Uncovering the truth
The Estate review
Production company – Tenderfoot TV
Rating – 
***HOT OFF THE PRESS***
I know that the capitalised top line with snazzy asterisk accompaniment usually means a release day review, but not this time. Although as you read this, the first two episodes dropped last Wednesday (September 13th). I also have the third episode on pre-release, but I’m not going to talk about that. It’ll be a nice surprise for you all. But back to the review…
So what’s it about?
New year’s Eve, 1973. Emergency services receive a phone call alerting them to a shooting. When ambulance and police crews arrive they find the 34 year old Anthony Virgilio, still alive, but bleeding heavily. Before he dies, he accuses his business partner Calvin Jones. Calvin is arrested, and sentenced to 30 years in prison for murder.
Rosalio Estrada received weekly phone calls from Jones from prison. He never told his family about his involvement in any wrongdoing, so these calls were extremely mysterious. Whenever his son Alex asks about these calls, the conversation gets shut down, and eventually he stops asking.
After Rosalio dies, Alex really wants to discover the truth behind this mystery. He asks his other family members, but it seems that Rosalio never mentioned it to anyone. Therefore, the only solution is to talk to the one other person who knows the truth. Calvin Jones.
Calvin, now released from prison is a quiet, kind old man. The Rosalio that Jones describes is far from the father that Alex knew. Could it be that guilt over the murder changed Rosalio and made him that cold, distant person Alex knew? Calvin still has all the police files from the investigation and gives them to Alex, and so the search for the truth begins. Just who was responsible for the murder of Anthony Virgilio?
Is it any good?
As I said at the beginning, I’ve heard the first three episodes (you may well have already heard the first two). I must say that it is shaping up to be a great series. This is another example of Tenderfoot TV on top form, and they are quickly becoming my favourite source for true crime podcasts.
As well as the murder mystery, this series exposes the duality of one man’s life. The Rosalio Estrada that Calvin describes is almost unrecognisable to Alex. Why is that? Alex suspects that it is due to feelings of guilt after the conviction, but it must cause some kind of cognitive dissonance to discover that the man he grew up fearing wasn’t really like that (at least according to people who knew him).
I suspect that this one will be a complex take full of twists and turns as the investigation develops. By the end of episode two, you are already wondering which path this investigation is going to take, as more possbilities come to light as to who may have been responsible.
Final thoughts
This review is a little bit shorter than usual, only because I have literally 40 minutes of podcast to review. As such I can’t really give it a 5 right off the bat either. I would absolutely recommend it though, just on what I’ve heard so far. If it carries on the way it’s started, it’ll be a solid five brain show all day long.
Thanks to Mackensie from Beckmedia for giving me the heads up about this, and also hooking me up with episode 3.
You can get The Estate here: