#killer inside

[samsdei]

Charlie Plummer

[manda-laynen]

Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez Review

Netflix makes some really awesome documentaries. That being said, I went into this one with high hopes. Unfortunately it just couldn’t keep up with the quality of its predecessors and my hopes were dashed. It lacked substance and filled each episode with footage of Aaron Hernandez and comments from people who knew him. I feel like I learned very little about him and his mind despite the title’s implications.

When I hear the name “Aaron Hernandez”, the first thing that comes to mind is CTE. After his death he became the poster boy for the effects of CTE on football players. In the media there has been speculation his brain disease could have played a part in his actions. When I saw this documentary on Netflix, I hoped that it would examine this brain disease and educate viewers about it. Even if it didn’t, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect some speculation on the causes of his behavior. After all, the creators named this series “The Mind of Aaron Hernandez”! They have to try to explain it right?

 I wasn’t wrong, they did. They just failed to explain it in an effective way. Each reason they gave was backed up with little evidence and much speculation from people who knew him. There were no medical professionals interviewed despite clear evidence he suffered from CTE during his life, no psychologists consulted about his violent behavior, and no close family members when talking about his damaging upbringing. The creators really failed to establish credibility to any of the theories they proposed. I’m afraid to use anything I learned in a conversation about Hernandez because I don’t trust all of the information I received. For a documentary this is a fatal flaw.

The only thing I liked about this series was the footage compiled. The visuals were great and a lot of the clips shown helped keep me interested when the facts were murky and a random person was talking about their experiences with Hernandez for the umpteenth time. There was a lot of research done into the images and videos captured of Hernandez throughout his lifetime.

Do I recommend watching this series? Not really if you are interested in the why of Aaron Hernandez. If you are interested in the events and prefer to draw your own conclusions, you might like it. 

Thanks for reading

4/10

[violacn]

Even if we weren't born with the devil, everyone has a killer inside waiting for showing their pride, with no regrets

Viola CN

[samsdei]

Charlie Plummer

[samsdei]

Lance Chantiles-Wertz