The show is tonally adrift and clouds the impossible-to-believe events instead of illuminating them.
There are so many themes that could be unpacked through the details of the true story.
But Murphy and his team don't trust the facts, adding more ridiculous twists with every episode.
"The Watcher" is the kind of thing that would have been a network TV Movie of the Week in the '70s or '80s.
This one comes from one of the most prolific man in TV history, Ryan Murphy.
"The Watcher" expands and expands in a haphazard and unnecessary way.
Almost every one of those developments comes via a lazy exposition dump from Birch.
"The Watcher" is an interesting approach to this true story in that it becomes about vulnerability.
Cannavale sells Dean's disintegrating confidence in his unconvincing answer to protecting his family.
Murphy has always been a provocateur, but the artistic thrust seems to have been diffused by his workload.
"The Watcher" is made by people who don't trust their audience.
The true story of 657 Boulevard taps into primal fears.
They might get you to watch, but they didn't take the time to make something worth remembering.