WARNING: This article contains spoilers from “The Octopus Murders” on Netflix.
Netflix tried and failed to make an interesting series out of “The Octopus Murders” but ended up delivering a half-baked conspiracy-counterintelligence mess that made me want to stop watching television altogether.
Digging into and debunking conspiracies and mysteries is one of the most fun things to do. Just look at the absolutely insane success of shows like “The Why Files,” which takes complicated stories about everything from conspiracy theories to ancient histories, lays it out for the world to see, then debunks whatever aspects of subject matter are necessary for a glimmer of truth to shine through.
Clearly the lads behind “American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders” tried to do the same thing, but they did a pretty terrible job of it. Firstly, what is “The Octopus Murders” about? Well, this documentary won’t really tell you. In fact, the storytelling in this series is probably some of the worst I’ve ever witnessed, and I can barely read.
At first, it sounds like the documentary about a young journalist who fell victim to a counterintelligence operation surrounding how U.S. federal agencies make and spend their money. The journalist ended up either killing himself or being killed for what he learned: we don’t know.
Over four episodes, we’re introduced to a whole cast of characters. All of them think there’s something fishy and strange happening within American politics that ties back to eight individuals (the octopus). But those eight individuals were barely mentioned until the final episode, and it’s still unclear who they are or what they did. Something to do with putting a technology company out of business and funding drug cartels? (RELATED: Step Aside ‘Tiger King,’ HBO’s Newest Doc ‘Telemarketers’ Will Become A Cult Phenomenon)
But, you won’t walk away from this series understanding any of this. You’ll walk away feeling like you were just told to never, ever question the American political regime or you’ll end up crazy, dead, or worse.
Perhaps this series was supposed to be a piece of propaganda to poke fun at people who obsess over conspiracies. Maybe the producers were told to make a show about what happens when journalists get too close to the truth? Whatever it was supposed to be, “The Octopus Murders” failed at it.