Catch Me a Killer

I had no idea what this was when I started the show. Despite part of this being hard to watch - it's very well done. This is the true story of horrific crimes, but I give the series credit for showing the crimes in a respectful way. There is not much gratuitous violence - most of what we see of the crimes comes from the profiler and her reactions to them. We also see what happens to a person when they are exposed to so much violence. Nobody can see terrible things every day without consequences.

The landscape of South Africa looks incredible, and it's a stark contrast to the crimes committed. The acting is great - Charlotte Hope is amazing. The direction is good. It's a bit slow, but appropriate for its subject matter. You can tell it's based in the 90s - they caught that vibe perfectly.

Give it a watch - it's a bit sad, but a very good series.

The.content of the episodes was interesting; and all well acted. Some early episodes seemed forced, as if the resolution of the crime came too easily; but it is a tv episode, not a documentary. The main character became too intense and basically unlikable; yet none of her colleagues intervened. Some of the supporting actors, Vaughn Lucas, and the actor who played Mark, softened her and added dimension, but essentially she was becoming ego maniacal believing only she could solve the case. I found this aspect excellently acted. In reality this aspect would be a huge problem for co-workers.

The smoking was ridiculous. It was distracting and it appeared to be a police force of chain smokers.

11 episodes, 11 cases, 11 serial killers, exactly zero are memorable. We get endless scenes of profiler Micki Pistorius lighting cigarette after cigarette, closeups of her face looking blank (but she's thinking DEEP and TORTURED thoughts, we're meant to believe), and then when she talks, it's not exactly the stuff of genius. This show needed a lot more of the science of profiling.

And please explain how her alleged skills actually CAUGHT anyone? Then, after a killer is caught, she's supposed to swoop in and save the day by coaxing a confession out of him - with basically "tell me about your childhood." That's apparently all it takes for a killer to suddenly confess? PUH-LEEZE.

An excellent watch and. Charlotte Hope was outstanding in her role of Micki Pretorius. The rest of the team was average, perhaps they performed their roles well because they were just like how the police were in the 90's in South Africa. The tint used in the filming befitted the 90's very well too.

With the personal problems which Micki developed because of the type of work as a profiler, the end of the mini series leaves a lot of gaps. But perhaps the producers did this on purpose to entice viewers to demand a continuation of this series. There are many more true stories which can be told, specifically about her life. But then again her role was probably fictitious in making this series.

I like this show, it was better than I thought it would be, but it's hard to believe the science part in all of the storytelling. I know it's based on actual events, but I just can't imagine in 1994 she's allowed to walk right up to bodies smoking cigarettes with no gloves on. Not to mention, we get it, she smokes, but it doesn't need to be a thing every 5 minutes of every episode. BY the end of the season, they've literally wasted a half episode worth of time focussing on her smoking. She's also constantly handling evidence and moving in crime scenes smoking. It just doesn't make any sense, and I can't believe that's how the handled crime scenes in the mid to late 90s in South Africa. But she's good, the cast is solid, the stories are compelling, its beautifully shot, so it was a solid watch.