‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’ Retains Netflix’s Top Spot Amid Signs of Viewer Fatigue

Avatar photoHrvoje Milakovic
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Ryan Murphy’s true-crime anthology has established itself as one of Netflix’s most reliable ratings machines. The franchise has amassed nearly 170 million views across all its seasons, with the first season, ‘Dahmer’, still holding the title of the platform’s 7th most popular English-language TV series ever. Any discussion about ‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’ viewership must begin with that impressive benchmark.

The latest season premiered on September 17, featuring Ella Beatty as the woman accused of the 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother. It debuted with 12.1 million views in its first tracking week, closely matching the launches of ‘The Ed Gein Story’ and ‘The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’.

Now that the second week’s data is in, the headline figure is significant. ‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’ has maintained the No. 1 position on Netflix this week with 14.5 million views, marking a 20% increase from its premiere week. However, the circulating chart indicates it is trailing behind all previous seasons at this stage, which raises concerns about viewer fatigue.

Screenshot 2026 09 30 at 08 41 06 Top 10 Shows on Netflix Right Now
Via Netflix

The chart shared by What’s on Netflix illustrates the trend. ‘Dahmer’ surged from 22 million views in week 1 to 33.6 million in week 2. ‘The Ed Gein Story’ increased from 12.2 million to 20.7 million, while ‘The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’ rose from 12.3 million to 19.5 million.

In contrast, ‘The Lizzie Borden Story’ climbed from 12.1 million to 14.5 million, a modest gain of just 2.4 million. For comparison, ‘The Ed Gein Story’ added 8.5 million and ‘The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’ saw an increase of 7.2 million during the same period.

The ‘Ed Gein’ season also provides a benchmark for ‘Lizzie Borden’ to monitor. FanBolt’s data shows that season dropping to 9.5 million views in week 3 and 2.8 million in week 4.

Netflix’s weekly charts run from Monday to Sunday, with each season launching on different days. ‘Dahmer’ premiered on a Wednesday, ‘The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’ on a Thursday, ‘The Ed Gein Story’ on a Friday, and ‘The Lizzie Borden Story’ also on a Thursday. This variation affects the number of days viewers had to engage in each opening week.

Episode count is another factor. ‘The Lizzie Borden Story’ consists of 8 episodes compared to 9 for the Menendez season, and this shorter runtime could positively influence its view count due to how Netflix calculates views. Deadline also pointed out that the ‘Ed Gein’ season had one less day than ‘Lizzie Borden’ to build its debut numbers.

Screenshot 2026 09 27 at 20 09 23 Monster The Lizzie Borden Story Rotten Tomatoes

While audiences are tuning in, critics have not been as favorable. Reviews for the season have been mixed to negative, with its critical consensus landing at “Rotten,” which stands in stark contrast to its No. 1 ranking.

What’s on Netflix suggests a potential correlation between declining viewership and quality, as this season’s review scores have dropped significantly. Deadline also noted that the interest in the series seems to be diminishing, reflecting Netflix’s ongoing challenges in retaining audiences for its most popular ongoing series.

Despite these challenges, the season is not a failure. It has ranked in the top 10 in 92 countries, an increase from 89 in week 1, and reached No. 1 in 36 countries, up from 16.

The competition on the English TV chart was also significant. ‘Wonka’s The Golden Ticket’ debuted at No. 2 with 4.6 million views, followed by ‘Crew Girl’ at No. 3 with 4.5 million. In the film category, ‘Unabomber’ premiered at No. 1 with 16.4 million views.

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