Pictured: Renée Zellweger as Pam Hupp — (Photo by: Skip Bolen/NBC)
Synopsis
NBC’s “The Thing About Pam” is based on the 2011 murder of Betsy Faria that resulted in her husband Russ’s conviction, although he insisted he didn’t kill her. He was later exonerated. This brutal crime set off a chain of events that would expose a diabolical scheme deeply involving Pam Hupp.
Watching NBC’s The Thing About Pam generates exactly the same kind of feeling as watching a true-crime documentary. Morbid curiosity mixed with the knowledge that what you’re watching might not necessarily be amazing television but remains absolutely addicting nonetheless. And that’s precisely what The Thing About Pam is – compulsively watchable. Based on Dateline NBC‘s coverage of the murder of Betsy Faria, The Thing About Pam follows the investigation into her death as well as the trial, and subsequent retrial, of Russ Faria, and how Pam Hupp made herself a central figure in that investigation. While an unrecognizable Renée Zellweger delivers an impressive performance underneath some questionable prosthetics, the show itself isn’t as well-rounded as you might wish. Its bias is understandable but many of the choices it makes undercuts its effectiveness as a piece of drama. And even while it’s enjoyable, it feels like it has little to say.
A Tonally Inconsistent Drama with No Mystery
I’ve never seen the Dateline NBC episodes about Pam Hupp, nor the podcast that spun off from them, but if you’d asked me to imagine a scripted true-crime drama done in the style of an episode of Dateline, this is probably what I’d have come up with. The Thing About Pam begins where all true-crime stories begin – with a crime. In this case, Betsy Faria’s (Katy Mixon) murder and her husband, Russ’s (Glenn Fleshler), hysterical 911 call. But despite common wisdom, narration from Dateline‘s Keith Morrison says, the husband didn’t actually do it this time. Even if the cops, prosecutors, and local townsfolk think he did. Instead, it was the best friend: Pam Hupp (Zellweger). Allegedly. And that immediate revelation is the show’s biggest hook and its biggest weakness. For The Thing About Pam is less of a whodunit and more of a how-they-got-away-with-it. Much to its detriment.
The series presents a justice system that’s either hopelessly inept, knowingly corrupt, or some combination of the two. Prosecutor Leah Askey (Judy Greer) and the rest of the police immediately suspect Russ of killing his wife and overlook any and all evidence to the contrary. Even as Russ’s defense attorney, Joel Schwartz (Josh Duhamel) provides one reason after another to suspect someone else (namely Hupp). Now sure, it’s no secret that this kind of thing happens sometimes. But the show presents all of this with little added insight or commentary – at least as of the four episodes provided to critics for review. In fact, that lack of insight makes The Thing About Pam feel almost satirical in tone, but the show is completely unwilling to commit to that kind of an angle. Which is a big shame considering how much gold there is to mine in satirizing true-crime entertainment.
A Character Study Without Any Depth
So, with an inconsistent tone and a lack of mystery, what’s the show left with? Very little, as it turns out. In the absence of a compelling mystery or biting satire, you might think the show would do a deep dive on Hupp, exploring who she is and what might provoke her into committing such an act of atrocity. But outside of a single flashback sequence in one of the later episodes and a lot of talk about the Hupps having money troubles, the show seems completely uninterested in portraying Hupp with any real depth or exploring any motivation she might have. Instead, both the writing and Zellweger’s performance lack any real empathy and barely goes beneath the surface of this woman. Despite characters constantly talking about how beloved Hupp is and how trustworthy she is, the show never presents her as anything less than cartoonishly evil.
While I’m not asking to sympathize with her, the show makes it impossible to understand why anyone looked past her as a suspect outside of sheer incompetence or wilful negligence. But it doesn’t feel like that’s the angle the series is taking. Instead, it feels like the show’s trying to convince audiences that Hupp is this amazing liar. But everything about her is so over-the-top, so divorced from reality that it’s nearly impossible for the show to sell this angle. Again, it would probably work very well in a satire. But given the show’s connection to Dateline, the chances of any real satire here are slim – even if the scripts lean towards comedy. So, we’re left with what’s ostensibly a character study that wholly fails to examine its subject with any depth. Despite an admirable performance from Zellweger, Hupp feels like a caricature. And that’s probably the most disappointing thing.
But A Fun Show Nonetheless
With all of that said, though, The Thing About Pam is still a really fun, endlessly compulsive watch. I wouldn’t say it’s good, per se, but I’m having a great time watching it. Despite the writing problems, I’m not sure I’ve seen anything quite like this. And that’s definitely a good thing. Even with the show’s questionable pacing, it’s never boring. Whether it’s the all-knowing, almost out-of-place narration, the wild tonal shifts between comedy and drama, or the excellent performances from the likes of Greer and Duhamel, there’s a lot here to like. There were plenty of moments where the comedy worked and where the strange tone almost tilted into fantasy, and it’s those moments where you can see the potential in what the show’s going for. It never quite reaches that potential, but I appreciate the swings it takes, and I’m eagerly awaiting its conclusion.
Final Thoughts
The Thing About Pam is a wild ride, to be sure. It might not make a particularly compelling drama, but as a fun, somewhat experimental show? It’s enjoyable enough. And maybe the final two episodes will give us a better look at who Pam is. As it stands now, though, it’s a true-crime drama without any mystery, a quasi-satire without any bite, and a character study without any depth. And that’s a bit disappointing, regardless of how fun the ride might be.
Rating: 3/5
New episodes of The Thing About Pam air Tuesdays at 10pm on NBC. Episodes arrive on Peacock and Hulu Wednesday mornings.
Part-time writer, part-time theatre nerd, full-time dork.
