The series examines the experience of journalist McNamara who tried to reach the violent killer who called her 'The Golden State Killer'. This is the murderer that terrified California in the late 1970s and early 1980s as he committed 50 sexual assaults at home and ten repeated murders.
There's no straightforward telling of events here, no singular "aha!" moment to be found. Instead, this is a six-hour journey that illuminates the power of survival and pays proper tribute to the unmatched legacy of writer Michelle McNamara.
'll Be Gone In the Dark is an arduous watch, but ultimately a compelling one. It's impossible to watch without wondering what McNamara might have done after closing the book on the Golden State Killer.
But while the individual components of I'll Be Gone in the Dark can work to remarkable, devastating effect, the sprawl of this approach can find the two stories working against one another as often as they're complementary.
You come away from this production thinking of McNamara not just as an author, detective, wife, mother, and friend but as a rare individual who was able to treat human experiences as a series of mirrors that she could hold up to each person she met.
The docuseries is also a fitting eulogy for McNamara, who didn't live to see justice served but lives on in this dueling narrative of compelling timelines.
Frustratingly, this docuseries feels drawn out and too long for its own good even as it skips over fascinating details from the cases it chronicles in favor of more McNamara.
Just as she had predicted, the power reverts back to the victims' families and survivors, who we see forming a support group thanks to the woman who brought their dark stories into the light.
