At Witt's End the Hunt for a Killer

The Hulu docuseries At Witt's End attempts to delve into the tragic and unsolved murder of 19-year-old Melissa Witt, but instead ends up as a muddled, misdirected narrative that does more harm than good. The most glaring issue begins with the title itself-At Witt's End. This title is not only dismissive but also incredibly disrespectful to Melissa Witt and her memory. It reduces the gravity of her brutal murder to a play on words, as if her life and death are nothing more than a clever pun to attract viewers.

From the outset, it's clear that the docuseries struggles to find its focus. Instead of centering the narrative around Melissa Witt, her life, and the profound impact of her loss on her family and community, the series frustratingly shifts its gaze toward Charles Ray Vines, a known serial killer. The time spent on Vines feels forced, unnecessary, and quite frankly, beyond stupid. While the investigation into Melissa's murder should be the main thread, the docuseries instead meanders through Vines' background in a way that seems more exploitative than informative.

This misdirection does a disservice to the victim at the heart of the story. Melissa Witt was a young woman with hopes, dreams, and a future that was stolen from her. Yet, her presence in the docuseries feels overshadowed by the sensationalism surrounding Vines. The decision to focus so heavily on him not only dilutes the impact of Melissa's story but also diverts attention from the ongoing search for justice in her case.

Moreover, the series fails to adequately explore Melissa Witt's life, personality, and the emotional toll her death has taken on those who loved her. The lack of depth and respect in how her story is told is deeply disappointing. The docuseries could have been a powerful tribute to Melissa Witt, shedding light on her case and bringing much-needed attention to the investigation. Instead, it squanders this opportunity by prioritizing shock value over substance.

In conclusion, At Witt's End falls far short of what it could and should have been. The disrespectful title, combined with a misguided focus on Charles Ray Vines, turns what could have been a compelling exploration of Melissa Witt's life and unsolved murder into a frustratingly shallow and misdirected narrative. Melissa Witt deserved better, and so did the viewers.

Apparently most of the reviewers hated this to the point they wanted their four hours back.

But, I beg to differ. I actually thought this was really interesting. It is a rare true crime documentary that appears to follow the investigation in "real time" -- or "as it happens". And so, there is a lot of stuff that some people think is boring, but I found strangely fascinating.

I come from a law enforcement family... but I need not have that pedigree to say that crime solving is not SVU or CSI. It is a lot of dead ends and rabbit holes and making mistakes. And not solving anything.

I am so used to the normal retrospective kind of documentary series that it took me a while to figure out this series: that we were following the investigators alongside them.... as I said, in real time. And to be honest, maybe I'm nuts and imagining what I figured out.

I watch dozens of crime docs and I can easily say this was the biggest waste of time I have ever endured. FOUR PARTS that could easily be summed up in 10 minutes. Someone gets killed, they don't know who, they still don't know who.

Complete garbage, don't waste your time. I can't understand in this day and age how trash like this gets made. Who paid for this ?? Who produced this?? Who thought this was a good idea? Have you never seen TV before? Have you never seen a crime doc? Even writing a review about the waste of time this was seems like the show is wasting even more of my time. My hope is it will save others their time and they can watch something that is better.

ABSOLUTELY AWFUL PIECE OF TRASH.

I do not understand why there are so many moments/minutes of no one talking. This has soooo much filler in it. So unnecessary just make it a standard 2 hr movie format. 4 hrs was way over what was needed to tell this story.

Of course Iam not knocking anything about this writing because it's a true story.

The score doesn't always fit the story either. Overall this could have been made better .

I would have preferred this as a dateline episode to be honest. They probably would have done a better job.

Almost all of the first 5 minutes of each episode are filler just to start with.

My heart goes out to the families in this case . The police clearly blew it on this case and the cold case crew is currently doing there best.

I sympathize with the families, but wish this documentary had been done in a better manner, so that it could achieve some justice for the victims. I find it frustrating that these documentaries get into these people's lives yet fail to provide true means towards justice.

A lot of redundancy in what information is being discussed or set forth. Apparent, distracting direction, I think the production teams should have rethought their choices on going forth with with the team they had in place.

I will credit the law enforcement officers and agencies with being very thorough and doing their best to solve this case. I find their actions to be very commendable, in fact, the footage covering their efforts is the only documentation worth watching in this series.

One thing I found irritating, was that Charlene Shirk seemed to always subtly turn it back to be about her and not the victims. I don't find her to be a very credible journalist. She'd be best just to stay out of the documentary field, except, she seems to want make herself front and center, and enjoys the schadenfreude.