A Friend of the Family

I'm not sure if it's such a good idea to make shows like this because of the fact that it could spread ideas into sick peoples heads, but nonetheless, it's a great show with great level of acting that felt very real, and the events are perfectly unfolding in such a medium pace scenario The struggles of both families are real and the characters are extremely believable. I loved watching the show because it opens up your eyes to a lot of things that surrounds you whether it's in the neighborhood or the city or the country I just personally don't like any harm done to under aged kids and it's really painful to watch things like this that happened in real life.

A lot of unexpected and shocking events happen that were never expected.

This is not an easy watch and might not be for everyone. It is a very well made, well paced series that tells quite the unbelievable-but sadly real- story. There's not much more to say or the risk it's to spoil it: my take on the bad reviews is that throughout the series you constantly want to switch it off, as frustration towards individuals or the "system" (church, law, police, hospital, etc.) mounts. This is no fairy tale, that doesn't mean it's not with watching, or that actors didn't play well. All protagonists were extremely believable in their roles, with that slight edge of surreality that actually adds up to the realism of the story.

Some reviewers can't understand how these ppl were so naive and why they handled things the way they did. This happened in a whole other time. There was no internet to learn from. The 6 p.m. News didn't teach about pedophiles. Ppl generally thought ppl were good and trusted those they went to church with. These ppl had no clue how to deal with this or what to do. Ppl didn't have social media to share their stories and teach others.

Children were more easy to manipulate back then than now.

I also don't understand the negative comments about Anna Paquin's acting. I thought she did a great job. She was portraying how many family oriented, religious women behaved back then.

I first watched "Abducted in Plain Sight" - which, still, remains the most disturbing portrayal of this incident out there whether in book form or live action. You can't beat the interviews with the family - just can't. Where this show seems to be created to straighten out some storytelling timelines ( and that IS important in this particular story ) and the acting is top notch, the mood and tone of the Netflix docudrama "Abducted in Plain Sight " better captures the ultimate tone of dark, disbelief that enshrouds this story - better than A Friend of the Family. This is a VERY dark story with long term ramifications for all involved and the Friend of the Family almost keeps the entire story in a too rosey light. This man took absession to a new reality for this family, and the music and editing and lack of showing his actual ( n ot literal - we don't need to see him raping an 11 year old ) intimate interactions with his victim is odd, especially since there was a very long, complete scene with Jan's father "assisting" Berchtold in a sexual "relief" act. I felt the poor father's anguish. We only glimpse Jan's anguish as outsiders because of this lack of "showing" vs "telling" which every storyteller knows is the #1 rule. Show, don't tell. Takeaway: If you want to really understand the complexities of this very unfortunate event in this family's life, watch both and read the book - between the three is better understanding of HOW this happened, WHY it happened and, as a parent/ grandparent/ relative - whatever - how to spot this kind of manipulation so you and yours aren't victims.

I would highly recommend watching "Abducted in Plain Sight" on Netflix as a prequel to watching this. You will get a WAY better grasp of everything that happens with this story from start to finish. The fact that Jan Broberg herself introduced this show in the beginning tells me Peacock is asking for permission before telling any true life stories on screen too. BRAVO to everyone involved in this production. So far... I love Anna Paquin, Colin Hanks, Lio Tipton is outstanding and Jake Lacy as "B" is just as terrifying as I remember. I'm looking forward to McKenna Grace's performance. I know this happened in the 70's, but even today... this is a truly crazy story that I believe everyone needs to know about... to know what to look out for, and how to avoid it.