Episode 1 of "Monster: The Ed Gein Story" opens with Edward (Ed) Gein toiling away on the family farm. His eyes wander, spying through a window on Adeline, a young woman who has captured his fancy, as she stands in her bedroom clad in a bra. Back at the Gein homestead, Ed’s domineering mother, Augusta, stumbles upon a shocking scene: Ed, dressed in her bra and panties, is caught in the throes of masturbation within the confines of his room.
Augusta is deeply perturbed by her younger son's actions and turns to prayer, seeking divine intervention. She delivers a stern edict to Ed, forbidding him from ever marrying and cutting off all contact with women, branding such relationships as sinful. Despite her prohibition, Ed manages to cross paths with Adeline at a local café. There, Adeline captivates Ed by sharing harrowing photographs depicting the atrocities of the Nazi genocide, which Ed views with a haunting fascination. She also gifts him a comic book titled "Bitch of Buchenwald," centered around Ilse Koch, a figure who becomes the object of Ed's disturbing obsession.
The following day, as Ed is engrossed in his work in the shed, his older brother Henry arrives unannounced. Henry drops a bombshell: he intends to marry Ginny, defying their mother’s wishes. Ed attempts to caution his brother, but Henry dismisses Augusta's strictures as relics of a backward, religious mindset. Provoked by these slights against his mother, Ed lashes out, striking Henry over the head with a hefty log of wood, rendering him unconscious in an instant.
Panic sets in as Ed contemplates fleeing the scene, but he is suddenly beset by hallucinations that assure him Henry is unharmed. He returns home, joining his mother in prayer before they sit down to dinner. Augusta, lost in a moment of vulnerability, confides in Ed her deep-seated yearning for a baby girl and her abhorrence at the thought of having to engage in sexual relations with Ed’s father—acts that resulted in the births of Ed and his brother. Ed, feeling a surge of empathy for his mother, is left reeling from her confession.
The next morning, Ed ventures to the shed as is his routine, only to be confronted by the gruesome sight of Henry’s lifeless body. Overwhelmed by fear and dread, Ed drags the corpse outside and sets a fire around it in a desperate attempt to conceal the evidence. Returning home, he informs Augusta of his discovery. She instructs Ed to notify the authorities, setting the stage for the dark and twisted events that will follow.
The police reach a grim conclusion: Henry succumbed to asphyxiation amidst the raging flames. The devastating news triggers a stroke in Augusta, leaving her temporarily paralyzed by the weight of her son's untimely demise. Ed, now burdened with the responsibility of caring for his ailing mother, finds himself in a peculiar and unsettling position. He notices, with a mix of horror and fascination, the perverse pleasure he seems to derive while giving her a sponge bath.
Ed's mind becomes a breeding ground for dark fantasies, fueled by the lurid tales of Ilse Koch from the comic book Adeline had gifted him. One fateful day, Augusta, despite her frail state, musters the strength to rise from her bed and demands that Ed drive her to confront a man who owes them a paltry sum of $10. As she unleashes a torrent of curses upon the debtor, Augusta suffers another catastrophic stroke, one that claims her life instantly.
Left utterly alone, Ed stands by his mother's grave, mourning her passing with a heavy heart during the burial. That night, he returns to a desolate, echoing house and sinks into his late mother's chair, enveloped by a haunting silence. Suddenly, he hears his mother's voice, a spectral whisper that he chooses to ignore, shrouded in denial and fear.
Days blur into nights as Ed's routine becomes a macabre dance between normalcy and madness. One evening, while alone, he succumbs to a depraved act, masturbating with one of his mother's camisoles. The sound of her voice, a chilling echo from beyond the grave, startles him, sending shivers down his spine. Yet, he perseveres through the day, tending to the farm and the cattle, his mind a maelstrom of conflicting emotions.
As darkness falls once more, Ed's descent into madness reaches its zenith. He ventures to the cemetery under the cover of night, driven by an insatiable and grotesque curiosity. With trembling hands, he exhumes the grave of a middle-aged woman, her decomposing corpse a grotesque testament to his twisted desires. Bringing her home, he undresses the lifeless body and seats her on Augusta's rocking chair, a macabre replacement for the mother he had lost.
