I (Almost) Got Away with It

Let's be clear here - the strong part of this show is not the reenactments, which is most of the show, but the actual person the show is about talking about their crimes. That's interesting.

So you see the reenactment and then the real guy talks about it. I don't know of any other show that does this. It's entertaining and the one really good thing about this show.

What's not is how cheap a lot of the reenactments are. I mean you see the bad guy running with a white hoodie, then a minute later, his hoodie has turned black. Huh?

The cops all wear the same uniform in whatever town they're in but don't even try to make it look real. You see some with half their shirts untucked or no belt or equipment, even just a black shirt. I think they just have two uniforms and get people who fit them - or not - one episode has a super fat guy, hair all over the place, beard and the shirt didn't fit, he's literally arresting a guy with his shirt COMPLETELY UNBUTTONED AND UNTUCKED. This would not happen at any police force nor would they hire a guy who looks like this. At least try and people who look like cops, NOT guys with pony tails, or super overweight or look like stoners. It's annoying. The "Swat team" are all wearing different things. In some instances they're just wearing a button up shirt with a badge attached, not even trying to look real.

A lady is "reading the paper and sees herself on the front page" and the "paper" is the Penny Saver, literally, it doesn't look like a real paper in any way, you can see the ads for cars on the back. You can't get a real paper at least??

I mean there's one room in someone's living room, wood paneled room, that has been a "courtroom" (that one was the worst), a jail cell, numerous offices, a police station, a shoe repair shop, a "secret service" office etc. I think there are one or two "rooms" in someone's house that is used in every episode. It looks like a video some kids would make and passing off the living room as a court room. It's super cheap and annoying.

The same police car is used in every episode (#0302). Whether it took place in 2009 or 1979, it's the same car. Yeah, the story is supposed to be 1979 but here's a 2010 police car in half the shots. At least TRY and look like the period.

You see the bad guy on the highway then a "roadblock" comes up and the "roadblock" on on a residential street (yet they still claim it's the highway). A lot of the cops are the same cops in different cities. I think it's okay to use the same actors in a lot of these which they do (You'll see one guy play the bad guy in one episode and a cop in the next).

There's a Vietnamese gang who killed some people in a robbery, the main guy is on the loose. He goes to his "cousin's" house WHO IS WHITE. He just squints a lot. I kid you not. It's incredibly insulting. There's one scene where a guy is driving and his "teenage" son is in the truck with him. The "teenage" son is at least 25, if not older. I mean you can't even get some producer's kid to play the son???

But really, what they should do is rename this show "Cops are stupid." Because literally every episode, the person is getting away because the cops are morons. They see them in the checkpoint and let them go. They walk past them as they hide behind a tree or behind some boxes. They're constantly letting bad guys go because clearly these are the dumbest cops ever.

If you can get past the super cheapness of the reenactments and some of the bad acting (oddly sometimes they cast someone who looks JUST LIKE the real person and other times they don't look anything like the real person), it's not a bad show.

I know the show isn't in production anymore so there's that but if they ever bring it back, STOP WITH THE SHOTS OF THE REAL CRIMINAL LOOKING OUT A WINDOW every episode.

The narration and re-enactments are really entertaining, definitely true crime best re-enact show.

Out of the countless crime series on television these days, "I (Almost) Got A Way With It" is by far one of the most interesting and engaging shows out there. They usually revolve around someone who escaped from prison, and usually is on the lamb for up to a year or more and who have fake I.D's, Birth Certificate and Social Security cards. It's really fun and you learn a lot about a fugitives life on the run and the everyday panic of getting caught. Most of the escape stories featured on the show are fun to learn, and now thanks to this show if I ever go to prison, I have a few ideas on how to get out, and that's probably the only downside to the show is that if criminals are watching they might learn a little to much. Check this show out Tuesdays at 10 PM e/p on Investigation Discovery.

Considering the production crew of this show has a tight group of actors you'll see some actors performing multiple roles throughout the series. That doesn't take away from the fact that the episodes are gripping because they're real. The multiple factors that go into someone becoming a criminal, the close shaves while on the lam, the police who risk their lives in pursuit and the dumb luck some of these criminals have is just astounding.

This isn't just another cop show. It's a detailed look into the variations of crimes, reasons why some people end up as criminals and the chances they overlooked, how innocents get caught up in their lives, the technologies involved which keep on improving.

This is a show the whole family and community should watch. You never know who is in your neighborhood who might be on the run, you never know what might happen in your life that has you up against the wall where you end up on the wrong side of the law.

The first episodes I saw of this series involved failed escape attempts by criminals who had been imprisoned for crimes like robbery and drug distribution. So, the largely unserious tone of the episodes wasn't an issue. But, when I saw that they had episodes for prisoners who were convicted of such horrific crimes as rape and murder (of innocent people, including families.), the tone of these episodes were wildly inappropriate (murders among criminals or gang members would have been right on the line, but still acceptable). There is no justification for a reality series that tries to tell amusing, humanizing stories of criminals who have committed heinous crimes... especially when some 'amusing' failed escape stories involve the criminals abusing, raping, and murdering other inncocent civilians during their escape attempts.

Even for the pathetically low standard that exists for reality television, it still defies belief that someone thought this was a good idea and no one else scuttled it before it became a series.