I Am the Night

From its very first frames, "I Am the Night" captivates your attention. You'll want to binge the whole thing. This is easy enough to do since the entire series is only six episodes. Not only is this semi-biographic serial a mysterious and intricate noir, the character of Fauna Hodel (played by India Eisley) remains so deeply sympathetic throughout that you cheer and fear for her every move.

As a multiracial teenager living outside Reno, Nevada, Pat (India Eisley) suffers discrimination from all sides. She doesn't fit well into either the black or white communities. But her hard drinking, single mother Jimmie Lee (Golden Brooks) has taught her to be strong and raised her among a group of people who basically have her back.

When Pat discovers that Jimmie Lee isn't her real mother and that she was adopted as Fauna Hodel, it brings her entire black identity into question, and she sets out on a journey to find her birth mother and wealthy, eccentric white grandparents.

Her biological grandfather Dr. George Hodel (Jefferson Mays) is a twisted art collector and gynecologist who lives in a mysterious, modernist mansion. And it is here that Fauna's most terrifying and twisted revelations will occur.

This action is foiled by the story of a stringer journalist and Korean War vet, Jay Singletary (Chris Pine), who, early on, destroyed his career early by sticking his nose into George Hodel's untoward business. Now, everyone tell Singletary to stop, but he just can't stay off of that gynecologist's scent – and the trail is leading him someplace big – right into the one of the most famous true crime mysteries in Hollywood.

Inspired by the memoir "One Day She'll Darken: The Mysterious Beginnings of Fauna Hodel" by Fauna Hodel, this story is both heart-wrenching and heart-stopping, constantly making you wonder what will happen next. "Wonder Woman" director Patty Jenkins and writer Sam Sheridan have crafted a true crime television series that is just the right size.

This DVD release includes a marvelously insightful 18-minute documentary, "The Myths Inside Snowden," informing modern audiences of one of Hollywood most famous unsolved murders, the Black Dahlia case. It also includes a look inside the episodes and three more featurettes.

"I Am the Night"
DVD $29.98
www.tntdrama.com/i-am-the-night/