The Shards is the new FX show from Ryan Murphy, who seems to be one of the only showrunners intent on staying in television and one where TV executives are still giving him a green light. In a TV landscape that is changing quickly, where funding is shifting between streamers, dwindling overall, and increasingly being given to IP connected to larger pop culture universes, Ryan Murphy stands out as someone consistently creating television.
This time, he tackles a novel, limiting his storytelling ambitions to what has already been written by author Bret Easton Ellis, who has been known for his novels, particularly American Psycho. The Shards represents a newer work from him and certainly one that announces itself. It is an autobiography where Bret inserts himself and his experiences growing up in Los Angeles into the story of a serial killer who affected his community.
The story follows Bret, an affluent high schooler in 1980s Los Angeles who is heading into his senior year. He is friends with the most popular couple at school, Thom and Susan, while also having his own alluring girlfriend named Debbie. He spends a lot of time with her despite not actually seeming very invested in the relationship. As the school year begins, murders of teenage girls start occurring, with serial killer traits such as dead animals and a similar method of operation connecting the crimes. This coincides with the arrival of another new senior student named Robert.
Robert seems to be everything Bret is not, yet there is something Bret finds alluring about him, and so do all of his friends, including his own girlfriend. At the same time, Bret sees through him. He knows Robert is putting on an act in the same way that he himself puts on an act regarding his sexuality and relationships. Bret presents himself as straight to try to fulfill his creative and storytelling ambitions as a novelist while privately exploring his sexuality in a way that no one else at his school can see.
The way almost all of this information is communicated is through a fairly drab voiceover and, in many cases, lacklustre montages. These sequences move the camera and edit together images to explain the lives of these teenagers to a modern audience, detailing their relationships without necessarily showing them. The voiceover, delivered by Bret in his teenage voice, speaks with the perspective of someone who understands the modern internet age. It contrasts the terrifying and unsafe world young people faced in the 1980s with current conflicts like online bullying.
The purpose of this approach is not yet fully revealed, but it does emphasize to a younger audience how different this world is compared to our current one and how Bret’s actions—and the things that happen around him—are shaped by the time and place in which they occur.
There is nothing particularly inspiring about the shooting style. There are some goofy and wild shots that fit with Ryan Murphy’s previous work, and later there are some creative choices once actual scenes involving character decisions and actions begin. Different angles, stylized camera movements, and energetic visual choices help make Ryan’s work distinct, but the series never truly pushes the boundaries of television.
A more interesting sequence occurs when the conflict between Robert and Bret begins during a car chase that is filled with malice but also handled with a surprising amount of restraint. Murphy casts actors who look like models as part of his reliable approach to attracting viewers. He features beautiful people, then combines that with murder, a subject he has explored extensively through his anthology series.
This combination, alongside terrifying scenarios and teenagers with eccentric personalities similar to those seen in Glee, represents a collection of ideas Ryan Murphy has explored before, either through his original shows or series inspired directly by real events.
There is a certain quality to the young actor’s voice as Bret that is compelling. It is almost sultry, though at times it feels as though that quality exists despite a lack of clear acting enthusiasm. There are distinct moments in the performances that reveal the secrets surrounding Bret and likely Robert’s sexuality, creating moments that are both funny and unnerving.
Bret is an interesting character in concept because he is a gay man in an environment where even many straight men display more gender fluidity in their actions, clothing, and vanity.
The first episodes thrive on a slower pace in terms of actual story progression. They drop clues about murders involving Bret’s friends, lovers, or acquaintances, which eventually appear in grisly ways. The series remixes the brutal deaths and investigative tension found in shows like The Silence of the Lambs, True Detective, Mare of Easttown, and other dark detective stories.
This is the familiar television hook that allows the strange relationships between two mysterious and secretive men to become intriguing and compelling. We care about Bret and his investigation of Robert because, like him, we believe Robert may be the killer—or at least connected to the killer in some way.
The Shards begins streaming on Hulu on Disney+ on August 5th, 2026.
