DanaK January 7 Share January 7 Quote Hulu 3 part doc series premieres February 27 When popular vlogger Ruby Franke is arrested for child abuse in August 2023, it quickly becomes one of the biggest trending stories in America. For years, the Frankes' YouTube channel had documented a wholesome, happy family life, with 2.5 million subscribers tuning in at its peak. But happy families are rarely what they seem. As the cracks began to show, the family turned to counselor Jodi Hildebrandt for guidance - and rapidly found themselves trapped in a nightmare. Only the Frankes know what went on inside their home. This series marks the first time Shari and Chad, the Frankes' two eldest adult children, and Kevin, Ruby's husband, will share their story in depth on camera. Full press release http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2025/01/07/hulu-announces-new-docuseries-devil-in-the-family-the-fall-of-ruby-franke-637214/20250107hulu01/ 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151331-devil-in-the-family-the-fall-of-ruby-franke-hulu/
DanaK February 13 Author Share February 13 Trailer 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151331-devil-in-the-family-the-fall-of-ruby-franke-hulu/#findComment-8580129
badhaggis February 15 Share February 15 On 2/13/2025 at 1:21 PM, DanaK said: Trailer There was a show on Investigation Discovery about Jodi Hildebrandt. These children were absolutely tortured. Ruby Franke is absolutely evil. This show looks like it has quite a bit more information. I did not think I could loathe this woman any more. Just from the trailer I discovered I can. I hope that the kids are receiving money for participating in this documentary. Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151331-devil-in-the-family-the-fall-of-ruby-franke-hulu/#findComment-8581305
Straycat80 Friday at 03:19 AM Share Friday at 03:19 AM (edited) I’m having trouble finding words after watching this doc. I never watched vlogging You Tube Mormon families before. Episode one touches on the YT channel and their religion, sounded like it was OK at first until the channel and Ruby got popular and money started rolling in. Then Ruby went on a power trip and changed and not for the best. The husband, Kevin….for a teacher this guy was just straight up stupid. The rest of the two episodes were mainly about the parents joining a cult like man hating religious group run by a fake therapist, Jodi Hiltrabrandt. I don’t understand brainwashing but it happened with these two and I tried to be objective but I can’t understand letting someone (Jodi) convince you that your kids are evil and possessed by the devil and then you starve, beat and abuse your two youngest kids. Plus they disowned their two older kids. These women were given thirty years in prison. Before I watched this doc I thought that was harsh but after seeing this doc and the abuse these kids suffered I’ve changed my mind. Absolutely sickening. The Dad wasn’t charged. Too bad you can’t charge somebody with being stupid. He chose his wife and the psycho therapist over his children. Edited Friday at 03:20 AM by Straycat80 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151331-devil-in-the-family-the-fall-of-ruby-franke-hulu/#findComment-8593459
Angelsmom1009 Friday at 01:13 PM Share Friday at 01:13 PM This documentary was so well done, and truly showed what horrible people Ruby and Jodi are. I’ve never followed 8 Passengers because family “content” gives me the ick, but by many accounts, Ruby was abusive long before Jodi came into the picture. Linking up with Jodi just escalated it to even scarier levels. I also had my thoughts about the relationship between Jodi and Ruby, but thought I was being trite, until the daughter Shari and husband Kevin kind of confirmed it. I mean, sleeping in the same bed, massage oils and candles, and that sorry “possession” video? Please. I hope they both do the full 30 years. They put those kids through absolute hell. And can we talk about the sorry ass husband too? Ugh. Men like him absolutely infuriate me…they have some sort of issue with the mother, so they cut off any relationship with their children, and then have the shocked Pikachu face when something goes wrong. How do you let a complete stranger, who you claim you KNEW was running a cult but went along with anyway, run you out of your own house? I also refuse to believe he didn’t know anything about the abuse. I can’t remember if they touched on this in the doc, but when his oldest daughter came to the house and tried to retrieve hard drives, he tried to have her arrested for stealing. So he KNEW there was stuff on there that would make them look bad. He may not have known the full extent of how bad the abuse was once he left, but he knew Ruby was no saint. And the only reason why he isn’t locked up too is because he wasn’t there when the worst of the abuse was happening. I also think that if it wasn’t for the media attention, he’d still be married to Ruby and fully supporting her behind bars. What a sorry, pathetic man. Most importantly, I hope all of the kids are okay. The two oldest seem to be, and hope the youngest are getting the love and care they deserve. I also think that this is a huge reason why some sort of Coogan-esque laws need to be enacted in regards to family content creators. There is nothing protecting these kids from greedy parents who are using their kids lives to get a check, and making them perform like circus monkeys for likes and follows. It’s disturbing on so many levels. 