Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Taken Together: Who Killed Lyric and Elizabeth?’ on Max, A Docuseries Investigating a 2012 Double Abduction

Riding the everlasting true crime wave, this three-part docuseries centers on an unsolved crime from 2012 involving a double abduction of cousins in Iowa.

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Opening Shot: A bicycle rides along a deserted sidewalk with a voiceover of a young girl singing a song, depicting the last time the girls were seen.

The Gist: In 2012, cousins 8 year old Elizabeth and 10 year old Lyric were abducted in Iowa, and a documentarian close to the case took it upon himself to investigate. He has interviewed people close to the children that disappeared over the course of a few years, and all but one suspect in the case.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? There are a plethora of true crime docuseries out there, so take your pick — this one doesn’t stray too far from the typical format.

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Our Take: Framed by a hideous crime and an inquisitive documentarian who is searching for answers, Taken Together is a gripping series about an unsolved mystery: who killed Lyric and Elizabeth?

The first episode spends its time explaining the setting and the people most closely involved: Evansdale, Iowa is a tightknit community and Lyric and Elizabeth are cousins that feel like sisters given the close proximity of their families. But, as the detective explains, the first place to look is always the family. With Lyric’s parents’ past run-ins with the law, they are the first suspects, and their commentary adds some color to an otherwise cut-and-dry first episode.

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Using typical talking head interviews and archival footage, the series pieces together the logical narrative that the investigation went through, but to no avail. There’s nothing incredibly flashy about this presentation, and the story is presented plainly and completely.

Aside from the tragedy, the most compelling aspects of the three-part series is that the mystery is as-yet unsolved and that Elizabeth’s parents aren’t entirely convinced that Lyric’s parents aren’t involved—even after they are absolved by the police. And with a cliffhanger that alludes to a larger child abduction ring, the series does offer a lot for true crime junkies.

Sex and Skin: Nada.

Parting Shot: After Elizabeth and Lyric’s remains are found, the docuseries cuts to 10 months after the abduction in Dayton, OH, where police receive a 911 call from a frantic girl who conveys that she’s been abducted.

Sleeper Star: Lyric’s father Dan is a central figure in the first episode, especially when the docuseries turns to him as the main suspect. With a history with meth and criminal charges, he’s a persuasive and dynamic figure that seemed to impede on the investigation.

Most Pilot-y Line: “Evansdale is a small town, everybody knows everybody…you don’t lock your doors,” a talking head explains, which feels like the setting for so many of these stories. “You trust everybody because they’ve never given you a reason not to.”

Our Call: STREAM IT. There isn’t anything groundbreaking about the filmmaking, but the true crime at the center of the story is compelling.

Radhika Menon ( @menonrad ) is a TV-obsessed writer based in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared on Vulture, ELLE, Teen Vogue, and more. At any given moment, she can ruminate at length over Friday Night Lights, the University of Michigan, and the perfect slice of pizza. You may call her Rad.

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