American Vandal (Season 1)
Taking the format of a documentary shot by High Schooler Peter Maldonado (Tyler Alvarez), American Vandal is a razor-sharp skewering of the true-crime documentaries that increasingly fill the airwaves and keep viewers in suspense as to the guilt or innocence of the accused. With all the attendant mystery surrounding possible miscarriages of justice, the series presents itself as a spotlight on the kind of social stigma that can impact the educational careers of children.
The show is created by Dan Perrault and Tony Yacenda (who directs the series in its entirety), and has a very simple premise: somebody has vandalized the cars of 27 faculty members in the staff parking lot, by spray-painting them with phallic images. Renowned High School prankster Dylan Maxwell (Jimmy Tatro) stands accused, and is suspended from school while senior management investigate. Dylan proclaims his innocence, however, and Peter resolves to uncover the truth with his documentary.
The story has a great many twists and turns, as Peter methodically sifts through evidence and testimony to create a picture of what happened on the day in question. It leads him to delve into the relationship and behavioural histories of other students, which poses ethical dilemmas and causes friction between the young filmmaker and his team. It also leads him to pick apart the attitudes of the adults associated with the situation – some of whom are then revealed to be very different from the professional personas they’ve carefully constructed.
While Tyler Alvarez delivers a great performance as the idealistic and driven young documentarian, the real revelation here is Jimmy Tatro as Dylan Maxwell. Over the course of eight episodes, he paints a complex portrait of a young man whose vulnerabilities are locked down beneath an extrovert mask, and who’s in grave danger of resigning himself to the role handed him by society at large.