Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.Richard Jenkins has compiled a long filmography chock-full of versatile roles. He's got one of those faces that make you say, "I know that guy from something." Maybe it's as Professor Walter Vale from the critically acclaimed 2008 award-winner, The Visitor. Perhaps you enjoyed his comedic performance as Dr. Robert Roback, father to two man-children in the huge hit Stepbrothers the same year. Of course, it could also be Giles, the down-on-his-luck ad man in Guillermo del Toro's Oscar winner, The Shape of Water. In other words, the guy can do it all. He's a jack-of-all-trades. So when Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, the co-creators of Dahmer - Monster: the Jeffrey Dahmer Story, landed Jenkins to play Jeffrey Dahmer's father, Lionel, it was a big score — and he rewarded them by delivering a remarkable performance as the short-tempered and overwhelmed dad to the monstrous serial killer.

When you have a television show or a movie that spotlights a grisly, off-the-wall, bonkers character like Jeffrey Dahmer, there has to be a "straight man" that the eccentric character can feed off of and someone that the audience can relate to. In Dahmer, that person is Jenkins' Lionel. He serves as the emotional linchpin that holds the show together. He is the link, quite literally, between Jeffrey and his mother, Joyce Dahmer (Penelope Ann Miller), and Jeffrey's grandma, Catherine Dahmer (Michael Learned). In some form, almost everything that happens in that family flows through Lionel, and Jenkins had to make a decision on how Lionel would handle all of that responsibility while also acknowledging the central role he played in the dysfunction that led to the evolution of their monstrous son.

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Jenkins Brings Lionel Dahmer's Inner Struggle to Life

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Image via Netflix

At the heart of Monster: the Jeffrey Dahmer Story are the nagging questions, "Why did Jeffrey turn out this way?" and "Did I help play a part in what he has become?" These are valid questions that Lionel struggles with throughout the show. Could he have done something differently? Was he too short-tempered and neglectful when his son was young? Did his fights with Joyce and ultimately failed marriage contribute? He's filled with overarching angst concerning whether his being away so much played a part and if the experiments with roadkill and misguided forays into taxidermy were the wrong thing to do as a father. These are questions that probably still haunt Lionel Dahmer to this day. In the end, he will inevitably take them to his grave. Jenkins really brings to life the inward struggle he is going through concerning these "nature vs. nurture" questions that torment him.

This cauldron of self-doubt and resentment spills over into not only his relationship with his troubled son and second wife, Shari (Molly Ringwald), but with his relationships with other family members as well. His anger toward his ex-wife and her use of medication is highlighted throughout the series. Joyce Dahmer's abuse of prescription pills while pregnant with Jeffrey is a point of contention for Lionel from early on in their son's life. It's clear that he wants to shift the blame for Jeffrey's failures and ultimate demise onto the shoulders of Joyce, and he never truly lets go of that animus toward her. Lionel needs to believe that her being so flighty and leaving him alone as a teenager was the root cause of the problems. All of these emotions are played out to a tee by the veteran actor and ultimately prove to be the driving force behind his relationships with everyone else in his life.

As his son gets older, and his behavior grows more and more bizarre, Lionel decides to have Jeffrey live with his elderly mother after being kicked out of both college and the military, Catherine. Having to serve as the referee between his well-meaning but overly pious mother and his rebellious and strange son is another ongoing hardship. The frustration of acting as the conduit between the two takes a toll on Lionel who is not a young man anymore. It is a dynamic that was doomed to fail as his religious mother and spiraling agnostic son, who by this time is carrying out gruesome acts of murder right under her nose, start butting heads almost immediately Between the foul smells emanating from Jeffrey's "experiments" in the basement and his lashing out and resisting her attempts to instill some religion and normalcy to his life, the result is yet another failure that falls at the feet of Lionel. His exasperation with his son's inability to fit in and be a productive member of society as Jeffrey enters his mid-twenties is reaching a boiling point.

Jenkins' Portrayal of Lionel Dahmer Shifts in the Wake of Jeffrey's Arrest

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Image via Netflix 

As things come full circle and Jeffrey is arrested for all the brutal and horrific crimes that he has committed dating back over a decade, Jenkins' portrayal of Lionel shifts a little. You can sense that even though he is horrified at the things his son has done, there is almost a sense of relief that it's come to a conclusion and the public will be safe. Finding out that his son is truly ill and in need of psychological help allows Lionel to actually take steps to help Jeffrey. While he still struggles with the genetic part of him that went into his son and possibly created a monster, the unanswerable questions he has had for the duration of Jeffrey's life at least have some sort of tangible correlation. The final scenes between father and son have shed most of the tension that existed as Lionel has almost let go and stopped asking, 'Why?" and is overcome with sympathy and love for Jeffrey. Jenkins' take on Lionel as a man burdened for so long by the questions surrounding his miscreant of a son has, at the very least, come to the forefront and been addressed.

Following his son's incarceration, Lionel is overcome with both sadness and love for Jeffrey. He has come to terms with the fact that Jeffrey's actions were the result of a sick mind. From that point on, he is able to reconcile some of the events that unfolded over the years. The only thing Lionel has left to feel toward his son is pity and an overwhelming desire to protect his boy from the state and the system. When Jeffrey is beaten to death in prison by a deranged fellow inmate, there is a very palpable sense of grief from Lionel. Even though the world viewed him as an abomination, he was still his son. Jenkins' emotional portrayal of a heavily troubled man having to tend to the events surrounding a dysfunctional family and the unique problems surrounding it is a poignant one that serves as the emotional hub of Dahmer - Monster: the Jeffrey Dahmer Story.