Netflix True Crime Docuseries Dives Into The Twisted Mind Of One Of The Most Prolific Serial Killers

The Ted Bundy Tapes start as close to the beginning of Bundy’s story as archival footage will allow. Through police investigations, witness testimonials, evidence, and Bundy’s own warped words, a picture is painted of a man who was able to get along in regular society undetected until his heinous and barbaric attacks against young women finally caught up with him. Though Bundy ultimately confessed to 30 murders across six states, the jury is still out on whether he may have claimed even more lives that he didn’t let authorities know about.

As you will learn from watching The Ted Bundy Tapes, the serial killer was able to keep up appearances for quite some time, as he was able to pose as a somewhat functional member of society as a young man despite the evil that lived inside of him. At one point, he even worked as a telephone operator at a suicide hotline, which is painfully ironic because there’s no knowing how many lives he may have saved before deciding that he felt more satisfied ending the lives of his dozens of victims. By all early accounts, Bundy was charming, articulate, intelligent, and considered to be conventionally attractive, which worked to his advantage.

The second and third installments of The Ted Bundy Tapes reveals just how cold and calculating Bundy was after he became the primary person of interest in the 1974 abduction of Carol DeRonch, one of his victims who was fortunate enough to escape from certain death. Posing as a police officer, Bundy lured DeRonch to his car and threatened her with a gun and crowbar, but she was able to escape and contact the real authorities, leading to his first arrest.

As the story ultimately plays out, Bundy escaped from jail (twice), and continued his cross-country rampage, not getting finally recaptured in 1978.

After finally being incarcerated for good, and sentenced to death after attempting to represent himself in court, the depths of Bundy’s depravity is fully highlighted in the fourth and final installment of The Ted Bundy Tapes. But what’s most disturbing about this chapter in the docuseries isn’t the confessions themselves, but rather how nonchalant he seems during his interviews. Without getting into the gory details (that’s for you to subject yourself to if you’re brave enough), I was most upset by how he was able to recall all of the crimes leading up to his arrest, in vivid detail, as if he were talking about what he had for breakfast that morning.

The juxtaposition of the real-life horror stories that Bundy put his victims through and how calmly he recounts his senseless acts of violence during his interviews is truly the stuff of nightmares, and it cannot be overstated how unsettling The Ted Bundy Tapes are as they reveal the depths of his psychopathy.

GFR SCORE

While The Ted Bundy Tapes provide an alarming amount of insight in to the mind and crimes of Ted Bundy, the series loses points for not placing nearly as much emphasis on his victims as it should have. On a more cynical day, I’d say that the docuseries almost frames him as a charming anti-hero rather than the unhinged maniac who deserved the electric chair that he truly was. While I’ll criticize The Ted Bundy Tapes all day for lacking in the sensitivity department, it’s still a valid entry in Netflix’s vast true crime catalog that serves as just one of many reference points to how society’s most sadistic monsters try to put up a facade finally getting captured and sentenced.

You can stream Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes on Netflix, but don’t say I didn’t warn you about what you’re about to get into.