‘Truth and Lies’ recalls sub tragedy
The ABC News production “Truth and Lies” (8 p.m.) revisits the “Fatal Dive to the Titanic.” The story of Stockton Rush and the June 2023 implosion of his Titan submersible craft touches on the downsides of daring entrepreneurship pushing the limits of technology coupled with the hubris often associated with wealth and status.
Born to a prominent San Francisco family and trained and educated as an engineer, Rush became convinced that submersible “tourism” to visit underwater relics like that of the fabled Titanic might become a growth industry.
It’s impossible to discuss a trip to the watery grave that is the Titanic and not bring up the 1997 blockbuster film “Titanic.” Its director, James Cameron, is interviewed here. He makes the case that in both 1912 and 2023, responsible parties failed to heed warnings that may have averted catastrophe.
In addition to its dramatic and morbid links to the 1912 Titanic tragedy, news of the Titan’s limited oxygen supply presented the media with a 96-hour “ticking clock” scenario that lent itself to unending coverage.
Still, connections to cinematic themes prevail. There’s a slightly spooky suggestion that the Titanic itself had claimed five more lives. Others see merely a headstrong entrepreneur rushing into depths of the North Atlantic in an untested submersible as an act of recklessness. One expert observes, “There’s a fine line between clever and stupid. And if you cross it, it will kill you.” It’s not clear if he’s aware that his first sentence also refers to a famous movie quote. Not from “Titanic,” but from “This Is Spinal Tap.”
› Paramount+ streams the second season of “Halo,” a space opera inspired by a popular video game. Set in the 26th century, it follows human soldiers fighting an alien confederation of several races united under a religious dictatorship.
Like a lot of digital-heavy productions based on video games, “Halo” features leaden dialogue and a visual style truer to its origins than to film or video. “Halo” is executive produced by Steven Spielberg, who also serves in that capacity on Apple TV+’s “Masters of the Air.”
While my criticism of that World War II series centered around its lack of character development and generic dialogue, other astute (and presumably younger) critics observed that its digitized battle sequences often resembled the combat video game “Call of Duty.”
› After authorities found an unidentified body in the woods in 2018, cybersleuths around the world set about trying to learn his name and know his story. What they discovered was darker than anything they could have imagined, chronicled in the documentary “They Called Him Mostly Harmless,” streaming on Max.
› The international crime thriller “Tokyo Vice” streams its second season on Max.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
› Curb appeal can be murder on “Law & Order” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
› The survey history docuseries “The Power of Film” (8 p.m., TCM) discusses questions of love and death and loss.