Netflix rode the creative brilliance of hitmaker Shonda Rhimes in the first quarter, rolling out back-to-back hits with limited biopic series Inventing Anna and season two of Bridgerton.
Now, the focus is on one of Netflix’s other high-priced creatives, Ryan Murphy, who has followed up the smash-hit performance of pitch-black serial killer biopic Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story with the only slightly sunnier horror/mystery miniseries The Watcher.
Dahmer finally cooled in week four, dropping nearly 40% of its week three audience and finishing with a still-strong 122.8 million viewing hours for the week of October 10-16.
Starring Bobby Cannavale and Naomi Watts as a couple who enter a nightmare stalker situation when they purchase their dream home, The Watcher scored an impressive 125 million viewing hours in its first four days on Netflix.
That’s better an any other new original series debuting on the platform so far in 2022.
As is most often the case with original shows that successfully debut on Netflix, critics hated The Watcher, scoring it with an aggregated 31% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Dahmer (57%) scored only a bit better, but it just had the second-best debut ever on Netflix for an English-language show. ▪️
