Netflix's The Watcher Strays So Far From the Original Story, It's Not Even Worth It
Dramatized true crime fans say not to waste time on The Watcher.
You know a real-life based show has problems when all its viewers say the true story behind it happens to be much more interesting. That is the case with The Watcher. The miniseries premiered on October 13 on Netflix and already sparked a backlash online with dozens of negative reviews from true crime fans.
The Watcher is based on the frightening story of the Brannocks, a family who bought their dream house in a small New Jersey town to find themselves in a terrifying situation. The Brannocks soon found out that the house came with its own anonymous stalker, who soon dedicated himself to harassing the family by writing horrifying maniac letters signed "The Watcher". The miniseries follows this story and the attempts of the Brannocks to identify their stalker.
The real-life events and the letters written by The Watcher are so frightening that even reading about them or watching a good documentary sends a chill down your spine. No wonder, many true crime fans were looking forward to the Netflix adaptation of this intriguing story, expecting the creators of the show, Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, to give their take on the events and the identity of the mysterious Watcher.
But it was not to be. All viewers familiar with the real-life Brannocks story pointed out that the miniseries has little in common with the original true crime story. The Netflix show simply borrows the basic concept of it and nothing more.
Many viewers noted the fictional story was overdramatized in comparison with the true events. The creators made up many things that were not part of the original story: blood cult allegations, previous owners' devastated families, mentally challenged neighbors with no boundaries, family annihilators, tunnel people, cunning realtors, and on and on.
What they didn't create, however, was a satisfying ending to the story. Every commenter seems to agree that this is the one thing the creators of the show shouldn't have taken from real life. Yes, the Brannocks never identified the real Watcher, but the fictional story was so far from the original that explaining the non-existing ending with it "being like in the true story" just doesn't work.
All in all, true crime fans recommend putting the miniseries aside and diving into the real-life story of The Watcher to get creeped out this Halloween Season.