Conversations With A Killer: The Charles Manson Tapes on Netflix is dark, really dark.
Cult leader, killer and dark knight of the Sixties, Charles Manson. Picture Supplied
It wasn’t that long ago that we had very little to choose from on television. It was either what they served up on the SABC, or you had to rent a movie from something called a video shop on VHS or Betamax.
In the Eighties and early Nineties, there was TV 1, 2 and 3. The latter two channels broadcast in Zulu and Sotho until about 9pm, when it became TV 4 and resumed English shows. On TV 1, well, every alternate day became English and Afrikaans TV, swapping after the 8pm news.
Simulcasts on FM radio allowed us to listen to dubbed shows in their original language.
Mnet changed television forever; later, DStv broadened our horizons even more. Now, streaming has made entertainment overwhelming at times. An abundance of food can make anyone a picky eater; the same applies to entertainment. But doomscrolling is not limited to social media, because sometimes channel-hopping and app-scrolling to find what to watch can feel much the same.
Conversations With A Killer: The Charles Manson Tapes on Netflix is dark, really dark. It’s the voice of the cult leader extolling his own virtue while out for the count in prison. The show is the retelling of the brutal murders of director Roman Polanski’s wife, Sharon Tate, and her friends, as well as the LeBianca family, split into three episodes.
It’s true crime at its best, as Manson had become something of a legend. He was the dark knight of cults, his Manson family a cesspool of crime, fraud and ultimately brutal killings. The show takes us through all of this, and the trial.
It’s one of the better, less boring, less formulaic Netflix docuseries and a bloodthirsty glimpse into the mind and rationale behind pure emotional gluttony. Interviews with former Manson Family members, fascinating. It’s a must-watch, even though we know the story all too well.
Watch the Charles Manson Tapes trailer
The second season of Your Friends And Neighbours is as good, if not better, than its Apple TV Plus debut last year. And the good news is that a third season is in production.
Jon Hamm is back as Andrew “Coop” Cooper, the disgraced hedge fund manager who discovered that stealing from his obscenely wealthy neighbours was not only a handy way to pay the bills, but considerably more exciting than behaving himself. This time, he has doubled down on his new career and, with Elena, played by Aimee Carrero, alongside him, has made burglary big business.
But then, James Marsden arrives as billionaire Owen Ashe and almost steals the show from the thieves. He is rich, arrogant, charming and as good-looking as he is unpredictable. At the same time, Coop’s best mate Barney finds out what he’s been up to and, instead of trying to stop his friend, joins the party instead.
There’s more. The ten-part series becomes a festival of lies, crumbling relationships, friendships that become liabilities and some seduction in between. Coop also accidentally exacts revenge on the boss who fired him in the first place, which set into motion the life he then ended up leading. It’s a loop inside a loop inside a straight line of narrative momentum that’s addictive beyond just a lekker watch.
Watch the Your Friends and Neighbours trailer
It’s the kind of quality show that’s reliably there, courtesy of Apple TV Plus. Season two of Your Friends and Neighbours is darker, bitingly funnier and performed and directed with the confidence of an Eisteddfod winner.
It’s slick, naughty and deliciously cynical television with a cast that knows exactly what will make the audience come back for more. And just when you think Coop cannot possibly make another bad decision, he does. Lucky for us, through all of this, nobody suddenly developed a set of morals.
