Vindication is on a screen near you and, if you look closely, it may have been filmed near you. Season 1 of Amazon's new show Vindication was filmed in parts of Flower Mound, Waxahachie, Cedar Hill, Mansfield, Kennedale, Arlington and Burleson.
Directed by Jarod O'Flaherty, Vindication follows a detective in the fictional small town of East Bank, Texas, as he works his way through 10 cases that form the 10 episodes of Season One. The show started from a short film by the same name in 2018, and O'Flaherty expanded the film into the investigative crime series. O'Flaherty says the film had a successful festival run, which gave him the idea to make it into a show.
O’Flaherty, 37, produced the series and wrote six of its episodes. Originally from Fort Worth, he says he wanted the show to be set in a small town, similar to the ones you pass on the way to Houston or Austin. Most of the big crime shows are based in big cities like New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago, but across the country are much smaller towns with their own issues.
For research, O’Flaherty didn’t watch other crime shows for inspiration. He called his brother-in-law who happens to be a detective in Texas. Otherwise, he took some artistic liberties in the show.
He says Vindication is safe enough for families to watch because it doesn't have all of the nudity, bloody graphics or offensive language.
Much of the cast is from or lives in the D-FW area, keeping that authentic Texas feel. Matthew Holmes, 26, moved to Dallas from Oklahoma after graduating from The University of Oklahoma in 2015. Holmes started working as a theater actor around Dallas, auditioned for another part in Vindication, and didn't get that part. O'Flaherty created another character on the show for Holmes named Kevin, who brings some comedic relief to the crime show, Holmes says.
Vindication can be streamed on Amazon Prime Video now, and you can follow the Instagram page for updates to the series at @vindicationseries.