3 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151331-devil-in-the-family-the-fall-of-ruby-franke-hulu/#findComment-8593657
Straycat80 Friday at 02:41 PM Share Friday at 02:41 PM I think some sort of bill was just passed in Utah about family bloggers. I’ll have to look it up. I wondered why the two middle girls were spared from the abuse the two younger children suffered. They also didn’t say where the four younger children are now. I have a feeling they are with the Dad. I hope DCFS looks in on them, I wouldn’t trust the Dad, he seemed like the type who would change his mind about divorcing Ruby and wait for her to get out of jail on good behavior. The older daughter has written a book, I’m going to read it. 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151331-devil-in-the-family-the-fall-of-ruby-franke-hulu/#findComment-8593730
sassi214 Saturday at 12:18 AM Share Saturday at 12:18 AM That man was WEAK. 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151331-devil-in-the-family-the-fall-of-ruby-franke-hulu/#findComment-8594243
sskrill Saturday at 06:58 AM Share Saturday at 06:58 AM Ah, religion in America. You can't get in to the Kingdom of Heaven without torturing and starving your children. It's so clear. The husband is a pansy and an enabler. The only demon in this story is Jodi and the only family member smart enough to clock it was Shari. Chad seems like a nice kid but he's no smarter than his father. Jodi told them up front that they could find tons of negative things about her online, and these 2 rocket scientists chose to move her in to their house anyway. And there's no way Ruby wasn't sleeping with her. What a tragic story for all of those kids. Jodi is evil. Ruby is pathetic. And Kevin should lose all rights to those kids. 2 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151331-devil-in-the-family-the-fall-of-ruby-franke-hulu/#findComment-8594546
Angelsmom1009 Saturday at 09:33 PM Share Saturday at 09:33 PM On 2/28/2025 at 9:41 AM, Straycat80 said: I think some sort of bill was just passed in Utah about family bloggers. I’ll have to look it up. I wondered why the two middle girls were spared from the abuse the two younger children suffered. They also didn’t say where the four younger children are now. I have a feeling they are with the Dad. I hope DCFS looks in on them, I wouldn’t trust the Dad, he seemed like the type who would change his mind about divorcing Ruby and wait for her to get out of jail on good behavior. The older daughter has written a book, I’m going to read it. Probably because at that point the older ones knew to “fall in line” while the younger ones were testing their limits, as young children do. So of course they got the brunt of the abuse because they weren’t being obedient, which meant they were “possessed.” Sick on so many levels. 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151331-devil-in-the-family-the-fall-of-ruby-franke-hulu/#findComment-8594947
ExMathMajor Sunday at 07:45 PM Share Sunday at 07:45 PM On 2/28/2025 at 8:13 AM, Angelsmom1009 said: He may not have known the full extent of how bad the abuse was once he left, but he knew Ruby was no saint. And the only reason why he isn’t locked up too is because he wasn’t there when the worst of the abuse was happening. I also think that if it wasn’t for the media attention, he’d still be married to Ruby and fully supporting her behind bars. What a sorry, pathetic man. So. Much. This. At the end he said he still loved her but then in the epilogue it said he filed for divorce. So I’m wondering what kind of therapy/deprogramming got him to that last point, because he sure did sound like he was going to stick by her. I also wonder what his relationship is with his kids. I can see him having a relationship with Chad but possibly not with Shari. I’ve watched a lot of documentaries about religious cults in general, LDS in general, that part of the US in general (all those mountains and valleys! gorgeous) and I’m struggling to understand how that man could be so brainwashed that he had no contact with his wife or kids for over a year. I don’t believe him TBH… 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/151331-devil-in-the-family-the-fall-of-ruby-franke-hulu/#findComment-8595499
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