HBO's 'Manhunt' review: Catching the world's most-wanted terrorist

It's a compelling human-interest approach, and, as presented here, probably overdue, too. None of these women picked up Jessica Chastain's Oscar nomination for "Zero Dark Thirty" (her Maya was an amalgam of them all). This one's for them -- including Barbara Sude, Cindy Storer, Jennifer Matthews and, especially, Nada Bakos. They and the CIA were favored whipping posts for House and Senate subcommittees looking for scapegoats after 9/11. But, as Storer points out, "People say, 'Why don't you connect the dots?' Well, because the whole page is black."

"Manhunt" isn't out to settle scores, but explain the laborious process of intelligence gathering. No one here is looking for a citation, but understanding, and that's what "Manhunt" does best, as well as -- yes -- connect some dots. For example, you'll leave this program with a clearer understanding of how Abu Musab al-Zarqawi -- the brutal leader of al-Qaida in Mesopotamia -- beat a path directly to bin Laden's compound (inadvertently, of course).

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