American Vandal remains one of Netflix’s most heartbreaking cancelation casualties. The show proved it was unique in both concept and execution, despite its short, two-season run. The premise of the show centered around two amateur high school documentary filmmakers, Peter Maldonado (Tyler Alvarez) and Sam Eckland (Griffin Gluck), who take on minor misdemeanor cases in an attempt to prove the accused is not guilty and uncover the truth. Stylistically, the show is framed as a mockumentary, utilizing interviews, digital recreations and CCTV footage – the whole show is pieced together in the same manner as a true-crime documentary. However, the show balances its serious tone with the ridiculousness of the cases to create biting satire, never needing to stoop to slapstick humor. American Vandal criticizes the formulation of true crime whilst maintaining its own identity; it is truly one of a kind and deserves more recognition.
What Is ‘American Vandal’ About?
American Vandal’s first season is set in the aftermath of a prank that saw faculty cars vandalized with phallic images. The suspected culprit is Dylan Maxwell (Jimmy Tatro) who is renowned at Hanover High School as a class clown. However, Peter and Griffin begin to investigate the crime and uncover darker secrets lurking within the school. The presentation purposefully mirrors true-crime documentaries, so episodes end on huge cliffhangers that are tonally adjacent to the “nothing could’ve prepared them for what would happen next” trope. Despite these moments being a clear caricature of true crime, the plot twists and dramatic reveals are actually extremely well-crafted. Characters’ true natures are uncovered in ways that don’t jeopardize their characterization but also don’t teeter to an extremity that is unbelievable for high schoolers.
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The show gets extremely meta in the opening of its second season, in which a voiceover explains that the low-budget documentary got so popular that it was picked up by Netflix – and that is Season 1 of the show! It explains that Netflix helped them add drone shots and 3D animated recreations to allow the documentary to feel more polished and professional. The whole sequence is self-referential and gives the show so much personality and transparency. It is mocking the way technology is used to make true- crime shows even more invasive and detailed. However, the refined production makes the documentation even more detached from reality. Peter and Sam acknowledge this by telling the audience that, after the success of the first season, they were inundated with messages from people asking them to solve similar cases – with one even asking them to solve a real murder. Through this, American Vandal shows the separation between reality and dramatization.
‘American Vandal’ Criticizes the Glamorization of True Crime
American Vandal easily could’ve exhausted its format, but instead it implies the lead characters handpicked their next case because it was so compulsively different to all the other requests they were receiving. It gave the show the freedom to create a new, completely different crime and establish its anthology format, keeping the foundations of the mockumentary style but creating a vastly different scenario.
The extremity of the second season’s crime shows American Vandal’s commitment to pushing visual boundaries. The opening episode depicts the “brownout,” school-spread defecation after the canteen lemonade was laced with laxatives. The whole sequence is genuinely hard to watch because of its graphic nature. There are constant close-ups of students in compromising, uncontrollable situations and detailed descriptions of the events from eyewitnesses. But that is the point, the show is taking the indulgence in the extremity of true crime but showing it in the most unglamorized and crude manner. By showing something the audience actively looks away from, it offers a mirror into the morbid curiosity that encourages people to watch true crime.
‘American Vandal’ Was Canceled Too Soon
Despite its short run, American Vandal proved its adaptability and scope for longevity. The anthology format was rife for continuation, as the show was never tied to specific storylines. It has the addictive quality of true-but-stylized humor, allowing it to ooze self-awareness. It offered such a candid portrayal of high school, but also didn’t shy away from more serious topics. Since the show is framed as a real documentary, the episodes are interspersed with real facts about convictions. It would introduce you to a character who felt guilty before offering you a valid explanation for their actions, highlighting the danger of jumping to conclusions in criminal cases. This was most prominent in its use of authority figures: It showed how teachers abused their powers and how the police officers wore down their suspects to get a confession. This was preceded by a statistic that highlighted that minors are more likely to confess to crimes they haven’t done. It highlights the show’s ability to tackle real world injustices.
American Vandal takes on themes of isolation, the pressures of social media, and the viciousness of high school. The web of characters’ relationships feel realistic and this is maintained by its commitment to its candid documentary style. On the surface, it is a biting satire that picks fault with true crime, but a deeper look shows American Vandal is one of Netflix’s most underappreciated series of all time.
- Release Date
- September 15, 2017
- Main Genre
- Comedy
- Seasons
- 2
American Vandal is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
