Season 1

Worst Ex Ever Season 1: The Netflix True Crime Docuseries That Shocked Audiences

Worst Ex Ever is a Netflix true crime docuseries produced by Blumhouse Television and ITV America, directed by Cynthia Childs. Season 1 premiered on August 28, 2024, delivering four standalone episodes that each chronicle a single harrowing case of intimate-partner violence. The docuseries quickly became one of Netflix's most-watched true crime offerings of the year, drawing viewers into real stories of manipulation, abuse, and survival.

Format and Structure

Season 1 of Worst Ex Ever follows a one-case-per-episode format, giving each story the space it deserves. At roughly 51 to 63 minutes per episode, the docuseries balances depth with accessibility. Director Cynthia Childs employs a distinctive production style that blends survivor interviews filmed in intimate settings, bodycam and surveillance footage obtained from law enforcement, and striking 2D animated reenactments that visualize events where no camera was present. This combination allows the Netflix true crime docuseries to convey the emotional weight of each case without resorting to exploitative dramatizations.

Episode Guide

The four episodes of Season 1 cover cases spanning from 2009 to 2023, each set in a different American community:

1. Dating the Devil — The premiere tells the story of Justine Siemens and Benjamin Foster in Grants Pass, Oregon. After Foster's brutal January 2023 assault, a nine-day statewide manhunt gripped the Pacific Northwest before Foster was cornered and killed by police in Wolf Creek.

2. Betrayed by the Badge — Episode 2 profiles Jerry Ramrattan's elaborate scheme to frame his ex-girlfriend Seemona Sumasar for three armed robberies in Queens, New York. Sumasar spent seven months in Rikers Island before investigators unraveled Ramrattan's plot in 2011.

3. Killing for Custody — The third episode reconstructs the 2009 attack in Dublin, California, where Rosa Hill and her mother Mei Li killed Eric Hill's 91-year-old grandmother Selma Hill and attempted to murder Eric during a bitter custody dispute.

4. Married to a Monster — The Season 1 finale follows the Kevin Lewis murder-for-hire case in Everett, Washington. Lewis hired a gunman to kill his estranged wife Amanda Canales in 2015; the shooter killed Amanda's sister Alisha Canales-McGuire instead in a case of mistaken identity.

Production Style

What sets Worst Ex Ever apart from other Netflix true crime entries is its survivor-centered approach. Each episode foregrounds the voices of those who lived through the abuse, giving them agency in how their stories are told. The 2D animated sequences — rendered in a dark, graphic-novel style — fill narrative gaps where footage does not exist, depicting events like private confrontations and escape attempts. Bodycam footage and 911 call recordings ground the docuseries in verifiable fact, while expert commentary from prosecutors and investigators provides legal context.

Critical Reception and Audience Response

Season 1 of Worst Ex Ever received generally positive reviews from true crime audiences and critics alike. Viewers praised the docuseries for its respectful treatment of survivors and its refusal to sensationalize violence. The animated reenactments drew particular attention as an innovative storytelling device within the Netflix true crime genre. Some critics noted that the one-case-per-episode format allowed for more nuanced storytelling than typical multi-case anthology series. The show trended in Netflix's Top 10 in multiple countries during its first week of release.

Connection to Worst Roommate Ever

Worst Ex Ever is a thematic spin-off of Netflix's Worst Roommate Ever (2022), also produced by Blumhouse Television. While Worst Roommate Ever focused on dangerous cohabitants, Worst Ex Ever narrows its lens to intimate-partner violence — examining how romantic relationships can become sites of control, manipulation, and lethal danger. Both series share the same production team and visual language, making them companion pieces in Netflix's expanding true crime docuseries catalog.

Where to Watch

All four episodes of Worst Ex Ever Season 1 are available to stream exclusively on Netflix. The docuseries is rated TV-MA for mature content including discussions of domestic violence, murder, and abuse.

Episodes

• S1E1 — Dating the Devil — Justine Siemens's alarming call to a friend in Grants Pass, Oregon leads to a statewide police hunt for her partner Benjamin Foster — a man with a mon
• S1E2 — Betrayed by the Badge — After Seemona Sumasar ends her relationship with Jerry Ramrattan and accuses him of rape, Ramrattan unleashes a relentless frame-up in Queens that ver
• S1E3 — Killing for Custody — In Dublin, California, a protracted custody battle drives Eric Hill's estranged wife Rosa and her mother Mei Li to attack him at his 91-year-old grand
• S1E4 — Married to a Monster — Amanda Canales's idyllic romance with Kevin Lewis falls apart as marriage reveals his domineering tendencies. A 2015 murder-for-hire plot in Everett,