Baked
Oh my god, why is my spell check correcting into French. Moving on. For posterity: I feel very strange. Sort of tingly, really. Ah, it is begining now. Dramatic string music and a pan shot of a prison table with Bibles. This surely portents much. Werner Hertzog is talking now, and I have to listen. He has such a grave, dramatic voice — I am bound to heed to it. The death-row inmate seems like such a congenial fellow, until he starts talking about, like, the fact that he was convicted of tripple homicide. “How familiar are you with the details of the execution?” Herzog to DRI — jesus christ Werner, you don’t go gently do you? “Could that be more American?” asked Tess about the last meal of a hamburger and fries, “much like the death penalty” thought I. (To be read with thick Bavarian accent): “God, this is really depressing. Why does this exist (re: the death penalty)?” (Also, see “Get it Right: Privatize Executions” by Michigan’s own Arthur Miller.) “His cheeks are really hollow” says the Style editor. “No shit,” says someone in the back of my cerebrum. It is interesting that the inmate’s most vivid descriptions are about food. Why is someone vacuming right now? “Yeah I see your point” The concept of being led to death on a timeline is excruciating to me. To see the specter of death land on your bedside, to measure each second until that great abyss of unknowability is perhaps the most terrifiying thing after the abyss in the first place “This guy is still on death row” says buzzed. “This show was five years ago” “Is his name Frank?” says Tess “Hank says” buzzed. “What is going on with this family” Herzog after learning the man’s son is charged with kidnapping. (update, he was later aquitted) Tbh I should stop just quoting things I hear. A journalist is now describing the staggering wounded walk of a murder victim. This really is a downer. There was just a minute of silence on the episode. very effecrive use of abscene “I don’t have a problem with the death penalty” says TV journalist. “fuck journalists” says a not-TV journalist This inmate just made a reference to medieval history. Templars “Skinner tends to get lost in obscure historical tales” Herzog This is probably too long now. I’ll stop. He has a very distictive nervous laugh
— Daily Arts Writer
Buzzed
so like i’m shitfaced rn and i came into this apartment expecting a dandy ol good time (:^]) but the second we popped this on, shit got reeaaaaaaal — i went into this situation thinking it’ll be some regular BBB but, and perhaps it’s because i am (again) fairly shitfaced, i feel like a level and candor is appropriate for what the fuck we’re watching rn. wenrer herzog’s thick and distinct german accent has been haunting most of my night as he pries into the nitty gritty details of the squalor death row inmates face. this man, hank, just ruminated over how he went through a last meal and his last rites and prepared for his eventual death until a judge issued him a stay on his case 20 minutes before his execution ?? wtf ?? this was a terrible idea wow
Bored
Who is this narrator? What is the accent? I’m so scared. The way he said “firing squad” just made me want to cry. Eerie. The death penalty beds. I’m going to cry. This man, Hank, has been on death row for 17 years and he’s still cracking jokes. I’m just going to leave this here: So many things that the police does are illegal. Hank looks so tired. His arms are chubby but his cheeks are hollow. Still terrified of this narrator’s tone; it is CHILLING. Here’s Hank’s story: This man was accused of triple homicide of his girlfriend and her two children. Though he denies the crime to this day, he was sentenced to death row. With 20 minutes of his execution, in the “death house,” Hank said his last goodbyes, and then he was saved. “The only thing was that they didn’t kill me.” He was pardoned by the Supreme Court just moments before his schedule execution. Now, Hank is back on death row. His holding cell is five steps away from the gurney. Nothing about this is right. They feed these inmates around the clock. “Time really has no meaning in here.” Nobody washes the prison windows; inmates can’t receive a clear view of the outside world, neither literally nor figuratively. I cannot go into detail here without breaking down, and I have no relation to the issue of death row aside from watching this show right now. I feel sick. Outsiders are not allowed to view the inner areas of death row housing. Hank describes them as a house of “human bondage and human suffering. A bad place.” Interesting take: A chef at death row commissioned to cook people’s last-ever meals. Can you imagine? Cooking meals for criminals awaiting a planned execution. How anyone eats just minutes before their certain death is beyond my comprehension. Hank is smart. I feel nauseous and I haven’t seen any blood.
— Tess Garcia