Senior Frank Carreto holds a photo of Evan Peters playing Jeffrey Dahmer. Carreto watched the entire show and said, “It was a well documented series,”. Photo by Joshua Torres
Netflix’s latest series DAHMER – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story premiered September 21st. The show starring Evan Peters is the second most-watched English language series of all time.
The series is based on real-life events and follows the life of Serial Killer Jeffrey Dahmer. After the ruthless murders of 15 men, Dahmer was sentenced to 15 consecuitive life terms. The first episode of the series takes place in Milwaukee Wisconsin on July 22nd 1991, the day Dahmer was captured.
Viewers are first introduced to Dahmer with a warm welcome; Dahmer cleans his chainsaw that had the blood of a victim. After that, his neighbor, Glenda Clevand, played by actress Neicy Nash, stops him to complain about the chainsaw noise and terrible smell coming from his apartment, not being the first time she has complained about the stench.
This is the first time viewers get to see Dahmer interact with another person. Having to make up lies about what is really creating such a horrible smell, Evan Peters performs some incredible acting. Only using pauses and body movements, Peters depicts the creepy, emotionless and ostracized person Dahmer was.
Dahmer then goes to a gay bar with one objective: Find his latest victim. He would trick his victims by telling them he would give them some money if he could take some pictures of them at his apartment. After offering 3 African American men to his house, one decides to leave the bar with Dahmer. His name is Tracy Edwards played by Shaun Brown. Edwards, after realizing he is not there to be a model, begins to plan his escape. Managing to flee from the hands of Dahmer, Edwards finds policemen and watches Dahmer get arrested.
As the hook for the rest of the series “Episode One” did just that: it hooked the audience. I caught myself thinking thoughts such as “How is it possible he killed 17 men in an apartment full of neighbors?“ and “How could his neighbors go that long bearing dead human flesh smell?”. These questions along with others made it difficult to turn off the TV and write my first impressions.
Due to most of the episode taking place in Dahmer’s small apartment, the directors care little for cinematography or design; they held strong with incredible acting.
The best acting in “Episode One” can be given to Brown. Having to play the tough role of Tracy Edwards, Brown gives viewers insight on the fear Dahmer’s victims had during their last minutes alive. Edwards, drugged and fearing his death because of Dahmer, must stay sharp and do what Dahmer says in order to have a shot at making it out alive.
Overall, though lacking in cinematography and other aspects of film, “Episode One” left me with questions that must be answered. I will continue to watch the series and encourage both those who love true crime films and those who do not to watch it. I rate “Episode One” a 8.7 out of 10.
