Evil Genius: The True Story of America's Most Diabolical Bank Heist - Season 1

Perhaps the most startling thing about the whole enthralling enterprise is the way that the work of filmmakers Barbara Schroeder and Trey Borzillieri might have lined up their subjects for a potential new death-penalty case.

This fascinating four-part Netflix true crime doco investigates the 'Pizza Bomber' case, a bizarre bank heist which occurred in the town of Erie, Pennsylvania in 2003.

Evil Genius sits squarely in the "intense docudrama" format with which the network has had so much recent success.

For a series that features, by its own description, a "master manipulator," Evil Genius feels more like a confused, unwitting pawn than an adversary worthy of taking on the challenge to uncover the truth.

The case of true crime storytelling that can be too easily classified as merely satiating the supply-and-demand for such unconscionable tales.

It's a cracking watch, and although later episodes drag slightly, you'll forgive anything when the first reveal is such a stunner.

It's well done. Duplass brothers moxie, decent pacing, broad scope, and lots and lots of crazy. Enough crazy to last you for days.

It doesn't offer any tidy endings or a clear motive, but it does shine a light on a piece of history lost to time.

Evil Genius twists the investigation into a story of compulsion. It is a compulsion for the cops, both state and federal, who follow it for fifteen years without closure.

With Evil Genius there's actually a sense of discovery, and a crime spree so unusual that it genuinely approximates a Coen brothers movie, down to the quirky assortment of culprits and stooges.