Escape At Dannemora
With awards season upon us, I thought it might be time to put my thoughts down as to Showtime’s 7-part Escape At Dannemora series. You may ask, what gives some chick on an entertainment website the right to put her two cents in. Well, considering I lived through it, I may be a little more knowledgable about the content.
Background
Before we get to the series, let’s get a little background information. I have been a resident in and around Dannemora, NY since I was born. It was nothing for me to get up and go to school down the hill from “The Wall”. Everyday I would look at the outside and think nothing of it. None of us here ever thought that what transpired in 2015 would ever happen. Have people tried to escape before? Sure. From old tales, someone tried to put a ladder up against the inside of the wall to get out, to their downfall, since it failed. Don’t know what happened to them after that. And for you curiosity seekers, just another little bit of information: this prison was also the home of Tupac for a little while and the Son of Sam.
Anyway, I digress. The prison is one of the biggest employers in our area. Most kids graduate high school, don’t know what they want to do, so they take the Correction Officer test, go to the Academy, and wait for an opening so they can come back home. It’s a cycle. Fathers/Sons/Their Sons. Generations employed by the same system. Hell, over half of my family has worked in the system since I was born. My mother retired as a civilian after over 30 years. So you see, when the escape happened, it was not only hard for all of us to live through, but many of us here were affected in one way or another.
The Escape
So getting back to the story, before the story. My house in on the same road that the prison is on, about 2.5 miles down the road actually. So on that fateful June morning, when I was woken up by the sounds of siren after siren, I had no idea what the hell to think. So I did what any red-blooded American would do, I called my mother to find out what she knew. At that time, little was known. It took about an hour or so for the news to finally get updated, then the panic set in. Nobody knew what to do. So we wait.
During the first few days after the escape, so many scenarios were spewing out. They went up the mountain, someone picked them up, nobody knew. Yeah we were told there was a scent that the dogs were following, little did we know it wasn’t correct.
I want to say about a week in, the search took a turn in our direction. Great. We now are not only having to go through 3 road blocks in and out of our house, each time we have to stop and open the doors and trunk, but now we have officers and the State Police stationed on our backyard, and US Marshals coming into our house to secure it. Supposedly there had been a sighting in the old railroad bed 1000 feet behind our house. Eventually, after a few days, there was a sighting 30 miles west in one of the mountain camps, so the complete opposite direction of our house.
The Aftermath
Patricia Arquette as Tilly in Escape at Dannemora (Episode 1). -Photo: Chris Saunders/SHOWTIME -Photo ID: DANNEMORA_101_0262
Okay, I’m almost done, then we can get on to the series!
I really don’t care to talk about the biggest idiot of the day, Joyce (Mitchell), and everyone knows Richard Matt and David Sweat were losers to begin with, so who cares what happens to them. The area is forever changed. Not only did it cost over $20 million to cover the cost of the services and shutdowns, but it put a huge spotlight on the area. Hopefully one day it will just be a thing of the past and we can all move on. Until then, it will always be on the forefront of a lot of people’s minds.
The Series
So the whole reason for this post, my thoughts on the series. I love it.
Production
I think Ben Stiller and his production team created a series that not only told the story, but showed the beauty that is the area. Watching the scenes and thinking, man I walk by that store everyday when I go out for lunch at work, or Holy Shit, I grew up going into that pharmacy every day to get candy from Skip! It’s surreal.
Acting
SPOT ON. I can see why Patricia Arquette is getting all the accolades that she has been getting. Not knowing Joyce from a hole in the wall, only seeing her on interviews and in court proceedings, Arquette nailed it. The rest of the cast, which included Benicio Del Toro (Richard Matt), Paul Dano (David Sweat), David Morse (Gene Palmer) and Eric Lange (Lyle Mitchell), all did an amazing job in their depictions as well. Personally, I believe that any awards or nominations they get, they truly deserve.
Local Reactions
This is where everything gets tricky. The reactions of residents are a mixed bag. For the people that have been a part of the prison system, they aren’t happy with the series. Either 1: They refuse to watch it or 2: Can’t get over the fact that it is not 100% true. No matter how many times I try to explain to them that it is not a documentary, but an entertainment story based on true events, they can’t get it. Or they don’t want to. I haven’t been able to figure out all the specifics as to the whys, just know they refuse to watch.
As for people that may not have anything to do with the system, besides knowing someone who works there, they can see the series for what it is: Entertainment. For the most part, that section of locals can see why it is getting the nominations and the critics praises.
Then there are others that hate it because it makes the locals look bad. In some ways, I can see why they think this. We are known in this area for speaking quickly, with a local accent (to non-locals). We are also in a big area for hunting, which makes the apparel more hunting couture than haute couture. It’s a hard pill to swallow for people that don’t leave the area to see other environments and cultures. This is a big reason they don’t like the portrayal, well that’s how I see it anyway.
Overall Reaction
So when it comes down to it, the series is amazing. It’s not 100% true, but stays the course for the most part. Ben did a hell of a job and he brought attention to a community that 99% of the country probably never knew existed. It is genuinely a beautiful area and it took this one event to occur for people to see that.
The seven-episode series was created and written by Brett Johnson and Michael Tolkin, and was directed by Ben Stiller. Originally aired on Showtime.
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