Friday, September 8, 2017

What I’m Watching: Manhunt: Unabomber

Manhunt: Unabomber: Season 1, Episode 7 “Lincoln” (B+)

Twitter might not have existed yet, but the movement of so many federal agents was enough to attract attention and allow CBS, and other outlets, to get the full story of what was going on and then agree to hold off on publishing the story for twenty-four hours only. One hundred agents on the way but no warrant was a serious problem, and Fitz was bold to suggest that the dual presence of the “eat your cake and have it too” was enough for a warrant. What I like most about this show is the way that it latches on to the central pieces of the investigation that helped crack the case of who the Unabomber was, and the reason for the judge signing the warrant still fits into that category. Remembering sentry duty and the way in which they were able to distinguish that Japanese soldiers were trying to use American code words was extremely interesting, and entirely applicable. Ted’s capture wasn’t some big event, accomplished simply with the assistance of someone who knew him and two agents there posing as surveyors. Ted’s response was calm, repeatedly asking if he was under arrest and to see the warrant, which he quickly scanned for the names of those who were most instrumental to his apprehension. Fitz was so excited to call his ex-wife and tell her, and then he had to watch the news and not even get any credit, explaining the scene we saw early on in the show where Fitz nearly went ballistic when he saw Genelli, who took all the credit for his hard work. David was devastated to learn that the FBI arrested Ted because of him, and I guess we’ll learn in the final episode how the trial goes.

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