(CNN) A feature-film-quality effort from the casting on down, "Manhunter: Unabomber" easily represents Discovery Channel's best foray into scripted TV -- a taut, gripping account that touches upon aspects of the investigation many have doubtless forgotten or, more likely, never knew. At first blush, this fact-based production threatens to be a tad too familiar -- seeming like the real-life version of Michael Mann's "Manhunter," in which the brilliant profiler pays a price for his ability to look into the mind and soul of a killer, while chafing at bureaucratic blindness. Stick with it, though, and this eight-part limited series becomes an engrossing deconstruction of the Unabomber case, including how the aforementioned FBI profiler, Jim "Fitz" Fitzgerald ("Avatar's" Sam Worthington), employed then-nascent techniques of dissecting speech quirks in his quarry's notorious Manifesto to unearth him. Moving back and forth in time, the project receives a welcome jolt when Paul Bettany finally shows up as Ted Kaczynski -- wild-eyed and feral in appearance but almost serene, convinced he can outsmart the courts and justice system after having evaded detection for so long. It's Fitz, ultimately, who's brought back to close the deal, with his former boss (Chris Noth) of the UNABOM Task Force asking that he use his insights to help secure a guilty plea, avoiding the risk of a jury trial that could provide Kaczynski a forum to spout his views -- or worse, an acquittal.

Source: CNN July 28, 2017 18:11 UTC