Netflix’s Latest Top-Ranked Show Faces Backlash From Viewers and Critics For Being “Boring”
The third season of Netflix’s biographical crime anthology series Monster, titled The Ed Gein Story, has hit the streaming platform on October 3, and it’s already drawing strong reactions.
Created by Ian Brennan, the season focuses on infamous murderer and grave robber Ed Gein, played by Charlie Hunnam.
Other notable cast members include Laurie Metcalf as Gein’s mother Augusta, Tom Hollander as director Alfred Hitchcock, Olivia Williams as Hitchcock’s wife Alma Reville, and Joey Pollari as actor Anthony Perkins.
The season explores Gein’s life and crimes, which inspired famous horror films such as Psycho (1960), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), and The Silence of the Lambs (1991). However, critics have been largely unimpressed with this latest installment.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the season holds a 29% approval rating based on 17 reviews, while audience ratings on the platform show a 53% approval.
Reviewers have criticized the series for being tedious, confusing, and at times exploitative. Many feel that the storytelling is uneven, with an overemphasis on style rather than substance.
Critics also argue that the season humanizes Gein while trivializing his victims, making the portrayal feel insensitive and sensationalized. The eight-episode season is described as stretched and bloated, failing to fully engage viewers despite its notorious subject matter.
Monster season 3 only elicits unpleasantries – boredom, frustration, confusion, disgust. This isn’t just a botched series; it’s perverse & senseless.
Greg MacArthur
Monster: The Ed Gein Story edges on worship over storytelling, and having watched the series through for this review, I can’t help but feel worse about myself for doing so. But not even in an interesting way.
Kate Sánchez
Tawdry and campy, Ryan Murphy’s Monster: The Ed Gein Story turns a true horror into a fantastical hodgepodge of nonsense that humanizes the killer while trivializing his victims. DEATH ROW to whomever created this!
Joseph Robinson
Ryan Murphy’s tawdry formula of conjecture and embellishment feels more forced than usual in his third season of Monster, where a stretched, bloated 8-episodes attempt to pay homage to an O.G. serial killer – but only succeeds in killing the Gein Dream.
Nicholas Bell
Murphy and his team traffic in the grotesque nature of these events, never keep the focus on his [Gein’s] tale, and yet want us to feel shame at being entertained by true crime.
Alan French
Despite the backlash, Netflix has confirmed that a fourth season of Monster, this time focusing on Lizzie Borden, is currently in development.
While true crime dramas always carry a risk of controversy, this season seems to have misjudged the balance between historical accuracy and entertainment.
The next chapter in Netflix’s Monster anthology is here to haunt you. Monster: The Ed Gein Story drops in one week. pic.twitter.com/x3HmabiOcP
— Netflix (@netflix) September 26, 2025
The subject matter is dark and complex, and critics suggest that the series leans too heavily on shock value rather than meaningful storytelling. What do you think about Netflix taking these liberties with real-life crime stories? Share your thoughts in the comments.
