HBO Max's 'The Staircase' Will Examine The Owl Theory - Here's What That Is

The first three episodes of The Staircase are streaming now on HBO Max and fans have a lot of questions already.

One of the most asked about questions of the series is all about the owl theory that some have attributed to the killing of Kathleen Peterson.

JustJared.com is breaking down what the owl theory actually is and why it’s important to not only the series but the case as well.

Click inside to read more…

Showrunners Antonio Campos and Maggie Cohn told press outlets that the show will definitely be examining that theory in the mini docu-series, which stars Colin Firth and Toni Collette as Michael and Kathleen Peterson.

“We will address the Owl Theory,” Antonio said in a recent interview, adding that they “took it as seriously as any other theory. So you’ll get a deep dive.”

So, what exactly is The Owl Theory?

The Owl Theory was first presented as a possible reason for Kathleen’s death from T. Lawrence Pollard, who was an attorney and neighbor of the couple in Durham, North Carolina.

He was examining files related the case where he picked up that forensics specialists that examined a clump of hair pulled out by the roots in Kathleen hand contained microscopic owl feathers along with a wooden sliver.

Barred owls are native to that area of North Carolina, and while rare, they had been known to attack humans.

This is where the Owl Theory is born as Pollard theorized that Kathleen may have been outside when one such owl swooped down and attacked her to the point of ripping deep lacerations into her skull.

Running to escape, and adding in the amount of intoxicants that were already in her blood stream, she could have more prone to falling. He also asserted that she maybe attempted to climb the stairs and fell, bleeding out where she landed.

“I think we’ve entered a time in society where we feel that things are black and white, that there’s only one way to see something, and if you don’t see it my way, then you’re wrong,” Maggie said at the press event of the theories surrounding her death.

She added, “I think what’s interesting about this is it’s an opportunity to show multiple perspectives of the same incident and to make people comfortable, ultimately, with the gray, with saying that, ‘I might not know what happened, but now I have a better idea of how something like this could happen.’”

New episodes of The Staircase will debut on Thursdays on HBO Max. You can watch the original documentary on Netflix.

Just recently, Colin opened up about why he didn’t speak to Michael Peterson about the role.