Burden of Proof

[DanaK]

Quote

HBO Original four-part true crime docuseries BURDEN OF PROOF, directed by award-winning filmmaker Cynthia Hill (HBO's "Private Violence"), debuts with the first two episodes TUESDAY, JUNE 6 (9:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO followed by the final two episodes on Wednesday, June 7. The entire series will be available to stream on Max beginning Tuesday, June 6.

Synopsis: When 15-year-old Jennifer Pandos went missing in 1987, her parents told everyone she ran away. Decades later, her brother Stephen begins a relentless odyssey in search of the truth. His investigation into the case threatens to destroy his family as he becomes strongly convinced that his parents are both implicated in the crime. As time passes, more threads unravel and new evidence comes to light, Stephen starts to question everything he has come to believe.

Shot in cinema verité over seven years, the series unfolds in real time as Stephen launches his own investigation into what he fears may have transpired in his parents' house the night Jennifer vanished and a suspicious handwritten note left as the only clue. Sensitively illustrated with Jennifer's intimate journal entries and letters, and thoughtfully crafted dramatic visualizations of shifting and conflicting memories from family and friends of the months leading to Jennifer disappearance, the episodic flashbacks paint a portrait of a complex teenager dealing with a troublesome family dynamic. As missing evidence is uncovered, lie detector tests are failed, and past abuses are revealed, a rich, complicated narrative emerges while Stephen is left to wonder the price he has paid by pursuing this painful search for closure.

Full press release http://thefutoncritic.com/news/2023/05/25/hbo-original-docuseries-burden-of-proof-debuts-june-6-533213/20230525hbo02/

Trailer

 

 

Edited May 25, 2023 by DanaK

[Madding crowd]

I watched the first two episodes and it sure seems like the parents were hiding something. I always hate it though when cops act like polygraphs are scientific proof of anything. The son seems kind of unhinged as well.

[DanaK]

54 minutes ago, Madding crowd said:

I watched the first two episodes and it sure seems like the parents were hiding something. I always hate it though when cops act like polygraphs are scientific proof of anything. The son seems kind of unhinged as well.

I've watched the first episode so far and it's definitely interesting. It certainly seems like the parents aren't entirely forthcoming

[IntrovertRed]

Finally finished this after falling asleep to it two nights in a row.  This could have been shortened to two episodes, not four.

I felt so bad for Stephen’s mother, you can see how much she wants to be in Stephen’s life and with her grandchildren.

I won’t spoil it, but it did go differently than I expected. I hope the family finds peace somehow.

Please tell me I’m not the only one who felt I was watching Bill Maher because Stephen looks so much like him.

Edited June 9, 2023 by IntrovertRed

[Madding crowd]

My son brought up the Bill Maher resemblance. I watch a fair amount of true crime stuff and just thought this wasn’t engaging. I feel sorry for Jennifer and her family, but it seemed obvious in the first episode how this would go. I also the music and dull colors of the film added to a boring piece.

[Guest]

Jesus Christ this series was SO BORING. If they shaved off all the stupid re-enactments, the pensive "Stephen looks out the window" scenes, and the near non-stop shots of Stephen's Architectural Digest-friendly house, it could have easily been 90 tight minutes. 

I also didn't understand why at some point the filmmakers or Stephen didn't mention that the "father figure" in that note that was left on Jennifer's bed was Charlie Mays! Tony Tobler 100% wrote that note and it was clear he had some fatherly relationship with that guy. Also, LOL when they first said they were focusing on a "one-armed man." I mean, come on! But then...he really was a one-armed man. 

I think Jennifer told Tony she was going to have her parents have him arrested for rape, it sent Tony, probably already an unhinged, but cute, loser over the edge. Either he killed her on his own or had Charlie do it. Who knows. But they both disposed of her body in that oil drum. That will now never be found.

I was also shocked at Stephen's rather blasé attitude at the end. Like, "oh well, life goes on la dee da" when he was on fire years earlier thinking his parents killed Jennifer. Like, somehow now he's at peace? WTF

What a waste of four hours.

[EtheltoTillie]

21 hours ago, Giant Misfit said:

.

I was also shocked at Stephen's rather blasé attitude at the end. Like, "oh well, life goes on la dee da" when he was on fire years earlier thinking his parents killed Jennifer. Like, somehow now he's at peace? WTF

What a waste of four hours.

I didn’t watch the whole thing. I read a summary. I wasn’t shocked at the end because earlier he said they didn’t have a close relationship. A bunch of strange people.  

