Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage, and Reckoning is a three-part HBO documentary series that explores the history of racism in Boston, Massachusetts through the 1989 murder of a white couple. Using archival footage and present-day interviews, the true crime story unfolds and paints an ugly picture of the “racial overreaction” during the case and the seemingly progressive city’s treatment of Black people. The documentary is produced and directed by Jason Hehir, best known for The Last Dance and Andre The Giant.
Opening Shot: A picture of a street covered in garbage. “I’ve got somebody who has just been shot… two people who have just been shot,” says a man in a staticky voiceover. “I’ve got them on the phone, hold on a moment please.”
The Gist: On October 23, 1989, Charles “Chuck” Stuart called 9-1-1 to report that he and his pregnant wife, Carol, had been shot while leaving a birthing class at a Boston hospital. He described the assailant as a Black man wearing a black-striped tracksuit. Carol died shortly after the attack, but Chuck survived.
The shooting occurred in the Mission Hill neighborhood, which has a predominately Black population. Detailed by archival footage and interview segments, the investigation into Carol’s murder heightened racial tensions in the community as Black men were unfairly targeted. “When crime happens in certain parts of Boston, we all fit the description, so we knew what was about to happen,” said historian Dart Adams. “We knew the hell that was about to descend upon us.”
Mission Hill resident Ron Bell described the time as an “open season on Black people.”
As the premiere episode unfolds, details about Boston’s history of racism emerge through interviews with various professionals and members of the community.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage, and Reckoning will remind you of other docuseries and documentaries about murder and racial injustice, like Ken Burns: The Central Park Five and The House I Live In.
Our Take: Oftentimes, the true crime genre feels predictable. Once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. Over time, it becomes quite simple to pick up on the storytelling devices that these sorts of documentary specials, television shows, and movies use to frame the story, and you begin to learn less and less about anything other than the gruesome details. However, Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage, and Reckoning is nothing like that.
The show is a daring take on the saturated genre, and explores Boston’s history of discrimination and racism in a manner that’ll completely distract viewers from the actual murder case. Then, when it returns to the investigation and drops the “oh-too-predictable” bombshells, it contextualizes them beyond the gritty details.
Hehir’s direction and story sequence is riveting, and the interview subjects have much to offer, whether it be from a first-hand account or through decades of research and advocacy. As eyes lock on a potential assailant, early in the investigation, it becomes clear that the suspect’s story — as well as Carol’s story — is one that we’ve seen play out many times before, but that doesn’t mitigate the burn or frustrations that it causes.
Sex and Skin: None.
Parting Shot: There’s an alleged “major break” in the investigation when the authorities come across a young couple squatting in a building and are informed that one of the parties recently committed a robbery. The police look around the building and find a black running suit in the bathroom, along with several newspaper articles about the Stuart case.
After the scene is painted, Adams explains in an interview segment, “Adidas tracksuit was the outfit of Black kids in Boston in the late 80s, early 90s.. everything was Adidas. It was so open-ended, it was so generic that it could’ve been anybody.”
In a separate interview, author Howard Bryant expands on that point, “Obviously when a crime is committed, you’re going to try to solve it. But, the way this went down was a racial overreaction. It wasn’t as though we weren’t thinking, ‘OK, why is this such a given that somebody Black did this?’ Everybody knows the prime suspect is usually the partner.”
Bryant continues, “Sure, if the man is bleeding to death, you would have some sympathy for that, but you would also ask: If I’m going to rob somebody, why would I shoot the pregnant lady fatally in the head and shoot him in the side? If you were gonna kill someone, it would be the immediate threat, which to me, would be the man… All of these things are absolutely worth interrogating on day one.”
So, by the end of the first episode, two new suspects have entered the chat… as well as the police’s lack of ability to properly investigate the case without bias.
Sleeper Star: Mission Hill resident Ron Bell gave an engaging and deeply personal interview about growing up Black in Boston, and the changing atmosphere amid the Stuart case.
Most Pilot-y Line: “Ray Flynn was considered one of the good ones, he was considered one of the progressives, one of the reformers, one of the ones who was trying to change the perception of the city,” Bryant said of the former Boston mayor, who went on to authorize the police’s aggressive response to the case.
Our Call: STREAM IT!! Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage, and Reckoning is more than just a true crime docuseries, it is a bold exploration of racial tensions and discrimination in a city that has long been touted as progressive.