An act worth watching

In 2015, mother of one, Dee Dee Blanchard, was found dead in her bed. Her daughter, Gypsy, perceived as sickly with a range of illnesses such as muscular dystrophy and leukemia, unable to walk and mentally stunted, was nowhere to be found. Two troubling posts on their joint Facebook account with a location tagged led officers to the culprit.

It was later revealed daughter Gypsy conspired with a boyfriend she met on a Christian dating site to murder her mother. Nick Godejohn and Gypsy communicated through a secret Facebook account, an account that led investigators straight to her.

Dee Dee Blanchard was suffering from Munchausen syndrome by proxy. According to the University of Michigan, “Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP) is a mental health problem in which a caregiver makes up or causes an illness or injury in a person under his or her care.” The condition is rare, and the cause is unknown, but a case of MSBP like this one was unprecedented before the Blanchard case.

When Gypsy walked into the courtroom, everyone was shocked. Through the trial, it was revealed that Gypsy’s mother had essentially made up every ailment of Gypsy, lied to doctors, and kept her sickly by shaving her head and feeding her medications she did not need. No one in Gypsy’s 24 years of appointments, medications, and lies ever thought to question Dee Dee.

Gypsy and Godejohn were convicted and tried for murder. Gypsy is serving her ten years for second degree murder, while Godejohn serves a life sentence for first degree murder.

Buzzfeed reporter Michelle Dean covered the story, interviewing Gypsy’s dad, stepmother, neighbors and friends of Dee Dee and Gypsy, partnered with Hulu as a creator to share their story.  The show is made up of one season with eight episodes.

 

The Act stars Joey King as Gypsy Rose, a casting which real life Gypsy seems very pleased with. Alongside her is Patricia Arquette as Dee Dee, and Calum Worthy as Godejohn. It has received a score of 91% on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.4/10 on IMDb.

The show overall portrays the life of mother and daughter pretty accurately, with a few scenes and plot elements added in for the sake of dramatic effect.

Each episode is captivating. The actors’ on-screen relationships are believable and there’s not a dull moment in the show. The end of each episode leaves you waiting for the next, and tonight is the last for this season. A second season is being worked on, however it has not been picked up by Hulu yet.

The show is worth the watch, and the real-life element to it is possibly the most interesting of them all, unfortunately only those with Hulu have access to this show.