Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Secrets Of A Psychopath’ On Sundance Now, A Docuseries About A BDSM-Related Murder In Ireland

Secrets Of A Psychopath is a three-episode docuseries that explores the murder of childcare worker Elaine O’Hara in 2012. Architect Graham Dwyer was eventually captured and convicted of her murder, but not before the Irish police force, the An Garda Síochána, were led deep into the world of BDSM and found out that seemingly “nice” people like O’Hara live double lives.

SECRETS OF A PSYCHOPATH: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Over bucolic scenes of the forest and river near Dublin, we see text bubbles that say “Did you know, Sir, I’m scared of you? You have this hold over me that terrifies me.”

The Gist: The first episode discusses how the investigation got into gear when, within three days of each other in 2013, fishermen found lots of BDSM gear floating in the local reservoir in County Wicklow. Three days later, a woman walking dogs in Kilakee, at the foot of the Dublin Mountains, found human remains, including a jawbone. Since those woods seemed to be a magnet for women to disappear, there seemed to be a lot of people to wade through. But medical forensics narrowed the field, and before she could be identified, the Guards focused on O’Hara. A keytag from a supermarket that was recovered from the reservoir linked the BDSM gear to O’Hara, as well.

The discussion then turns to O’Hara, a woman in her mid-30s who loved children and was studying to become a teacher. However, she was crippled by mental illness, including borderline personality disorder. Not long after her most recent hospital stay, her father noticed she was texting consistently with someone, but she wouldn’t reveal who. She was seen in a car with a phone that she didn’t normally use, but for the most part her disappearance in 2012 was quickly leading to dead ends. Officials believed she killed herself, but her family thought otherwise. A search of her apartment — still leased to her a year after her disappearance — showed the Guards that she was into things no one expected.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Although it’s only about one case, Secrets Of A Psychopath has the makings of true crime series about serial killers, like Conversations With A Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes.

Our Take: Where Secrets Of A Psychopath veers from what you expect is what made us scratch our heads. In most of these types of docuseries, the focus generally starts on the killer, starting with his/her upbringing then moving on to how, hobbled by various mental illnesses, they get a taste for killing. In the case of this series, though, the producers start with the victim. For some reason, doing that slows down the show’s pace.

It could be because we’re being given a deliberate, but not overly detailed, recounting of how the Guards came to investigate O’Hara’s disappearance in conjunction with the remains found in the forest, followed by an extensive look at O’Hara’s life. Yes, it seems to be necessary to take a deep dive into her mental illness issues in order to understand how she might have wanted sexual gratification through BDSM, but then again it might not say a thing.

In the first episode, the producers speak to reporters, psychologists, and even a BDSM expert who talks about how people’s kinks range from mild to extreme. But we get nothing about Dwyer — we don’t even hear his name — in the first episode. The psychopath in the title of the series isn’t even mentioned in episode 1, which felt like a strange choice.

We suspect that, since the other two episodes will dive into the investigation and some about the sensational trial, we’ll get to know Dwyer better then. But by the end of the first episode, all we know is that O’Hara was a sweet woman with issues and extreme fetishes. Let’s hope more info on both gets revealed in the other two episodes.

Sex and Skin: Well, given the nature of the case, we figure sex and domination will be talked about a lot.

Parting Shot: The interviewees talk about how a Nokia phone was found in the reservoir after the Guards cordoned it off to search. Could it be the phone O’Hara was holding in her car?

Sleeper Star: We want to see a docuseries where Master Dominic, the BDSM expert the producers talk to, is the only person interviewed.

Most Pilot-y Line: Some of the reporters and psychologists’ responses sound more canned than usual for a docuseries. Probably because they’re being used in place of a narrator, their answers have to be stitched into a narrative form. But at times, what they’re talking about sounds too polished and rehearsed.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Secrets Of A Psychopath has its problems, but it’s still a fascinating look into the world of BDSM and how one woman got involved with the wrong man at the wrong time.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.

Stream Secrets Of A Psychopath On Sundance Now