With the first season of The Shards wrapping up its run next week, A.V. Club news editor Drew Gillis and TV critic Saloni Gajjar reflect on the many changes made in The Shards’ translation to the screen, and if any of them make the adaptation a more or less intriguing psychological thriller than the book.
This discussion contains spoilers for both the book and the TV series.
Saloni Gajjar: To get right into it, the TV adaptation of The Shards makes huge changes from the book. The events of episodes six and seven, in particular, play out very differently in Ellis’ novel: tension simmers below the surface while everyone works late nights to make Escape From New York-inspired homecoming parade floats, and those experiences further Bret’s suspicion that Robert is a serial killer. The public fight between Susan and Thom is angsty and grim; in the show, it’s full of Shakespearean dialogue and costumes. In this very Murphy-fied telling, the big Homecoming arcs include a makeover for Really Rhonda and characters like Susan venting about how they’re too hot and perfect (and the pressures that come with it). And all this comes right after the irrelevant dance-off episode, a complete invention of the show’s.
It’s clearly a way to drag this story out for Murphy’s proposed three-season plan. And yet, I didn’t mind that Murphy and company are finding such wacky ways to dig deeper into Susan, Debbie, and Liz. The women of The Shards are getting some juicy storylines, even if it comes at the cost of moving away from the interesting Trawler and Riders Of The Afterlife material. It’s in the vein of how Murphy handles almost all his work: an over-the-top, stylized way of unpacking how people view themselves, both on the inside and the outside, and what it says about our society—or, in this case, the affluent L.A. that Bret lives in. In some ways, The Shards reminds me of the first FX drama of Murphy’s extremely busy 2026, The Beauty. But you’re also an avid Murphy watcher, so what did you think of the way the show transforms the book’s themes?
Drew Gillis: The differences aren’t bad on their face; what’s bizarre is how the series has more or less ignored the biggest theme of Ellis’ novel, which is the gay coming-of-age element. The novel is far more sexually graphic, and while I understand that that wasn’t fit for FX/Hulu, both Bret’s early sexual experiences and the Trawler’s crimes are drawing a parallel between The Shards’ objectification and fascination with/repulsion towards bodies. (As Ivy Wolk memorably put it in the series premiere, “I think the Trawler is an allegory for when you’re gay but don’t tell nobody.”) I was actually excited to see Murphy tackle this subject matter because a sordid, seedy, gay coming-of-age story seemed perfect for him. Glee had to conform to a greater number of broadcast standards, but it’s still, rightly, held up as a landmark for queer teens on TV.
So it’s been disappointing to see how much The Shards has sidelined Bret in what’s supposed to be his own story. I genuinely like that the show has beefed up Debbie, who’s presented in the book as something of a nuisance to Bret—the price he pays to pass as heterosexual. In the novel, both she and her mother are both tragically defined by their relationships with homosexual male partners who don’t want all that much to do with them. But in the show, Debbie and her mother are defined by a strange antagonistic relationship with one another. I don’t know that that choice is better or worse, per se, but it’s a choice that puts Bret’s sexuality further into the background. If we were going to drag out Matt Kellner’s disappearance, why not drag out his relationship with Bret, too? The series is disinterested in its lead character (and strangely fixated on the adults) in a way that does the whole endeavor a disservice. Do you think the additions are making up for this absence at all?
SG: I can see why it’s frustrating, but I’m enjoying getting to see other POVs besides Bret’s, especially if it means watching Evan Rachel Wood and Hayes Warner go at it (or briefly team up, as seen in the “Homecoming” two-parter). I’m not saying it’s done well, but it’s compelling. But take my feelings with a grain of salt because to enjoy any show with Murphy’s name slapped on it, you have to fully accept that it will be messy and heightened in every way—that’s part of the fun. If that doesn’t work for you, then his spin on The Shards likely won’t hit.
I’m also not a purist, so I love seeing how TV creators interpret and visualize scenes that originally played out on the page. In this case, Murphy is infusing a lot of his own takes into the material, like the “Liz did a porno!” stuff. I’m enjoying how absurdly he’s fleshing out this flashy little world.
What I am bothered by is the decision to play coy with the more explicit material The Shards. I’m not saying I want to see gratuitous violence or anything, but Ellis isn’t shy about describing disturbing crime scenes. The discovery of Matt’s body, and of his cat’s, was horrifying to read. But the dials that plot point way down in episode seven, when Bret finds Matt’s decapitated head in school. The decision to not go all out with the horror (even Grotesquerie was far more, well, grotesque) is what robs The Shards of its creepy factor. Do you think that affects the show at all, in terms of how you view stuff with The Trawler and the cult? Or is Ryan Murphy trying to have both a glitzy and soapy YA drama and a chilling serial killer mystery?
