Aaron Hernandez: a football star and a convicted murderer. Some have forgotten his name; some won’t ever forget it. Netflix recently came out with an original limited series, “Killer Inside: Inside the Mind of Aaron Hernandez.” The series, in just three one-hour long episodes, explored Aaron Hernandex before, during and after his conviction.
On June 17, 2013, the body of Odin Lloyd, a semi-pro football player for the Boston Bandits, was found in an industrial yard about a mile from pro-football star Aaron Hernandez. The police were quickly able to connect Hernandez to Lloyd and opened a homicide investigation. On June 26, Hernandez was handcuffed and led from his house and later charged with first-degree murder of Lloyd. In Massachusetts, anybody convicted of murder in any degree is automatically sentenced to life in prison without parole. Hernandez hung himself in 2017. The series talked about Hernandez’s connection to Lloyd, his relationships with coaches, players and his father and his early life before he was drafted by the National Football League (NFL).
I thought the documentary was very full of information of Hernandez’s life before, during and after his trials. Although some people who followed along with Hernandez during this time might not find the series interesting or engaging, it is a good watch for anybody, especially those who don’t know much or anything at all about Hernandez and his trial. Hernandez’s sexuality was explored and talked about by his close friends and teammates throughout the series, especially in episode two. The documentary also gave insight about what the relationship between Hernandez’s father and himself was like. The tone of the documentary was sadness, but there was also a sense of being upbeat throughout the series. It was fairly easy to follow, not a lot of questions were left to ask after the series wrapped up.
The series was missing family interviews. Hernandez’s family declined to do interviews, and that was an important element that was missing. Also, the endings of the episodes were strange. They were sort of like cliff-hangers, to keep the viewer to watch more, but they also weren’t very clear and didn’t seem to match with either the episode it ended or the episode it was leading into. The series was only three episodes, and I feel they could’ve given more information about his life in the NFL in a few more episodes. Overall, the series was very informative, and I really enjoyed it.