Exploring How Binge-Watching Enhances True-Crime Series Viewing Experiences
Rachel Davis
Published May 17, 2026
By Published May 5, 2026, 9:04 AM EDT Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies, television, culture, and politics online and in print since 2017. He worked as a Senior Editor in Adbusters Media Foundation from 2018-2019 and wrote for WhatCulture in early 2026. He has been a Senior Features Writer for ScreenRant since 2026. Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like 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
While has produced plenty of true-crime shows over the years, the streaming service also created the greatest parody of the phenomenon to date, and it’s a show that requires repeat viewings. Certain Netflix shows can be better depending on how viewers consume them. For example, could be viewed like a typical network TV procedural series, with viewers checking out a new episode every week. However, with its sprawling story, complex in-universe science, and delicately linked characters, 3 Body Problem works much better as a binge-watch.
This sci-fi series is hardly the only show to benefit from binge-watching, as this same approach allows viewers to speed run the lesser first season of Netflix’s BoJack Horseman and get to the meat of the acclaimed dark dramedy sooner. However, there are other shows that need different approaches. are so tense that, upon first viewing, audience members are likely to miss out on a lot of character beats and clever story details since they spend so much time gripping the edge of their seats.
Thus, these two classics are a pair of shows that benefit from a second viewing, when viewers are already aware of all the big twists that are on the way and can luxuriate in the clever character writing. Similarly, Netflix’s superb true crime parody series is a completely different viewing experience depending on whether audience members are seeing it for the first or second time. On second viewing, it’s a hilarious spoof, but on first watch, American Vandal is also a genuinely thrilling, unpredictable mystery series.
Netflix’s American Vandal Is A Brilliant Mystery On First Viewing
Released in 2017, American Vandal season 1 was created by Dan Perrault. The series follows a pair of teenage wannabe documentarians who, inspired by their love of true crime, launch an independent investigation into the question of who vandalized their high school faculty’s cars with crude drawings of male genitalia. While this might sound like an inherently absurd, low-stakes mystery, the funniest twist in the show’s premise is that American Vandal plays its central story completely straight, and it’s a genuinely unpredictable, engrossing show as a result.
Although almost everyone blames the vandalism on Jimmy Tatro’s gormless class clown Dylan, the pair of documentarians have reason to believe that Dylan is innocent. However, if the duo hopes to clear Dylan’s name, they’ll need to find out who really did draw the dicks, and this means delving into the complex social hierarchy of their high school mere weeks before graduation. This setup turns American Vandal into both a bittersweet coming-of-age dramedy and an authentically suspenseful mystery series, where every classmate is a suspect.
With a supporting cast including Lukas Gage, Eduardo Franco, and Saxon Shabiro, is as compelling as the central mystery in 13 Reasons Why, even if it is far lighter and less consequential. The possibility that Dylan’s future will be unfairly tarnished if he is framed seems genuinely poignant, and viewers end up authentically caring about both the documentary’s creators and the peers they are investigating. As goofy as the premise is, it doesn’t take long before viewers are just as invested as a gossipy real-life teen would be.
American Vandal Is Also The Best True Crime Parody Yet
On first viewing, American Vandal is full of funny moments and hilarious lines, as the pair of deadpan, self-serious protagonists look into claims about who gave who a hand job with the gravity of a murder investigation. However, when viewers return to the series already knowing how American Vandal season 1 ends, the show really gets to shine on a re-watch. The central mystery has a satisfying conclusion, even though, true to the true crime genre, it is not a definitive one.
This means that, on second viewing, the character comedy becomes American Vandal’s main appeal instead of its unexpectedly propulsive mystery story, and it’s a great series all over again as viewers get to enjoy the silliness without being as laser-focused on the plot’s outcome. Like , American Vandal is populated by hilarious characters, but viewers are so engrossed by the mystery plot that they are likely to miss out on some of the show’s funniest gags the first time around.
There have been a plethora of true crime parodies in the years since American Vandal was canceled after 2018’s season 2. Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building, Netflix’s Bodkin, and Peacock’s Based on a True Story all spoofed the conventions of the genre from different angles, poking fun at nosy podcasters, tastelessly exploitative cash-ins, and the cliché storytelling tropes that will already be familiar to true-crime fans. However, none of these later shows could match American Vandal’s unexpectedly thoughtful satirical approach to the true-crime genre itself, as the show challenged the entire format in its thoughtful ending.
American Vandal’s Season 2 Cancellation Couldn’t Have Been Worse Timed
American Vandal's season 1 ending sees the show’s two young documentarians question whether they should have intervened and investigated the case at all, since their attempts to remain impartial did not stop them from impacting the outcome. It’s an authentic moral quandary that too many real-life true-crime shows and podcasts fail to address, and it is fascinating that it took a playful parody of the phenomenon to tackle this thorny issue. Sadly, during the show’s run and, ironically, the underrated show was canceled before the true crime boom even began in earnest.
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True crime has its roots in decades of documentaries, but the podcast format saw the genre explode in popularity in the early 2020s. American Vandal was already canceled by 2018, well before true crime had become a major mainstream trend, and over a year before its massive COVID-era popularity boom. The show was ahead of its time, as it wasn’t until 2026 that My Favorite Murder was among the most popular podcasts in the world, and Tiger King became one of Netflix’s biggest hits to date. As such, American Vandal was sadly missed by many true crime aficionados.
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