After reading the article, I feel like the writer only understood half of the series. Yes, the show is a commentary on the dangers of fandom. But that's just one of the two commentaries this show tries to make. She completely misses the second part and that is SWARM is an anti-serial killer serial killer show. It is a commentary on Western media serial killer series in popculture, itself.

The series flips the the common trope of television serial killers, that is, white men who are smart, witty and more often than not charming who do these elaborate kills and crimes. Think Joe with his plastic cage or Hannibal with his dressed up murder scenes and fancy human meals or even Dexter getting his victims naked only to wrap them up in cling film in a done up setting. These are pop culture monsters who aren't treated as monsters by many of their fans. You have Penn Badgley who has to repeatedly tell so many of the show's fans that Joe isn't a good character. He isn't some poor little "meow meow." He is a serial killer.

Meanwhile, you have Dre on Swarm. She is not white. She is not a man. She is not charming. She is not talkative. You don't get this running narrative of what is going on in her mind. And most of all she doesn't do "beautiful" and "campy" murders. Her kills are played for real. She uses whatever her hands can grab. And there was even a time where she just used her own hands because that was what was available. There is no swelling of music or ironic match up of a pop song playing in the background for humor as she murders. It's just these stark, cold kills. Yes, this show is an entertainment series but the murders aren't being played for entertainment like every other serial killer show. Glover is trying to separate this serial killer show from all the others in this way.

Episode 6 was practically smacking you across the face with this commentary.

"Cases like that can make a career. And I get it...(laughs)...it seems like wishful thinking. A Black female detective stumbles onto a Black female serial killer. ...But the truth is, a killer like Carmen...just isn't on their radar. But I've seen this before."

"Seen what before?"

"Black women falling through the cracks."

How can you watch that and not get the joke? The satire of the whole series?

If you made Dre smart, witty, charming and doing all of these Rube Goldberg meets Renaissance style murders, she would be like all of the other serial killer shows out there. But she is not. Her murders are not meant to played for entertainment. They are meant to make you feel queasy and uneasy. She is suppose to unnerve you and disgust you. That's what makes her stand out from every other serial killer. Glover isn't playing murder for entertainment even though this is a series. He is saying that serial killer shows that do that are messed up. Here is what a serial killer would do in real life. It's not charming. It's not "beautiful." You would not want to be friends with Dre. You would be terrified of her.