Overview
- The series premiered on HBO/HBO Max on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, and will release one episode a week through Sept. 3, 2026.
- Director Eric Goode uses 1,500 hours of footage to trace a decades‑long trade, profiling dealers, smugglers and federal stings such as Operation Cobra and Operation Chameleon.
- The film features notorious figures including Tommy Crutchfield and Anson Wong and includes interviews with law enforcement, prosecutors and journalists who worked undercover on long investigations.
- Goode frames the story through his personal history as a reptile collector and founder of the Turtle Conservancy, which is shown caring for seized animals and celebrating recent captive ploughshare tortoise births.
- Early coverage notes the series’ measured tone compared with Goode’s earlier hits, its SXSW TV Premiere Audience Award, and its production by Goode Films with A24 and collaborators Jeremy McBride and Josh Safdie.