Dark tales of our connected age

American Vandal brings out the deeply invasive nature of social media, among other things

In its first season, the Netflix Original series American Vandal looked at the case of Dylan Maxwell, a delinquent who painted penises on the cars of his school teachers. The fictional show followed the true-crime format, interviewing students and members of the staff to zero down on Mr Maxwell’s guilt. 

The show worked because it combined high investigation with unsophisticated humour. Peter Maldonado (Tyler Alvarez) and Sam Ecklund (Griffin Gluck), the teen detectives who worked on the case, brought a charming honesty to their mission, even when it was uncovering something that is harder to discuss in polite society than the