The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel is a compelling, entertaining, and heartbreaking docuseries that examines the disappearance and death of Elisa Lam from the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles. The series does a great job of pulling the watcher in and making you wonder if there was something supernatural or sinister going on, but by the fourth installment, the watcher comes to learn that the murder conspiracy is nothing more than a troubled young woman with bipolar disorder suffering from an episode that led to her accidental drowning.

As you watch the series, you can’t help but find yourself speculating about what’s going on, why is Elisa acting so erratically in the infamous elevator footage, and  where she disappeared to. By the fourth episode, all of your questions are answered with reasonable and rational explanations that are a lot less fun than a supernatural explanation or a coverup involving the LAPD and hotel management.

The series does a great job of slowly unfolding the mystery as more and more information comes to light and manages to keep you hooked as you click next episode to find out exactly what happened to Elisa Lam.

photo copyright Netflix

As much as we want to believe that there was something darker at play, by the end of the series it’s clear that Elisa Lam’s death was a tragic accident that was ultimately grounded in reality and there was no foul play involved and that the scariest thing about the series is how poorly we treat our homeless community.

While The Vanishing at Cecil Hotel is incredibly captivating and engaging television, it’s also important to remember that these tragic events happened to a real person so we should all take a moment to hope and pray that the Lam family is able to find peace and have some closure.

All four episodes of the true crime docuseries are now streaming on Netflix.