PLOT: From 1972 to 1978, thirty-three young men were kidnapped, murdered, and buried in a crawl space beneath their killer’s house. And no one was the wiser. Not for all those years. Why? He was charming and funny. Had a good, All-American job. Was a community leader. He even volunteered to entertain sick kids… while dressed as a clown. Devil In Disguise: John Wayne Gacy peels back the twisted layers of Gacy’s life while weaving in heartrending stories of his victims; exploring the grief, guilt, and trauma of their families and friends; and exposing the systemic failures, missed opportunities, and societal prejudices that fueled his reign of terror.
REVIEW: On the heels of Netflix’s latest entry in the Monster anthology, The Ed Gein Story, Peacock is delivering their own dramatic adaptation of a serial killer tale with Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy. Not to be confused with Peacock’s documentary series titled John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise (which is likely to confuse anyone anyway), the dramatic eight-part series chronicles the six-year spree of the Illinois man who would become known as the Killer Clown. Taking some dramatic liberties with the events of Gacy’s capture for the murder of Rob Piest, Devil in Disguise combines the investigation and trial of Gacy, along with flashbacks that add insight and depth to the multiple victims and how they fell prey to the murderer. It is an unconventional format compared to other recent true-crime series that puts the focus on the victims as much as the monster who took their lives.
Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy opens with the frantic search for Rob Piest (Ryker Baloun) by his mother, Elizabeth (Marin Ireland), and father, Harold (Greg Bryk), who last knew he was meeting with contractor John Wayne Gacy (Michael Chernus) for a job. The Piests go to the Des Plaines, Illinois, police, where Joe Kozenczak (James Badge Dale) assigns Detective Rafael Tovar (Gabriel Luna) to the case. By the end of the first episode, the investigation of Gacy shifts from surveillance of the contractor’s day-to-day activities to the revelation of what is hidden in the crawlspace of his Norwood Park home. The hints and teases in the opening episode are just a hint of what is to come across the series, as each chapter unveils the true darkness at the core of John Wayne Gacy. Each episode bears the name of one of Gacy’s victims, flashing back to show their lives leading to their deaths, along with the progression of Gacy’s life through his execution by lethal injection in 1994.
Most of Devil in Disguise takes place between 1976 and 1978 at the height of John Wayne Gacy’s murders, with the main cast inhabiting the horrors uncovered as the investigation took place. The cast is all solid, led by a career-best performance from Michael Chernus. Most recognizable from his roles in Severance, as well as Orange Is the New Black and Spider-Man: Homecoming, Chernus has been known mainly for his comedic roles, despite several dramatic turns. He brings a chilling physical resemblance to the real John Wayne Gacy and echoes the delivery and mannerisms from the copious interviews with the killer over the decades. Chernus presents Gacy as affable and likable, and when he switches into the darker aspects of his personality, it happens seamlessly, making it even more terrifying that this was a real person. I lived for years just miles from where Gacy murdered three dozen young men, and his legacy lives on for those who still reside in the area. The accuracy and realism of Devil in Disguise echoes what the suburban Illinois area looked like and stuck with me as I watched the series.
Unlike the brutal and macabre Monster: The Ed Gein Story, this series does not showcase reenactments of Gacy committing his crimes. In fact, virtually all of the deaths occur off-screen, with hints at the moments before and following Gacy’s horrific acts. Most of the series centers on the investigators and the trauma they experienced, as well as the attorneys on both sides of the case: Cook County prosecutor William Kunkle (Chris Sullivan) and Gacy’s defense attorney, Sam Amirante (Michael Angarano). Marin Ireland and Greg Bryk are at the forefront of the series as the most vocal family members fighting for Gacy’s prosecution, delivering brutally emotional moments in every episode. Augustus Prew portrays Gacy’s sole surviving victim, Jeffrey Rignall, who we see struggling with the aftermath of what Gacy did to him. The attention on the victims’ stories and their next of kin dealing with the horror story of Gacy’s trial and eventual execution does not lessen the chilling nature of this story, but it does transform it from being about the acts themselves to being about the injustice in how the police handled things.
The series is created by showrunner Patrick Macmanus (Dr. Death, The Girl From Plainville), who shares writing credits with Gregory Locklear, Matthew White, Yasmin Almanaseer, Ahmadu Garba, Ashley Michel Hoban, Larysa Kondracki, and Sebastian Rea. The eight-episode series was directed by MacManus, Hoban, Kondracki, Maggie Kiley, and Bille Woodruff. Producers of the Devil in Disguise documentary series, Sarah Bremner and Liz Cole, are credited as executive producers on the series. The series spends a lot of time showing the significant gaps in how law enforcement treated missing children, as well as the stigma against homosexuals that could have prevented countless Gacy victims from meeting their deaths. Each episode concludes with archival footage and photographs, as well as disclaimers that encourage viewers to contact organizations that can support at-risk teens, and provide instructions on how to contact the authorities if anyone can help identify the six remaining unnamed Gacy victims.
While John Wayne Gacy may not be as cinematic a killer as Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, or many others, his crimes are made even more evil due to his complete lack of remorse. Watching the documentary footage of Gacy is bone-chilling, but this series comes very close to dramatizing it. Michael Chernus gives the best performance to date as John Wayne Gacy, but it is the ensemble of actors playing the victims, family, and investigators that elevate this series. Devil in Disguise is a scary series, but in a very different way than other recent true crime series. This is one show you will not soon forget, and it works because of what it does not show, rather than being gory. Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy will make you uneasy and definitely think twice about why parents keep an eye on their kids as much as they do.
Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy premieres on October 16th on Peacock.
Source:
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