‘True Crime Story: Look Into My Eyes’ Recap – ‘Step Two: Bypass the Critical’

Still from ‘True Crime Story: Look Into My Eyes’ – ‘Step Two: Bypass the Critical’ Courtesy of SundanceTV/AMC Networks.

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Two of ‘True Crime Story: Look Into My Eyes’. To revisit the premiere, click here. This article also contains discussions regarding suicide, which may be triggering to some individuals.
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When we last settled in to discuss the unsettling and engaging premiere of True Crime Story: Look Into My Eyes, we, like the good people of North Port, Florida… were left with more questions than answers. Simply because, it didn’t make any sense that a dedicated educator would suddenly turn to unproven methods of mental health care to take care of his students, nor did it make any sense that multiple students died as a result of the use of hypnotism. We only knew that this tragedy rocked a community and shattered lives and that so many in that town were searching from the same answers as the audience and well… the only way to begin to understand the root cause of how this could have happened and perhaps how this came to fruition, was to talk to the ringmaster himself, Dr. George Kenney. 
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Whom as it turned out, was willing to speak to the cameras for this documentary and well… what he and other family members had to say in ‘Step Two: Bypass the Critical’ was indeed quite disturbing. Simply because… well… let’s not mince words… there was a real detachment present from the man at the center of this whole controversy. As though he had been caught up in something that he didn’t understand or didn’t really want to be part of, when in fact, this was all his doing. And that was just off putting and disturbing, as was the careful thought that went into his answers. As though there was real effort to say the most neutral thing possible to not be incriminated on camera. But that silence and that attitude and his decisions said a lot, as did his story about he came into hypnotism and what motivated him to implement it. 

Because that spoke to a man that really didn’t have a legacy at that time in his career. Sure, he was respected, sure he was doing a fine job. But he wasn’t standing out from other educators, he wasn’t admired or seen as a maverick of sorts. But the way he lit up talking about hypnotism and how special it was, informed us that he was motivated to take it up, to become the opposite of all that, to be a pioneer in this field. Heck, the man even had compact disc instructional albums for sale on Prime when he was at his apex of hypnosis. And that really did hammer home his need to be seen at any cost and well, that is when this story really took a tragic turn and brought us back to the matter at hand. In that, Dr. Kenney did indeed hypnotize multiple students in his school and the next ones that passed, didn’t die in an accident that could have been potentially related to something else.

No, instead, they took their own lives. In a manner that was as unsettling as the act, since they didn’t even resist their own end, they just… died. And they weren’t kids that showed warning signs or were spiraling into depression. Granted, they had their troubles and sometimes suicide can occur without warning when the person ready to commit it keeps their real emotions and thoughts in check. But that didn’t seem to be the case here, not when their families spoke of vibrancy and hope and thoughts of tomorrow. No… they all interacted with Dr. Kenney, and they all underwent the strange hypnosis routine that others did and then found reason to take their own lives, which was disturbing and left us with a bigger question.

Specifically… what did Kenny really say to them in their sessions. Because such an act implies that inspiration was given to them to do something awful. Which can be countermanded by the fact that one parent sat in on a session and didn’t suspect that. But this man was unqualified to be doing this, especially after we learned that he only took a weeklong certification course for this, and often entertained the crowd with hypnosis early on. But alas, no answers were to be found on that topic. But those will likely come. Since we did finally get answers as to why Kenney did what he did and what motivated him to turn to this. Which was a tragic and sad answer to say the least, one that is undoubtedly going to bring forth more sorrowful moments in the weeks to come regarding this documentary. But we should expect nothing less from a story about a man desperate to be seen, for when that happens in America, sorrow always follows. Until next time.

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