Season 1 – The Shards

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Popcornmeter

55%

Tomatometer

56 Reviews

42%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

FX's "The Shards" is a seductive drama series based on the acclaimed bestselling novel of the same name. Set against the vivid backdrop of 1980s Los Angeles, the series follows Bret, an aspiring writer and observant teenager at an elite prep school, and his glamorous social circle as they navigate identity, sex, jealousy, obsession and the dangers beneath American adolescence. Their privileged world of wealth, beauty, parties and excess begins to unravel with the arrival of Robert Mallory, a mysterious and magnetic new student whose appearance coincides with the terror of The Trawler, a serial killer targeting teenagers across the city.

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Critics Consensus

The combination of Ryan Murphy and Bret Easton Ellis should elicit magnanimously pulpy TV, but instead The Shards relegates itself to obtuse style with mildly entertaining substance.

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Geordie Gray

The Australian

Aug 19

It is excessive, tremendous, stupid fun.

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Wenlei Ma

The Nightly (AU)

Aug 19

What should have been a hedonistic adventure through the underworld of 1980s Los Angeles privilege and deviance is strangely dull and impactless.

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Leo Lasdun

The New Yorker

Aug 13

Murphy obviously wasn’t interested in making a direct adaptation of Ellis’s novel, and most of the time it’s unclear what, exactly, he did want to do with the material.

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Ty'Kira Smalls

Common Sense Media

Aug 15

3/5

This series is a seductive spiral into insanity, padded with (self)-obsession and synthwave.

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Alex Maidy

JoBlo's Movie Network

Aug 14

6/10

Would have been better served as a single, limited run rather than the start of an ongoing show, but, as with most of Ryan Murphy’s projects, there is an audience out there that will likely connect with The Shards and earn it successive seasons.

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Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

Aug 14

3/5

...Bret Easton Ellis’ early novels felt like urgent dispatches from the front line of teenage nihilism; nostalgia isn’t a good look for him. The glamorous, glossy look of this swish production doesn’t create the alienating feel of Ellis’s prose…

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Courtney S

@courtshammas 4h

Luxurious, seductive, thrilling, and in some odd ways relatable. Murphy does it again. It’s hard to imagine being envious of high school kids facing a serial killer but this does it all too well.

Samuel G

@RT40782160 4h

The Shards is the best series on FX!

Christopher M

@crizzo109 20h

Whatever it had, it lost.

Jelena S

@RT68300258 1d

The colors, the lighting, the costumes, the cinematography, the actors. Everything is perfect. Nepo rich kids playing nepo rich kids.

Anna L

@MizzAnna 2d

Fun, raunchy, stylish throwback. All vibes here.

Amanda C

@Acrisp 3d

I think this show is really fun. The sets and costumes are stunning, and the characters are surprisingly likable despite their many flaws. If you liked watching the show "Glow" and the film "The Wolf of Wallstreet"...you'll have a good time. In the beginning, the main character goes to see Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" at the theater. He comes out after and says "It was nothing like the book. I felt cheated." Sort of like the show knows that fans of the book will not love this adaptation, and it doesn't care.

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Kaia Gerber

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Wes Bentley

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Evan Rachel Wood

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Homer Gere

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Graham Campbell

Thom Wright

Igby Rigney

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Episode 1

Aired Aug 5, 2026

Pilot

It's the summer of 1981 in Los Angeles; a series of crimes coincides with the arrival of a new student in Bret's orbit.

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Episode 2

Aired Aug 5, 2026

Don't You Want Me

Bret digs deeper into Robert's murky past and uncovers some evidence.

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Episode 3

Aired Aug 12, 2026

Help Me! Rhonda

A beloved student's sudden disappearance causes chaos for the senior class.

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Episode 4

Aired Aug 12, 2026

Robert's Party

Susan's welcome party for Robert is overshadowed by a violent incident.

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Episode 5

Aired Aug 19, 2026

Murder on the Dance Floor

A televised dance competition culminates with a horrifying showstopper; written for television by Ryan Murphy and Charles Rogers; directed by Ryan Murphy.

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Episode 6

Aired Aug 26, 2026

Homecoming Part One

"Troubled" Debbie is galvanized by a new extracurricular.

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Episode 7

Aired Aug 26, 2026

Homecoming Part Two

A surprising Homecoming King and Queen are crowned as the Trawler's killing spree continues.

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Episode 8

Airs Sep 2

Hamlet

Something turns rotten in the state of California, as two blackmail plots reveal two devastating secrets. Written for Television by Lenore Zion & Charles Rogers & Juli Weiner. Directed by Max Minghella.

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Episode 9

Airs Sep 9

Stairway to Heaven

With the city on lockdown, Debbie hosts a Halloween party that will change everything. Written for Television by Juli Weiner & Charles Rogers. Directed by Michael Uppendahl.

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Episode 10

Airs Sep 2

Episode 110

In the 1980s Los Angeles, aspiring writer Bret and his elite prep school circle navigate identity, desire and obsession as a magnetic new student arrives amid a serial killer's reign of terror.

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The Shards: Season 1 Trailer - This Season On