Series Snapshot ~ 2/5/2026

By: [email protected] on Thu, 02/05/2026 - 15:17

Welcome to the Series Snapshot, a weekly deep dive into the shows topping the streaming charts.

Netflix’s anachronistic smash hit Bridgerton is back this week with the successful launch of its fourth season, claiming the most watched title on the platform. The steamy, regency-era romance has maintained consistently high viewership across the globe, with season four appearing in the top ten for ninety-one countries. The new season is a two-parter, with the second installment of four final episodes set to release February 26th. Critics continue to rate the show highly, but audiences hold myriad opinions. The new season incorporates many elements from the classic fairy tale Cinderella, which some embrace and others find tropey and predictable. A welcome new addition to the show, Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha) has immediately won viewers over for her undeniable chemistry with series favorite, the dashing Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson). Bridgerton’s clever folding in of pop culture and modern references keeps the series fresh and engaging, earning comparisons to A Knight’s Tale, Shrek, and The Princess Bride. Bridgerton was created by Chris Van Dusen, and also stars Nicola Coughlin.

This week at Hulu, Tell Me Lies steps aside for new thriller series Memory of a Killer, which stars TV legend Patrick Dempsey. For Dempsey, the new series is part of a strategic career change-up; the actor has spent decades as Grey’s Anatomy’s “McDreamy”, and is now looking to distance himself with challenging new roles and darker genres. Memory of a Killer explores the premise of an elite assassin struggling with early Alzheimer’s, which causes his two lives to begin to bleed together. The story has actually been adapted several times already- the original source was a 1985 Belgian novel, De Zaak Alzheimer, which inspired a 2003 film of the same name and another adaptation starring Liam Neeson in 2022. Unfortunately, the newest iteration isn’t scoring highly with critics or audiences, although many are curious to see Dempsey in something different. Only three episodes have been released so far, so there’s still time for the series to find its foothold. Memory of a Killer was created by Ed Whitmore and Tracey Malone.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms continues to hold strong as HBO’s most streamed series, now for the third week in a row. Fans of the original Game of Thrones series, as well as House of the Dragon enjoy the new series and rate it highly, but A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has also functioned as a casual entry point for newcomers to the Thrones universe. Seven Kingdoms' success is attributed to impeccable precise casting. Its laid-back, tongue-in-cheek adventure tone, asks very little of audiences to keep track of compared to earlier productions. Set approximately 100 years before the pilot of Game of Thrones, the series follows Sir Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey), his squire, Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell), and the “laughing storm”, Ser Lyonel Baratheon (Daniel Ings) as they travel across westeros not in pursuit of a magic item, but honor, hoping to make names for themselves as they navigate the political pettiness within their feudalist society. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms was created by George R. R. Martin and Ira Parker.

At Amazon Prime, Fallout reclaims its number one spot after Steal bumped it off last week. The live-action version of the beloved videogame franchise has found a sweet spot by honoring the original video games, without being too niche to discourage new viewers. Fallout is set in a 1950’s inspired future after a nuclear war. The series success should also be attributed to its stellar cast, Walton Goggins, who plays the Cowboy Ghoul, Ella Purnell, whose character Lucy escapes from one of many “vaults” or, underground nuclear bunkers, and Aaron Moten, who plays Maximus, a knight of the Brotherhood of Steel. The three fit together seamlessly and deliver performances with pitch-perfect Fallout humor. Fallout was created by Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner.

AppleTV’s third season of Shrinking takes the number one spot this week, ahead of Hijack, as audiences start to lose interest in the second season of the environmental thriller. Shrinking debuted in early 2023 to immediate positive reception for its grounded, heartwarming writing and characters. The show is often compared to Ted Lasso, which makes sense, since it comes from the same creative team of Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein. Jason Segel stars as Jimmy Laird, a grieving therapist who begins telling his clients exactly what he thinks, causing drastic life changes. Also starring is Harrison Ford, who plays Dr. Paul Rhodes, Jimmy’s mentor who throughout the series battles Parkinson’s disease. Season three develops this further with the addition of Michael J. Fox, who came out of retirement for the series, with the intention of playing “just a guy” with Parkinson’s who runs into Dr. Rhodes in a clinic waiting room. His three episode arc is seen by many as some of the series’ strongest writing so far. New episodes release every Wednesday until the season finale April 8th.

This week a new limited series at Disney has taken the most watched spot, ahead of last week’s Ryan Murphy horror series, The Beauty. This week’s winner is Wonder Man, which may sound like a lazily titled new MCU character, but is actually a much more grounded story. Yahya Abdul Mateen-II stars as Simon Williams, a struggling actor who auditions for the role of “Wonder Man”, an in-universe superhero film. The catch however, is that Williams really does have super powers. Along with a budding bromance with Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley) reprising his role from Iron Man 3) Simon has to keep his powers secret. The premise has captivated audiences and critics, who call it a satirical love letter to acting and Hollywood, and agree that Wonder Man is easy to digest if you aren’t well versed in all things Marvel. Wonder Man was created by Andrew Guest and Destin Daniel Cretton.