‘You’ Dethroned Again In Netflix’s Top 10 List By A Surprising New Show

Alright, I have to admit I…didn’t quite see this one coming. I figured the back half of season 4 of You, where the story gets really wild, would stay on top of Netflix’s top 10 list for a while. Instead, it lasted just a couple of days, not even a full week, and instead has been supplanted by a show that I’d say is performing surprisingly well.

That would be Shadow and Bone, a rare, high-ish budget, YA-based fantasy series that was not cancelled by Netflix after one season. Now Shadow and Bone has returned for season 2, and not only that, but debuted in the #1 spot, unseating You, which is genuinely surprising and impressive.

Shadow and Bone is not exactly one of Netflix’s higher profile shows, and you never saw it on any of its top overall viewership charts during its debut year. But it’s a solid offering with matching 88% critic and audience scores, not that those have ever shown to mean all that much to Netflix.

What’s surprising about Shadow and Bone was that season 2 exists at all, given all the similar YA-style shows Netflix has cancelled. Off the top of my head, Netflix has cancelled:

• First Kill
• Cursed
• The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
• The Order
• Fate: The Winx Saga
• The Imperfects
• The Bastard Son and the Devil Himself
• Warrior Nun

All fantasy styled YA productions. I’d argue that none of them are as good as Shadow and Bone (other than maybe Warrior Nun season 2), but it’s still a surprising move from Netflix, a rare investment in a show that certainly doesn’t seem cheap.

But of course, even this #1 debut does not secure Shadow and Bone’s future for a season 3. There are three Shadow and Bone books in total, and I assume it’s one book a season (I haven’t read them). The smart thing to do, of course, would be to make sure Shadow and Bone can finish them all and be a complete series rather than ending on some unfinished cliffhanger season 2. But given that this is Netflix we’re talking about, that’s far from a sure thing, given their past decisions.

Still, you could not start out stronger here. And while I do have some questions about how the second half of You season 4 is performing, I still think it remains likely the show will be greenlit for a fifth season, which is supposed to be its last, if approved. We’ll have to wait and see what’s next for both of these productions.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.