Buried

I'm sure this documentary about repressed memory is going to be very interesting to watch. I wouldn't normally write a review after only one episode but this show has a very unusual and off putting trademark the director seems to be trying out. Zeroing in on the eyeballs of each person being questioned. I'm telling you, the eyeball fills the screen. It's so big I have to turn away from the tv and ask my dog Chance " why, why in hell is he doing this.?" An.optometrist could do an eye exam on these people. Serious flaw in my opinion.

As Episode 1 of "Buried" (2021 release; 4 episodes of about 55 min each) opens, we are introduced to Eileen Franklin, who was 8 or 9 years old in 1969 when her best friend Susan Nason was brutally murdered. Then in 1989, yes 20 years later, Eileen's repressed memories return and she accuses her own dad of molesting and then killing little Susie. Episode 1 provides extensive footage of the "first day of the trial"... At this point we are 10 min into Episode 1, and you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this documentary TV mini-series is written and directed by Yotam Guendelman and Ari Pines. Their previous documentary work included "Shadow of Truth" a few years ago. Here they reassess the infamous case of the "repressed memory" of Eileen Franklin, who accuses her dad of the unresolved murder of Susie Nason 20 years prior. The documentary looks back extensively on how the Franklin family moved in then-new Foster City (halfway between San Fran and San Jose), where everyone knows your name. Then there is the issue of the "repressed memory", which at that time had never been used at trial in California. The documentary makers int4erview plenty of talking heads from those late 60s years in Foster City.

"Buried" premiered this weekend on Showtime and Episode 1 is now available on SHO On Demand. New episodes air Sunday evenings at 9 pm Eastern. If you are in the mood for your regular dose of true crime, I'd suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

*UPDATE 10/17/21* Just saw Episode 2 last night, which drills in on what a "repressed memory" actually is, and to what extent it is accepted in the medical community. As could be expected, the debate is not black and white, but instead there are a lot of nuances. And then, out of nowhere, an explosive new fact is unleashed upon the unsuspecting viewers at the very tail of end Episode 2. Can't wait to see the remaining two episodes...

*UPDATE 11/1/21* I've now seen all 4 episodes, and this mini-series just kept getting better as it went along. There is so much information to digest that episode 4 frankly even feels a little rushed. In the end, if you are a fan of true crime documentaries, you will definitely want to check out "Buried".

The case was unusual and creepy enough, that they didn't have to start by hitting us over the head with OH MY GOD DID THIS REALLY HAPPEN. Like yeah we get what the point is going to be, before it's even ten minutes in. I wish it had more respect for the viewer's intelligence, because given the subject matter, it could have been another Staircase or Brother's Keeper. But unfortunately, it just isn't that good.

Part of the problem is that we barely see any of what actually happened in court before there are voiced-over opinions about it. So this requires very little work, in a way, and doesn't allow us to come to any conclusions of our own before we're already being told what we should be paying attention to.

I might have liked it better if it had taken more time to let us see and hear these people (Eileen, her sisters and her mother) talk more first. But instead they put the memory experts in sort of randomly, closer to the beginning when it just wasn't even really clear why it mattered that much what they had to say.

When I first started watching I hadn't realized it was a documentary. I was aware of the story from when it happened and he was on trial, so not sure I got any more out of it....maybe some finer details. I think it could have been covered well in one two hour episode.

I do totally believe Eileen and her memory, he was an evil father, man and pedophile.

It is a good documentary because it goes back and forth with the evidence, but sadly it does very little to round up a conclusion to educate us. Journalistic investigations could make peoples minds about moral dilemmas, change investigations and legal concepts. But this kind of aproach where nothing is added to what is known, doesnt really help.