Summary
Does Sasquatch lead us closer to whether the creature Bigfoot is real? Absolutely not.
This review of the Hulu series Sasquatch season 1 contains no spoilers. The documentary series will be released on the streaming service on April 20, 2021.
One of the main problems with Bigfoot theories is that we have been betrayed with false information repeatedly over the years that do not bear any weight. Seeing a man in a bear outfit hardly solidifies trust for the average person who chooses only to believe when there’s a factual basis to the claims. I’ve seen many Bigfoot documentaries, and it always baffles the mind when the documentary maker fills time with possibilities rather than actual events. There’s always a curious case of “if you look at something for long enough, it becomes true”. It’s wanting to believe rather than knowing to believe, which is a marked difference. That’s why these documentaries fall over easily.
So here we are with another documentary series — Hulu has commissioned Sasquatch, which widens the conversation even further and brings the community together again to discuss a species that has never been proven. At first glance, props have to be given to the production value of this Hulu series; usually, documentaries attaching themselves to Bigfoot looks like fan cam footage as a sweaty hunter tries to convince the viewer that a footprint is from the ape-like creature based on how the leaves curl. This series clearly wants to get a version of events clearly defined using animation, reconstructed accounts and detailed interviews. That’s always a good start.
Following investigative journalist David Holthouse, Hulu’s Sasquatch relives a story that has burned inside him for 25 years. In 93′, while working on a cannabis farm, three men were apparently ripped apart from their limbs, and their blood was splattered over the cannabis leaves. Years later, David Holthouse claims this was the work of a Bigfoot. If a human being killed these three men, and the rumour spread that Bigfoot did it, then what a blessed day that killer had.
In three episodes, Sasquatch provides a different angle; we get the impassioned sasquatch believers who will insist Bigfoot is real without any evidence, but the Hulu series also links the story to cannabis trade, the Nixon policy and the induced paranoia in the area at the time — it attempts to intrinsically connect Bigfoot. Considering the series is only three episodes, it does labour the same sequences and messages — it’s almost like they did not have enough content for it.
But there is a salient message of humans versus monster and hypothesises whether there’s a difference — the series also hams home how much people are willing to search for the truth.
However, does Sasquatch lead us closer to whether the creature Bigfoot is real? Absolutely not. Until official authorities release evidence that the creature does exist, this case will remain dead and buried. Sorry Sasquatch fans, you will have to try harder; a well-produced series does not make the myth a reality. Return to your caves and zoom in on poorly pixelated videos a little harder.