[Hedgehog2022]

On 6/8/2023 at 10:01 PM, IntrovertRed said:

Finally finished this after falling asleep to it two nights in a row.  This could have been shortened to two episodes, not four.

I felt so bad for Stephen’s mother, you can see how much she wants to be in Stephen’s life and with her grandchildren.

I won’t spoil it, but it did go differently than I expected. I hope the family finds peace somehow.

Please tell me I’m not the only one who felt I was watching Bill Maher because Stephen looks so much like him.

Yes! Stephen is Bill Maher's doppleganger!

[Hedgehog2022]

This was a film about family dysfunction and poor investigation by the authorities. So much wrong with the way parents handled this. They didn't call the police for two days after their daughter was missing; the mother lied to her daughter's friend twice with different excuses of why she wasn't at school; their own families didn't know she was missing for months afterwards and lied about her absence. None of this is normal...at all. Her father was an abusive man....given to bouts of anger and physical and emotional abuse. The mother clearly had been emotionally abused by him...she was passive and submissive. Dad/husband was a dirtbag.

The police were a joke. Granted, at the time this happened in 1987, there were alot of investigating and forensic tools that were not available to them...like an abundance of security cameras at residences and businesses and DNA testing. Still...they seemed to be lazy/unmotivated and compromised by close ties to some of the local people that were being questioned. There should have been an independent investigator brought in or the FBI who have so many more resources than the local police.

I did not find Stephen to be "unhinged" or "weird" at all...he clearly is a domestic/child abuse survivor who probably has had a good deal of therapy. He loved his sister and probably feels some guilt from not being there to protect/save her...very understandable that now he has a successful career and can afford to hire private investigators, etc. that he would want to launch his own investigtion. 

In the end, he did the best he could. I was glad to see him find love and get married. He seems to have a great relationship with his own kids.

[heatherchandler]

On 6/9/2023 at 7:06 PM, Giant Misfit said:

Jesus Christ this series was SO BORING. If they shaved off all the stupid re-enactments, the pensive "Stephen looks out the window" scenes, and the near non-stop shots of Stephen's Architectural Digest-friendly house, it could have easily been 90 tight minutes. 

I also didn't understand why at some point the filmmakers or Stephen didn't mention that the "father figure" in that note that was left on Jennifer's bed was Charlie Mays! Tony Tobler 100% wrote that note and it was clear he had some fatherly relationship with that guy. Also, LOL when they first said they were focusing on a "one-armed man." I mean, come on! But then...he really was a one-armed man. 

I think Jennifer told Tony she was going to have her parents have him arrested for rape, it sent Tony, probably already an unhinged, but cute, loser over the edge. Either he killed her on his own or had Charlie do it. Who knows. But they both disposed of her body in that oil drum. That will now never be found.

I was also shocked at Stephen's rather blasé attitude at the end. Like, "oh well, life goes on la dee da" when he was on fire years earlier thinking his parents killed Jennifer. Like, somehow now he's at peace? WTF

What a waste of four hours.

What does Stephen do for a living?  I did like that house.

Oh Tony Tolbert totally wrote the note and killed her.  I was SURE it was the parents during the first 2 eps.  But Tony is the only one who had a motive.  At least as I imagine it.

[sskrill]

On 6/26/2023 at 10:15 AM, heatherchandler said:

What does Stephen do for a living?  I did like that house.

Oh Tony Tolbert totally wrote the note and killed her.  I was SURE it was the parents during the first 2 eps.  But Tony is the only one who had a motive.  At least as I imagine it.

Some sort of real estate portfolio manager.  He's easy to find on LinkedIn.

I didn't think this was boring, but I agree it was too long, it could have been 2 episodes.

I sympathize with Stephen.  The father is an asshole and something isn't quite right with the mother.  Why was she emailing the POS ex when the police called her?  If you didn't do it, you should at least call back and find out if they're calling to let you know they found a body, etc. 

I also thought for sure it was the father, and the mother just kept silent, but I agree its likely Tony.  Jennifer either lied to him and told him she was pregnant again, and that he was going to marry her, or she told him she was going to tell Cori that they'd still been seeing each other behind her back.  The only weird thing in that scenario is would a teenage boy really have thought to write that letter and its contents? They kept mentioning the letter had quotations, which also seems like something an unsophisticated teenage mind wouldn't have thought of.  But then, if he was still taking English classes the quotes could have been a byproduct of writing papers for class and having to quote and source information.  He also thought of Charlie as a father figure and maybe thats why that specifc term was used in the letter.

But anyway, I think Stephen was pursing this because he saw his sister as another victim of this dysfuntional family, and just really wanted to find justice for that victim.

Its a sad story all the way around.