Whether it’s Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, The John Wayne Gacy Tapes, or The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes, Netflix has been providing at-home crime investigators with a satisfying amount of shocking true-crime documentaries. Exploring the background of the notorious killers, the details of their utterly disturbing crimes, and the daunting consequences that followed in great detail, the true-crime genre continues to glue viewers to the screen and invites them to put on their investigator glasses.
While there are many aspects that make this type of documentary so addicting, it’s easy to establish what the most exciting part about true-crime documentaries is: examining the evidence. It’s common sense that looking into the evidence that ties a suspect to a crime is an essential part of true-crime documentaries, but This Is the Zodiac Speaking evidently didn’t get the memo.
- Release Date
- October 23, 2024
- Seasons
- 1
- Network
- Netflix
This Is the Zodiac Speaking Skips Over Key Areas
This Is the Zodiac Speaking revisits the shocking crimes of the self-proclaimed Zodiac killer, which took place during the late ’60s in Northern California and took the lives of at least five people. The Netflix documentary does provide insight into its suspect, Arthur Leigh Allen’s twisted life, but there is a particular reason why This Is the Zodiac Speaking is the most infuriating documentary yet. During the course of the episodes, two key areas regarding evidence are introduced. In fact, they are not only introduced, they are actually even built up with significant suspense.
Viewers are left with the desire to dig deeper into these potentially damning factors since the documentary presents the evidence as important. This build-up leads viewers to hold on to the expectation that the evidence will eventually offer them some sort of confirmation as to who the Zodiac was. Because of the striking nature of the crimes, Netflix’s This Is the Zodiac Speaking immediately rose to the top of the charts. However, the documentary completely missed the point when it came to introducing key evidence and delivered, well, nothing.
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The Zodiac’s Potential Murder Weapon
Netflix’s This Is the Zodiac Speaking introduces key evidence, and the way it came to light is simply mind-baffling. Arthur Leigh Allen always had a close relationship with the Seawater family, which was the foundation for his friendship with one of the Seawater daughters, Connie, and her own children. One of Connie’s sons developed an interest in cars, and, since Mr. Allen was a car lover himself, he took his friend’s son on a car ride. During the car ride, the two of them had to get something from the boot, but Connie’s son found something rather unusual. It’s one of the most shocking moments in This Is the Zodiac Speaking, when Connie’s son finds an old-looking knife wrapped in transparent plastic just casually lying around there. When asked about the knife, Mr. Allen shrugged the question off and gifted the knife to Connie’s son.
When the Seawater children slowly but surely came to the conclusion that the theory about Arthur Leigh Allen being the Zodiac killer could actually be true, Connie’s son remembered the gift and handed it over. The Netflix documentary highlights the knife as the Zodiac’s potential murder weapon and mentions that the weapon was sent in for DNA testing. The Seawater interviews then continued, leaving the viewers patiently waiting for any information. However, the information never really comes.
There are a few scenes during which the knife is briefly tested in order to find if there is blood on it. Lo and behold, the results showed that Mr. Allen’s knife was covered in blood. As for the DNA testing, the documentary stated that the results had not yet been in, but instead of revealing the results at the end of the documentary, there was simply nothing. The suspense regarding the knife was killed in an instant, infuriating viewers and understandably so.
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Mr. Allen’s Damning Letters
The second major piece of evidence which is introduced in the chilling Netflix true-crime documentary is a box of letters written by Arthur Leigh Allen and sent to Phyllis Seawater, the mother of the now grown-up children at the center of the documentary interviews. The mysterious box arguably is even more upsetting than the knife, because quite some time is spent on building up suspense regarding its content.
When the Seawater children confronted their mother after finding out that Mr. Allen confessed to drugging them and molesting Connie, Phyllis denied any allegations and completely joined sides with her friend. She only told them that she had a box somewhere that would answer some of their questions, but they were only allowed to open it once she had passed away. The Netflix documentary introduced this secret box as though it’s going to be a major turning point in the investigation, which leads viewers to be excited about the content of the box and the potential revelation of the real identity behind the Zodiac.
This Is the Zodiac Speaking, unfortunately, didn’t provide any of that. Even though the documentary kept mentioning the mysterious box, the revelation of its content fell entirely flat. The Seawater children found numerous letters in which Mr. Allen referred to himself as a mass murderer and the Zodiac, basically opening up to Phyllis about his potential dark side as a serial killer. Additionally, the contents of the box included a tape on which Mr. Allen collected news sequences about the Zodiac murders. The tape ends with the prime suspect showing his behind, a sticker with the words “The Living End” stuck to his skin, and a short message to Phyllis about him denying his involvement in the crimes.
It is infuriating, to say the least, that the Netflix true-crime documentary introduced these two massive pieces of evidence but completely failed to actually examine them. The knife is mentioned as such a striking factor but simply pushed aside for the rest of the documentary. The letters are presented as shockingly damning, tying Mr. Allen to the Zodiac murders more than ever, but the actual content is barely even touched upon, leaving viewers in a state of confusion and annoyance.
If there is one must-have regarding documentaries, then it is the analysis of key evidence. While This Is the Zodiac Speaking is an intriguing series, it still straight-up fails to provide true-crime lovers with actual information. This Is the Zodiac Speaking is available to stream on Netflix.
