Primetime Ending Explained: Chris Hansen Calls His Own Movie an Insult

Primetime, the dramatization of Chris Hansen's show To Catch a Predator, has drawn criticism from Hansen himself while also picking up praise from fans and critics. I just got back from the theater, so spoilers ahead if you have not seen it yet, but let's get into what happens.

Primetime Dramatizes How Chris Hansen's Show Rose Before It Fell

The film opens in 2006, when To Catch a Predator is a cultural phenomenon. The turning point of the movie comes when NBC executive Jeff Zucker moves the show into the coveted primetime slot, and the next hour follows Chris Hansen, played by Robert Pattinson, who was one of my favorite parts of this film.

Alongside Hansen we meet Del as well as Dan Plum. Dan gets a bit more of a fictionalized arc than his real life counterpart, driven by wanting to earn a SAG card, and that ambition is why he is there in the first place.

Hansen's Life Starts Falling Apart Behind the Scenes

Although Hansen is on top for a while, the movie takes a dramatic turn as multiple things in his life begin to fall apart at once. A story is about to break revealing that he was meeting with another woman despite being married, and at the same time NBC executives are no longer buying what the show is selling and want something changed.

Things spiral once the show starts hunting what the movie calls the whale. To justify the primetime slot and beat Lost in the ratings, Hansen realizes that catching average, anonymous men in suburban sting houses will not cut it anymore.

Chris Hansen Says the Film's Portrayal of Him Is an Insult

Hansen has said that this movie is an insult, showing him yelling at his crew and playing him as very narcissistic, with Pattinson's performance making him seem like he has a god complex. When asked about the movie, Hansen has said it is all fictional.

He has said he would never leave his crew, never yelled at anyone, and was there in person helping everyone throughout the entire process.

The Hunt for a Texas DA Ends in Tragedy

A huge moment in the film comes when a Texas assistant district attorney is finally named the whale. The climax of the movie is pretty shocking, because the DA fails to show up to the rigged bait house, so the primetime crew and the police decide to go to him instead.

Terrified of losing the primetime slot, Hansen and the crew abandon their controlled environment, convince the Texas police chief to go along with them, and the crew and a SWAT team raid the DA's house. Things go terribly wrong, and the DA takes his own life. The media spectacle has completely backfired.

Hansen's Breakdown and the Real End of Primetime

One of my favorite shots in the movie follows this collapse, using four different cameras to show Hansen's reaction as he just stares and recites lines to himself, then cuts to the police, then the house, then Dan walking off because he has done his job and is finished with it.

Many fans have already said this scene echoes the staring scene in Oppenheimer, with Pattinson just staring down the camera. It is his realization that his humanity has been "entirely consumed by his own broadcast image."

The movie frames this as the end of primetime, and while this event did happen, it was not actually the end of the show in reality. Primetime slowly went off the air two years later, in 2008.

Dan Gets His SAG Card, and My Verdict on Primetime

The final shot belongs to Dan, who seems more reserved and almost regretful about his decision, even as he gets his SAG card in the mail. Dan had gone through a lot and maybe realized this was not the best way to catch predators by exploiting the process for entertainment, yet he still got what he wanted in the end.

As someone who just walked out of the theater, I thought it was a pretty solid film. I know a lot of it was made for dramatic purposes, and I know that although Chris Hansen did not like it, he is still going to go see it and get reactions for his own social page, True Blue.

"I really don't know how I loved it as a movie just yet, as I'm still processing it." I thought the cinematography and the way it was shot were among the best parts of this movie. Overall, it is a very interesting topic, and whether you like Chris Hansen or not, I think you can appreciate his work in some way, since he has looked out for kids for decades.

What did you think of Primetime, and what was your favorite scene?