Adolescence
While this was only a matter of time, the record-setting Adolescence has stayed on top of Netflix’s top 10 list for well over two weeks now. It has finally been dethroned, and not just by WWE Monday Night RAW, a development I skipped last time this happened, as that doesn’t seem fair, but also by a second show now as well, which I would say “counts” this time.
Adolescence is now #3 on the Top 10 behind both RAW and also Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer. That is, as you may guess, a True Crime series rather than a drama. It’s only three episodes long, and chronicles the killing of a number of sex workers over the course of a decade, where Rex Heuermann was arrested for the crimes as recently as July 2023. Heuerman has been charged with seven killings and has as of now, pleaded not guilty.
The documentary runs about two and a half hours or so, and is on the shorter side of Netflix’s True Crime series. It has instantly debuted at #2 ahead of Adolescence rather than climbing up the charts, so clearly there is a lot of interest in the case, which just had its biggest break less than two years ago.
Top 10
Besides Adolescence, pushed down the list is The Residence, which never made it to #1. But as a lower budget comedy with solid critic and audience scores, it may have what it takes to secure a second season. Though with Netflix, whether that happens or not is anyone’s guess.
Netflix has had a string of somewhat underperforming Harlan Coben mysteries lately, the latest being Caught, down at #8 and never getting terribly high in the list. That one has a 50% critic score, not ideal, and not even enough ratings for an audience score yet, which isn’t the greatest sign. But Netflix is going to keep making these forever, it seems.
My guess would be that Adolescence will return to #1 after RAW moves down and people finish watching Gone Girls. It’s on pace to be one of Netflix’s most-watched series ever, and has sparked debate online where even Elon Musk seems to have endorsed the idea that it’s an “anti-white” story given the race of the killer in question, but its creators have said it’s about the radicalization of young men online, not about race or knife crime in the UK.
We’ll see what hits the list and becomes popular next, but it may continue to be Adolescence for a while, which is well-deserved.
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