Netflix's Monster: The Ed Gein Story provides a glimpse into the dark universe of Ed Gein, the notorious Butcher of Plainfield. With it comes that of his supposed partner, his muse and reflection in some accounts, Adeline Watkins. The serial killer's love interest is an integral part of the show, as the depiction of their bond on screen and the grim reality behind it adds layers of curiosity to Gein's story, and the actress who impeccably embodied the role of his literal partner in crime, laced with fatal terror and mental tempest. 

The buzz surrounding Adeline Watkins revolves around the gruesome bloodshed and its spine-chilling retelling in Netflix's Monster: The Ed Gein Story.

Suzanna Son is the actress playing the part of Adeline Watkins in Monster: The Ed Gein Story. Son brought to life the woman who was Ed Gein's supposed romantic interest over many years. In 2025, Son appeared in Fear Street: Prom Queen and also starred in The Idol. The actress and musician has been featured in the 2024 'Lithonia' music video by Childish Gambino. In the show, the Red Rocket breakout star seamlessly weaved Watkins' equally haunting presence into the disturbing lifestyle of Charlie Hunnam's Gein.

Adeline Watkins in the series is portrayed as Gein's source of comfort, his mirror to obsession, taking him to strange, macabre fascinations, and being present for him in times of darkness. In real life, Watkins asserted in 1957 that she had had a romantic relationship with Ed Gein that lasted several decades, but later recanted her statement. The Netflix series romanticizes their relationship by depicting intimate scenes, shared fixation with death, and even grave-robbing trips together, straying from historical records, and plunging into captivating fiction.

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The show goes all in on Suzanna Son's Watkins as both friend and darkening force in Ed Gein's downfall, elevating her past mere footnote status in the criminal record.

Adeline Watkins' name is etched in history alongside the Wisconsin murderer, but is shrouded in fact and speculation. The Plainfield, Wisconsin, lady, following Ed Gein's 1957 arrest, stated that they had been romantically involved. Speaking to the Minneapolis Tribune that year, she claimed that the couple remained together for 20 years with marriage in the cards. She even deemed the grave robber as “kind” and “sweet,” admitting to exploiting his nature for her own dark curiosities.

Nevertheless, shortly following the initial reports that were made public, Watkins took back much of what she had stated, explaining that although she had been familiar with Gein for many years, their interaction was sporadic, perhaps lasting only a few months after 1954. Watkins further asserted that she never went into Gein's home and that much of the romantic information was media sensationalization. Since Gein never commented publicly on their relationship, the reality of Watkins's relationship to him remained unclear, which gave  Netflix's Monster: The Ed Gein Story a poetic license to adapt it into Suzanna Son's fictionalized role. 

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What are your thoughts on Suzanna Son's performance in Netflix's Monster: The Ed Gein Story? Comment below.