The Sons of Sam: A Descent into Darkness

The title of this series does not represent the crimes of David Berkowitz, but Maury Terry's dogged pursuit of the various crimes of the Son of Sam. Many claim that Terry was a conspiracy theorist, but there are far too many coincidences that occurred for his views to be false.

The NYPD committed a series of mistakes in their investigation and they were desperate to find a perpetrator. I will not go into their mistakes, but Sons of Sam states what they are. Son of Sam would not exist if the NYPD had investigated further. It might have been something similar to how those reference Manson such as The Family.

Some of the information that is said in the series is questionable. Terry became consumed by the case until it became his life. He could never quite fit the puzzle pieces together and it devastated him. People's lack of interest, the lack of help from the NYPD and the fact that no one seemed to take him seriously negatively impacted his life. Sons of Sam shows that, most likely, there were multiple killers involved with these killings. This fact was corroborated by Terry's research.

Most of the information in the show needs to be taken with a grain of salt. However, there is one piece of information that I find very plausible: as many as five killers were involved in the Son of Sam killings. Others will view this docuseries and think different thoughts, but I was astounded that the NYPD refused to further investigate the crimes. New York was crime-ridden in the 70s, but this is still no excuse. Politics should never come in the way of justice.

I personally want to thank Maury Terry for all of his research and his numerous discoveries. His research gradually ruined his life, but the Son of Sam crimes will forever be seen differently. If you are a crime buff and unaware of certain events regarding the Son of Sam crimes, I highly suggest you watch the show.

If you think this documentary is about Berkowitz, then you will be disappointed. I suspect not all the negative reviews made it to the last episode where it really reframed the story.

The descent into darkness mentioned in the title is not about Berkowitz's descent into darkness, it's about the journalist who got too obsessed with the case.

There are some aspects of the storytelling that could be better, but we thought it was interesting enough.

This one will take you on a four hour tour of New Yorks finest misguided pride and a reporter who just can't let go. Although the tale is not something you want to acknowledge by any positive words, it is, however, fascinating. Old interviews, old images of NY, footage of days long gone. Detectives with oversized moustaches and glasses. The Son of Sam has it all. Topped with some twists and turns, the episodes have enough to keep your attention. And finally a series where there is a beginning and an end. You may not like the outcome, but you will be entertained.

I was a teenager living in Bellerose, Queens, NY (about a mile away from the site of the third shooting) at the time of the Sam of Sam killings. I've been a believer in the multiple shooter theory for many years. "The Sons of Sam: A Descent into Darkness" does a nice job explaining what happened. I'm only gripe is that it should have been shorter. Maybe three parts instead of four. Many moons ago the TV show "Unsolved Mysteries" covered the same material in a half an hour. Just for the record: the case has never been closed in Queens. It's an open cold case.

The first two episodes were strong sticking to the truth, the second two kind of descended into conspiracy and madness. Certainly interesting in terms of new theories about the son of Sam killings, and things I had never heard before. The documentary itself had good flow and used archival footage and interviews relevant to the cases.