DG: It’s interesting you say that, because YA drama isn’t the first thing I would think of when discussing the book, but I think it does check a lot of those boxes. YA stories tend to be about the transition from childhood to adulthood, which is arguably the main theme of the novel. And the body horror was part of that, too, albeit on a more metaphorical level—becoming an adult can be scary and gross. I do think Ryan Murphy is trying to have it both ways, but I also don’t think that that’s all that incongruous with the source material. Though Ellis takes pains in the book to remind us that this is the clean-lines, new-wave period of the ’80s, not the Dynasty part of the ’80s, this is still a story set at presumably one of the wealthiest high schools in the United States. The tension of beauty, youth, and wealth versus violence and seediness and aging gracelessly is very much what The Shards is about.
But let’s get into how he’s adapting this idea. I’m not sure I realized this until right now, but I don’t think Murphy has ever really worked especially successfully without an ensemble cast. Even in something like the Versace season of American Crime Story, Andrew Cunanan wasn’t always the POV character. Glee and every season of American Horror Story have pretty huge casts, but ones with usually a few characters who could make the claim for lead. I’m not exactly a purist either, but I think that’s an issue the adaptation of The Shards is brushing up against. I think it’s fairly crucial in the book that it’s all from Bret’s POV. In the novel, Matt is dead, and Bret can’t believe that the other students are largely apathetic and more concerned with Homecoming. Bret’s POV is what makes that tension effective—we see every event in the book as he does. But that’s not the case in the show because we’re spending as much (if not more) time with the people who aren’t thinking about the missing students really at all.
And to your point about the violence and gore that omission is another part of this same problem. (Though I’m much more squeamish about watching that type of imagery than I am reading about it.) The Shards no longer seems to be criticizing or even commenting on the apathy of the world—another rude awakening of adulthood. Instead, the show just is apathetic about what happens to those characters and their fate at the hands of the Trawler.
Slight pivot, but one characterization that I find not good or bad but head-scratching is that of Steven, who is very different from the book, where he’s kind of presented as a failed screenwriter relegated to being Terry’s assistant. Here, he’s basically a Cheshire Cat chaos agent. I’m curious what you think of that—I have an idea, but I want to hear your take.
SG: Steven is a bit too involved with the teens, like planning the American Gigolo-themed Homecoming float, and he’s so obsessed with what’s going on in Debbie’s friend group. I like the questions it raises. Does he want dirt on Bret/Robert? Does he have predatory intentions? Is it just a way to move ahead in his career beyond being Terry’s assistant? His inclusion is a great red herring, because the show so wants us to think he might be the Trawler. The thing is, the book never reveals the serial killer’s identity. It leaves readers guessing about whether it’s Robert, Bret, Terry, Steven, the cult, or someone else entirely. So in that sense, Steven makes a strong candidate. Jordan Roth’s version of the character is an enigma. What’s your idea about him?
DG: He’s definitely being deployed as a red herring. I’m also just seeing another thing Ryan Murphy did on Glee, at least in the first season, where there were obvious parallels between the adult characters and their teenage counterparts. (Specifically Will and Terri’s relationship, which fell apart around the same time Finn and Quinn’s did.) Bret and Terry were something of a parallel in the novel, but the show has made the parallel between Debbie and Liz, and then Steven and I would say… Robert? In the sense that they’re both kind of obsessed with Susan and both weird and mysterious.
SG: In case you haven’t guessed it by now, I’ve decided to have fun with The Shards. As I wrote in my pre-air review, I don’t think either Murphy or Ellis is capable of acutely dissecting the themes they cover. They excel at campiness, which the show offers in spades. It’s trash TV, in a way, and I don’t think it makes the show apathetic toward its characters’ fates. It’s more heavy-handed than anything because of the voiceovers and acting choices. Ryan Murphy shows tend to lose sight of things as they go on, so I’m not sure what seasons two and three (if they happen) will look like. But I am curious to see how this crew continues to grow up and whether the show will bother revealing the Trawler’s identity at all, considering the creative liberties it has already taken.
DG: I am having fun with The Shards, too, in no small part because I enjoy criticizing things. This is also why I’ve probably mentioned the name “Ryan Murphy” at least once a week for the past 15 (at least) years. And one thing I’ve learned while doing that is, while he does have many skills, satisfying conclusions are usually not one of them. Given that he expects two more seasons of The Shards and that the book didn’t really start cooking until after homecoming, I’m not expecting many answers before this show signs off.
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