The New Netflix Show That’s Surging In Popularity

Despite a little-know line-up of actors, ‘Boots’ is surging in popularity

Patti Perret/Netflix © 2024

Every year hundreds of new shows and movies join Netflix’s library adding to its thousands of titles. Standing out from the crowd is far from straightforward unless a production has a string of A List stars. This makes it all the more noteworthy when a show with little-known actors surges in interest which is exactly what is happening right now.

Military dramedy Boots isn’t your typical glitzy Netflix production. Set in the 1990s, it tells the story of a skinny and secretly gay teenager Cameron Cope who is tired of being bullied at school so enlists himself in the Marine Corps with his best friend Ray.

The eight-episode show follows them on their grueling 13-week journey through boot camp and is crammed with comical military stereotypes. The format was first widely popularized in the 1970s with the sitcom M*A*S*H and it features a homesick recruit, a fish out of water, toxic masculinity and, of course, withering insults from a hard-nosed drill instructor.

Offset against the brutality of boot camp is the theme of building brotherhood and betrayal with bittersweet revelations and plot twists aplenty. Viewers are kept on the edge of their seats as not only is Cameron trying to fit in but he is also trying to keep his homosexuality a secret as it was illegal in the Marines in the 1990s. Adding to the tension, one of the drill instructors is on to him giving the show the air of a thriller as well as a coming-of-age comedy.

It has enough angles to appeal to a wide audience and is even inspired by a true story as the show is based on the memoir The Pink Marine by veteran Greg Cope White. One thing it doesn’t have is a cast of superstars.

Cameron is played by Miles Heizer whose most well-known roles to date were in NBC drama series Parenthood and another Netflix original series 13 Reasons Why. The role of Ray went to Liam Oh, an actor who only has two credits to his name, one of which was uncredited, while British actor Max Parker stars as the no-nonsense drill instructor. He previously acted in British television soap operas Emmerdale and Casualty with perhaps his biggest role to date being a bit part in Doctor Who earlier this year.

The remaining ranks of Boots are filled with other lesser-known actors including several who had supporting parts in Marvel TV shows. They all give the performances of their lives and it has paid off.

Netflix ordered the series back in 2023 and it was adapted for TV by showrunner Andy Parker. He knew he had a hot property on his hands and began production in summer 2023 with Sony Pictures Television and Act III Productions. However, that came to a halt after just a week due to the SAG-AFTRA strike with filming resuming in March last year. It wrapped six months later and was released two days ago.

In just 48 hours the show has already earned a solid rating of 72 on Metacritic which describes it as “generally favorable” based on 17 reviews from critics. There are another 22 on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes giving it an average rating of 91%. Its appeal isn’t just restricted to critics as more than 50 audience reviews yield an average rating of 86% which is an impressive feat given how little time it has been on release.

This is reflected in data from Google Trends, which analyzes the popularity of top search queries. The chart below shows that today Boots hit a score of 100 representing the maximum relative interest worldwide rather than the absolute number of searches.

Boots is bucking the typical trend as there is usually a lag between release and an increase in searches for a well-reviewed show. It tends to take time for word of mouth to spread as streaming viewers wait for reviews from their peers or want to see shows for themselves, which costs them nothing as they don’t pay per view. However, Boots is so appealing that word is spreading fast already largely due to media reviews rather than viral exposure.

“As hilarious as it is devastating, the series is a unique coming-of-age story,” wrote Variety in its review while the LA Times added that “there’s a timely element to this perfectly decent, good-hearted, unsurprisingly sentimental miniseries.”

If the level of interest in it continues on its current trajectory there could be more to come. As The Wrap noted, “Boots is an entertaining watch with the potential for an even stronger second season that raises the stakes – even if it’s hard to stomach this endearing platoon heading to war.”

A second series hasn’t been announced yet but the door seems open. Although the show covers the majority of the source material, the rousing reception to it gives Cope White a significant incentive to write more about his life in the service.