Less than a week after it premiered, Dahmer: Monster - The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, or better yet known simply as just Dahmer, has pulled in historically high numbers. According to Deadline, Dahmer has the fifth most-watched series premiere since Netflix debuted its remodeled viewership data in June. The only shows to beat Dahmer are Squid Game, All of Us Are Dead, Stranger Things Season 4, and Bridgerton Season 2. Perhaps the more important part is that Dahmer also beat limited series’ like Inventing Anna and You Season 3. The 196.2 million people that tuned in to the Evan Peters-led show proves that Netflix was right to ink American Horror Story creator, Ryan Murphy, into a five-year deal. True crime has always been somewhat of a bread-and-butter for Netflix. However, it’s hard to say if anyone ever expected Dahmer to become this big. Now that the show has blown up, some are expressing their concerns that this will encourage Netflix to invest in the same type of shows. Although the average audience probably won’t mind, critics aren’t all too happy with that possibility. In particular, there’s valid criticism about how these shows help sensationalize or even romanticize a convicted murderer. Even though Dahmer is a critical hit with incredible acting and was praised for how it shed light on the prevalent systemic racism in America, you can’t help but feel for the living relatives of those who are close to the murdered victims. It’s hard to deny that Peters’ performance in Dahmers is as gripping as it is horrifying. At the very least, Netflix will want to maintain this level of detail and quality in future true crime projects. It’s the least that the streaming giant can do.
