Jays story was every taken seriously, knowing that Ritz (initial detective involved) was found guilty of several different kinds of misconduct (prosecutorial, exculpatory, fabrication) in another case the same year as this one, only reiterates the fault in Wilds' testimony.

Not a great series but hits many of the points those who so firmly believed in his guilt should have been paying attention to.

Incredibly one sided information that doesnt have the same professionaliam and objectivity as Serial. Its great hearing more about this case and putting faces to the voices, but i feel like this was a wasted opportunity to give another unbiased accounting of the story. Instead this feels like propoganda to help exonerate Anand.

I am a very avid documentary and true crime watcher.

I'm not sure why this is reviewed so positively by critics and considered such a triumph.

First this doc is drawn our way longer than it needed to be. This could have been three episodes.

For example they go over and over whether something happened on a certain day when it is CLEAR witnesses are not going to agree and will always contradict each other.

Also how much of a total idiot do you have to be to play up the fact that you're Muslim in jail and court? We KNOW that there is a HUGE prejudice against that religion. Der

Bottom line: I think he totally did it but not in the cold blooded way they assume. I think he got in a fight/argument w the victim that went too far and he killed her in a crime of passion. Also the film makers of this doc did it such a disservice with WAY too many people who didn't really matter and dragging it out.

Doesn't deserve the praise it's gotten imo.

I'm disappointed that the didn't get the depth that it deserves, mixed clips from here and there feels pretty shallow. I mean they could've put more seriousness into it.

Jay Wilds is looking out for number one, himself.. Jennifer P has fried her brain. The idea that she was spoon fed the answer is outstanding to me. She got her 15 minutes of fame!

This documentary is biased towards Adnan but it raises key issues that nonetheless were missed. Its a fact that there was proprietorial and police misconduct in this case. Whether he did it or not, he deserves a new trial.

Early Serial podcast listeners will likely notice a marked difference, in that this documentary is shaped in favor of Adnan's innocence. If you go into this series knowing that his devoted advocate, Rabia Chaudry, was one of the producers (at least according to online searches as of the date of this post), you'll likely have a better sense of what to expect, and still be extremely interested. Adnan could very well be innocent. Just don't expect to get a balanced perspective from this documentary. That said, I applaud Rabia for her perseverance in getting massive exposure and scrutiny for Adnan's case. May the truth win in the end.

It just shows how messed up the legal system is :( keeping his family in my prayers

For those claiming they "know" Adnan was and still is guilty are just as bad as the unbelievable stubborn and outright corrupt US "justice" system. I've listen to the podcast and I've watched this documentary and whilst it may have been one sided I'm baffled to see how anyone can be so convinced of his guilt. There is literally nothing that proves he did anything, other than a pathological criminal and liar whose story changed daily. I've seen many other cases in which the prosecution do everything they can to pin a murder on someone and ignore glaring holes and inconsistencies and seemingly how zero interest in finding the truth simply to clear it from their desk and move on. This crazy idea to get someone to plead guilty despite maintaining their innocence for 20 odd years, simply to prevent them from suing the state for time spent in prison it madness. I'm infuriated that people can't see past the collusion and hell bent evil simply to avoid admitting they got it wrong and worse knowingly locked someone up with zero hard evidence. Equally infuriating is that this documentary ended with so much more to be told, including that Adnan did get realised and explain more about this. Hopefully someone will pick up where this finished.

This documentary is just plain awful. Poorly organized, choppy, unclear and extremely biased. The story itself is worth hearing, but do so on the podcast rather than waste your time with this. Just doesn't do it justice at all. Such a disappointment!

Heartbreaking in every way! A look at how flawed and corrupt our judicial system is.

And even tho this is just the first episode, I think that Adnan is innocent and that the guy that she was dating at the time of her murder, is probably the one that did it.