Thursday, October 1, 2020

What I’m Watching: Manhunt: Deadly Games

Manhunt: Deadly Games: Season 2, Episode 2 “Unabubba” (B+)

So much of what happened in this episode played out in “Richard Jewell,” and so it’s hard to consider it in its own right given that I’ve seen it dramatized before. That said, it is affirming to have some sort of confirmation that those events did happen since the two portrayals were so similar. What was different was that the FBI agent understood that the grenade didn’t actually pose a threat and actively argued against leaking that detail to the press, something which the director told him he had to do. The casting of Jay O. Sanders from “Sneaky Pete” and “Person of Interest” as Richard’s lawyer is an interesting choice, mainly because he’s a lot quieter and less colorful than Sam Rockwell. Carla Gugino is a strong pick to play reporter Kathy Scruggs, and from what I’ve heard, that part, played by Olivia Wilde in the film, will be considerably kinder to her legacy and not imply the trading of any sexual favors for information. The agents interviewing Richard as if they were having him star in a training video and then trying to record him saying he had a bomb were disturbing techniques, and it’s a good thing that he was so well-versed in the way law enforcement works that he realized something was wrong. Skipping forward a bit in time resulted in an explosive end to the episode, certain to affirm for at least one person that, as he knew all along, Richard was not the one who did this.

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