All the best ‘Dateline’ episodes to watch tonight on NBC
You know what they say, “true crime, glass of wine, bed by nine”. There’s something to be said about curling up after a long day with the musical voice of Dateline NBC’s Keith Morrison calmly telling us about the very worst examples of humanity.
Dateline episodes are soothingly formulaic. We know there will be a plot twist, and we know that the majority of the cases will be solved. Maybe that’s what’s so soothing about it, even though the bad guy isn’t always the first person we suspect, the good guys always catch him.
Need a great murder story? Here’s what you need to watch on Dateline tonight!
“Stealing Paradise”
The Panamanian province of Bocas del Toro felt like paradise to a group of American ex-pats. The private island served as a getaway for people who wanted to forget their past. However, when a new couple moves into the tiny community, neighbors start to disappear, and an international manhunt begins.
“Mystery in the Deep Blue Sea”
Newlyweds Tina and Gabe are on a trip of a lifetime, honeymooning in the scuba diver’s nirvana: Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The couple hops onto a catamaran with two other couples who are experienced divers to go explore, but Tina doesn’t survive the very first dive. When authorities can’t rule Tina’s death an accident, Gabe’s conflicting accounts lead to an investigation that spans from Alabama to Australia.
“The Many Faces of Clark Rockefeller”
Is there anything more eye-rolling than a name-dropper? How about a name-dropper who claims amnesia and whose fingerprints are attributed to at least three other people? Dateline covers a prolific con man who left Germany with a plan to “reinvent himself”, and whose web of lies isn’t untangled until he kidnaps his own daughter.
“Deadly Trust”
Ensconced in their gated community, wealthy Orange County, CA residents feel they are safe and secure until a millionaire is shot six times in his kitchen, murdered in his waterfront home. The 1994 case went cold for over a decade until District Attorney’s investigator Larry Montgomery took another look at the file in 2008. It turns out the key, or rather keys, to solving it, were right at the front door.
“The Comic Book Murder”
For years, the murder of a beloved comic book store owner, Barb sat unsolved. Found in the back room of her store on the night of her husband’s surprise 30th birthday party, Barb had been shot execution-style, and the $750 in the register lay untouched. Stymied by a lack of evidence, no arrests are made, and the case goes cold until a determined young officer decides to start again from scratch.
“Mystery on Lockhart Road”
An Indiana state trooper, David comes home to find his wife and two children murdered. As law enforcement, David knows that he needs to be eliminated as a suspect, and luckily has 10 witnesses claiming he’s at a basketball game at the time of the murders. So why are investigators determined that he’s the killer? There’s a lot of dirt to wade through on the way to the answer.
“The Premonition”
A Pennsylvania man is convinced he has a target on his back during his messy divorce. When he’s found stabbed to death, his friends and family realize he predicted his own murder. His killer is swiftly identified, but it still feels like there’s more to the story.
“The Mystery of the Murdered Major”
Single mom, Joan, met her soul mate in Army Major David, who adopted her two daughters shortly after their marriage. As the girls grew into teenagers, they began acting out, and Joan and David find a release from the tension in their household through swinging club “Fayetteville Gang Bangers”. When David is shot in his bed, is it their alternative lifestyle that leads to his murder? Or something closer to home?
“Deadly Retreat”
Sedona has become synonymous with luxurious spas, and renewing experiences. What better place for renowned self-help author James Arthur Ray of The Secret to hold his own retreats, where seekers of enlightenment can pay up to $30,000 for Ray’s insight. The experience included a complimentary buzz cut, 36 hours in the desert without food and water, and a sweat lodge, all supposed to induce a “rebirth”, but only if participants make it that far.
“Vengeance”
Hardworking Seemona had only been living with her boyfriend, Jerry for a short while when she received a call from his wife, letting her know that Jerry was married. When he refuses to move out for weeks, the tension boils over and they fight, with Seemona claiming that Jerry raped her, and reporting him to the police. Jerry’s next plan to ruin Seemona’s life is terrifyingly effective.
