165. Web-Series Reviews – 27

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Jonathan Creek – Working from his home in a converted windmill, Jonathan Creek is a magician with a natural ability for solving puzzles. He soon puts this ability to the use of solving impossible crimes and mysterious murders.

Madeline Magellan, an investigative journalist, is the kind of journalist that generally sticks her nose in where it isn't wanted. While writing a story about the murder of a famous Artist she happens across a quiet but brilliant man named Jonathan Creek. Jonathan makes a living inventing magical tricks for Adam Klaus. Adam is a very famous magician but it is Jonathan that is the real genius behind Adam's illusions. Madeline (Maddy) and Jonathan team up to solve the Artist murder and then (for Jonathan with some reluctance) again team up to solve near-impossible cases. Over the stories, we see that Maddy is in love with Jonathan but Jonathan, being a shy person, doesn't show if he knows about Maddy's feeling for him but he loves solving the tricky mysteries that Maddy brings for his mind to solve.

An excellent series worth watching!  Even though Maddy goes after 3 seasons, the series is worth watching for the different stories with unique puzzles to solve.  A total of 32 episodes of runtime between 59 to 129 minutes each.  It ran from 1997 to 2004 and then from 2009-14 and a last special in 2016.

The next one and for couple of blogs more, I will be writing on the documentaries that I have seen recently.  I complied this list from the best investigative documentaries that are out there. Enjoy😊

Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer – Ricardo Leyva Muñoz Ramírez known as Richard Ramirez, was an American serial killer, serial rapist, kidnapper, pedophile, and burglar. His highly publicized home invasion crime spree terrorized the residents of the Greater Los Angeles area and later the residents of the San Francisco Bay Area from June 1984 until August 1985. Prior to his capture, Ramirez was dubbed the "Night Stalker" by the news media.

Ramírez used a wide variety of weapons, including handguns, knives, a machete, a tire iron, and a hammer. Ramirez, who claimed to be a Satanist, never expressed any remorse for his crimes. The judge who upheld Ramirez's nineteen death sentences remarked that his deeds exhibited "cruelty, callousness, and viciousness beyond any human understanding". Ramirez was convicted in 1989 of thirteen counts of murder, five attempted murders, eleven sexual assaults, and fourteen burglaries. He died of complications from B-cell lymphoma while awaiting execution on California's death row.

Nobody makes documentary better than Netflix!  Even though this is a documentary, it is excellent.  You get to hear from the detectives who followed up the case, the victims’ families, the victims who escaped and also a few words from the criminal himself.  A 4-part series with the actual criminal being shown in the final episode.

One of the reviews from www.imdb.com …

I've seen a few documentaries on Richard Ramirez that were kind of the usual formula. This film differs being largely centered around the two main investigators and their perspective. The pressure they faced, and the mistakes they made. Added to that, plenty of people who lived through this era are interviewed; the media, family members of the victims, and the victims who survived. There's also nice use of old news footage.

Admittedly, the series is not perfect. It doesn't go into much about Ramirez' motivation, his background, or his psychological issues. Despite that, if you are a true crime aficionado, you should find this film to your liking. Seeing and hearing from so many credible people directly involved in the case is not the usual. That's where the series succeeds, and why I give it my recommendation.

Cheers till next time!!

Today’s Observation

When you reach for the stars, you may not quite get one, but you won’t come up with a handful of mud either😊