By
Greg MacArthur
Published 52 minutes ago
Greg is a Lead TV Writer & Critic at Screen Rant who also covers Movies and Music. He's published over 2400 articles at SR and dozens of reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. He previously worked in Development at ABC Television & Lawrence Bender Productions.
Greg majored in Film Production at Chapman University's Dodge College. Greg also has years of broadcast TV production experience at major networks such as NBC, TNT, and ESPN. He currently resides in the Greater Boston area.
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The most popular crime thriller series on Netflix right now wasn't even an original production. In fact, this viral show was produced and distributed by one of Netflix's fiercest streaming rivals.
Although this series was released in 2017 and concluded in 2020, spanning 3 seasons and 30 episodes during that time, it has found a second life on Netflix – and is currently the #4 most-watched series in the world on the giant streaming platform (via FlixPatrol).
Stranger Things season 5 has unsurprisingly been dominating Netflix's global streaming chart after its 4-part premiere last Wednesday, just in time for the long holiday weekend.
This series would have to defy the odds even further to surpass some of Netflix's biggest streaming hits this month – including the gripping 8-part thriller series The Beast in Me – but has held a Top 5 spot on Netflix's worldwide chart for at least 2 consecutive weeks.
Absentia Has Become A Viral Crime Thriller On Netflix This Month
Typically speaking, most of the biggest Netflix hit series at any given time are produced and distributed solely by Netflix. All the most critically acclaimed and popular shows – from Adolescence to Wednesday – are made by Netflix, for Netflix and its subscribers.
However, every once in a while, Netflix acquires the rights to another series and makes it its own streaming hit without having to change the original, sometimes completed, series whatsoever. This is the case with Absentia, a suspense-driven crime thriller series that premiered on Prime Video back in 2017.
The official logline for Absentia reads: "After being declared dead in absentia, an FBI agent must reclaim her family, identity, and innocence when she finds herself the prime suspect in a string of murders."
Since its release on Netflix on November 14, Absentia has not only skyrocketed to the upper echelon of Netflix's global streaming charts but has also maintained its popularity throughout the entire month. Given all the new hit releases on Netflix this Fall, this is a surprising and even rare feat for the "classic" series.
Absentia Was Canceled By Prime Video Before Netflix Made It A Hit
Stania Katic in Absentia season 2Elena Nenkova / ©Amazon / Courtesy Everett Collection
After Prime Video canceled Absentia after three seasons, Netflix jumped in some five years later to rebrand the forgotten series under its universally known streaming umbrella. This has turned out to be a major success for the streamer and has even sparked discussion about the potential to revive the series with a fourth season at Netflix.
What's perhaps most interesting is that Absentia did not receive widespread acclaim upon its debut, earning just a 47% Rotten Tomatoes score for its first season. This goes to show that sometimes in this modern streaming landscape, you never know what overlooked or undervalued series could become a viral hit show trending worldwide on Netflix.
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Like Follow Followed Absentia TV-MA Crime Drama Mystery Release Date 2017 - 2020-00-00 Directors Oded Ruskin, Kasia Adamik, Greg Zglinski, Adam Sanderson Writers Gaia, Violo, Matt CirulnickCast
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Stana Katic
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Matthew Le Nevez
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Patrick Heusinger
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Cara Theobold
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Netflix
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Absentia
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