Episode Guide
Social Security United We Stand, Divided We Fall Here Today, Gone Tomorrow I Never Left.
The Big Conn is a documentary series about AppleTV+ and the team behind it. The show is equal parts heartbreaking and crazy, but it feels overlong and outstays its welcome.
The opening scene perfectly encapsulates the issues that are plaguing this state. It takes 7 and a half minutes before we even begin the story, with nothing but hype and a massive introduction to pad out the opening. We’re also graced with a 40 second establishing shot before we get our first interview with a local in Kentucky.
The four episodes of “The Connolly Case” feel like they could have been condensed into one, tighter episode. However, the different chapters make for a more interesting and engaging docu-series.
Two whistleblowers, Jennifer and Sarah, discovered that Eric Conn was defrauding the US government through the Social Security System. In fact, he actually managed to obtain an eye-watering sum of half a billion dollars. ..
The FBI is after The Big Conn, a fugitive who has been on the run for years. The authorities are hot on his heels, but they can’t catch up to him. This is no coincidence either - Conn mentions numerous times that he compares himself to James Bond. James Bond with a dash of Robin Hood.
In episode 4 of “Robin Hood,” we learn that not all Robin Hoods are good. Eric Conn is an example of someone who takes from the rich to give to the poor, and it can go very wrong.
The revelations in this book are shocking and encompass a wide range of people. It’s like a ripple effect; the more people who know about Conn’s actions, the deeper it spreads.
The story is interesting, but it suffers from some pacing issues that make it difficult to follow. This also plagued McMillions too, although one could argue that the questionable drip-fed nature of one episode a week only exacerbated the problems there.
The Big Conn suffers from pacing issues and some of the interviews are redundant. The middle episodes are marred by blurry re-enactments and detailed interviews about what Conn is up to. ..
Do we need to know about a judge who banged his head on the side of a boat and then miraculously hopped onto a boat and went on a ride? No, but the story continues.
Conn then orders two Pepsis, returns to his car and find a money pouch he earlier obtained has gone missing. Did we need that 5 minute segment? Did I need to include this big, excruciating statement in this review to emphasize the point? No and no. The trouble is, The Big Conn does it anyway to try and make the story crazier. The irony is, these moments of incredulous developments (minus the pouch disappearing) have the opposite effect.
The Big Conn is a documentary series that’s a bit too big to fill the boots of other, more prolific docu-series. It’s certainly a crazy story and full of twists and turns, but the editing of the trailer gives the impressive that this is going to be a fast-paced, lively romp. It’s not.
The Big Conn tastes watered down and lacks the spiciness and flavor it could have had. ..
