Intro

Netflix’s hit series, “American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders,” released on Feb. 29, 2024 and quickly gained popularity from the fascinating story it tells. With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 88%, the series looks into investigative journalist Danny Casolaro’s work after his mysterious death in 1991 which later revealed connections to  a wide array of criminal activity within the government in relation to secret foreign operations around the world. This series is one of the most interesting journalism-focused documentary series of all time.

Analysis

Warning-The Rest Of This Article Contains Spoilers From The Series. 

“American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders” was an extremely eye-opening series. The filmmaking in conjunction with journalism of Christian Hansen crafts an excellent story that takes a seemingly far-fetched conspiracy and provides solid evidence to make it feel closer to fact than fiction. The fact that the research was so widespread yet overlooked is what makes it seem like a far out conspiracy theory, until further research alludes that there may be more to unveil. The use of interviews within the series creates an exceptional balance of journalism and filmmaking. The lack of complete answers helps lead the viewer to make their own opinions on Casolaro’s case, which is a unique filmmaking method used by the show’s producers. 

The death of Danny Casolaro was extremely tragic and while we may never know the truth of the case, the series does an excellent job at generating questions by laying the foundation of fact from a wide variety of sources. There are a lot of inconsistencies in Casolaro’s research that set him back due to information from inside informants. The lack of evidence throws challenges towards finding the correct answer, but also leaves the topic up to further examination. With all evidence provided, it is obvious that there is something plausible to Casolaro’s lost work. Whether the Octopus Murders Conspiracy ran as far as covert drug operations or was a simple misunderstanding, it is undeniable that Casolaro was on to something greater than himself and was intentionally directed away from the truth.

TLDR (Too Long; Didn’t Read)

“American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders” covers the story of Danny Casolaro, an investigative journalist that committed apparent suicide in 1991 while chipping away at on an extremely ambitious case that connects various criminal activity to the highest levels of government. Christian Hansen, the focal journalist of the series, found more and more information on the case, but also challenges and setbacks. Casolaro’s interest began with Inslaw, an American technology company that under the Department Of Justice created PROMIS software, that was put out of business by the DOJ and awarded $6.8 million dollars in damages. Michael Reconoscuito, a computer expert inside source for the documentary, testified before Congress in regards to his work on PROMIS software and only eight days after his affidavit was he arrested on charges of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine. 

John P. Nichols, a white American humanitarian who was in charge of helping the Cabazon Indian Reservation achieve financial success, used illegal operations to fund his projects which can be seen in California vs. the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians. Ultimately, by the end of the series, Hansen does not find any definitive answers and Casolaro’s family members believe he did not commit suicide. This web of random cases that are linked in various ways is what created the term octopus to describe the link that connected the intricate network of crimes. “The Octopus Murders” crafts an excellent real-world story and is one of the best journalism centered television series of all time.