Worst Ex Ever on Netflix: Is the new true crime series worth watching?

Worst Ex Ever is the newest true-crime documentary series on Netflix. Coming from the creators of the hit series Worst Roommate Ever, the show consists of four 60-minute episodes in its first season and is already in talks for another run.

Worst Ex Ever made its premiere on Wednesdy, August 28, 2024, bringing four real-life stories of toxic and violent relationships. Each episode focuses on a different case, highlighting the extremes a relationship turned sour can go to and the fallacy of the legal system, which always tends to fall short in dealing with such issues.

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What is Worst Ex Ever all about?

The first season of Worst Ex Ever brings us four gripping tales of betrayal, violence and deceit.

These are told via testimonials, bodycam footage and animated reenactments to illustrate the grim reality faced by victims who find themselves involved in nightmarish situations involving a person they were once intimate with.

The four episodes in this true crime Netflix docuseries are:

• Dating the Devil is episode 1
• Betrayed by the Badge is episode 2
• Killing for Custody is episode 3
• Married to a Monster is episode 4

Worst Ex Ever aims to uncover the darker parts of relationships that often leave victims scared for their lives. The show has also released a trailer that gives us a glimpse of intense 911 calls, distressing police accounts and dramatic scenes of emergency responses the Netflix series brings.

The stories involve chilling plots like that of attempted murders or violent squatter situations, highlighting the dangerous sides of what comes off as normal relationships.

Formatted like a true-crime docuseries, Worst Ex Ever also brings to us accounts of official interventions in such situations, which, however, did nothing to prevent these incidents. That leaves us with a grim truth: there's no safety net for people who are in danger from someone close to them.

The show explores the skepticism around such reports of abuse from close ones and stories of how such prosecutions are dropped, sentences are shortened, and probationary tracking dies out, making a compelling case against the current crime-prevention system.

These four stories are gut-wrenchingly dramatic and horrific and compel us to question the mental stability of the accused. That makes it nothing short of a horror movie, which is the effect the show aims to achieve.

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Is the Netflix true-crime series worth the watch?

Focusing on telling stories of abuse with heavy reliance on the words of survivors, their families and friends, the series is a smart presentation with a unique format that blends true crime with elements of drama.

As opposed to relying on generic reenactments, a worn-out standard for true-crime shows , Worst Ex Ever uses animated sequences to depict incidents that are being recounted.

That gives us just enough distance from the terrible incident that's being recounted, allowing the viewer space to process the entire story. The stories are harrowing and bleak, which makes them difficult to stomach.

By choosing to go with an animated depiction, a level of palatability is added to the show that allows us to enjoy the series from the point of view of entertainment.

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In essence, Worst Ex Ever provides a chilling examination of real-life horror stories that makes us question the boundaries of morality and entertainment by being both entertaining and horrifying at the same time.

Catch the Netflix true-crime series out with its first season now on the streaming platform.