What to Watch: American Vandal
Welcome to "Watch to Watch" - the section of my Musings where I elaborate on shows (and sometimes movies) that I feel have been under-loved. If you trust my taste enough to be reading this, may I humbly suggest you watch...
American Vandal - Netflix
Ok, I know you have access to Netflix. Someone in your life has Netflix. And Netflix's business model of "an original series for every subscriber we have...like, literally" seems to be working out for them. Many of their great shows have gotten the recognition they deserve - Black Mirror, Stranger Things, A Series of Unfortunate Events - and I whole heartedly recommend them as well (for a list of Netflix shows I do NOT recommend, reach out to me). But this hilarious and, yes, devastating show has been under the radar for way too long. A victim of the deluge of original content the platform has released...
But no more! It's time to let this baby have its well-deserved spotlight.
In a nutshell, this is a mockumentory in the style of Making a Murder (another Netflix hit) where an intrepid reporting team attempts to uncover the truth of a heinous crime and perhaps exonerate the man accused of doing it. But this team consists of two high school AV club nerds and the crime in question is not murder but vandalism. Yes, the odious act at the center of this show is that someone spray-painted penises on the cars of twenty-seven faculty members.
#whodrewthedicks
Please don't stop reading!
It's a hard sell - I get that. And, look, toilet humor isn't my favorite either but this is some of the best toilet humor I've seen. Period. Including, but not limited to, the greatest (at the very least, funniest) crime scene recreation ever shown.
The first episode or so does coast by on all the dick jokes you can imagine but it becomes clear pretty quickly that this is actually an incredibly well-crafted mystery show. As new information surfaces, the viewers find that what started out as a harmless prank is just the tip of the iceberg in this high school community rocked by scandal. No character is what you judge them to be, and each answer only raises more questions. And it was around episode 5 (of 8 total in the first season) that I realized I was becoming emotionally involved - it's not funny anymore, show, who drew the fucking dicks?!
Be reassured - the series ends with a pretty clear answer to the question, though lead reporter Peter Maldonado (played by the pretty fantastic Tyler Alvarez) hedges the theory due to lack of hard evidence (pun intended - it's a show about spray-painted dicks, what do you want from my life?). Still, the humanizing of stoner Dylan Maxwell (Jimmy Tatro in the role he was born to play) to the point where you actually cry for him is a pretty remarkable feat.
If that's not a relatable character, I don't know what is
So, check it out! And check back from time to time for more What to Watch!