‘Echoes’ Dethroned In Netflix’s Top 10 List By A New Show

I have to admit I have been surprised with how long Netflix miniseries Echoes has dominated the top 10 list, but now it’s being replaced by something equally surprising, and at least somewhat similar-sounding.

Echoes has now been unseated in Netflix’s top 10 list by a new limited series called Devil in Ohio. Like Echoes, it’s a crime-based miniseries that’s only running for eight episodes (Echoes was seven) and it apparently has instantly captured the attention of Netflix audience, debuting at number one, knocking Echoes down to number two after well over a week on top of the charts.

Also like Echoes, it stars an actress you probably recognize. Echoes had Michelle Monaghan, while Devil in Ohio stars Bones veteran Emily Deschanel, this time investigating a more sinister mystery, a satanic cult in, guess where, Ohio.

Devil in Ohio is unsurprisingly based on a book, and we’ve seen Netflix do this with a number of limited series in the past, which is kind of what HBO has done with projects like Sharp Objects and Mare of Easttown in the past. Echoes, actually was not based on a book, and was an original production for Netflix, so that’s one difference.

It’s a bit too early to tell how Devil in Ohio will score among critics and fans. The show has a 60% on Rotten Tomatoes, but that’s only from a total of five critics, and a 43% audience score, but that’s only based on seven fan reviews. So I really can’t see that as a firm indicator of quality yet, and we should wait for more reviews to come in.

Elsewhere on the list, I am a little bit concerned about the fate of Partner Track, the Netflix legal drama which never made it past #2 on the list. While Netflix may consider a lot of factors when renewing a show, you do really want to see something hit #1 for at least a brief period. But again, it’s all context. If Echoes was putting up sky-high numbers Partner Track couldn’t hope to reach, it’s not really its fault. And Netflix may not want to kill off its female-focused, Asian-led drama just because it slightly underperforms, if it’s trying to reach broader audiences, as it claims to want to.

The Sandman continues to slide down the list, but it’s still #5, showing a good amount of staying power, even though season 2 has not been confirmed and Neil Gaiman himself says the show may be too expensive to keep greenlighting unless Netflix sees massive performance from it. Stranger Things, Never Have I Ever and Virgin River are in the latter half of the list, still performing very well as some of Netflix’s strongest offerings and long-running series.

As for Devil in Ohio, we’ll see if it becomes a similar phenomenon to Echoes, which planted itself on top of the list and stayed there, engaging viewers with its miniseries mystery. These kinds of True Detective-adjacent projects appear to be working for Netflix right now, so we may see more of them to come as a result.

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