This is listed on IMDb as one 120 minute episode but Netflix has it broken in half. I have no idea in what form it originally aired. Regardless, I think having the show THIS long was a mistake, as I found my attention wavering. Additionally, trimming it a bit would have made the impact greater--and people SHOULD see what it's like in these hellish jails.
In this episode/episodes, Louis Theroux visits a horrible jail in Miami where prisoners await their trials. Oddly, many use their lawyers to try to delay the trials for many years--a way of trying to get a lighter sentence or acquittal because of the delay. I was surprised how open many of these prisoners were and how dehumanized they behaved. Fights and much more seem to happen with abandon in this "Lord of the Flies" sort of atmosphere.
Additionally, a bootcamp diversion program is investigated in order to try to prevent these young men from becoming the hardened criminals Louis interviewed in the jail. These segments could have simply made up an episode of their own and the inclusion of BOTH seemed a bit too much. Still, the show is eye-opening and interesting, but I think Louis could have gotten much more from his interviews by asking much more open-ended questions in order to get the prisoners to tell their own stories in their own words.
In this episode/episodes, Louis Theroux visits a horrible jail in Miami where prisoners await their trials. Oddly, many use their lawyers to try to delay the trials for many years--a way of trying to get a lighter sentence or acquittal because of the delay. I was surprised how open many of these prisoners were and how dehumanized they behaved. Fights and much more seem to happen with abandon in this "Lord of the Flies" sort of atmosphere.
Additionally, a bootcamp diversion program is investigated in order to try to prevent these young men from becoming the hardened criminals Louis interviewed in the jail. These segments could have simply made up an episode of their own and the inclusion of BOTH seemed a bit too much. Still, the show is eye-opening and interesting, but I think Louis could have gotten much more from his interviews by asking much more open-ended questions in order to get the prisoners to tell their own stories in their own words.