Following the massive success of Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Netflix has ordered a Season 2 of Ryan Murphy‘s latest project for the streamer, The Watcher. But does the series really need another season?
“Audiences can’t take their eyes off Monster and The Watcher. The creative team of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan on Monster along with Eric Newman on The Watcher are masterful storytellers who captivated audiences all over the world,” Bela Bajaria, Head of Global TV of Netflix, said in a statement upon the announcement of boths shows’ renewal.
“The back-to-back force of these two series is due to Ryan’s distinct original voice, which created cultural sensations, and we are thrilled to continue telling stories in the Monster and Watcher universe,” she concluded.
Alongside breakout Jennifer Coolidge, The Watcher boasts a star-studded cast, including Naomi Watts, Bobby Cannavale, Mia Farrow, Margo Martindale, Richard Kind, Terry Kinney, Joe Mantello, Noma Dumezweni, Christopher McDonald, Michael Nouri, Isabel Gravitt, Henry Hunter Hall, and Luke David Blumm.
Netflix initially billed The Watcher as a limited series that’s based on a true story first reported by Reeves Wiedeman and published on New York’s website, The Cut. The article detailed how a creepy stalker sent menacing letters and kept a family from moving into their New Jersey dream house. A week after the story was published, there was a fierce six-studio bidding war for a feature rights deal. Once Nexflix won, the story was adapted into a series and it was meant to conclude where the true story ended. However, the first season ended unresolved, without revealing the titular Watcher and moving a new family into the house.
The newest Murphy show has the worst Rotten Tomatoes score out of any of the creator’s titles. In our ranking of Ryan Murphy’s 14 biggest shows, it started at the bottom. It might be too early to say, but the general consensus was that this show feels thrown together quickly, with not much of an interesting statement to make upon arrival. “Serving as an adaptation of a previously told story — be it fact or fiction — must justify its existence. But did this one?” we asked.
With Netflix cutting shows left and right these days, it’s a bit surprising to see what feels like a finished story revived for more episodes, but we’ve been wrong before. So we leave the question to you: Is there enough left of this series to warrant a second season of The Watcher? Let us know yes or no in the poll below.
