‘Manhunt’ series too grounded in fiction

I enjoy a good work of fiction, but reality presents its own form of merriment if you pay attention.

I wasn’t always this way. As a boy, I had a sincere hope that everyone in law enforcement was like Andy Griffith and deputies kept their one bullet safely in a shirt pocket. And it pleased me when the passengers aboard an ill-fated, three-hour cruise

included a professor who could create technology from coconuts.

All hope was abandoned when a series of law enforcement leaders from my youth were sent to federal prison and mom converted my pecan-powered shortwave radio into a pie.

On Tuesday, pundits pondered whether the Austin serial bomber was inspired by the Georgia-filmed Discovery series “Manhunt: Unabomber,” which, at times, portrays serial bomber Theodore Kaczynski as a charming pioneer of the “tiny house” movement.

We may never know the Austin bomber’s motives. The suspect, identified as Mark Anthony Conditt, 23, killed himself in an explosion Wednesday.

The Unabomber and Austin cases are very different in one way. The Unabomber deployed 16 bombs over a 17-year period, killing three, and law enforcement didn’t have a clue who was responsible. Conditt exploded four devices, killing two victims, and police tracked him down in less than three weeks.

If Conditt thought he could avoid capture as long as the Unabomber, he was very wrong. The creators of “Manhunt” got a lot wrong, too.

The eight-episode series now on Netflix details the alleged exploits of FBI superhero Jim Fitzgerald as he tries to identify the Unabomber.

Fans of the show will be forgiven for thinking Fitz, a consultant for the show, cracked the code solo, but it seems lots of people who aren’t him did the heavy lifting.

Roger Shuy, a retired Georgetown University professor, told Fitz the suspect was likely middle-aged and from Chicago because the Unabomber’s grammar was like that used in 1950s Chicago newspapers.

T he FBI never s olved t he Unabomber riddle; Kaczynski’s family identified him after newspapers printed Ted’s 35,000-word “Manifesto” in 1995.

Ted’s brother, David, read the Manifesto and it reminded him of Ted’s earlier writings. He then hired an attorney who contacted the FBI and provided the critical evidence.

“Manhunt” spends a lot of time depicting an intense, personal relationship between Fitz and Kaczynski. The two men debate Kaczynski’s motives at length and both agree they are the smartest people in the room. Fitz convinces Kaczynski to plead guilty.

Only the real Fitz never met or interviewed Kaczynski. Ever.

We don’t care what Kaczynski thinks, but he wrote “the greater part of [the series] is pure fiction,” in a letter from prison.

The film industry has transformed Georgia’s economy. That’s a good thing. Transforming the truth for

entertainment? We deserve better.