Sasquatch: Sasquatch

April 25, 2021 9:13 AM - Season 1 (Full Season)

In 1993, now-journalist David Holthouse, while working at a cannabis farm in Mendocino County, two men told the story of seeing the aftermath of three farmworkers killed by a Sasquatch. Decades later he decides to investigate the truth of the story. Guardian Review: What begins as an inspection of Bigfoot as a sociological phenomenon leads (Joshua ) Rofé and his partner-in-true-crime, journalist David Holthouse, to a 1993 triple homicide said by locals to be the handiwork of the infamous ape-creature. But there’s a far darker truth buried deep beneath the legend. On Hulu.
posted by ShooBoo (9 comments total)

I haven't seen this yet, but I grew up reading his reporting, and I recall that David Holthouse got into some hot water around 2004 for writing an article about meeting his childhood abuser and being pretty honest with his original desire to kill him. I'm looking forward to watching this show when I can get around to it.
posted by Catblack at 9:31 AM on April 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

I gotta say, "Bigfoot did it!" is a new one, but at a Mendo pot farm in 1993? I bet there was more than one reason to invent a perpetrator.
posted by rhizome at 1:11 PM on April 25, 2021

Which is...yeah. I'll read the article first next time.
posted by rhizome at 1:20 PM on April 25, 2021

Thank you for this post! I had seen ads for this, but I didn't pay attention past the word "bigfoot." I wasn't interested in (yet another) monster hunting show. So, color me surprised when I see in this post that it's actually a murder mystery! I watched all the episodes immediately.

It's such a great documentary. It links a specific story to broader social and cultural trends, gives us insight into an area of the country that gets very little press, and walks us through the unraveling of a mystery. It does all that while also establishing the mood of the deep forest, of land that is too hidden and too valuable to be free from blood. It's evocative, and it's going to stick with me for a while.
posted by meese at 9:54 PM on April 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

Wow, Catblack, thanks for posting that Holthouse piece. I was already interested in watching Sasquatch but that piece just blew me away for its bravery, on so many levels.
posted by emkelley at 12:47 PM on April 28, 2021

I don't have Hulu and I am not sure if I want to watch it anyway, having grown up in the middle of it (aka why I don't like being super backwoods and stick to official campgrounds when I'm camping north of Santa Rosa), but it's driving me crazy that the only location mentioned in any article is "rural northern California." Does anyone know more specifically where it's filmed? (Is it more Willits? More Trinity County?)
posted by small_ruminant at 6:41 PM on April 28, 2021

>> "Does anyone know more specifically where it's filmed?"
The incident in question takes place off of Spy Rock Road near Laytonville.
posted by spudsilo at 3:58 PM on May 7, 2021

Thanks. I'm familiar with Spy Rock so that's neat.
posted by small_ruminant at 8:35 PM on May 8, 2021

I've seen it now. It's basically almost all filler. The first episode is all 'ooo spooky bigfoot'. The second starts with an interview with the guy who claims to have been in the bigfoot costume for the Patterson footage. (Which is kind of funny.) But then it segues to what the documentary (as such) is about; the emerald triangle, pot farmers and missing people. Then the third episode follows Holthouse around while he follows lots of leads that go nowhere. Finally at the end of the episode he gets a call from the owner of the pot farm he was on and the entire incident he witnessed was explained. You could just watch the end 15 minutes of the 3rd episode and spare yourself all the driving around and bigfoot lore. It's alright though.
posted by Catblack at 8:40 PM on May 8, 2021 [1 favorite]