PICK OF DIGITAL & ON DEMAND TV

THE THING ABOUT PAM, PARAMOUNT+

RENEE ZELLWEGER gives one of those transformational performances in this sixpart true-crime drama as Pam Hupp, a woman who raised passive aggression to an art form and was deeply involved in a diabolical murder scheme. She’s a great character and Zellweger (pictured), her charisma shining through the unflattering prosthetics, is terrific in the part, even if the darkly comic tone of the show jars a little when you remember that it’s all based on real events. The series begins with the brutal murder of Betsy Faria, who was suffering from terminal cancer, in the midwestern town of Troy, Missouri. The local police immediately suspect Betsy’s husband, Russ. He claims he’d arrived home to find Betsy dead, but the police aren’t buying it — as far as they’re concerned, it’s an open-and-shut case. Pam, a friend and former colleague of Besty’s, was the last person to see her alive, but she apparently has several alibis for the night in question.