History Series / CrimeSceneTheVanishingAtTheCecilHotel

The series debunks many of the common myths around the Lam case and defends the police, coroner, hotel staff, and a Mexican death metal musician who were all the subject of conspiracy theories and unfounded accusations. The series received mixed reviews with critics applauding the series's intentions but complaining it was unnecessarily drawn out.

* BulliedIntoDepression: Morbid admits the online bullying caused him to become depressed, resulting in a suicide attempt.

* AmateurSleuth: Lam's death becomes a sensation for many self-appointed web sleuths. Despite many of them not having access to all the evidence or even being in Los Angeles, they develop many theories. Several youtubers are shown enthusiastically exploring the hotel. In the end, they do not solve anything and are the opposite of helpful.

* DemonicPossession: Lam's strange behavior is theorized to be this, but it's explained by the fact that she is bi-polar and hasn't been taking her meds.

* InstantWebHit: The video of Lam in the elevator quickly goes viral, even becoming the founding document of one particular youtuber's channel.

* IAteWhat: When the hotel guests find out why the water tasted funny, ran black and had low pressure, they are understandably horrified.

* IAteWhat: When the hotel guests find out why the water tasted fun, ran black and had low pressure, they are understandably horrified.

''Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel'' (2021) is a four-part Creator/{{Netflix}} docu-series about the disappearance of Canadian tourist Elisa Lam in 2013. Directed by Joe Berlinger, the series begins as if it is a traditional true-crime series, setting up a mystery around Lam's disappearance and death. However, her death was ruled accidental, and the show delves into the sordid history of The Cecil Hotel and Los Angeles's Skid Row neighborhood and the toxic culture created by internet sleuths who, based on little evidence and their own fantasies, spread conspiracy theories about Lam's death.

* TheOphelia: Elisa Lam's sensitivity and mental illness causes many people who did not know her in life to romanticize her and fixate on her. For one web sleuth, she even seems to function as a LostLenore, even though he never met her in life.

* EvilElevator: Elisa Lam's disappearance becomes an internet sensation when footage of her acting strangely in an elevator goes viral. Online conspiracy theorists postulate that the elevator was somehow evil. In truth, the elevators in the Cecil Hotel were the one place where the guests at the more upscale hostel section of the hotel mixed with the long-term residents of the upper floors.

* TheOphelia: Elisa Lam's sensitivity and mental illness causes many people who did not know her in life to romanticize her and fixate on her.

* WretchedHive: The Cecil Hotel is home to some of the worst elements of society.

* AdvertisedExtra: Richard Ramirez, The Night Stalker, stayed at the Cecil in the 1980s. This is heavily highlighted in the trailer but only mentioned in passing in the series.

''Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel'' (2021) is a four-part Creator/{{Netflix}} docu-series about the disappearance of Canadian tourist Elisa Lam in 2013. Directed by Joe Berlinger, the series begins as if it is a traditional true-crime series, setting up a mystery around Lam's disappearance and death. However, her death was ruled accidental, and the show delves into the sordid history of the Cecil Hotel and Los Angeles's Skid Row neighborhood and the toxic culture created by internet sleuths who, based on little evidence and their own fantasies, spread conspiracy theories about Lam's death.

* EldritchLocation: Many online sleuths come to believe that the Cecil Hotel is a nexus of dark energy or a portal to hell. Historians in the series explain that its location on poverty-stricken Skid Row explains the many murders, suicides, rapes, and overdoses as well as the fact that at least two serial killers stayed there. However, the historians seem to agree that in a metaphorical sense, the hotel does have dark energy around it.

* LeadPoliceDetective: Two of the police detectives from the case are interviewed. They express regret that they didn't find Lam sooner and as well as sympathy for her and her family. One of them even sympathizes with the web sleuths, admitting that it is easy to get caught up in the chase.

* PoliceAreUseless: The manager's response when asked why she didn't call the police after witnessing Lam's erratic behavior. The truth is that mental illness is commonplace at the hotel and on Skid Row. The overwhelmed police would likely not have responded to such a call.

The series debunks many of the common myths around Lam's death and defends the police, coroner, hotel staff, and a Mexican death metal musician who were all the subject of conspiracy theories and unfounded accusations. The series received mixed reviews with critics applauding the series's intentions but complaining it was unnecessarily drawn out.

* HellHotel: The Cecil is reported to be haunted, a nexus of dark energy, a serial killer magnet and it's a NoTellMotel.

* WretchedHive: The Cecil Hotel is home to some of the worst elements of society.

* LeadPoliceDetective: Two of the police detectives from the case are interviewed. They express regret that they didn't find Lam sooner and sympathy for her and her family. One of them even sympathizes with the web sleuths, admitting that it is easy to get caught up in the chase.

* PoliceAreUseless: The manager's response when asked why she didn't call the police after witnessing Lam's erratic behavior. The truth is that mental illness is commonplace at the hotel and on Skid Row. The overwhelmed police would likely not have responded to such a call.

* AgentMulder: Many of the internet sleuths qualify as this. Rather than accept rational explanations, they see the supernatural and won't be dissuaded. While a fun dynamic in fiction, where the Mulder is often right, the doc makes it clear that in real life such thinking is very unhelpful.

* TheOphelia: Elisa Lam's sensitivity and mental illness causes many people who did not know her in life to romanticize her and fixate on her.

''Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel'' (2021) is a four-part Creator/{{Netflix}} docu-series about the disappearance of Canadian tourist Elisa Lam in 2013. Directed by Joe Berlinger, the series begins as if it is a traditional true-crime series, setting up a mystery around Lam's disappearance and death. However, her death was ruled accidental, and the show then delves into the history of the Cecil Hotel and Los Angeles's Skid Row neighborhood and the toxic culture created by internet sleuths who, based on little evidence and their own fantasies, spread conspiracy theories about her death. The series aims to debunk many of

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