Summary
Don’t judge a book by its cover — be careful who you live with.
Netflix’s true-crime series Worst Roommate Ever Season 1 was released on the streaming service on March 1, 2022.
We’ve all more than likely lived with someone at one point who has been annoying and difficult. From leaving toilet seats up, not filling the dishwasher properly, loud music, parties, and so on… but this series will make all your nightmare roommates look like angels. We have a roommate culture, it helps us save money, make friends, and, in some cases, keeps us safe. This series might scare you from ever sharing your space with a stranger again.
Despite the cheesy title, this series packs a punch with serial killer roommates from around the world. This five-part series will fascinate you as you learn about the true stories of people that have moved in with strangers, for them to have been the cohabits from hell. In extreme cases, these people have been conned and killed. Each episode has a running time between forty minutes and an hour, with only five episodes it doesn’t feel drawn out or over-produced to either exploit or for the intention of getting more views.
In the first episode, we witness the story of the “Death House Landlady”, who killed nine people throughout the eighties. Slowly poisoning them to death, stealing their money and possessions, and burying them in the back garden, Dorothea Puente died in prison but still pleaded her innocence.
The second episode opens with a scary 9-1-1 call from a woman who is afraid of her roommate. You know this isn’t going to end well. “Be careful of the quiet ones” – this episode felt like something that could quite easily happen to the everyday person. In episode three we are deceived by an athlete who tries to hide his true self. Then the final two episodes are about the same criminal since one episode wasn’t enough. Basically, the motto from these episodes is don’t trust anyone.
There are interviews with friends, family, detectives, and specialists to unravel these insane stories. This is storytelling in the best way for me. No dramatic music or lighting. Real footage, and then comic-strip style animation to fill in the gaps of the story, and interviews that are not in perfectly crafted spaces, just in their homes with the background blurred out. It’s very well produced, with a strong focus on victims.
This series is a great watch and will definitely hit your crime series fix. I will be surprised if more episodes or seasons don’t come out as I bet there are so many more cases like this out there. I’d recommend you watch it if you’re a fan of true crime, enjoy watching series over documentary films, and/or if you’re a fan of the series Catching Killers which is also on Netflix.
What did you think of Netflix’s true-crime series Worst Roommate Ever? Comment below.
