Overview

• The eight-episode season premiered October 3 on Netflix with Charlie Hunnam leading a high-profile cast.
• Viewers and critics fault the show for romanticizing or sensationalizing its subject, though performances and production design draw praise.
• Co-creator Ian Brennan and star Charlie Hunnam argue the season is a sincere study of mental illness and cultural voyeurism rather than glorification.
• Multiple outlets publish fact-checks noting invented or hallucinatory sequences and dramatized relationships, contrasting them with the verified record of two murders, grave robbing and lifelong institutionalization.
• Hunnam’s high-pitched vocal portrayal divides audiences, with the actor saying he drew on a rare recording and character research to shape the voice.