Netflix has a new number-one TV show - just don't read the reviews

A new show has knocked Squid Game: The Challenge off Netflix’s TV top spot, but lots of critics are advising against you even trying it.

Obliterated is the global Netflix number one TV show according to Flixpatrol, which aggregates movie chart info from Netflix across 92 countries.

A bunch of elite troopers save Las Vegas from a bomb threat, and celebrate in true Las Vegas style. But they find the original bomb was a fake, and there is in fact a real kiloton bomb in the city. They are, at this point, all completely drunk.

It sounds like the stuff of a 90-odd-minute comedy movie, but is in fact an 8-part series.

In a not-uncommon outcome for dumb comedy content, there’s a split of reactions across the audience and the critics, according to RottenTomatoes at least.

Obliterated currently sits at a resolutely non-fresh 47% on the critic meter, but has a solid 80% audience score.

Obliterated reviews

“I did not think it was possible to cross The Hangover with the combined oeuvre of Steven Seagal, but here we are,” says The Daily Telegraph’s 1-star review.

Variety calls Obliterated “nearly unwatchable.”

“The episodes never seemed to end. Without real laugh-out-loud moments, the show is just one antic and explosive scene after another, never translating into the thrilling experience it promises,” the review says.

IGN’s 4/10 review says Obliterated is like “a poorly written, serialised action-movie version of The Hangover.”

However, it’s not all bad. Inverse comes out with the bold line that Obliterated is “one of the best counterterrorism thrillers since 24.”

“This isn’t thought-provoking Golden Age television by a longshot, but taken at face value, it’s the best possible version of an R-rated action comedy anyone could hope for,” it says.

CNN didn’t hate Obliterated either, saying “the show is just plain fun, juggling comedy and spy conventions with a lot of knowing winks and a clear appreciation for the genre. It also helps that there’s nothing currently on quite like it.”

Come to it with the right expectations and you may well have a good time with Obliterated. It’s an eight-episode series, with each ep lasting from around 45 minutes to an hour.

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