Top 5 TV Shows You’ll Love If ‘Worst Ex Ever’ is Your Guilty Pleasure

Despite the tumultuous relationships often portrayed in television’s most toxic couples, reality can paint an even darker picture. In the real world, individuals sometimes endure horrors beyond what fiction can imagine, facing violent and abusive partners. This grim reality takes center stage in the Netflix true crime docuseries, “Worst Ex Ever.” Each episode unfolds the story of a seemingly idyllic relationship that turns nightmarish when one partner reveals their true, despicable nature. Tragically, not every victim manages to escape the peril.

With an abundance of gripping true crime documentaries available on platforms like Netflix, “Worst Ex Ever” stands out for those searching for similar tales. Each episode focuses on a separate case, emphasizing crimes committed by those the victims once knew and trusted. This series seamlessly blends interviews with those involved alongside dramatized reenactments, serving as a haunting reminder of the malevolence that can exist within human relationships. Many shows in this genre share one or more of these chilling characteristics, but few encapsulate them all as effectively.

For those experiencing domestic abuse, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available at 1−800−799−7233. Additional resources and support can be found on their website.

While it may be an obvious suggestion, if you enjoyed “Worst Ex Ever,” you might also appreciate “Worst Roommate Ever.” Despite being distinct shows, their interconnected theme might appeal to the same audience. Considering the overwhelming content selection on Netflix and its sometimes unpredictable recommendation algorithms, many might have finished “Worst Ex Ever” without realizing “Worst Roommate Ever” is an equally engaging option.

“Worst Roommate Ever” delivers exactly what its title implies. Each episode delves into the terrifying experiences of individuals who welcomed new roommates into their homes, only to find their lives unraveling into chaos. These are not trivial roommate squabbles but unsettling stories that occasionally culminate in murder, echoing the haunting narratives shared by its sibling series.

It’s worth noting that critics took the show to task for how accurate it is, primarily in regards to glossing over — if not outright omitting — important details in the name of a more tidy story. But if such nitpicks aren’t a dealbreaker for you, “Worst Roommate Ever” should easily be your next binge after “Worst Ex Ever.”

Faith Jenkins might not be as much of a household name as Judge Judy, Greg Mathis, or one of the judges who has presided over “The People’s Court.” But she did have her own courtroom show, “Judge Faith,” for three seasons in the 2010s, as well as doing a stint as the judge on “Divorce Court.” More recently, she used her experience in the legal field — specifically, being a prosecutor for many domestic violence cases — to host a true crime series about relationships that devolve into horrific violence. Which brings us to “Killer Relationship with Faith Jenkins.”

Hosted and narrated by Jenkins herself, “Killer Relationship” isn’t content with simply letting the people involved in each case tell the story. Along the way, Jenkins comments on the situation and offers her professional opinion on both the way the story unfolds and how it’s handled within the legal system. That’s not to say that she’s the only voice on the show, as it does also feature all the usual interviews and analysis from victims, loved ones, law enforcement officers, lawyers, and so on. 

If you like your true crime shows to feel more like an episode of “Dateline” than a typical docuseries, “Killer Relationship” will be right up your alley. Otherwise, your mileage may vary on the show’s very “newsmagazine” feel. 

Not every episode of the long-running docuseries “I Survived…” is about someone being victimized by someone close to them. In fact, not all of the cases on the show include person-to-person violence at all, with some centered around car accidents, workplace mishaps, and other such near-fatal personal disasters. What unites them all, per the title, is that the situation is being recounted by the person who was fortunate enough to make it out the other end alive. 

Nevertheless, there are still a number of stories across the six seasons of “I Survived…” that involve violence from partners, loved ones, friends, and other trusted people in the victims’ lives. One major difference from “Worst Ex Ever” is that there aren’t reenactments of any kind in “I Survived…”, nor is there much of anything in the way of flashiness. Each story is literally just about the survivor in question, telling their story on camera in front of a black background, while silent text over stock images and footage is interspersed to help fill in the details.

That bare bones approach might not be your cup of tea, especially if you like the way “Worst Ex Ever” incorporates animated reenactments, photographs of the people involved, and interviews with multiple people. But there is something to be said for stripping all that away and just letting someone tell their harrowing story of living through a traumatic ordeal without any other bells and whistles. 

“The Perfect Neighbor,” one of the most disturbing documentaries of all time, proved just how badly things can go between people who live in proximity to each other and end up running afoul of each other for one reason or another. It’s something that seems to happen often, with multiple true crime shows and docuseries centering specifically on neighbor relationships gone wrong. Among all those, the one that might best appeal to fans of “Worst Ex Ever” is probably ID Network’s “Fear Thy Neighbor.”

While not using animation the way “Worst Ex Ever” does, “Fear Thy Neighbor” spares no expense in recreating the events being detailed in each episode by using real actors in elaborate — though wordless — dramatic reenactments. Admittedly, the cut between the real people and the actors portraying them can be jarring at first, especially since it doesn’t always seem to be a major priority to have them match visually. But after a few minutes, you figure out who everyone is supposed to be, and then you’re along for the increasingly terrifying ride.

While the stories vary wildly — emphasis on the “wild” — what connects almost all of them is that a relatively low-stakes squabble between neighbors eventually escalates to such an intense degree that one or more people end up dead. Make no mistake: this isn’t one of those fun series like HBO’s “Neighbors,” where you mostly just laugh and shake your head at how absurd it all is. These feuds between neighbors get nasty — and deadly. 

Its title makes it sound like a horror TV show — and despite not featuring anything supernatural or paranormal, that’s basically what docuseries “Evil Lives Here” is. Essentially combining “Worst Ex Ever” and “Worst Roommate Ever,” “Evil Lives Here” is all about violence that ends up happening between people who are living together, but also includes families, married couples, and parent/child relationships rather than just roommates who started as strangers or casual acquaintances.

One interesting thing about “Evil Lives Here” is that it blends little-known stories with infamous ones. John Wayne Gacy, Greg Scarpa, Eddie Lee Sexton, and the Speed Freak Killers are just a few of the subjects of “Evil Lives Here” episodes you might already be familiar with. Those that have seen the Netflix anthology series “Dirty John” are familiar with the story that served as the Season 8 premiere of “Evil Lives Here,” as it covers what con artist John Meehan perpetrated against the Newell family. 

For those who prefer that their true crime shows cover “new ground,” as it were, “Evil Lives Here” does feature significantly more lesser-known stories than it does well-known ones. And with over 176 episodes to pick from, there is plenty to watch even if you skip the ones that talk about events you are familiar with and aren’t interesting in sitting through again.