While I have been writing about the battles within the Netflix top 10 list for a while now, I’m not sure I’ve ever been more confident about a transition than I was about this weekend, where without question, Selling Sunset was always going to lose its top spot to the return of Ozark for its final batch of season 4 episodes, the ultimate end of the series and the conclusion of the Byrde family’s arc.
Selling Sunset is the latest in a long string of Netflix reality show hits that have dominated the top of the chart, including the likes of Love is Blind and The Ultimatum. But Selling Sunset is not a competition series, but rather has evolved into something more akin to a Real Housewives production as its beautiful women argue through their drama every week in between selling homes.
Selling Sunset has not been renewed for a sixth season yet, and yet it seems inevitable, as these reality series are the closest thing Netflix has to a sure thing at this point from a viewership perspective, and if they are emulating Real Housewives, those have proven to be shows that can essentially last forever. Selling Sunset is a show that Netflix can crank out quickly and easily. Season 1 debuted in 2019, and even over the course of the pandemic, the series has managed to produce five seasons in three years. Really nothing else compares to it.
On the complete other end of the Netflix content spectrum is Ozark, which takes its final bow with this final run of seven episodes. I’m still not exactly clear on why Netflix split the final season into two, seven episode chunks, as it doesn’t appear to be a ploy to get into two Emmy nomination years, given that the split didn’t happen at the right time. Maybe something with production? Or maybe Netflix finally just admitted they didn’t want people binging all 14 episodes of the final season in one weekend, and they wanted to at least extend that a little bit?
Ozark continues to be a series that has only gotten better in time, and early reviews indicate that this final season continues that recent streak of quality and that it’s a fitting end to the saga. I’m only two episodes in so far, but it has not disappointed yet, and I’m certainly curious to see where it’s all heading.
Elsewhere on the list, we have Grace and Frankie at #2, the literal longest-running Netflix series that is also airing its final season this weekend. I doubt it will pass Ozark to become number one, but who knows, once people are done binging. The Marked Heart has also done well, hovering inside the top 5. A new entry is “Bullshit,” a new game show offering from Netflix hosted by Deal or No Deal’s Howie Mandel as Netflix tries to get into literally every TV genre on earth.
I would expect Ozark to stay on top for a while, but we’ll check back in soon to see if anything passes it up.
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