Making a Murderer



"The truth always comes out, sooner or later."

Making a Murderer is a ten-episode true crime documentary distributed by Netflix.

Stevie Avery, from Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, was wrongfully convicted of sexual assault in 1985 and spent 18 years of his life in prison. A brand-new DNA test at the time proved his innocence, and he was freed in 2003.

Two years later, he is once again arrested.

Showcasing Stevie Avery's 2006-2007 trial for the murder of Teresa Halbach, as well as his nephew's trial for the same crime, the documentary is meant as a harsh critique of the American justice system and makes the argument that Stevie was set up by the Sheriff department of his county.''


 * Archive Binge: 10 episodes, around 1 hour each.
 * Arc Words: "I don't know."
 * Adaptation Explanation Extrication: Some facts about Stevie Avery's court case don't appear in the documentary.
 * Blatant Lies: Exploited and Implied by the investigators to Bobby. They wanted their version of the events of October 31st, 2005 and they (allegedly) fed him what they wanted him to say.
 * Foil: Exploited in the 1985 case. Stevie and Penny were very different people, one a "dumb hick", and the other a model citizen.
 * The Fool: Played With. Brendan Dassey has the IQ of 72 and he was not lucky. Exploited by the investigators.
 * The Fool: Played With. Brendan Dassey has the IQ of 72 and he was not lucky. Exploited by the investigators.


 * I Lied: Brendan uses this defense during his trial, when the subject of his "confession" is brought up.
 * Bobby's cousin also admitted in court to making up her confession to the investigators and the police.
 * Insane Troll Logic: Exploited by the procecutors, and attempts by Stevie's attorneys are made to defy it. In the end,.
 * Irrational Hatred The sheriff department towards Stevie. Unfortunately Justified, a strange and concerning incident happened before 1985, between Stevie and his cousin. That cousin happened to have a connection to the sheriff department...
 * Irrational Hatred The sheriff department towards Stevie. Unfortunately Justified, a strange and concerning incident happened before 1985, between Stevie and his cousin. That cousin happened to have a connection to the sheriff department...


 * Quotes Fit for a Trailer: "Are you kidding me?!"
 * Real Life Writes The Plot: Filmed over the course of 10 years.
 * Recycled Soundtrack: The intro theme of the documentary is derived from Hell on Wheels.
 * Revealing Coverup: The grisly murder story, while it succeeded in tainting the Averys' reputation, completely failed to cover up any wrongdoings on the prosecutors' part.
 * Right for the Wrong Reasons: If Stevie Avery did commit the crime, then the whole prosecution crew and the sheriff department that worked against him massively failed in their duty to prove his guilt, with conflict of interest, lying under oath and just plain incompetence in collecting evidence.
 * Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Trailer: Inverted. A photo of the gun in Stevie's bedroom is shown in the trailer, but is nowhere to be found in the actual documentary (YMMV).
 * Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped: What happened in Stevie's and Brendan's trials is wrong and should have never happened.
 * Title Drop: On "The Last Person to See Teresa Alive" and "Lack of Humility".