Overview

• The eight-episode season premiered on October 3 and is prompting widespread discussion about its tone, truthfulness and use of graphic material.
• Critical notices lean negative, with the Sydney Morning Herald labeling the show “repellent” and criticizing its focus and fictional gambits.
• Viewers are debating Charlie Hunnam’s high, childlike delivery, which he and director Max Winkler say was informed by scarce archival audio and character affectations.
• Fact-checks circulating alongside reviews reiterate the historical record: two confirmed murders, admitted grave exhumations and decades of institutionalization until Gein’s 1984 death.
• Coverage highlights prominent fabrications, including an alleged killing inside an institution and a dramatized tie to a later infamous case, as well as a contested portrayal of Adeline Watkins as a long-term romantic partner.