The Sons of Sam: A Descent Into Darkness – Netflix Review (3/5)

THE SONS OF SAM on Netflix is a true-crime documentary series with just 4 episodes. In many ways, it’s a crazy ride following the obsession of journalist Maury Terry. Then again, he was clearly on to something – to some degree. Read our full The Sons of Sam series review here!

THE SONS OF SAM is a Netflix true-crime docu-series about the lifelong obsession of journalist Maury Terry. He was convinced that the Son of Sam serial killer wasn’t just one person. Also, he felt it was connected to the events involving Charles Manson.

Yeah, it’s quite the crazy ride and you’ll probably feel that Maury Terry is going completely off the rails. I know I did. And, honestly, he did to some point. However, he also discovered a lot of truths that no one else would accept. At the time, anyway.

Continue reading our The Sons of Sam documentary series review below and find all four episodes on Netflix.

Starting off calmly with episode 1

When you watch episode 1 of The Sons of Sam, you have no idea what’s in store. The first episode of this true-crime documentary series pretty much outlines the Son of Sam murders. Including the arrest of David Berkowitz who pleads guilty.

Officially, David Berkowitz is the “Son of Sam” serial killer, who killed six people (and wounded an additional ten) in New York City in 1976-1977.

The remaining three episodes of this Netflix docu-series are about journalist Maury Terry, who never felt this could be true. A sentiment echoed by the family of victims and some of the survivors.

Both enlightening and sad to watch

I definitely feel things went pretty crazy during the later episodes when the conspiracy theories go a little off the rails. I recently watched the HBO documentary Q: Into the Storm and this true-crime production reminded me a lot of that at times.

Of course, most of the events (particularly the research by Maury Terry) took place years ago.

Towards the end of The Sons of Sam, we see Maury Terry interview David Berkowitz in prison. It’s a difficult thing to watch because Berkowitz seems to be having fun, almost. Maury Terry is asking questions in very leading ways and eating up everything David Berkowitz is serving. Because Berkowitz is telling him what he wants to hear.

Unfortunately, Terry is too far gone in his own obsession at this point. And yet, the craziest thing is the fact that Terry was actually right about several of his assumptions about certain people. I won’t spoil any of it here, in case you don’t know the details.

Watch The Sons of Sam on Netflix

If you’re curious about serial killers, then The Sons of Sam is definitely worth checking out. I found it to be a little too messy at times. If you watched just the first and the final fourth episode, you’d probably be very confused.

However, I do also recognize that it almost had to be in order to show us the journey of Maury Terry. He went down the rabbit hole and couldn’t get out. 

Was Maury Terry right? Well, to a point, I think he was. But I also think he got blinded by his own assumptions and started accepting whatever David Berkowitz told him. As long as it fits into his own ideas of a satanic cult.

You really do need to be on this journey, so just hang in there. And remember to take things with a grain of salt. At least until more evidence than just Maury Terry’s own hunch is presented. Even Terry himself tried to prove everything – more at the beginning of his journey than at the end though. You’ll see!

The Sons of Sam docu-series is out on Netflix from May 5, 2021.