The Staircase: parents' guide

Extremely graphic crime scene photos and video of the woman's body and the blood-covered stairwell are shown and revisited throughout. Her injuries are analyzed in detail, and another woman's earlier death, exhumation and autopsy are discussed.

Profanity is frequent across the episodes, including many f-words and s-words as well as crude anatomical terms. No source counted them.

Pornographic images are shown on screen as trial evidence, and sexual acts are discussed in detail, including the husband's emails with a male escort. Homophobia becomes part of how the case is argued.

Drinking is a regular part of family life, and whether the wife had been drinking matters to the case, though no one is shown drunk. There is a fair amount of smoking and occasional mention of drugs.

Not a horror story, but the bloody images and autopsy talk are upsetting, and the family's grief is raw. The adopted daughters lose a second mother, and the family splits bitterly over his guilt.