Keeper of the Ashes: The Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders (2022– ) User Reviews

Better without Kristin

[crazelord · 5/10 · 14 June 2022]

"Was I friends with the girls? No. Did I ever even have a single conversation with any of the girls? No. Did I ever acknowledge their existence in any way before their murder? No. But did I accidentally share the same airspace as them on occasion so it's very important I'm in this show!" is basically how all her scenes go.

She's an extremely talented Broadway actor but her inclusion really just ruins it. It feels so forced and unnecessary just bc she went to the same school as some of the girls just to cash in on her celebrity.

Especially when she just gives unrelated info or feelings about camp and other things that have nothing to do with the events of the story bc she wasn't there.

It halts the pace of the mini series that should be trying to spread awareness and sus out information about the tragic murder of 3 young girls.

Shameless Self-Promotion

[becauseofthecats · 4/10 · 27 May 2022]

This documentary could have been so much better, given the interesting, devastating story it set out to tell. The story of the death of three innocent children, the search for justice and the stumbling blocks along the way, should be told with respect showed to the victims and their families... Too bad Kristin Chenoweth decided to use this platform to promote her own career! What kind of narcissistic monster does a person have to be to use the tragic death of three children and the nasty racial tension put on this community, to showcase their singing capabilities?

Skip this one! Don't give that arrogant woman anymore attention!

Kristin - your histrionics is showing...

[m00nie · 6/10 · 2 June 2022]

Kristin Chenoweth took a horrific tragedy and made it about her.

The story of these poor, sweet, baby girls should never be forgotten but could have been told so much better without Chenoweth's not too subtle "me, me, me," obvious need for attention.

Truly classless.

Tragic story with awkward interjections

[tsta-35379 · 3/10 · 29 May 2022]

This story could've been told without Kristin Chenoweth's interjections of narcissistic statements and cinematic shots, making herself the focus of something she wasn't directly involved in and didn't occur to people she was close to. What happened was horrifying for those little girls and their families. It's heartwrenching to think of what they went through. A more considerate approach could've been taken here.

Kristin Chenoweth Promotional Video!

[tadted · 1/10 · 8 June 2022]

I can't believe some of the shots in this - slow motion shots of her flicking her hair, walking in woodland - and she wasn't even there! How this got through the cutting room when it's about a really sad event is beyond me.

Just sad...

[gwszbhjd · 2/10 · 28 May 2022]

The Oklahoma Girl Scout murders is a terrible case for so many reasons and one wants to understand what happened to those little girls and who actually could have harmed them but this is not worth even watching to get any of that information. For some reason it's all about Kristin Chenoweth. We don't want to know about Kristin Chenoweth or care that she "could" have been at the camp too, she wasn't and making a documentary and having it be all about her is just shameful.

Could have been better

[fellysweets · 7/10 · 27 May 2022]

This documentary would've been so much better without Chenoweth in it. It seemed creepy and out of place to have her randomly showing up to talk about how she was supposed to go to that camp but didn't, and then singing randomly at odd places. It seemed creepy and self promoting and frankly inappropriate.

Clueless Kristin Chenoweth Cashes In On Her Celebrity

[catherine-albrecht · 1/10 · 28 May 2022]

Chenoweth is very self serving in this piece. I was horrified when she flatly stated (three times, mind you) "Coulda-Woulda-Shouda. I should have been there, but I was sick that week and my mom didn't let me go." What about the three girls who died? What about all the other girls shuttled home in a hurry? What about the shell-shocked, grieving counselors, etc who were there? What about the victims' families who still suffer today?

Chenoweth is out of her depth and out of line. She's behaving like a typical clueless celebrity. How inappropriate to show her teaching a voice class, performing the syrupy/overrated "For Good," and then standing alone and melodramatic at the crime scene? She is making this ALL ABOUT HER. Disgusting.

You know what else bothered me? There was a scene where she was with the present day sherifff/detective and they were looking at I think photographs of the case and Kristin very dramatically places her left hand on his shoulder showing her painted and manicured nails. I thought I would throw up it was so melodramatic and phony.

How could she even think to insert herself into this tragic story? She is so clueless.

Well I'm from Oklahoma too and I was a Girl Scouts too so I could've been at the camp and murdered as well

[angelabox · 6/10 · 28 July 2022]

What in the holy hell did I just watch. Why was Kristin Chenoweth in this documentary? Because she was supposed to go to Girl Scout camp and didn't? When hundreds of other girls weren't murdered either, she somehow pretends that it could've been her that was killed! What a piece of self aggrandizement. This is embarrassing. These families deserve better.

