Manhunt: Unabomber

Has anyone else caught this show on Discovery? It's an 8 part series, and so far the first three episodes have been riveting. Sam Worthington plays an FBI agent assigned to the Unabom task force, now in its 17th year. In 1995 they are no closer to catching the bomber than they were the first year of the investigation. Worthington utilizes what he terms linguistic forensics, using the bombers own letters to newspapers, to come up with a profile of the man. A fascinating show so far. While rooms full of agents are poring over leads, arguing and fighting with each other, it shows the Unabomber carefully building his next device, wrapping it up for mailing, boarding a bus, disguising himself, then mailing the parcel. Chaos ensues. Good TV.

 

I love this show, if it were a movie, I'd give it 4 stars. However, the premise is how an FBI agent helped find the Unabomber. I thought law enforcement had no idea who or where he was at the time his brother turned him in.

I don't think the FBI had any part in catching him, it was his own brother who gave him up, am I wrong about this?

 

Bingo. It was his brother David who recognized Ted's writing style when the latter published his manifesto.

 

Surprisingly good show that hasn't garnered any comments here until yours. I think they way they unraveled the mystery is the best part but how close to reality it is I don't know.

The one overarching theme is just how stubborn and hierarchical the FBI is portrayed as, and how resistant they are to new ideas which to me is quite astounding and disappointing.

 

Not to say the FBI are perfect and there aren't issues but this all occurred pre- 9/11. Thankfully many things have changed at the FBI (and other agencies) since then.

 

Politics aside, the FBI has been better in many ways post-9/11.
No more $3.1 million payouts for families that they shot up.

 

You are correct on this. Unabom was captured after his brother turned him in. I don't know how the show will play out, but I think Agent Fitz is becoming increasingly unpopular with his linguistic forensics theory and is shelved or sidelined before the actual capture.

 

I have no respect for the unabomber, but he was the only serial killer in my mind that fits the Hannibal Lecter cliche. He covered his tracks with minute detail; the law had no clue.

Nonetheless, I'd like to see how he'd feel if he had both hands blown off by a bomb some coward sent him.

The show is very good, I will be sure to watch. 3 of them so far, how many in total?

 

I believe it's 8 episodes. I agree. It's amazing how someone so intelligent could think that blowing up a store owner or some business exec in his home would solve what he saw as societal ills. I read the Wiki article on Ted Kaszynski (sp) to kind of update on him. Interesting background.

 

This thread jogged my memory and I was able to search and find the following Yahoo news article, that I distinctly remember. Apparently, Kazcynski has carried on an extensive correspondence with thousands from his jail cell. A fascinating read.

Letters from a serial killer: Inside the Unabomber archive

 

I'm finding the series quite interesting and well done. However, I thought the part about "the fruit of the poisonous tree" (i.e., Kazcynski's lecture about the likely inadmissibility of the evidence) to be highly unrealistic. The doctrine is at least a half century old and criminal defendants make suppression motions on a regular basis. FBI agents would not be surprised about that turn of events. They are more that well aware that search warrants are routinely attacked (and routinely upheld). And I can guarantee you no judge I've ever met - even the most liberal of them - would have granted a motion suppressing the evidence uncovered at Kazcynski's home and set him free. Just wouldn't happen. But why they supposedly felt the need to obtain a confession - apart from prosecutorial laziness, which I've seen a lot of - is beyond me.

 

I just watched this miniseries on Netflix and I dont understand why this show isn't s heck more famous than it is. It was so well done from beginning to end. It made what might have been a meandering unabomber story into an involving family/crime arc with catch and seek overtones reminiscent of Breaking Bad. Four stars!

 

It's on Neflix in Canada. Surprised to not hear about this before considering the hype for Mindhunter. It's really good. Mr Big is in it.

 

Who knows what people like? Maybe not enough T&A or violent action. I thought it was very very good.

 

Found this show last night and tore through about five episodes - superb television. 20 years on, in the age of social media, you get the feeeling that Crazy Ted was on to something with his theories, which is the really amazing undercurrent to the series...

Also: How Accurate Is 'Manhunt: Unabomber'? Discovery's Step Into True Crime Highlights The Groundbreaking Investigation

 

And, just for perspective, here's an article saying how untrue the series is:
An FBI Veteran on What Discovery's 'Manhunter: Unabomber' Gets Wrong (Guest Blog)

 

Binged watched all 8 episodes of this the other day! Fascinating from start to finish!! Loved it!! This and the Zodiac killer series are two of the best shows I've seen recently!

 

Zodiac Liller series? Which one is that?

 

Zodiac is a movie. My bad on previously referring to it as a series. I've watched a lot of Netflix in the past month and my 60 year old memory may not be what it used to be.

 

Sam Worthington is really miscast in this (in my opinion), but other than that - really
enjoyed the series. Paul Bettany is terrific.

 

Right here
The Hunt for the Zodiac Killer

 

Yeah I watched this a couple of weeks ago and it was some of the best TV I've ever seen!

I don't know how accurately the internal machinations of the FBI activities were portrayed, but the killer's brother would not have turned him in unless the manifesto was published in the first place. The series paints the picture that the FBI was resistant to publishing it ("We don't do deals with terrorists") even though the Sam Worthington character was fighting for its publication.

The FBI eventually ceded to Worthington's strategy, the manifesto was published, the brother read it, recognised the language and ideas, and turned Ted in. So yes, the FBI was instrumental in catching the Unabomber.

 

Absolutely - without the FBI he wouldn’t have been caught. Its a tv show and not a documentary > so made with creative license and I don’t expect it to be 100% accurate - I found it intriguing nonetheless

 

If you like this, you'll love Mindhunter, also on Netflix.

 

I thought this was actually better than “Mindhunter” but not by much. I do agree that Worthington wasn’t the best casting choice, but Paul Bettany is great.

I have to believe that Worthington’s Fitzgerald is more of a composite character of multiple FBI personnel that worked on the linguistics side. That’s usually how these series work: focus in on one character and make it a mano y mano thing.