In 2015, the true crime genre achieved a great deal of major mainstream success. Making A Murderer, Serial, and The Jinx, all released in the same year to critical praise and incredible popularity. These were all high-quality programs, delivering suspense and intrigue, all while remaining factually accurate. During this true-crime genre popularity, the creators of American Vandal saw an opportunity. A satire on this genre had the potential to be immensely popular and hilarious. That’s exactly what American Vandal is.

When I first heard of American Vandal, I honestly had very low expectations. I imagined a low-budget parody, cashing on in on the success of Making A Murderer and the like. American Vandal is nothing like this. It is smartly crafted, suspenseful, hilarious, and even touches on real issues at points.

Comedy In The Premise
The show’s first stroke of genius comes with its premise. The two seasons of American Vandal center around two high-school students creating a documentary investigating juvenile crimes taking place at the school. This gives the show a realistic reason for taking such a deep dive into these high-school “crimes.” It also creates an interesting dynamic between the documentary “creators,” Peter Maldonado and Sam Ecklund, and the subjects of the documentary. In shows like Making A Murderer, you rarely see the interviewees interact with the interviewer outside of the official interviews. American Vandal creates characters out of its two “creators,” giving them motivations, ambitions, and personalities.

The first season of American Vandal focused on a student getting expelled from high school accused of spraypainting teachers’ cars. The show investigates these crimes to discover if the true culprit was discovered. The second season focuses on a different crime at a different school. A public nuisance known only as “The Turd Burglar,” commits various poop-related crimes, including contaminating the school’s lemonade with laxatives, causing students to defecate in the hallways. At first blush, these crimes seem juvenile and low-stakes. While this may be partly true, if these crimes did occur in the real world, it would be a big deal, especially within the school. Much of American Vandal’s humor comes from the characters taking these issues incredibly seriously. As Sam Eklund states in Season 2 — “Poop is funny,” and this is true. Teachers with a straight-face talking to a camera about the “Turd Burglar,” never gets old.

Despite this, the show also manages to treat these crimes with an appropriate amount of tact. In the second season of the show, specifically, the crimes get very dark towards the end. American Vandal does not shy away from getting serious as the crimes get serious. Without spoiling anything, the end of Season 2 features an uncharacteristically inspiring monologue from “filmmaker” Peter Maldonado. I wasn’t expecting the season to end on such a melancholically sensitive note, and this made it even more impactful.

Portrayal Of High School

Something that struck me about American Vandal is its incredibly realistic portrayal of high school life and students. Every character feels real and apart of a cohesive world. While many of the characters could fall into classic archetypes, I can easily imagine any of these kids going to my high school. This realism speaks to the incredible writing featured on the show. Every line makes sense and the interviews feel natural, while still remaining hilarious and suspenseful.

What contributes most to this realism is the outstanding performance by all of the leading actors. In Season 1, the protagonist was Dylan Maxwell, an accused vandal, portrayed by Jimmy Tatro. He has very strong character traits that make him enjoyable to watch, while still being down-to-earth enough that he captures a realistic persona.

Season 2 is led by two primary protagonists, Kevin McClain and DeMarcus Tillman, portrayed by Travis Tope and Marvin Gregg, respectively. They both have clear personalities that help move the story forward. Kevin McClain is a type of person that many people can recognize. He’s an Android snob, wears trenchcoats, drinks tea, and thinks he’s smarter than everyone else. This sounds like an unlikeable character on paper, but since his first appearance in the show, he became a standout favorite character of mine. It is very easy to empathize with Kevin and the audience absolutely wants him to succeed. This speaks to the great performance given by Travis Tope.

Of all the characters featured in Season 2 of American Vandal, the most believable and enjoyable to watch is basketball star DeMarcus Tillman, played by Mervin Gregg. He plays an all-star basketball player at a prestigious Catholic prep school. DeMarcus walks around campus high-fiving everyone, shouting out nicknames and acts like he owns the place — because he does. Anyone who’s in high school can imagine this character. Everyone loves him and he loves everyone. Gregg plays this character incredibly well. He never seemed to be acting. I believed that he was this character. American Vandal is elevated immensely by the fantastic performances by all of the young actors.

Strength In The Details

In true crime shows, details are very important. The investigators look at every fact in front of them to piece together the clues. This is true as well in American Vandal. Every shot is crafted wonderfully, giving an incredible amount of details in a short amount of time, to be deconstructed by Peter Maldonado and Sam Eklund. Every mannerism, stutter, movement, and expression is important. Viewers can follow along and piece together the clues themselves just as they would a non-satire like Serial. While American Vandal is exaggerated and satirical, it still falls into the true-crime genre, in the sense that it takes the best parts of the genre and utilizes it within the show.

American Vandal has quickly become one of my favorite shows of all-time. The smartly constructed storylines, outstanding performances from all actors, and the attention to detail, all meld together to create one of the best television experiences in recent years. The juvenile nature of the crimes presented makes for hilarious scenes, while still tackling topics with a sense of sincerity and tastefulness. I cannot wait for a potential Season 3 of American Vandal, and I’m excited to see the crime that Peter and Sam tackle next.