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

Netflix has once again seen its top spot shift around in the top 10 list, and its latest reality show hit has finally been unseated after more than a week by a new scripted series. The Ultimatum has been bumped down to #2, while now Anatomy of a Scandal has reached #1, after hovering around in the #2 slot for the past few days.

The Ultimatum is the latest entry in a recent trend of Netflix going big on a large range of reality shows, their most popular ones being romance-based like Too Hot to Handle and Love is Blind. The Ultimatum throws a bunch of couples together where one is ready for marriage and the other isn’t, and sees what kind of mess gets made when they all date each other for a short spell. Do they stay with the person they came there with, leave with some new, or go home alone? All three versions of that played out across the couples in season 1.

Anatomy of a Scandal is pretty much the polar opposite of The Ultimatum, a scripted British drama chronicling the fall of a member of Parliament when he’s accused of rape and must stand trial while his wife decides whether or not he’s innocent, along with the jury. The show stars Homeland’s Rupert Friend, Downtown Abbey’s Michelle Dockery and Sienna Miller, who I can’t pin down to one notable role, but we’ve all seen her in a million things, and she does a great job here. I’m only halfway through the show right now, but it’s as gripping as you might imagine.

It probably will not surprise you that with a title and concept like this, Anatomy of a Scandal is based on a book, and this one was written by Sarah Vaughn which was released in 2018. Netflix is billing the show as a limited series, so it seems designed to run for just these six episodes, another trend Netflix has been doing a lot of lately. No need to fuss about a second season when that was never in the cards to begin with.

As for The Ultimatum, like its sister series Love is Blind, expect many, many more seasons to come based on both its success and how easy and cheap these shows are to shoot, which network TV learned about reality programming two decades ago. The Ultimatum season 2 is already greenlit and is said to feature an LGBTQ, mostly female cast, which will be a change from season 1, and a departure from Love is Blind as well, which has not done LGBTQ relationships yet.

Elsewhere on the list, Bridgerton season 2 is still there in #3, but sliding down. Barack Obama’s Our Great National Parks does not seem destined to hit #1 at this pace. And finally, I don’t see Inventing Anna in the top 10 list anymore for the first time in what, a month? Man, that show had staying power.

We’ll see how long Anatomy of a Scandal lasts on top, but Ozark’s finale is just around the corner…

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