Justin Roiland · Elizabeth Holmes · Irish Dumping
Plus weekend (fiction?) watching
the true crime that's worth your time
This weekend, I think the crimes I’m consuming will all be fake. There are only so many hours in the day, and it appears I will be spending most of mine on Peacock, watching a reality competition show that claims to be about murder (it isn’t) and the same fictional crime show that you’re probably gonna be watching, too.
The reality show is The Traitors, a mashup of The Mole and The Amazing Race, a game of Werewolf and a high school drama class adaptation of Outlander. The trailer is above, it does a good job making clear that the show’s prime draws are, in this order:
Ding-dongs talking about murdering people and getting murdered without realizing how stupid they sound
Alan Cumming delivering ludicrous reality competition dialogue while madly smirking and clad in some seriously demented tartan concoctions
Reality TV “stars” reluctantly rubbing shoulders with common folk
The show is clearly attempting to kite off the current interest in crime and amateur investigation, but its cast members are all so silly that they don’t help with that agenda much. It is truly delightful, however, to watch a talking head where a competitor delivers a Poirot-level “and that’s who did it” speech while we, the omniscient viewer, know that all the observations they’ve made are wrong.
The full season is currently streaming on Peacock, and if all goes well, I’ll finish it up before the next issue of BE hits your inbox.
Like The Traitors, Peacock crime series Poker Face is arguably built around an audience’s banked affection for its central figure. In the reality competition’s case, that’s Cumming, and here it’s Natasha Lyonne, who plays some sort of roving crime-solver but let’s face it: we’re there because she’s playing Natasha Lyonne. She is not, as you say about some, an actor who disappears into a role.
I haven’t watched my screeners, choosing to save it for when my husband and I could watch together — while he’s generally patient about me getting ahead of him on shows, this is one he’s been excited about for a while and I don’t feel like burning his goodwill on a show I’m watching for fun. Created by Rian Johnson, there’s apparently crime, and travel, and a lot of critical comparisons to Columbo. Four episodes are currently streaming (future eps drop on Thursdays), and I hope to watch them all.
So that’s what I’m watching instead of my usual true crime — crime-adjacent properties, but nothing approaching journalistic or investigative content. Sorry, I am just being real here! How about you; what crime is on your weekend agenda? — EB
It’s time to choose February’s subscriber-only review topic. For the shortest month, Sarah’s options are all books — some on notorious crimes and their implications, others on smaller-scale affairs. Vote today for what you’d like Sarah to read and assess, and paid subscribers will get her report at the end of next month. — EB
Loose ends? Not any more. Several questions we’ve raised in past issues were resolved this week, so let’s hear it for follow-ups! Quickly, now:
The question: When will Bear Brook’s new season drop?
The answer: Feb. 20, per NHPR
The question: Will Doug Liman’s Brett Kavanaugh doc Justice spur a new investigation into the alleged rapist/Supreme Court judge?
The answer: Based on THR’s review of the doc, which screened at Sundance last week, probably not. Per critic David Rooney:
To anyone who followed the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court confirmation hearings and the shameful treatment of Christine Blasey Ford, who came forward with accusations of attempted rape when they were at high school together in the early ‘80s, there will be very little here that comes close to an earth-shaking revelation. Sure, the outrage still stings, but where’s the news?
The question: How long can Adult Swim, Hulu and 20th TV avoid dealing with the domestic violence allegations against Rick and Morty creator Justin Roiland?
The answer: Almost two weeks, as long as you assume the studios found out the same time the rest of us did. The charges were first filed in May 2020, but didn’t receive attention until Roiland attended a pre-trial hearing on Jan. 12 of this year. Adult Swim announced that it had “cut ties” with Roiland on Jan. 24; the other two studios made similar announcements the next day.
Closure is so rare in this life, I’m happy when I can bring some to you. — EB
Is Elizabeth Holmes sneaky or stupid? I’m sure you saw the headlines this week claiming that Elizabeth “Maybe The Dropout needs a second season?” Holmes attempted to flee to Mexico. The truth might not be that simple, though — but our willingness to believe the worst of her sure does say something about her chances of an image revival, doesn’t it!
