Devil in Disguise: Gacy Drama Focuses on Victims on Peacock

Peacock’s eight-episode dramatization Devil in Disguise John Wayne Gacy, which began streaming October 16, retells the investigation that led to the 1978 arrest of John Wayne Gacy while centering the lives of his victims, their families, and the police work that exposed his crimes. The series stars Michael Chernus as Gacy and was created by Patrick Macmanus, who shaped the project around a deliberate choice not to depict on-screen violence.

The drama opens with the disappearance of teenager Robert Piest and the 10-day Des Plaines police inquiry that put investigators on Gacy’s trail. From there the narrative moves back and forth in time to show fragments of Gacy’s life and, more consistently, the experiences of victims, survivors, detectives and attorneys involved in the case. Other principal cast members include Gabriel Luna, James Badge Dale, Michael Angarano, Chris Sullivan and Marin Ireland.

Macmanus has said he initially declined the project until he secured permission to focus on the people affected by Gacy’s crimes rather than sensationalize the killer. The production limited direct depiction of the murders, rarely shows Gacy with his victims on screen and declines to...