New Netflix Hit Took Baby Reindeer’s #1 Place, But Fans Downright Hate It

The British miniseries Baby Reindeer became a surprise hit for Netflix. It is a story based on real events by the screenwriter and showrunner of the project, Richard Gadd. Unsuccessful comedian Donny, who temporarily works in a bar, becomes the victim of a stalker. The woman destroys his personal life and interferes with his career, but unwittingly helps Donny deal with the monstrous psychological traumas of the past.

Baby Reindeer became the most popular series on Netflix in April – at first there was little attention to the show with not the most famous actors, but in the second week, views on streaming increased by 408%.

In early May, however, Baby Reindeer was knocked off the top spot on Netflix by another drama that fans claim did not deserve it.

A Man in Full is a six-episode miniseries from Big Little Lies showrunner David E. Kelley, and like the hit show about women in a small town, it's based on a bestseller – Tom Wolfe's novel of the same name. It would seem that the already used and successful formula should have worked this time around. But the viewers were all the more surprised when the show turned out to be an outright failure – with a 43% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a large number of extremely negative reviews.

What is A Man in Full About?

The plot of the series focuses on one character – 60-year-old Atlanta tycoon Charlie Croker (Jeff Daniels), who is facing bankruptcy. As it soon turns out, Charlie's total debt is more than a billion dollars. But he will not part with any of his assets: not his grouse hunting grounds, not his private jets.

Sacrificing a little to save a lot is not Charlie's style, as he stubbornly tries to protect his empire and is willing to play dirty.

Fans Hoped for a Strong New Drama, But Got Only a Weak Story

The premise sounds like A Man in Full could be some kind of little brother to Succession or Billions, right? After all, the story of how members of a super-rich family fight to inherit their father's empire didn't seem too exciting either, but in the end, contrary to expectations, we got one of the best drama shows of the 21st century. What about A Man in Full? Well, the situation here is just the opposite.

“This [...] show made me cancel my Netflix subscription. Bad plot, unconnected story lines, disaster acting, garbage unnecessary sex scenes. This show is the worst thing I have ever watched,” Reddit user LettuceElectronic995 wrote.

And that is not the harshest comment from a viewer of this series.

One of the main problems with A Man in Full (besides the confusing narrative and the generally strange structure of the whole show) is the lack of clearly developed female characters. Probably, the creators wanted to emphasize the masculine world, where every real man is only happy when he can proudly stand tall and face the universe without being ashamed of anything.

And probably Charlie would have managed to look like the main man compared to the others if his masculinity had not been more akin to extravagance and his self-control had not been akin to a desire to turn a blind eye to the truth.

This black humor does not save the show, but somehow makes it worse. And thank God, just a few days after the release of A Man in Full, Baby Reindeer returned to its well-deserved top 1 spot on Netflix.