'Prison Wives,'
engrossing life stories
Investigation Discovery series skips past the expected cliches
By Tom Conroy
Feb 11, 2010
The Investigation Discovery channel is having a little fun by debuting its new documentary series “Prison Wives” on Valentine’s Day. That might lead viewers to conclude that the series will give its subjects, women married to inmates serving long sentences, the Jerry Springer treatment, subjecting them to ridicule or contempt.
Surprisingly, “Prison Wives,” which premieres with three episodes starting at 8 p.m. this Sunday before moving to its regular time slot at 10 on Wednesdays, is a serious, engrossing look at a subculture that it is too easy to stereotype. Viewers may not admire these women more after watching, but they will understand them better.
Two of the wives profiled in Sunday’s episodes first met their husbands after they had been convicted of serious crimes. The subject of the 8 p.m. hour, Annika Powell, comes closest to most people’s preconceived notion of a prison wife. Divorced with three children, she says she can’t work because of a leg injury — although we see her walking with no visible difficulty throughout the hour.
Annika met her husband, Anthony, who murdered his former mother-in-law when she threatened to stop supporting his drug habit, through his cellmate’s girlfriend. Annika has moved her family five times so that they could be within visiting distance of Anthony’s various prisons.
Recently, Anthony introduced Annika’s mother to a fellow prisoner, whom the mother is now dating.
Though this setup might seem the definition of dysfunctional, Annika claims that her children are happier and better adjusted now that Anthony is in their lives. At one point, while her kids are acting up in a supermarket, she has Anthony discipline them by cell phone.
Annika divulges some details of their intimate moments, which, though subtle, are probably too much information.
The episode holds our interest by gradually revealing the details of Anthony’s crime. By the end, viewers will probably be shaking their heads at their conflicting emotional reactions to everything they’ve taken in.
Wisely, the documentary doesn’t try to shape our reactions with ironic editing or heavy-handed soundtrack music — this is refreshing after years of pseudo-documentary reality shows — although the sepia-toned reenactments of the murder are definitely skewed against Anthony.
The subject of the second hour, Elli Panitz, should be the most relatable of the three, since she was married to her husband before he went to prison for murdering his former wife. But her behavior is the most inexplicable. She and her husband, a German national named Ralf, claim that his ex had been stalking them.
They actually went on “The Jerry Springer Show” with their story. Elli blames the show’s producers for setting up Ralf and his ex in the same hotel, where they had sex the morning the show was taped.
The story gets more tawdry — Ralf actually murdered his ex on the day their “Jerry Springer” episode aired — but the hour draws us in by getting commentary from Elli’s levelheaded sister, who has to remind her that the real victim in this case is, you know, the victim. Anyone who has a friend or relative who refuses to accept reality checks will be able to relate.
The series found someone viewers can root for in Latoya Marion, whose husband, Cornelius, may actually be innocent of the crime that was the third strike that earned him a life sentence. Since meeting Cornelius through his cousin, Latoya has educated herself about the law and devoted herself to getting him released.
Suspense builds as she finds a plausible suspect and then tries to get help from the district attorney who helped convict her husband. As our hopes start to build, the show points out that even if Latoya succeeds in getting Cornelius released, statistics suggest their marriage won’t last.
It’s remarkable that “Prison Wives” can draw viewers so completely into the lives of people whose experience is so foreign to most of us. But viewers should probably record and save it, and instead watch a nice romantic comedy on Valentine’s Day.
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