Netflix’s Latest Shows Receive Harsh Criticism, with One Receiving a Rare 0% Rating on Rotten Tomatoes
Netflix is known for constantly releasing a vast number of series, but not all of them turn out to be successful. With the sheer volume of content they produce, it is inevitable that not every series will be a hit. In comparison to a competitor like HBO, which takes a more curated approach, Netflix’s approach is more of a quantity-over-quality model. However, two of Netflix’s newest series, Obsession, and Florida Man, have received particularly negative reviews, with Obsession receiving a rare 0% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Of the two new Netflix series, the limited 4-part adaptation of Josephine Hart’s novella Damage, titled Obsession, has received the most negative reviews. Critics and fans alike have given the series terrible scores on Rotten Tomatoes (43% and 21%, respectively). One reviewer describes it as an overload of shlock, foreboding string music, and depressing, grunty shagging. The series follows the affair between a British politician and his son’s fiance and has been compared to a cross between Fifty Shades of Grey and Anatomy of a Scandal. Another critic adds that the series is about our basest impulses overriding our circuitry, causing us to go mad, but it’s challenging to take it seriously when the lead actor, Richard Armitage, aggressively tries to have sex with a bed and starts crying.
The other new Netflix series to receive less than enthusiastic reviews is Florida Man, a crime series produced by Jason Bateman’s production company. The title of the series plays with the real-world meme, but it has not been well-received by critics or viewers.
It’s worth noting that the response to the new Netflix series, Florida Man, is particularly interesting. The show follows the story of ex-cop Mike Valentine, played by Edgar Ramirez, a struggling gambling addict who owes money to a Philly mobster. While the show has received a 0% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, it has an 80% audience score on the same site. This is a significant contrast, albeit with the 0% score based on only five critics’ reviews at the moment, compared to 50+ audience reviews.
It’s worth mentioning that both of the new Netflix series, Obsession, and Florida Man, is currently in the US Top 10 as of Sunday, with Obsession at #6 and Florida Man at #2, just behind Beef. This suggests that the “Top 10 TV Shows in the US Today” row in the Netflix app is more of a measure of newness than anything else. It seems that subscribers are willing to give new shows a try, leading to enough of a critical mass of viewership before the new releases receive poor ratings and reviews.
