They say there are two sides to every story and in ABC’s Who Do You Believe?, viewers are tasked with listening to both. Premiering on Tuesday, May 3rd, the true-crime series is ideal for armchair detectives. But if you were expecting to get to the truth of the matter behind these stories, the show literally leaves you hanging.
(ABC/Christopher Willard/Frank Micelotta)
In the series premiere, titled “Overwhelming Charity,” we meet former couple Mark Athans and Charity Parchem from Texas. In their case, it isn’t just one crime committed against one another, but a series of them that quickly become a long list of offenses. From alleged money laundering to bigamy and unpaid child support, each interviewee lobs accusations over the net in this back-and-forth match. It quickly becomes dizzying for the viewer and with so many grievances filed, it becomes difficult to determine who is right and who is wrong.
Sadly, the series doesn’t contain a resolution to each case. My expectation was that Who Do You Believe? would wrap up each episode with a recap of accusations, letting viewers think about who is just before revealing what the court decided. There’s no such conclusion to the story, which is almost as annoying as the myriad of complaints that Mark and Charity keep spewing at one another.
The strength of Who Do You Believe? is the visual representation of the interviews. Using split screens, reenacted moments that occurred at home allow Mark, for example, to be in a chair on the left side of the screen detailing what happened while we see actors on the other side dramatizing the scene. It helps make what is otherwise a series of talking-head interviews a little more lively. At one point, they even make it seem as if Mark and Charity are cohabitating the same space
Who Do You Believe? essentially draws out what would otherwise be a 10-minute case on a show like Judge Judy into an hour-long episode. There is no evident interventionist keeping the interviewees on task, so it basically plays like a laundry list of grievances between two people. Perhaps Mark and Charity were a bad place to start, with issues between the two flying all over the place. Or perhaps every episode is like this, in which case the show will prove unwatchable long term. Aside from some stylistic choices that pay off, the overall format falls flat.
I give Who Do You Believe? 1 out of 5 bundles of cash with currency straps.
Who Do You Believe? Premieres Tuesday, May 3rd, at 10/9c on ABC. Episodes will stream the next day on Hulu.