So here’s the deal: In a court filing made a week ago today, prosecutors argued that Holmes, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison last November, shouldn’t wait until her agreed-upon April 27 surrender date to go to jail. Per the filing, Holmes is (quoting CNN here) “living on an estate reported to have $13,000 in monthly expenses for upkeep” and that (now quoting the filing itself) “The government became aware on January 23, 2022, that Defendant Holmes booked an international flight to Mexico departing on January 26, 2022, without a scheduled return trip. Only after the government raised this unauthorized flight with defense counsel was the trip canceled.”
And with that, a thousand reblogs were born, claiming she was poised to go on the lam.
On Monday, Holmes’s legal team hit back, saying that the tickets were booked before the verdict in her trial was announced and that (now quoting Ethan Baron with BANG, my fave Holmes beat reporter) “Her partner Billy Evans had booked tickets for the two of them to Mexico in Holmes’ name before her conviction, because the couple hoped she would be acquitted and they could attend their friends’ wedding.”
Evans did end up using the ticket and attending the wedding, Yahoo Finance reports, driving back home to California via Tijuana. Holmes stayed home, and her ticket had been canceled.
I’m no Holmes apologist, but if she were well and truly plotting a devious escape, wouldn’t she have done basic stuff like booking a roundtrip fare and just skipping on the trip back? If she’s truly living in a place that costs $13K a month just to keep going, surely she can afford to lose that $400 (or whatever) ticket. Doesn’t this seem more like the act of, well, just a slightly delusional and maybe sorta dumb person who assumed they’d get off, and that a road trip home from Mexico to the Bay Area might be fun? (Though, a road trip while pregnant? Not so much!)
When I saw the initial headlines, my head sure snapped around as I clocked what seemed to be yet another super-sketchball move from a reportedly sketchball person. I wonder, though, how much of us are assuming malice when the far more likely answer is stupidity? If Elon Muck has taught us anything, just because you found a company or make a lot of money doesn’t mean you’re not still pretty dim. — EB
Now I’ll leave you with a beefy article that comes with a bonus podcast. When we talk about “illegal dumping” in the U.S., we’re talking about every guy that done me wrong trash dumped on corners and curbsides, often by low-rent contractors or less-responsible private citizens. (In fact, I’m typing this on a desk that was illegally dumped, and illegally dumped clothing I cleaned, mended and otherwise upcycled helped fund my first couple years in SF.)
But according to BBC podcast Buried, it means something way worse in Ireland and beyond, where — per a Guardian story on the scandal “the UK’s waste disposal industry is increasingly falling victim to a far-spreading criminal enterprise.” Snip:
Buried begins in Northern Ireland, chasing clues from the deathbed tape to try to figure out how waste equivalent to about 20 Titanic ships in weight ended up secretly, illegally dumped at the Mobuoy Road site. “Welcome to Mobuoy, a scene of horror,” says local fisher and campaigner Dean Blackwood, as Ashby and Lucy Taylor roam the now closed landfill site.
Ashby describes the 46-hectare site – believed to be one of the largest illegal waste dumps in Europe – as apocalyptic and eerie. “The waste isn’t piled up any more, it’s all underground,” he says. “But the fact you can’t see it makes it more sinister.”
He remembers seeing pools that were “bubbling a horrible silver” and “looking toxically otherworldly.” For years, criminals posed as legitimate businesses to scam councils across Northern Ireland into paying them to illegally dump families’ recycling on the site – which is in a special area of conservation. The impact on drinking water and the nearby river worry the community, while a local vet has reported a sharp rise in cows getting sick and dying in the area.
The full show dropped as a podcast on Jan. 23, and it’s also running as radio segments in its broadcast region through February (that’s why you’ll see listenable episodes with a date that’s in the future). As far as I can tell — and I’d love any corrections on this — the only way to listen is via BBC Sounds, which makes it a little less accessible for remarkably lazy folks like me. My suggestion is to read the Guardian’s thorough report and the BBC’s media announcement, and if your appetite is whetted, install the app to listen to the full thing. — EB
Next week on Best Evidence: A “global catfishing network.”
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