Review of HC's "History's Greatest Mysteries," The Final Hunt for DB Cooper," w Eric Ulis
Excellent broadcast. Probably the most factual and solid reporting of the case. Eric carried the show and was excellent in front of the camera. In fact, I wish he had more screen time to explain the case, the evidence, and the controversy surrounding the flight path.
The docu has three main parts: Searching around Bachelor Island for parachutes and physical evidence, and the parallel discussion on the western flight path, including a concise interview with ATC Cliff Ammerman. Two, a discussion about Sheridan Peterson. Three, breakthrough information on the DNA.
This latter segment will probably fill pages here. Apparently, Tom Kaye suctioned the tie and collected his findings in a sterile filter encapsulated within a sterile container. This may be "Pure DBC DNA." Or not. Whatever it is, it was profiled at DNA Laboratory International in Deerfield Beach, Florida, so we may have DB Cooper's DNA, finally. Or not.
Is it better than the three DNA samples the FBI has/had? The docu didn't discuss that, and that is a failing. Is the Tom Kaye DNA sample simply one of the three DNA samples that the FBI has? Again, not broached in the docu, and remains unknown.
Overall, the docu is excellent. The searching on Bachelor Island drags a bit, and the producers recognized that dynamic so they began intersplicing Sheridan tidbits, but that was mostly distracting. However, it was a lot of fun to see the fatigue on the faces of the searchers after ten hours in the field, and Eric looked so rain-soaked it appeared he had just spent an afternoon tumbling in a Laundromat washing machine.
Some new players were introduced and they were excellent. FBI agent Mary Jean Fryar was superb, and I LOVED her interviews with Petey, who was as flakey and flippant as we have ever seen. BTW: I did love the baseball cap he wore during his interview: "I Miss Obama."
Also, Claire Peterson, Pete's first wife gave a substantive interview, and I relished it. Mark Metzler is also interviewed at length, and it is a delight as Mark has never had more screen time. As always, he is most eloquent.
Looking at the docus that have been produced in the past few years, they are getting better and better as Hollywood has more reliable and camera-ready Cooperites to tap as principals in their broadcasts, and rely less on narratives written by LA-based producers and screen writers, who generally muck everything up.
Addendum
After reading Tom Kaye's comments in the "evidence" thread, the DNA that got tested is NOT DB Cooper's. It's Tom's. How that happened falls in the "Shit Happens" category, apparently.
In the meantime, Petey is back on the hot seat, Eric has a WHOLE new documentary to film, and Cooper World can rest easy knowing that Norjak ain't solved yet, exactly....