“Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy” is a tough but important watch | TV/Streaming

I don’t like spending time with John Wayne Gacy, the infamous serial killer who murdered more than 30 teenagers and very young men in the 1970s, burying many of them under his house. But Peacock’s “Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy” is an important watch, exploring how ideas about masculinity allow horrific crimes like Gacy’s to occur, unpunished.

Part of what makes “Devil in Disguise” so strong is the way showrunner Patrick Macmanus has put his limited series in conversation with other true crime shows. We see no murders and very few acts of violence. Timothy Jack McCoy, John Butkovich, Francis Wayne Alexander, Darrel Samson, Samuel Stapleton, Randall Reffectt, Michael Bonnin, William Carroll, Jimmy Haakenson, Rick Johnston, William George Bundy, Kenneth Parker, Gregory Godzik, John Szyc, Jon Prestidge, Matthew Bowman, Robert Gilroy, John Mowery, Russell Nelson, Robert Winch, Tommy Boling, David Talsma, Bill Kindred, Timothy O’Rourke, Frank Landingin, James Mazzara, Robert Piest – these are the boys, aged 14 to 21, that the show names and introduces us to. We see many of these young men as they were: boys finding their place in the world, friends, sons and lovers. And in many cases, we don’t see them with Gacy at all.

The result is a haunting series that focuses on the humanity of the victims and the loss they experienced to their loved ones and to the world. These are people defined not by their death, but rather by their full, albeit short, lives. These are boys who deserved better.

The series also makes it very clear who is at fault. Of course, it’s all about John Wayne Gacy, played by a phenomenal Michael Chernus. As the title suggests, his Gacy is entirely believable, helping an elderly neighbor through the Illinois snow and becoming somber when a boy falls into his trap. He’s the guy who made us all afraid of clowns, a murderer who performed for sick children in hospitals, who met first lady Rosalynn Carter, and who was a well-liked businessman. So even though Chernus embodies the nice Midwesternness of his real character (Gacy gets arrested after inviting the police to follow him for beers), it’s also clear that there is evil and illness at this man’s heart.

The series helps Chernus by structuring itself not as a thriller but as an exploration of the systems that allowed Gacy to be free for so long. At the end of the first episode, he is in custody, although the trial takes place in the penultimate installment, with the aftermath fueling the final chapter. True to form, we don’t see testimony or courtroom theatrics. In the last part, we don’t see Gacy at all. Instead, the series continues to focus on the surviving people in Gacy’s orbit: how they felt, how they coped, what they tried to change.

Because many things must change, apart from the apprehension of this unique man. Gacy’s crimes were sex crimes between one man and numerous boys, some on the cusp of manhood. As such, telling his story could lead to demonizing gay men as inherently evil or violent. But “Devil in Disguise” cleverly refutes this trap, in part by showing how Gacy’s internalized homophobia is at the root of his violence.

But even more, “Devil in Disguise” accuses our institutions of not believing that hard scrabble and/or queer boys could be victims of it. The series highlights that Chicago police systematically overlooked the boys’ disappearances, spending their resources elsewhere. Even when Jeffrey Rignal (Augustus Prew) survives an encounter with Gacy, reports him and eventually finds his attacker, the police refuse to press charges. They believe Gacy when he claims that gay men routinely torture themselves in this way, including burning Rignal with chloroform. Gacy works their prejudices to his advantage and breaks free.

Gabriel Luna as Detective Rafael Tovar, the lead detective on the case, gives a haunting performance as he uncovers all the missed opportunities to catch Gacy early. As the father of a son a little too young for Gacy and an officer who worked in vice, he sees the humanity of the victims and suffers for them. His boss, Joe Kozenczak (a strong James Badge Dale), also sees the problem and works to solve it. But Kozenczak fears losing his institutional power and will only push for limited efforts, which will ultimately weaken the victims he is trying to serve. In this, the leader’s cowardice mirrors that of many people who know right from wrong but are not willing to put themselves in danger for justice, the silent majority who let evil transpire.

We also meet the lawyers who are trying Gacy’s case. Bill Kunkle (Chris Sullivan) is a mischievous prosecutor whose professional ambitions match his task of prosecuting the serial killer. Michael Angaranoas as Sam Amirante, Gacy’s defense attorney, is excellent. He forcefully defends everyone’s constitutional right to a rigorous defense, even as he confronts Gacy’s horrific crimes and copes with his client’s inability to discern his new reality. Angaranoas have a tenacity and boldness that adapt perfectly to the present moment without ever being overworked.

“Devil in Disguise” further succeeds by rooting itself in a specific place and time. It is the story of a generation of boys who are only valued when they come from “good” families (that is to say wealthy and white) and when they systematically practice heterosexuality. The casting pairs modern actors with their ’70s counterparts, giving them the same haircuts and wardrobe. Likewise, the cars speak to the moment, with Gacy’s menacing sedan driving us back. Even the architecture bears witness to a not-so-distant era when, for example, the law did not recognize that the crime of rape could occur between two men.

But it happens. And “Devil in Disguise” reminds us that when we look back at real crimes, it’s not the horror of the violence or the enigma of the investigation that matters. These are the people affected, whose futures are shattered as a result of such terrible acts. And the way we honor them is not simply by remembering, but by working on the institutions that enable violence, that demand that the perfection of victims be taken seriously, that code entire groups of people as undesirable. This is what “Devil in Disguise” is about, and it artfully depicts these truths with a moral clarity that reverberates through the storyline, off the screen and into our lived, imperfect reality.

Entire series screened for review. Premiere tomorrow, October 16.