Those Little Girls Deserve Better Than This Documentary

[saysjenn · 3/10 · 12 June 2022]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who was bothered by Kristin Chenoweth's narcissism. I watch a ton of true crime and never heard the tragic story of the Girl Scouts massacre and tunnel vision of the keystone cops rooted in racism. This story stands out on its own without Kristen Chenoworth trying to make it all about her. What an attention seeker!!! And then she said something about her needing to heal. How dare she!!!! She didn't know them or their families.

And then her trying to promote her nieces singing career and her own Broadway skills. It really irritated me and it had to irritate the actual victims family members. Those sweet little girls deserve so much more this.

Clearly explores the events and includes new evidence

[lyoncooks · 10/10 · 26 May 2022]

As an Oklahoman, who was twelve at the time of the murders, I feel this documentary does a good job of laying out the events as they happened. Even with the newest DNA evidence, they let the viewer make up their own mind. Many reviews have mentioned Kristen's appearance as a negative. I believe she adds a needed layer to the story. She tells the story of Oklahomans who were not directly involved, but effected by the event. I spent many summers camping at the lakes near Locust Grove and even at 57 the story still sets in the back of my mind.

Cringe!

[ccnewcomb · 6/10 · 4 June 2022]

How could we ruin four hours of fair documentary work?

How about a cheesy closing musical number?

That'll do it!

I don't really have a problem with tying Kristin Chenoweth into this. Everybody who grew up in Oklahoma in the 70s (including me) has a memory of this story but, saints in heaven, a number?

Charles Kuralt wrote in "A Life on the Road" of watching a small market television feature story on a kids' tricycle race. Just before the end, Kuralt said to his colleage Isadore Bleckman, "he's going to ruin it." Sure enough, cub reporter closed the story by pedaling off on a tiny tricycle.

This could not have fallen flatter had Ms. Chenoweth pedaled off into the sunset on a tricycle.

Disrespectful and poorly executed

[mjtrubia · 2/10 · 25 May 2022]

True crime doc meets E True Hollywood story! No reason for Kristin Chenowith to even have 'hosted,' other than she is from the same town where the murders occurred. She brought nothing to the table. What purpose was served by not only showing her giving singing lessons throughout the episodes, but to end the final episode with a song number? Disrespectful to the memories of those girls, the families, and the people who seriously and legitimately investigated this case. Worst true crime documentary I've ever seen.

Just write a check Kristen.

[cledakling · 5/10 · 10 July 2022]

The story deserves this attention and the extensive archival footage makes for an evocative documentary. But why oh why did Kristen Chenoweth have to put herself in this story? Isn't she famous enough? An on screen blurb before or after clarifying her interest would have been more than enough.

Unfortunately not as many people will watch this because of the way it's been promoted as a celebrity vehicle.

What's she doing?

[RobinFlys · 5/10 · 2 July 2022]

Chenoweth's presence in this film is ridiculous! Her "Coulda-Woulda-Shouda" means what, exactly. This is a tragic story, so interjections of her waltzing through a field or looking at her own tributes really detracts from the story. Reminds me of Garth Brooks' and Soleil Moon Frye's shameless series. Get over yourselves.

Coulda, woulda, shoulda done this without Kristen

[rayharold-15710 · 1/10 · 15 June 2022]

This documentary should have been an 8/10 rating. That material is compelling. The interviews are quite well done, and the cinematography conveys the remoteness of the area very well.

Enter Kristen C. All I can think is that she either contributed to the making of the film financially or someone convinced the producers that they need some name recognition to sell this to Hulu. In either case, her "contribution" does a tremendous disservice to the families and other participants in the film. Her soft focus, meandering about the crime scene / area adds NOTHING to our understanding of what happened. Her VERY tangential relationship to the community and victims are over-shadowed by her "look at me" commentary, delivered in her signature countrified nasal whine (think Bernadette from the Big Bang theory meets Reba McIntire). Her botoxed rememberances scream self-indulgence and narcissism. I feel sorry for the production team and families that made what coulda, woulda, shoulda been a compelling documentary, only to have it literally RUINED by a self-absorbed diva NON-contributor...

Kristin Chenoweth is a disgusting human being.

[oliverlacey-90623 · 7/10 · 26 July 2022]

This is a absolutely terrible story, a true heart puller, i find it absolutely mind blowing that anybody who watched this before it was aired didn't stop this from going on air. Kristin Chenoweth is using this as a "me me me" story and it's disgusting. The story could have easily be told without her worthless input. The slow motion clips of her in the woods are an offence to the family's of the victims.

Non-scientific hyperbole with a narcissistic twist

[davidleonard-93615 · 2/10 · 6 June 2022]

I give this two rather than one star because it familiarizes people with the victims, in a sense. It keeps their memories alive.

