There is absolutely nothing new in the six part series that hasn't been rehashed ad nauseam.
(I chose to give it 10 stars because the trove of TV footage, interviews, and previously unseen photos was enough to make it an intense viewing.)
Considering the glut of new information that came out in print during the 50th anniversary of the murders, I was disappointed that the series didn't probe some of the much more convincing theories.
We are left with the tired "Helter Skelter"-- a motive that has been laughed out of most investigative circles, and proven Bugliosi's "facts be damned" obsession with convicting Manson.
"Helter Skelter" will go into the history books as the accepted version of what happened in August of 1969. But for the small percentage of the population that refuse to take the media's word for it, it is not that simple. The more logical theories of drug burns and a very seedy Hollywood underbelly cannot compete with a real life boogeyman.
So Tex Watson, the man who did most of the damage, inflicted most of the stab wounds, and had a direct hand in seven murders will die in obscurity. And the victims will be remembered as wide eyed innocents, despite mountains of evidence to the contrary (Sebring and Frykowski were well known drug dealers. The Tate residence was Geound Zero for wild drug parties and pornographic films involving everyone from Mama Cass to Yuel Brenner). No one will know Jack Nickolson was among friends who removed damaging film reels in the living room loft while the bodies were still warm.
In the end, it's probably safer that we believe documentary series like "Helter Skelter". When we start peeling back the layers, the truth is far more terrifying than a 5' 2" failure and his group of degenerate hippies.
Considering the glut of new information that came out in print during the 50th anniversary of the murders, I was disappointed that the series didn't probe some of the much more convincing theories.
We are left with the tired "Helter Skelter"-- a motive that has been laughed out of most investigative circles, and proven Bugliosi's "facts be damned" obsession with convicting Manson.
"Helter Skelter" will go into the history books as the accepted version of what happened in August of 1969. But for the small percentage of the population that refuse to take the media's word for it, it is not that simple. The more logical theories of drug burns and a very seedy Hollywood underbelly cannot compete with a real life boogeyman.
So Tex Watson, the man who did most of the damage, inflicted most of the stab wounds, and had a direct hand in seven murders will die in obscurity. And the victims will be remembered as wide eyed innocents, despite mountains of evidence to the contrary (Sebring and Frykowski were well known drug dealers. The Tate residence was Geound Zero for wild drug parties and pornographic films involving everyone from Mama Cass to Yuel Brenner). No one will know Jack Nickolson was among friends who removed damaging film reels in the living room loft while the bodies were still warm.
In the end, it's probably safer that we believe documentary series like "Helter Skelter". When we start peeling back the layers, the truth is far more terrifying than a 5' 2" failure and his group of degenerate hippies.