S01.E06: Silenced

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Quote

Aspiring model Tony moves to Madison and meets Jeff at a bar, beginning a relationship through handwritten notes that takes a dark turn.

Original streaming date 2022.09.21

[Zima]

This episode made me cry. 

[ShadowHunter]

9 hours ago, Zima said:

This episode made me cry. 

Agreed. This is one of Ryan's better shows. This stuff is sad and you definitely feel frustrated watching it. 

[Straycat80]

19 hours ago, Zima said:

This episode made me cry. 

Me too. This episode bothered me the most. You got to know the victim. Poor Tony. 

[Meedis]

Co-sign, co-sign, co-sign.   Felt so sad for Tony.   All the obstacles he had to deal with....and then he meets Dahmer.   

[Liamsmom617]

This one was particularly heartbreaking. But I’m a little confused… It looks like Tony did return after a week as promised so why was Jeffrey pissed off at him? He didn’t seem to have an emotional attachment to many of the others he killed so I’m just curious as to what happened with this one.

[Zima]

14 hours ago, Liamsmom617 said:

This one was particularly heartbreaking. But I’m a little confused… It looks like Tony did return after a week as promised so why was Jeffrey pissed off at him? He didn’t seem to have an emotional attachment to many of the others he killed so I’m just curious as to what happened with this one.

Jeff was about to kill Tony, but he let him go. Just moments later, Tony returned because he forgot something. Jeff then made the decision to go ahead and kill him. 

[Schweedie]

On 9/23/2022 at 5:15 AM, Liamsmom617 said:

This one was particularly heartbreaking. But I’m a little confused… It looks like Tony did return after a week as promised so why was Jeffrey pissed off at him? He didn’t seem to have an emotional attachment to many of the others he killed so I’m just curious as to what happened with this one.

The time jumps confused me at first, too, until I realised it was a flashback. They made it seem like they spent more time together than the one night. But yeah, Dahmer apparently had an obsession with not being left (whether that was true in real life I have no idea) so although he managed to let him go once, he couldn't do it again. The desire to "keep" Tony ended up being too much.

I'm not sure how much of this story, the whole emotional attachment thing, was true, though. All I know about Dahmer comes from Wikipedia and that just says he lured Tony Hughes to his apartment to take photos and then killed him. So dramatic license, I'm guessing.

[hoodooznoodooz]

I wonder if, initially, Jeff thought Tony might not try to leave him, and didn’t drug him, because he was deaf? Tony wasn’t “perfect” either, so maybe Tony would not leave someone like Jeff?

[casachess]

Oh my gosh. This episode made me ugly cry. Tony's life and story and death... just broke my heart.

[gesundheit]

On 9/24/2022 at 5:00 AM, Schweedie said:

The time jumps confused me at first, too, until I realised it was a flashback. They made it seem like they spent more time together than the one night.

Yeah, I couldn't tell if we were meant to think they'd been dating but only out (like meeting up at the club a few times, going for food, etc.), and of course he kills him the first time he actually comes back to the apartment-- but like everyone else, I'm not sure if any of that is true.

I think this was a really well-made episode in that we got a clear POV for both Jeff and Tony, but I didn't feel like I was being guided to root for Jeffrey to "find love and give up his murdering ways" or whatever. I literally only hoped for Tony to get away from the monster. I hope this wasn't all just invented for the show, because it's so important to portray the real victims as three-dimensional humans.

Papa Dahmer did break my heart this episode, though.

Oh and, the phone calls to victims' families telling them they should stop looking for their loved ones? That was real. Just... why. It's amazing how I assumed this show couldn't make me think even worse of him because that seemed impossible. And yet.

Edited September 27, 2022 by gesundheit

[Scarlett45]

I recalled seeing Rodney Burford (who played Tony) on Deaf U (Netflix documentary). He is a good actor! The costume and hair team did a great job because he did look so “90s” and the type of look that was in fashion for black men in that time. 

[Scarlett45]

On 9/27/2022 at 12:06 PM, gesundheit said:

Yeah, I couldn't tell if we were meant to think they'd been dating but only out (like meeting up at the club a few times, going for food, etc.), and of course he kills him the first time he actually comes back to the apartment-- but like everyone else, I'm not sure if any of that is true.

I think this was a really well-made episode in that we got a clear POV for both Jeff and Tony, but I didn't feel like I was being guided to root for Jeffrey to "find love and give up his murdering ways" or whatever. I literally only hoped for Tony to get away from the monster. I hope this wasn't all just invented for the show, because it's so important to portray the real victims as three-dimensional humans.

Papa Dahmer did break my heart this episode, though.

Oh and, the phone calls to victims' families telling them they should stop looking for their loved ones? That was real. Just... why. It's amazing how I assumed this show couldn't make me think even worse of him because that seemed impossible. And yet.

Yes, the way the storyline was presented, Jeff and Tony had been seeing each other but Tony hadn't gone back to his apartment yet (they had just been meeting in public places when Tony came home to visit). Tony goes back to his apartment, they have sex, Tony leaves promising he is going to come back next week, but he forgets his key- Jeff kills him. 

(regarding the bolded, mine) I just cannot. You murder these men in cold blood, and then call their families? In Jeff's mind he probably felt he was doing the families a favor- dude stop KILLING PEOPLE!

 

On 9/25/2022 at 1:11 AM, hoodooznoodooz said:

I wonder if, initially, Jeff thought Tony might not try to leave him, and didn’t drug him, because he was deaf? Tony wasn’t “perfect” either, so maybe Tony would not leave someone like Jeff?

I dont think Jeff didnt want to be "emotionally left" he liked having sex with unresponsive bodies (hence the mannequin and drugging guys in the bathhouse), he eventually escalates to killing and using parts of the corpse as trophies. He wants to "possess". I do actually believe he wasn't motivated by race or racism, he preyed on men he thought were beautiful, and he was poor, so that put him near poor communities of color. Had he been located in a racially homogenous community, he would've preyed on whatever attractive men were available. That doesn't make it BETTER (the men are dead regardless of the reason) but that I do believe him when he said that. I think a lot of sexual predators aren't necessarily motivated by race, they are predators, its who is easy prey (for whatever reason- proximity, money, social status etc).