Ozark
This post was republished on 5/16.
A few shows almost did it, Selling Sunset, Welcome to Eden and The Circle, but finally, a new series has dethroned Ozark at the top of Netflix’s top 10 list where it has been planted since the debut of its final string of season 4 episodes, the end of the series.
That new show would be The Lincoln Lawyer. If that sounds familiar, it’s based on both a book series, and there was a movie adaptation made back in 2011 which starred Matthew McConaughey.
McConaughey is not the lawyer in question this time around, as that is actor Manuel Garcia-Rulfo. I don’t know him offhand, but he’s been in Neflix’s 6 Underground, and had a run of episodes on Goliath a few years ago. But yes, starring in the #1 show on Netflix in the US is certainly the biggest move of his career, no doubt. The series also stars Neve Campbell, most recently seen reprising her role in Scream. Past her, however, I don’t recognize most of the supporting cast, though I did see Carlos Bernard from 24 buried in there. Becki Newton from Divorce, Tell Me a Story and How I Met Your Mother has a big role as Lorna.
Top 10
The Lincoln Lawyer’s first season is ten episodes where they each run about 45-50 minutes each. The series is based on Michael Connelly’s best-selling books about a lawyer who runs a practice out of his Lincoln Town Car. The show is reviewing decently well, a 76% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and a very solid 92% audience score. It’s just nice to see Ozark pass the crown to another scripted drama than a reality show. We’ll have to see what kind of legs The Lincoln Lawyer has, and if it’s a flash in the pan, or if Netflix has found their own Reacher or Better Call Saul.
As for Ozark, there’s really nothing more to say. The series is over, not cancelled, but allowed to end on its own terms. The final season was split in half with seven episodes each, but we didn’t have to wait long for part 2, and it did not ultimately seem to be a ploy to split Emmy years or anything like that. Ozark was one of Netflix’s highest profile series that only got better each season, and it will be missed from their lineup. I’m betting they absolutely want something to replace it in short order. I do not suspect that is going to be The Lincoln Lawyer itself, as the tone is not even close to the same, but any kind of hit would be good news for them all the same.
Netflix has had a rough stretch of time with subscriber loss and questions about its content lineup. But if The Lincoln Lawyer really is a solid performer between viewership and fan support, that’s going to be a much-needed win for them. We’ll see how long it can remain on top, but with 8+ hours of content in season 1, it may be there for a while. I will be checking it out this weekend, so look for my review early next week.
Update (5/16):
These days with Netflix, you can’t just be a US hit to justify continued renewal, you have to be a global hit. And so far, it’s looking like The Lincoln Lawyer may qualify as that, perhaps helped by its portrayal of Mickey Haller as Mexican-American. Or maybe it’s just a good show.
As of right now, The Lincoln Lawyer is the #1 series in 44 countries, well ahead of the show that is the second most-watched around the world, Welcome to Eden, the island cult thriller that I would argue is...not as good as The Lincoln Lawyer.
But what this means is that this a pretty promising view toward a second season, particularly with so much established source material, so Netflix already knows that coherent future stories can be on the way. The original McConaughey film adapted the first book, this season adapts the second. I suppose they could always go back to the first one, but it’s possible the second season could be the third book instead.
All signs point to The Lincoln Lawyer being the next big hit for Netflix, and yet it’s probably too soon to expect a season 2 announcement unless behind the scenes, the numbers are truly off the charts. Unlike say, Squid Game, which was a surprise hit where no season 2 was really ever planned, that’s not the case here, and I’m very much expecting to see this show return. For now, Netflix is likely taking stock of how many people watch it in the full scope of week 1 here, and perhaps we’ll have more news after that.
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