It’s absolutely not that.

The series spends less time focusing on Dahmer then you’d think. It never tries to humanize him or make you empathetic towards him. The series makes it clear that he’s a monster through and through. So much so that the man that kills him in prison is briefly shown as a calm, reasonable man, wrestling with what he feels is a moral and holy obligation to do what the justice system failed to do.

2/3 of the series focuses more on the impact of Dahmer’s horrific acts, the failures of law enforcement and the justice system that allowed it to go on, and the fact that Dahmer hunted people of color largely unnoticed. It even takes the time to give the audience information about the victims, to reinforce that these were people with lives, aspirations, and people that cared about them.