Honestly, true crime is everywhere now. You can’t scroll through a streaming app without hitting ten different documentaries about serial killers or "forgotten" cold cases. But back when Investigation Discovery dropped A Crime to Remember Season 2, things felt different. It wasn’t just about the shock value or the blood. It was about the atmosphere. It was about that weird, stifling mid-century aesthetic where everything looked perfect on the surface while people were literally burying bodies in the backyard.
Most shows just give you talking heads. This show? It gave you a mood.
If you haven’t revisited these episodes lately, you’re missing out on some of the most cinematic storytelling ever put on cable TV. The second season, which originally aired in late 2014, took the foundation of the first and just... cranked it up. The costumes were sharper. The lighting was moodier. The cases? They were darker. We're talking about the era of the "Nuclear Family" where the biggest fear wasn't a stranger in the woods, but the person sitting across from you at the dinner table.
The Cases That Defined the Season
The season kicked off with "The 28th Floor," and man, it set a bar. It took us back to 1966 Chicago. You’ve probably heard of Richard Speck, but the way this show handled the massacre of those student nurses was haunting. It didn't feel like a dry history lesson. It felt like a horror movie that just happened to be true. The show uses this "cinematic noir" style that makes the 1950s and 60s look beautiful and terrifying at the same time.
Then there’s "The Dirty Little Secret." This one is a trip. It’s 1952 in Florida. Ruby McCollum, a wealthy Black woman, shoots a white doctor who was also a state senator-elect. Now, if you know anything about the Jim Crow South, you know this wasn't just a murder trial. It was a powder keg. The show doesn't shy away from the racial dynamics or the sexual abuse that led to the pulling of the trigger. It’s messy. It’s uncomfortable. And it’s exactly why A Crime to Remember Season 2 stands out from the "junk food" true crime we see today.
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Why the Production Style Actually Matters
Most people think the "re-enactments" in crime shows are cheesy. You know the ones—blurry actors in bad wigs pretending to argue. This show killed that trope. The production team, including executive producer Joe Bini (who worked with Werner Herzog, by the way), treated every episode like a feature film.
They used vintage lenses. They found authentic locations that hadn't been touched by modern renovations. When you see a character smoking a cigarette in a 1940s kitchen, the lighting is hitting the smoke just right. It’s art.
The narration is another thing. Instead of a generic "God voice" narrator, they use a "first-person" perspective from a fictionalized observer—maybe a neighbor or a local reporter. It makes the story feel like gossip whispered over a back fence. It’s intimate. It makes the crimes feel like they’re happening in your neighborhood, even if that neighborhood is seventy years in the past.
The Psychological Depth of the 1950s Housewife
One thing A Crime to Remember Season 2 does incredibly well is deconstructing the "perfect" mid-century life. Take the episode "Cabin in the Echo." It covers the 1947 murder of Laurel Crawford. On paper, it looks like a tragic car accident. But once you peel back the layers of that post-war "ideal" life, you find a husband who is basically a monster and a social structure that gave women almost zero ways out.
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The show highlights how many of these crimes were birthed by repression.
You had people living in these little boxes, following strict social rules, and eventually, something just snaps. It’s a recurring theme throughout the season. Whether it's the "Lonely Hearts Killers" or the "Alice Crimmins" case, there’s this sense that the 1960s sexual revolution was bubbling just under the surface, and the friction was causing people to turn to violence.
It’s Not Just About Who Did It
If you’re just looking for a "whodunit," you’re kind of missing the point here. This season is more about the "why" and the "how did we let this happen." The Alice Crimmins case in the episode "Queen of the Cookies" is a perfect example. A mother's children go missing. The police don't just investigate the crime; they investigate her lifestyle. They judge her because she wears makeup and has a social life after her divorce.
The show expertly points out that the "crime" the public cared about wasn't just the death of the children—it was Alice's refusal to be a "grieving mother" in the specific way society demanded. It’s a critique of the era as much as it is a recount of a police file.
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Technical Excellence and E-E-A-T
When we talk about high-quality true crime, we have to look at the sources. The show-runners didn't just read a Wikipedia page and start filming. They consulted with historians and true crime authors like Harold Schechter. They looked at original crime scene photos to get the blood spatter patterns right. They interviewed surviving family members or reporters who were actually in the courtroom.
That’s why the show has such a high level of Trustworthiness (the T in E-E-A-T). It’s researched. It respects the victims while acknowledging that the "villains" are often complex, broken people rather than cartoon monsters.
How to Watch and What to Look For
If you’re going to binge A Crime to Remember Season 2, don’t just have it on in the background while you’re folding laundry. You’ll miss the details. Watch the backgrounds. Look at the way the camera moves through the houses.
- Pay attention to the color palettes. Each episode has a specific "look" that matches the mood of the case—cold blues for a calculated murder, hot oranges and browns for a crime of passion in the desert.
- Listen to the score. The music isn't just generic suspense stings. It’s period-appropriate jazz or orchestral movements that build actual tension.
- Notice the "unreliable narrator" feel. Sometimes the narrator knows things they shouldn't, or they're biased. It adds a layer of "pulp fiction" flair that makes the history digestible.
Actionable Insights for True Crime Enthusiasts
If you're a fan of this series or just getting into the genre, don't stop at the TV screen. The cases covered in this season are legendary in the annals of American criminology for a reason.
- Read the Source Material: For the Richard Speck case (The 28th Floor), look for "The Crime of the Century" by William J. Martin. It provides the legal perspective that a 42-minute TV episode just can't fit in.
- Visit the Archives: Many of the cases in Season 2 involve newspapers like the Chicago Tribune or the New York Post. Many of these outlets have digital archives where you can read the actual headlines from the day the bodies were found. It’s a trip to see how the language has changed.
- Compare Perspectives: Watch how other shows handle these cases. Compare the Alice Crimmins episode here to how modern podcasts cover her. You’ll see how much the "lens" of the 2010s (when this was made) differs from the "lens" of the 2020s.
A Crime to Remember Season 2 isn't just a TV show; it's a time capsule. It reminds us that the "good old days" were often filled with just as much darkness as the present, only the clothes were better and the secrets were kept a lot tighter. It’s essential viewing for anyone who wants to understand how the American psyche evolved from the post-war boom into the chaos of the late sixties.
Next time you're looking for something to watch, skip the latest "viral" docuseries and go back to this masterclass in storytelling. You won't regret it. The storytelling is tight, the facts are handled with care, and the vibe is unmatched. It’s basically the "Mad Men" of true crime, and it’s aged incredibly well.