Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Worst Ex Ever’ On Netflix, A Docuseries About Cases Involving Abusive And Violent Exes

Worst Ex Ever is a Blumhouse production, from the same team that created two seasons of Worst Roommate Ever . It’s an anthology docuseries that tells the stories of people who were victims of violent, abusive and vindictive exes. Sometimes the abuse was physical, other times it was psychological, but all the stories are harrowing.

Opening Shot: A woman named Angie sits down in a chair to be interviewed.

The Gist: The first episode of Worst Ex Ever is about Benjamin Foster (not the actor), who stalked, kidnapped and tortured women in both Las Vegas and Grants Pass, Oregon. And even though he’d been arrested for domestic violence incidents dating back to 2014, he served very little jail time.

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We start with a 2023 incident in Grants Pass, where Angie, gets a call from her mother saying that her friend Justine phoned her to say she needs Angie to take her to the hospital. Angie speeds to Justine’s house to hear Justine screaming inside and Foster exiting; she finds Justine unresponsive and with a rope around her neck.

Going back to 2013, we hear from Amber and Jaimee, two women in Las Vegas that Foster dated; both tell horrific stories of a man who was prone to sudden anger and violence, who was also paranoid and possessive. After a particularly violent incident, Amber had him arrested, but he did not get jail time. In another incident after they split, police ended up arresting Amber, not checking on Foster’s previous record when he reported that she attacked him.

He moved on to Jaimee, whom he moved in with after losing his job. He was arrested after essentially keeping her in captivity in her own condo, beating her senseless and shaving her head. But because she felt that facing him during the trial would be too much for her to bear, the DA’s office negotiated a plea with Foster that netted him only 30 months in prison, with his two years of previous jail time credited as time served.

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What Shows Will It Remind You Of? As we mentioned, Worst Ex Ever has a similar format to Worst Roommate Ever , with interviews interspersed with animated reenactment footage.

Our Take: One of the things we liked about Worst Roommate Ever is that, because of its anthology format, it got right down to brass tacks and told its story in a straightforward, no-BS manner. Worst Ex Ever is the same way, even if the stories they tell have a bit more history than the roommate ones do.

The Foster story is complex, to say the least, given the fact that his violent ways stretch back a decade and across two states. We give the producers credit for getting all three of his victims (at least the ones we know of) to appear on camera and tell their stories. The common thread that all of them expressed was bewilderment at how quickly Ben turned from attentive and caring to violent and paranoid.

There isn’t a whole lot of examination on Foster’s history to sus out how and why he was the way he was. And, while there is some examination of how poorly law enforcement and the justice system in Las Vegas treated both Amber and Jaimee in their respective cases against Foster, there wasn’t a ton of time to dive into how the system failed both women and allowed Foster to beat and torture more women.

But, given the time restraints and the complexity of the Foster story, it’s told in a way that keeps viewers attention and gives the details it needs to give in order to keep viewers’ interest.

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Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: As Amber says she is happy she doesn’t have to look over her shoulder anymore (Foster killed himself when cornered by police in Grants Pass), we see shots of Amber, Jaimee and Justine.

Sleeper Star: Justine’s friend Angie is definitely the hero in the Grants Pass incident, and Justine says as much during her interview.

Most Pilot-y Line: The animated reenactments are used quite a bit, but they’re also pretty sedate, and a whole lot better than live-action reenactments.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Worst Ex Ever , like other Blumhouse true crime docuseries, tells its stories in an efficient, straightforward manner that keeps viewers’ attention, even if there are a lot of complicating factors.

Joel Keller ( @joelkeller ) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com , VanityFair.com , Fast Company and elsewhere.

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