General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20264 min read

Interrogation (2020 TV series)

Interrogation is an American non-linear true-crime drama series, created by John Mankiewicz and Anders Weidemann, in which a young man is charged and convicted of brutally murdering his mother and spends decades fighting to prove his innocence.¹ Its first and only season of 10 episodes was released all at once on CBS All Access on February 6, 2020, and each episode is built around an interrogation taken from the real police case files.²^•³

Key fact	Detail
Premiere	February 6, 2020, all 10 episodes at once, on CBS All Access²
Creators	John Mankiewicz and Anders Weidemann, their first collaboration⁴
Format	Episodes may be watched in any order except the first and last, turning the viewer into a cold-case detective⁵
Basis	The real-life case of Bruce Lisker, a Sherman Oaks, California, man who served 26 years in prison for the 1983 murder of his mother⁶
Main cast	Peter Sarsgaard (Det. David Russell), Kyle Gallner (Eric Fisher), David Strathairn (Henry Fisher), Kodi Smit-McPhee (Chris Keller), Vincent D'Onofrio (Sgt. Ian Lynch)²
Reception	Rotten Tomatoes 57% Tomatometer (14 reviews) and 84% Popcornmeter; Metacritic Metascore 54; IMDb 7.3/10 from about 3,200 votes⁷^•¹
Availability	Not on a subscription streaming service in the United States as of the latest checks; available in Sweden and Australia³

Spoilers

Premise and real case

The story begins in 1983, when Southern California teenager Eric Fisher discovers the lifeless body of his mother, Mary Fisher (Joanna Going). A witness at first, he becomes the main suspect; despite denying guilt, he is convicted and sentenced to life in prison, and the case spans more than 20 years as he fights to clear his name.⁸^•² Detective David Russell (Peter Sarsgaard) leads the case and believes Eric is guilty, while Eric's father Henry (David Strathairn) maintains his son is incapable of the crime; Eric later finds an ally in Internal Affairs officer Ian Lynch (Vincent D'Onofrio).⁶

The storyline is based on the real-life case of Bruce Lisker, a Sherman Oaks man who served 26 years in prison for the 1983 murder of his mother.⁶ The series also tracks the life and career of Detective Russell and of Eric's father across the decades from the 1980s to the 2000s.⁹

Non-linear format

The series was designed around streaming-era viewing habits. Anders Weidemann, an award-winning writer and producer in his native Sweden for whom Interrogation was his first American series, said the idea came from asking why a season released all at once must be watched chronologically; the model was how a cold-case detective reopens a case by throwing out the linear narrative and going through the files in their own order.⁴ Each episode is one interrogation, and viewers choose the sequence.⁴

In practice the structure is bounded: the opening episode, which presents the 1983 crime scene, and the finale are fixed, and the middle eight episodes can be watched in any order.⁵^•¹⁰ Kyle Gallner, who plays Eric from age 17 to 40, described the experience as being like shooting 10 TV shows, since each episode had to be taken at face value from a different point of view.¹¹

Reception

Critical response was mixed. The Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus says the show's "interactive" qualities are interesting but ultimately get in the way of what could be a satisfying dramatic experience, and the Tomatometer stood at 57% from 14 reviews against an 84% audience score.¹⁰ Metacritic recorded a Metascore of 54, labeled mixed or average, from 8 critic reviews, with a user score of 5.8.¹ IMDb users rated the series 7.3/10 from about 3,200 votes.¹²

Reviewers split over the gimmick. Steve Greene of IndieWire wrote that the show is more powerful as a straightforward story despite the free ordering, and TVLine's Pilot Viruet argued that allowing viewers to choose where to go sacrificed the show's quality.¹⁰^•¹ Matt Roush of TV Guide Magazine called it an unusually compelling tragedy the deeper one digs, while Common Sense Media's Martin Brown gave it 4/5 and called it an ambitious, edgy, satisfying non-linear true-crime show.¹^•¹³ The Hollywood Reporter's Inkoo Kang was more negative, citing stock characters and a one-dimensional portrayal of the victim.¹

Availability

The series premiered on CBS All Access, which became Paramount+; a Paramount+ purge of titles was reported in February 2023.²^•¹⁴ As of recent checks, Interrogation is not available on any subscription streaming service in the United States, though it can be found in Sweden and Australia on services including Tele2 Play and the Apple TV Store.³

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Drama and prestige series (individual series) › Crime and thriller series › Police and detective procedurals

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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