I was hesitant to jump into Conversations with a Killer: The Charles Manson Tapes with my Netflix subscription for a couple of reasons. First, I’ve read Helter Skelter and numerous other books about the 1969 slayings, and I’ve seen almost every documentary and TV show about the murders. I didn’t think there was much I could learn from a new series. Second, I’ve also heard countless tapes of Manson talking about the murders, and the killer’s lunatic rantings just aren’t very interesting to me anymore. After watching the series, which hit the 2026 TV schedule last week, I was right about the Manson stuff. I found the tapes to be boring filler for the rest of the story it told. However, I was fascinated by the interviews with the surviving Manson Family members who are featured in the show. (Image credit: Netflix)It Doesn't Focus Entirely On The CrimesWhen I first clicked on the show to watch, I almost noped out pretty quickly because I didn’t think I could watch another in the Netflix true crime series, Conversations with a Killer, that recaps the murders in detail. Not only are those details really hard to process still, but I know the story, and it’s not like there is new evidence for murders that happened nearly 60 years ago. However, I’m glad I stuck through it, because there isn’t actually a lot of focus on the crimes. Yes, they do recap some of the details, so if you are unfamiliar with the brutality of the Tate-LaBianca murders, you can still get the gist of the horrors. What it does focus on is life in the Manson Family, mostly before the murders. For me, that is much more compelling, and that’s especially true of the interviews with three women who were part of the family. Dianne Lake, Catherine “Gypsy” Share, and Stephanie Schram. Share has talked extensively about the crimes and life in the “Family” for many years, and her story is always interesting. To my knowledge, I don’t think I’ve ever heard La or Schram speak about their experiences, and it’s terrifying, but riveting, to listen to their stories. Their words are what I found myself hanging on to over the three episodes of the series. (Image credit: Netflix)The Unheard Manson Tapes Are PredictableNetflix has advertised the series as featuring never-before-heard tapes of Manson. That may be, but all of the recordings played in the show are the same kind of ramblings and rantings we’ve heard from Manson for years. It’s all the same anti-authoritarian mystical drivel that he became well known for. For someone like me, I didn’t really glean any new insights into Manson from these new tapes. There are other tapes heard from some of the other murders, like Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, Bobby Beausoleil, and Patricia Krenwinkle, that are a little more interesting, and probably would be very interesting to someone not super familiar with the crimes. For me, however, I’ve also heard their stories countless times over the years, so while important to include in the series, it was still those interviews with Lake, Share, and Schram I was drawn into. If I have one quibble with the series, it’s that I wish they’d done maybe one more episode about the aftermath of the killings and the trial for the Family members who weren’t part of the crimes. What was their life like immediately following Manson getting arrested, going to trial, and then being sentenced to jail? What has their life been like since? How do they cope with their part in the horrifying events? They touch on it at the end, but it’s very much just a coda to the series. I’d be interested in more. Maybe we’ll get a follow-up from Netflix one day.