Critical reception

Nick Schager of The Daily Beast wrote: "The Truth About Jim falls a bit flat with its ultimate (lack of) revelations. In their place, it refocuses its attention on the therapeutic nature of Sierra's mission. Bringing together estranged mothers, children and siblings to air grievances, forgive, and face harrowing realities, Borgman's latest does its best to make itself less about its title subject than about the strong, courageous and united individuals who survived years of his cruelty."^[5] Chris Vognar of Rolling Stone wrote: "The series never really delves into a subtext that lingers around the edges: obsession, and what it can do to the obsessed. Barter is cast as the noble truth-seeker, which is fair enough. But a more complicated and potentially richer portrait could have gotten inside her head and explored what it feels like to be someone who turns a wall into a crime corkboard and tracks down a Zodiac Killer expert in San Francisco."^[6]

Daniel Kurland of Bloody Disgusting gave the series a three out of five stars, writing: "The Truth About Jim has good intentions and charts curious ground through its possible familial connection to a notorious serial killer. Not everything in this curious case study works and it sometimes feels as if it gets lost in the weeds. However, when it connects, it's powerful storytelling that proves that there's so much more to an investigation than simply results and proof."^[7]