Common Sense Media Review
By Melissa Camacho
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Chilling, empowering series shows abuse, survival.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Don’t Date Brandon
What's the Story?
Inspired by the true crime podcast Ex-Wives Undercover, DON'T DATE BRANDON is a docuseries about two women who teamed up to protect other women from a violent con man. In 2013, 35-year-old Amber Rasmussen met Seattle-based Brandon Johnson on Tinder and thought she'd found the perfect man. Within six weeks they were engaged, and Amber left Portland, Oregon to live with him, but only after Brandon convinces her that the online evidence of his infidelity is not what it seems. Throughout their tumultuous six-year relationship, during which time they got married, Amber contends that Brandon was often violent, claimed to be seriously ill, and appeared to have constant problems with ex-wife Athena Klingerman, with whom he has a daughter. All of this, along with new evidence of his infidelity, convinced Amber to end the marriage despite Brandon's attempts to stop her by threatening to kill Athena. But when Amber finally reaches out to Athena to ask her some questions about what transpired, she realizes that the man she once saw as her dream partner is really a nightmare. There was a limit to what the criminal justice system was willing or able to do to stop their ex-husband from hurting others, so the two women launched a podcast in 2020 to process what they went through and highlight Johnson's decades-long pattern of pathological lying, manipulation, and abuse toward women. By doing so, they've helped other women he targeted to come forward and be heard, and collectively do what they could to put him behind bars.
Is It Any Good?
The chilling but empowering docuseries shows the positive things that can happen when women who were victimized by an abuser come together to help each other. A large part of Don't Date Brandon is dedicated to highlighting some of the pitfalls of online dating by revealing how Brandon Johnson used it to attract his ex-partners, eight of whom were eventually harassed, stalked, threatened, and defrauded over decades. While this gives the true crime series an entertainment quality, the more significant parts of the series are the narratives explaining why Amber Rasmussen and Athena Klingerman chose to support each other and other women after enduring Johnson's abuse, and how they use media both as a vehicle of support and as a way to publicly fight back.
Granted, it's a promotional vehicle for the Ex-Wives Undercover podcast, and the video content, some of which includes unsettling security camera footage showing some of the women being verbally and physically assaulted by Johnson, is deeply disturbing. But the messages Don't Date Brandon offers about the importance and value of women supporting one another when entering into or surviving abusive partnerships are indispensable and worth heeding.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about true crime podcasts. People often listen to them for entertainment, but what are some of the ways they can be produced to help people and communities?
What did you think about the Don't Date Brandon producers showing real footage of some of the verbal and physical violence suffered by Johnson's ex-partners? Would the overall series be as effective without it?
TV Details
- Premiere date : October 28, 2025
- Cast : Amber Rasmussen , Athena Klingerman
- Network : Paramount+
- Genre : Reality TV
- Topics : Friendship
- Character Strengths : Communication , Compassion , Courage , Empathy , Perseverance , Teamwork
- TV rating :
- Last updated : November 4, 2025
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