First and foremost, that’s the opening bars off of the show and I say, God Bast damn off the strength. This is my first season getting familiar with Discovery Channel’s Killing Fields series. They’re on their third season now with Killing Fields: Murder Isle and since I’m a fan of detectives working cases, I figured I’d give it a shot. I thought this was going to be a series that reenacts the crimes. Discovery is like, “Nah, this is boots to the ground live, my guy.”
We in the thick of it
The series is shot in real time over 28 weeks and I was not aware shit was going to be for real, for real. We’re introduced to Lead Investigator Randy Patrick, getting familiar with his years on the force and grizzled personality. Lt. Tommy Potter calls a meeting and explains that a Carrie Singer cold case from July 1st, 2004 is being re-opened. A case Randy was the original investigator on. He’s able to catch the room up to speed on the victim. It’s been thirteen years and Randy is still there in this case able to recall the day, the crime scene, how Carrie’s body was found, everything.
The reason the case is opened is due to a letter from an inmate. The inmate gives a detailed description of the murder that points back to the Carrie Singer case. We then get underway as Investigator Susan Morgan digs up leads on everyone who the police talked to during the case, Forensic Investigator Burt Nurney gets back to the DNA testing of the clothing from that night. Burt informs us that there are ways of testing DNA now that wasn’t even dreamed of back then. And of course, we then meet the “rookie” investigator Kris Coughlin (he’s got three years in tho) as he’s partnered with Randy on this case.
This case is pretty heavy, man. Randy and Kris are a good pair of young upstart and seasoned veteran. Kris offers a fresh pair of eyes to this case while Randy isn’t cynical or jaded but more so a hardened vet. That’s obvious, due to years experience in brutal crime scenes and to now be back on one that was so dear to him, it’s plain to see how close to the chest he’s kept this case. Randy’s still in touch with Singer’s mother, she considers him family. As hardened as this case has made him, he’s still hopeful that the killer will be caught.
Less can still be more
Isle of Wight, Virginia has a lot of land but it’s a small town. Lt. Potter informs us of this, he’s got about six investigators (including Investigators Donald Edwards, Katrina Everett) for this county. Less than how it would be structured for a busy city, but the whole squad still gets the job done. Even better than cities with multiple police accessible for their districts. Talk that shit Lt. Potter.
I don’t really want to give away what occurs in the first episode but will say it could have gone smoother upon meeting the inmate. Kris and Randy are able to pull some information out of him. They find out they’re not looking for one person but two. The inmate wants more before giving names but just with the information of there being two assailants, that small piece of information opens a wide door. We see the detectives work their way forward and backward through the case again to make sure the inmate’s story syncs up.
The usual suspect
You might be wondering if they had any initial suspects in this case. They did with Robert Dezern who was Carrie boyfriend at the time. Randy knows this dude guilty as fuck. The messages he left on Carrie’s phone that went from baby come back to get your ass back here. However he passed, the polygraph test. Dude was in there yawning while taking it. That test set his ass free and Randy’s gut instinct is still telling him “nah, fuck this dude”. There’s no way he’s not involved.” A second look at the polygraph wields some interesting results with the technology that we have available now.
I’m really trying not to give too much away but, shit gets you reeled in man. I found myself fed up with the inmate trying to play hard-ball by not forking over the names, yet, he didn’t say what he wanted either. You’re serving life and 33 years dude. If you want a steak or a copy of Shawshank Redemption and a DVD player say that shit so they can close this case. There are also moments of humor between the partners and in the precinct, but once that heavy comes back in, it comes in hard.
“I’m betting it’s gonna be hell”
There are moments when Kris sees how rough it is for Randy to go back through the case, think there is a break coming and then a roadblock. Randy said some real shit too, he wants to put this guy away but there’s really no closure in that. That’s still a life taken away from a family. They can move on but closure is just a word, man. If that isn’t the most gangsta truth I done ever heard.
I’m only giving you a brief rundown of the first episode, there’s a lot more action to come and science that gets involved in regards to the DNA testing. Killing Fields: Murder Isle does a great job of keeping you invested while displaying the trials, tribulations and break thoughts that come with a cold case being reopened. Check out Discovery channel at January 4th, at 9 pm.
Are you following Black Nerd Problems on Twitter, Facebook,Instagram, Tumblr, YouTube or Google+?
Show Comments