Charlie Hunnam has explained the bizarre dance sequence which occurs in the final episode of the new Netflix show about notorious serial killer Ed Gein.
The actor plays Gein in the new season of Monster, the Ryan Murphy serial killer anthology show which previously covered Jeffrey Dahmer and the Menendez brothers.
The show has been controversial, as each previous season of Monster has been, with some criticising Hunnam’s attempt at Ed Gein’s accent and others calling out inaccuracies in the story.
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The TV series is full of utterly shocking moments, from Gein’s murders to the horrific clothes and furniture he made from the skin and bones of scavenged bodies.
Bizarrely, however, this horrific gore may not be the most shocking moment for many, but the dance sequence that represents Gein’s death in the finale.
The killer, who lived out the rest of his life in a psychiatric hospital before dying from lung cancer, is led through the asylum whilst the orderlies, fans of Gein, and other serial killers that the series suggests were influenced by him, dance.
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Set to 'Owner of a Lonely Heart' by Yes, this culminates in him walking up a flight of stairs to be met by his mother.
She tells him she is proud of him for how he ‘changed the world’ in inspiring numerous pop culture serial killers, and points to his many fans as people who think he is the ‘bees knees’.
The sequence - which is one of many moments where the series jumps between Gein's life, his hallucinations and the inspiration he had on filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock - is also one which baffled viewers.
"They always add that crazy creepy dance scene to every Ed Gein movie," wrote one view on X, while another person branded the scene one of many 'unwatchable' moments in the show, writing: "Wtf was that ending why was there a whole dance sequence with psych ward people."
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However series star Charlie Hunnam has since offered a different perspective on the moment in an exclusive interview with LADbible, saying the moment underscores the importance of Gein's relationship with his mother.
"I think that a lot of what this show is about, and a lot of who Ed was, was about his relationship with his mum," he explained
“Historically, what was accurate is that she was really his only friend and the only person he ever had any sort of significant relationship with his whole life.
"I think his whole life was spent trying to get the love and acceptance from her that he always so deeply craved, and that he never really got that."
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Hunnam went on to say: "So that felt like to us, the moment of death and being reunited with the people that you love so much, if hopefully, that is what happens after death, and that he was able to go back and be with his mum, which is the only thing he ever wanted in his life."
Hunnam has spoken previously to LADbible about criticism suggesting he is 'too empathetic' towards Gein, saying that it was a 'deep responsibility' to play someone who did such awful things, but pointing to Gein's 'untreated mental health disorders'.
Additional words by Michael Slavin.
Topics: Charlie Hunnam, Netflix, True Crime, TV and Film, TV
Brenna Cooper