Fauna Hodel is a teenage girl who was given away at birth. She makes a discovery that leads her to question everything and begins to investigate the secrets of her past. The trail swirls ever closer to a notorious LA doctor.

Set to premiere on TNT this January 28th, “I Am the Night” will be a 6-episode mini-series loosely based on the true events around the infamous case of the Black Dahlia Murder. The investigation was mired in mystery and corruption, and it appears that its players continue to make for excellent TV fodder.

The series follows Fauna Hodel, a teenager growing up in the suburbs of Reno, Nevada in the 1960s. Despite the calm reservation of her angelic face, she has a rather precarious position – at school, she does not fit in with white kids because she has a black mother, and the few friends she does have seem to only accept her begrudgingly. Her home does not offer much respite as she has a tumultuous relationship with her mom – one of love mixed with secrecy, which makes for a sometimes volatile household. Despite her circumstances, Fauna lives a relatively normal existence until one day she finds a clue about her birth that changes her life forever.

Unbeknownst to her, Fauna was born to a teenaged mother who had given her away at birth. Her mom, Jimmy Lee, played Golden Brooks of “Girlfriends” fame, confesses that she raised her at the behest of a mysterious woman in a casino and that her true family is nearby in southern California, rich and living lavishly in Los Angeles. Peaked by curiosity and pushed further still by her overbearing mom, she reaches out to her estranged grandfather, Dr. George Hodel, played by Jefferson Mays, who invites her to visit California. Little does she know, the world he is inviting her into is stranger still and grows evermore menacing by the moment. Meanwhile, Jay Singletary, a hack reporter played by Chris Pine, is churning out shady tabloid stories, having been ruined years ago by Fauna’s powerful grandfather after he made the grave mistake of reporting his as a suspect in the Black Dahlia murders. As Fauna begins her journey to California, Jay finds himself pulled west as well, drawn back into his investigation by a cryptic phone call claiming to have missing clues.

The show was created by Sam Sheridan, adapted from the book One Day She’ll Darken, an autobiography penned by the real Fauna Hodel. Producer Patty Jenkins, who directed Chris Pine in Wonder Woman (2017) and pitched him this series, was brought on as executive producer and director of episodes 1 and 2. This show is certainly set up for success and my interests are thoroughly piqued by this episode – I’m sure it is a harbinger of good things to come! Classically handsome Chris Pine does have a smirk of modernity to him that sometimes brings me back to reality, but otherwise the show does gently rest me amidst the culture and happenings of 1960s emergent America. I love the noir style and the pacing – I almost felt like I was back in that L.A. Noire video game that I love so much!

The end of the episode leaves us with a few pieces in hand, watching Fauna leaving on that midnight train to Georgia…or rather, on a Greyhound bus to California. A shadowy stalker in an ominous black car was not far behind. Chris Pine’s’ character, bloodied and broken-boned from his run-in with the local police, is un-cuffed and again on the trail of the latest lead to the unsolved mystery. And we finally get our first glimpse of Fauna’s grandfather, who seems to be both a foreboding and Gatsby-like figure. Quite the cliffhangers for this budding show. Chris Pine rightfully says of the series “[It is} kind of Chinatown wrapped up in this noir mystery and thriller. That is cool” – and it certainly is.