One of the Worst Crime Shows of the Last 10 Years Racked Up 415M Hours on Netflix

One of the Worst Crime Shows of the Last 10 Years Racked Up 415M Hours on Netflix The Netflix logo on a TVImage via Shutterstock/Federico Napoli By  Lloyd Farley Published Jan 31, 2026, 8:09 PM EST Lloyd 'Happy Trails' Farley: the man, the myth, the legend. What can be said about this amazing - and humble - man that hasn't been said before? Or, more accurately, what can be said in public? Born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Lloyd is a master of puns and a humorist, who has authored one pun book to date - Pun and Grimeish Mint - and is working on a second. His time with Collider has allowed Lloyd's passion for writing to explode, with nearly 1,000 articles to his name that have been published on the site, with his favorite articles being the ones that allow for his sense of humor to shine. Lloyd also holds fast to the belief that all of life's problems can be answered by The Simpsons, Star Wars, and/or The Lion King. You can read more about Lloyd on his website, or follow his Facebook page and join the Llama Llegion. Happy trails! Sign in to your Collider account Add Us On Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

For true-crime fans, Netflix is the place to find content. The genre consistently pays off for the streamer, with 48.1% of Netflix accounts in the U.S. tuned into true-crime titles in 2024 alone (and a whopping 60.7% of Canadians). Overall, Netflix rewards those viewers with quality productions, some of which are, refreshingly, victim-centric, like Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer.

Monster: The Ed Gein Story is neither. It is not good, to say the least, and stands as one of the worst crime shows of the last 10 years. It even bests — or worsts, as it were — Ryan Murphy's previous installment in his Monster series, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, one of his lowest-rated series, scoring a woeful 21% on Rotten Tomatoes against the latter's 45%. Yet, somehow, the series racked up 415M viewing hours between July and December 2025, making it the most-watched true-crime offering on the streamer, well ahead of runner-up Sean Combs: The Reckoning's 209M. Monster: The Ed Gein Story isn't the first critically-lambasted project to draw in viewers, of course, but given the reasons why it earned such scorn, that lofty viewership is concerning.

The Sins of 'Monster: The Ed Gein Story' Are Plentiful

One would expect that a Rotten Tomatoes bottom-dweller like Monster: The Ed Gein Story would be full of bad acting and questionable production values. Only that isn't the case, with Us Weekly, for one, citing "the ensemble cast’s across-the-board great performances and some stellar production design as well." So, in essence, the series earns its critical derision on the story itself, with its host of sins made palpable by its exceptional cast, which explains, to a degree, that high viewership.

The most prominent issue is with Ed Gein (Charlie Hunnam) himself. The series sets up the ruthless serial killer, who didn't see people as human beings, as a quiet, small-town boy who didn't know any better, as much a victim as those he victimized. As viewers, we are practically being railroaded into feeling empathetic towards Gein, who only became a killer because of mental illness, an abusive and zealously religious mother, Augusta (Laurie Metcalf), and a girlfriend, Adeline Watkins (Suzanna Son), who is as obsessed with death as he is.

Related Did Ed Gein Help Catch Ted Bundy? The Bizarre 'Monster' Storyline, Explained

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To bolster that narrative, Monster: The Ed Gein Story takes great liberties with the tale, historical accuracy be damned. The most egregious is its depiction of Adeline Watkins, a real person who knew Gein but only briefly and distantly. She has denied claims about a romance with the killer, and there is absolutely no record that she shared his obsessions or even knew about his vile crimes, contrary to how she is depicted. Likewise, the reveal of Gein aiding the FBI in catching Ted Bundy is a complete fabrication, seemingly added to offer Gein some redemption for his crimes, the ones we're led to believe he was never wholly to be blamed for in the first place.

The Success of 'Monster: The Ed Gein Story' Is Troubling

Any effort that Murphy may have had to make a comment about people's fascination with serial killers fails miserably, hidden behind titillating images and gratuitousness. Yet, ironically, Monster: The Ed Gein Story does succeed on the back of people's fascination with serial killers. Presumably, it's our innate curiosity to try and understand and conceptualize evil. Simply put, there must be a reason why serial killers kill, because without one we are simply unable to fathom anyone doing evil for evil's sake.

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That is where the success of Monster: The Ed Gein Story becomes troublesome. The series gives a reason why Gein is the way he is, and truth doesn't matter when it gets in the way of making Gein empathetic, interesting, and compelling. Victims just aren't as captivating, and this series, more than most, says next to nothing about them. It would be one thing if only a handful of people watched it, but the untruths, the flat-out lies, the justification for Gein's acts, and the utter abandonment of his victims, without accountability, are now in the minds of millions of viewers, the ones who make up that 415M hours. And in a world where researching truth is a dying art, where the media controls the narrative about people, and where there is no longer an absolute definition of what makes a monster, knowing that even a handful of people are likely to believe Murphy's skewed account is a damning, horrible indictment of society. A society that rewards Monster: The Ed Gein Story.

Monster: The Ed Gein Story TV-MA Drama Crime 2 10 Release Date 2025 - 2025-00-00

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