A huge hole in this story is the ending, in which the Sheriff states that DNA proves it's most likely Hart as the killer. However, everyone knows that when DNA is presented, it is always detailed with the odds of it NOT being the person (as only an example, "1 in 75 billion that it is not that this person"). There is no science explained with this DNA. And it appears ( this documentary is also confusing, and has several contradictions) that the OSBI tested that DNA, and they are biased in that they initially, in 1978, stated Hart was the killer.

{As an aside, I think he probably was the killer}.

And that actress, chenowith or whatever, she is terrible. "Coulda shoulda woulda:" how flippant and disrespectful.

Good documentary if you can ignore Chenoweth

[K8-S · 7/10 · 15 June 2023]

I'm not sure what the creators of this series were trying to achieve by giving Chenoweth a platform to advertise her stage school or even by her participating. She came from the same town as these tragic murders and she's famous - so what?

This is a harrowing true crime and it doesn't need anything extra added to it. The documentary is informative and well made, so if you can ignore Chenoweth's hair flicking and irritating trout pout grinning periodically, it's worth a watch.

If the creators have any sense, they will edit Chenoweth out before selling it to other networks - she should be ashamed of herself for cashing in on this awful event.

Chenoweth Annoyingly Makes this Tragedy About Herself

[jennyboyd-55753 · 1/10 · 31 May 2022]

This docuseries is ruined by the attention-seeking narration of Kristen Chenoweth. The soft-focus and heavily filtered cutaways to Chenoweth are gagworthy. We got 15 minutes in, and turned to another show, after the actual story was interrupted AGAIN for Chenoweth to show more pics of herself, and a slow-motion cut-a-way of Chenoweth running through a meadow. 👎🏼 Shameless self promotion.

Pretty interesting...

[pmbuller · 8/10 · 1 August 2022]

... Good documentary except for the the unnecessary and boring part with that actresses I've never heard of. I bet she gave some money for the production.

This is a horific story

[digitalbrian · 7/10 · 28 May 2022]

This case is without doubt one of the worst in US history, a meaningless crime that left a scar on Oklahoma.

As a documentary the story is told in a engaging way and I cant really critisize that, I do however think it could be shorter, maybe a single documentary of 60 minutes would have done it.

In serious need of editing.

[kiramango3 · 3/10 · 25 May 2022]

I had a difficult time with this series for a few reasons. This is a very interesting and sad, sad story but.... The series is four episodes which could tell the story much better in two episodes. And, about 95% of the people in the documentary, including Kristin Chenoweth, shouldn't even be there at all. The basic story about the murder of the three girls is horrible and sad. There were lots of issues with the investigation and the prosecution, along with many questions about the suspect's guilt or innocence, which does make this series interesting. The main problem is too much filler and too many people going blah, blah, blah. This could have been so much better, but at least it gets solved in the end(probably).

This seems to be.....

[jreeders518 · 4/10 · 24 May 2022]

Someone trying to get some publicity using a sickening event to do it. I don't know how people can do this. A real documentary would have been more appropriate as opposed to someone who has absolutely no link to the event at all, claiming that they do.

Woulda/Coulda/Shoulda

[helenahandbasket-93734 · 1/10 · 5 June 2022]

If I hear Chenowith say this one more time, I swear I will jab her with her ridiculous fingernails.

Being of the same age, I could easily relate to this story, except Kristin and her insane ego interjected all over this series is so off-putting and gross that one can't get past a few minutes without scratching their head, wondering why this doc about Kristin Chenowith keeps talking sporadically about murders at a Girl Scout Sleepaway Camp.

I feel so horribly for the families and law enforcement that likely agreed to take part in hopes of bringing attention to the case, only to find their efforts were only used as a bridge to talk about Kristin 'LoOk At Me!!' Chenowith.

It was completely unnecessary to show pics of her MORE OFTEN THAN THAT OF THE VICTIMS!! Who in the world was in charge of this project? Is no one capable of putting on the brakes and telling this megalomaniac that she's making this about her and that's not why you're here?

She has just barely enough proximity to this horrific tragedy to make a decent narrator, if it weren't for her nasally, whiny tone. She only casually knew OF one of the victims- having attended the same school, but no personal connection to any of the girls- so other than being from the general area, there's no good reason for her to be a part of the whole project. Well, other than to turn attention on to herself and turn a tragedy into an opportunity for attention.

The only people I can imagine getting anything from this would be people already enamored with the woman known by most as playing a witch on broadway.

If it were possible to rate with a zero, this is the epitome of the reason it should be an option.

Please, someone do right by these victims and tell an honest story about what really happened.