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Josh Duhamel staring ahead in The Thing About Pam

Published Mar 11, 2026, 8:12 AM EDT

Jen Vestuto is a TV Features Writer for Collider. A born and raised New Yorker, she started her career on set as a production assistant for shows like Law & Order: SVU and Person of Interest. In LA, she worked in the writers' rooms for The Vampire Diaries and Nancy Drew. Along with her writing partner, she joined the writing staff of Nancy Drew in Season 2 and stayed on the run of the show, which ended in 2022 with Season 4.

Jen grew up on Long Island in a loud Italian family. She's been writing creatively since she was in elementary school and would often make her younger sister act out scenes from her favorite movies with her. Jen is also a massive sports fan and was an athlete herself growing up.

Writing features for Collider gives her the opportunity to share her passion for great storytelling and compelling characters.

As a genre, true crime has dominated television for years. Massive documentary hits like Netflix’s Making a Murderer and HBO’s The Staircase proved just how captivated audiences can be by real-life criminal cases. But as the genre has grown more popular, networks and studios have increasingly looked for ways to tell these stories outside the traditional documentary format, creating scripted series that allow writers and actors to explore the personalities and circumstances surrounding the crimes in greater detail.

What Is 'The Thing About Pam' About?

The Thing About Pam is based on the real-life murder of Betsy Faria (Katy Mixon) in Troy, Missouri, a case that quickly spiraled into one of the most convoluted investigations in recent memory. When Betsy is found stabbed to death in her home in 2011, suspicion immediately falls on her husband, Russ Faria (Glenn Fleshler). Despite a lack of convincing evidence and the fact that he had a strong alibi, Russ is ultimately convicted of the crime, largely due to a deeply flawed investigation.

At the center of the story is Pam Hupp, played by Renée Zellweger, a seemingly friendly acquaintance of Betsy who becomes increasingly entangled in the case. As the investigation unfolds, Pam’s role begins to look far more suspicious than anyone initially realized. Over time, prosecutors and investigators begin uncovering a web of lies and manipulations that point to a far more disturbing truth behind Betsy’s death. The series also features a strong supporting cast, including Judy Greer as prosecutor Leah Askey and Josh Duhamel as defense attorney Joel Schwartz, as the case becomes increasingly bizarre.

James Gandolfini smoking a cigar and looking into the camera from a pool for The Sopranos

What sets The Thing About Pam apart from most true-crime adaptations is its unusual tone. Rather than presenting the case strictly as a grim procedural, the series often leans into the absurdity of the situation, from the baffling and botched investigation to the unusual personality of Pam herself. That tonal choice set the show apart, in both good ways and bad. At times, it risked feeling like it was adopting the darkly comedic style of shows like Fargo while telling the story of a very real murder. Still, the strange twists of the case, and Pam Hupp’s outsized personality, help explain why the creative team leaned into a more stylized approach. And much of that tone ultimately works because of Renée Zellweger’s bold performance at the center of it all.

Renée Zellweger Delivers One of Her Boldest Performances in 'The Thing About Pam'

Looking at Renée Zellweger’s impressive resume, it might be surprising that her first real foray into television came through a network true-crime series. But Zellweger herself was introduced to the story of Pam Hupp while listening to Dateline’s popular 2019 podcast of the same name. As she explained in a 2022 interview with Entertainment Weekly, the case was so strange that it immediately drew her in. “You can’t quite believe the facts that surround the case,” she said, describing the story as an “escalating absurdity.” That sense of disbelief ultimately became central to her performance.

Zellweger commits fully to the role, leaning into Pam’s strange blend of seeming totally relatable while also being incredibly manipulative and unpredictable. It’s a performance that feels very different from the other real-life figures she has portrayed in the past, including Judy Garland in Judy, which earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress. Pam Hupp is not a tragic icon or beloved public figure, but someone far messier and far more baffling. That challenge results in a deliberately heightened performance that matches the show’s unusual tone. The Thing About Pam also marked a milestone in Zellweger’s career: not only was it her network TV debut, but she also served as an executive producer, helping shape the tone of the series while anchoring it on screen.

Looking back four years later, The Thing About Pam remains one of the more unusual entries in the ever-growing world of true-crime television. Its willingness to blend dark humor with a real-life murder case remains controversial, but the show’s attempt to capture the bizarre nature of the story, and the odd person at the center, gives it a distinct identity among a crowded field of true-crime adaptations. For viewers who missed it the first time around, the six-episode limited series makes for a quick and compelling binge.