A Friend of the Family

Unbelievable though it may be, even at my age, I was unfamiliar with this story.

The acting, storytelling, and writing is stellar. The way this series has captured the way "B" preyed upon, manipulated and groomed not only his own wife and victim, but the entire victim's family is absolutely riveting.

Having been a child in the 70s who grew up in a religious family, I can understand the naivety and trepidation of the victims. This is very well captured by the writers and actors.

Lastly, the actor who plays "B" gives an incredible performance of a psychologically damaged, manipulative, pervert, pedophile who gaslights everyone he encounters. Actually, all actors gave top notch performances.

Highly recommend.

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.

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.

Based on actual events, this Peacock original is excellent retelling the harrowing story of Jan Broberg, and her 2 childhood abductions by Robert Berchtold. The casting was very well done with Hendrix Yancey as Jan Broberg at 12 yrs old, Anna Paquin as Gail Broberg and Colin Hanks as Bob Broberg, Jan's parents, Lio Tipton as Gail Berchtold and Jake Lacy as Robert 'B' Berchtold. Honestly, it's only been 4 episodes but I am really enjoying how well it has played out so far, not shying away from the uglier parts of the story. Mckenna Grace's episodes have not even aired yet so I don't how other posters on here can critique her acting. Jake Lacy should be nominated for an Emmy portraying the seductive and manipulating 'B'. He has delivered a strong, believable, and cringeworthy performance. Unfortunately, pedophilia has always been timelessly present in our society and isn't going anywhere. Thanks to Jan Broberg and her family for allowing her account to be told and courageously shared from so many decades ago.

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.