The Kings Of Tupelo: A Southern Crime Saga is a three-part docuseries, directed by Chapman Way and Maclain Way, about how Paul Kevin Curtis, an Elvis impersonator from the King’s hometown of Tupelo, Mississippi, stumbled into a body parts trafficking ring and how he was looked at by federal authorities when ricin-laced letters were sent to the Capitol and the White House.
Opening Shot: “To understand the world, you must first understand a place like Mississippi — William Faulkner.”
The Gist: Paul Kevin Curtis spent his lonely childhood perfecting his Elvis impression and when he was older, he took it on stage. His older brother Jack, who was much more buttoned-up than his wild-card little brother, ended up impersonating Elvis as a way to promote his insurance business. Eventually, Kevin hit on the idea that the two of them get together and create an act called Double Trouble, with the backstory being that this would have happened if Elvis’ stillborn twin brother had lived.
After he got married, Kevin went to work as a janitor at a hospital. One day, when he was sent to the morgue to clean up a mess, he saw a head in a refrigerator, with a bar code on it. That sent him down a conspiracy rabbit hole, searching through a ’90s-early ’00s version of the dark web, finding out about illegal body parts trafficking.
His obsession eventually cost him his job, his relationship with his brother, the Double Trouble act, and his marriage. But just when his loved ones thought he was descending into madness, a body part trafficking ring was busted in New York, with one of the participants being someone mentioned by a person who emailed Kevin about the topic.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The Kings Of Tupelo has the same crazy vibe as docuseries like Chimp Crazy, Pepsi, Where’s My Jet? and Tiger King.
Our Take: While the style of The Kings Of Tupelo leans into just how insane Kevin Curtis’ pursuit of the body part conspiracy was, the Way brothers know who their star is. Curtis isn’t exactly a reluctant, shrinking violet here. He says “Who’s laughing now? Netflix, you bitch,” right at the top of the first episode, as he discusses how no one would buy his screenplay, Missing Pieces. He doesn’t show any regrets, except for a moment when he talks about Jack not talking to him after he broke out of character and talked to the audience at a huge Double Trouble show about his theories.
But there are other characters, like Steve Holland, a state representative to whom Kevin sent draft legislation banning body part trafficking. But he also the owner of the three biggest funeral homes in the state, so that didn’t get far. Heck, even Jack Curtis and Kevin’s ex-wife Laura are pretty colorful.
By the time we get to the end of the first episode, we have absolutely no idea where the story is going to go, which is a rarity in the true crime docuseries genre these days. What’s even rarer is the fact that we want to go along on the ride instead of looking up the case being talked about to get the answers to our questions. That’s definitely attributable to the Ways’ style as well as Kevin Curtis’ magnetically wacky personality.
Sex and Skin: There’s nudity at some point in the series, but nothing in the first episode.
Parting Shot: “I could not dream of how it became such a royal scandal,” says Holland. “I mean, it got to the White House.”
Sleeper Star: It’s got to be Holland, simply for saying, “Truth be told, I could fuck a bull moose on the south steps of the Lee County courthouse and gain 10% of the vote.”
Most Pilot-y Line: Kevin’s obsession over his ex-wife’s feet might be a window into his personality, but it was, um, a little much.
Our Call: STREAM IT. Somehow, the Way brothers make the serious events at the heart of The Kings Of Tupelo: A Southern Crime Saga entertaining and even funny, mainly because they know they have a goldmine of a main character.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.