Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer

Deanna Thompson and John Green lead a group of online sleuths who try to find a man who posts videos of himself killing kittens. The hunt begins in 2010 when a Facebook group studies tiny clues in the videos and searches for the room, the city, and the killer. The case grows after the same man posts more animal attacks and then kills Chinese student Jun Lin. The three episodes follow the police chase, the killer’s need for attention, and the danger of online crowds. The tone is tense, grim, and deeply upsetting because the series uses short real crime clips and sound.

The clearest woke element is a short LGBTQ identity detail about Jun Lin. Episode 2 says that Lin was not openly gay and came to Canada because it was more liberal and accepting, so the series gives his private identity a small place in the case. This material is not a central campaign or a broad political message. The main themes are internet fame, animal cruelty, police delay, amateur investigation, false accusations, and the fear that attention can feed a killer. The ending asks whether detectives, viewers, and Netflix helped feed the killer’s need for attention.