Dahmer viewers say ‘heart-wrenching’ Tony Hughes ‘Silenced’ episode should get awards

Published 09:16 27 Sept 2022 BST

Tobi Akingbade

Dahmer viewers say ‘heart-wrenching’ Tony Hughes ‘Silenced’ episode should get awards

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'I'm bawling my eyes out'

Viewers watching Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story on Netflix are calling for its most heartbreaking episode to win an award. The story of Jeffrey Dahmer has fascinated those interested in true-crime for years and now the horrific deeds of the serial killer are coming back into the limelight due the Netflix series, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. The series follows the infamous Milwaukee serial killer who murdered 17 people between 1978 and 1991 - many of whom were young, gay African Americans.

However, episode six, titled ‘Silenced’, has been a stand-out among fans, who have praised the show's creators for taking great care to present Tony Hughes as a person first, ahead of being another one of Dahmer’s victims.

Tony was murdered by Dahmer in 1991, and was the killer's twelfth victim. [caption id="attachment_360743" align="alignnone" width="1114"]

Tony was murdered by Dahmer in 1991. Credit: Tony Hughes/File photo[/caption]

"When it first happened, I thought I would lose my mind,″ his mother, Shirley Hughes, told The Associated Press in 1992.

According to one reviewer for Decider, not only is Tony's one of the more emotional episodes of the series that left viewers in tears.

In the episode, viewers get to see Tony growing up, spending time with his family, his friends, and after learning one of his friends was found murdered, he vows to take charge of his own future and follow his dreams of modelling. [caption id="attachment_360745" align="alignnone" width="1120"]

Jeffrey Dahmer in court. Picture: Getty Images[/caption]

As Tony was deaf, a lot of the scenes are deliberately muffled and deprived of clear sound, but the focus is very much on him as a person rather than his disability. Netflix fans are left egging Tony on in his search for love and by the time he meets Dahmer, it seems like that could happen. But Dahmer is a serial killer.

While the series has faced some backlash for humanising Dahmer too much, this episode is being applauded for how it deals with his victim's story. Viewers flocked to Twitter with their takes: https://twitter.com/LolaCookie8/status/1573516800200884225 https://twitter.com/H8Chief/status/1573062124552990720 https://twitter.com/etha_94/status/1573753916373835780 https://twitter.com/enFOURcerFA2k6/status/1574244919778201600

https://twitter.com/CMoviemaker/status/1574499393532993537 This comes as Netflix appears to have removed the LGBTQ tag on its new Jeffrey Dahmer series following a backlash. The fact it was categorised under Netflix's LGBTQ has made many question wether it is the representation they are looking for. A TikToker said she was 'livid' and 'flabbergasted' about the tag, highlighting that the show was tagged as both 'LGBTQ' and 'Horror'. Highlighting the LGBTQ tag, she said it 'associates us with a literal serial unaliver, cannibal, amongst other things I'm not sure I can say on this app'. She added: "Jeffrey Dahmer is not the queer representation that we want, asked for, need - nothing." As for the horror tag, she said: "I feel like horror implies a certain level of fiction and whimsy that is entirely non-existent and inappropriate for this situation." Another added: "If I need to stay in my lane absolutely tell me but anyone else think it’s pretty gross of Netflix to list Dahmer under LGBTQ, especially when the True Crime tag would have worked?" Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is available to stream on Netflix now. Related links:

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