What's The BIG Problem With Netflix Series?

This year on Netflix, we had some very good ones (Adolescence, House of Dynamite, Frankenstein) and the less good (Wednesday, Monster: The Ed Gein Story, The Atomic Shelter). So far, nothing too unusual, we can’t win every time.

But if you look closely, the series that have spoken to us the least are generally those that were produced to appeal to a greater number of people. Netflix, which has spawned popularity monsters like Stranger Things, Squid Game or even Don’t Look Up Did she lose her hand?

When new episodes of Stranger Things season 5, several details struck us… Wouldn’t Netflix take us for a bit of idiots?

“Are you still watching?”

According to the 2025 Digital usage barometer, 4 out of 10 French people now spend more than three hours a day in front of a screen. For half of them, this figure reaches 5 hours. Television, smartphone or console, digital tools occupy a growing place in our lives. Social networks, like TikTok or Instagram, have largely become part of user habits.

These are all platforms with which Netflix must compete. In 2019, a study commissioned by Facebook IQ in the United States revealed that 94% of television viewers watch their show or series with a phone in their hand. By observing the eye movement of its subjects, the study came to the conclusion that spectators looked at the screen on average only 53% of the time.

For Netflix, the objective is therefore that its subscribers continue to watch its programs no matter how little they pay attention. In recent years, it has even been rumored that the company has changed its production strategy to adapt its content to these uses.

Second screen… and second-rate dialogues

Last January, the magazine N+1 published a long paper on this trend of “casual viewing”. Several creatives interviewed said that streaming platforms required them to remove visual nuances and twists. The goal: for viewers to not lose track of the story while scrolling on their phone.

If a character takes an action, the dialogues will emphasize the importance of this moment to ensure that everyone understands the issues. N+1 then cited a romantic comedy released in 2024 with Lindsay Lohan. The heroine said: “We spent a day together. I admit it was a beautiful day, with breathtaking scenery and romantic rain, but that doesn’t give you the right to question my life choices. Tomorrow I’m marrying Paul Kennedy”.

The series could have been content to illustrate this moment of complicity through its editing and staging, but it felt obliged to add a layer for those who were more distracted. We reaffirm the heroine’s desire to marry her fiancé, we again impose the stakes of the plot and we ensure that even those at the back understand the importance of this question.

In 2023, producer Justine Bateman told The Hollywood Reporter.

“I’ve heard showrunners being told by streaming platforms that it’s not second-screen friendly enough. In other words, the viewer’s main screen is their phone or computer, they don’t want anything to distract them from your show. If they’re distracted, they might look up, get confused and turn off the TV.”

In Wednesday season 2, a moment crystallizes this idea of a series which must constantly rehash its issues. When the revelation about The Thing occurs, as it materializes on the screen, letters appear and move to form the word “Thing”. And yes, because Night, if we mix it a little, it makes Thing. Who could have seen it coming?

In The Atomic Shelterthe dialogues serve to recall the events of the previous episode. “We saw the glove stuck on the banister. It was horrible.” Yes, we saw the glued glove, we found it horrible… but we already forgot because this little kitten on Instagram was so cute.

In season 5 of Stranger Thingswhen our heroes understand the mystery of the Upside Down, we constantly rehash the scientific mechanics to ensure that no one is left behind. For those who were on their phones, the information is finally being collected. For those who follow religiously, the process is tiring. Worse, the series abandons what little subtlety it had left to explain that a scene is a pivotal point in the narrative.

“TikTok moments”

When they are not dividing their attention between TikTok and their television screen, Netflix subscribers use the codes and imagery of the series to produce content on social platforms. In 2022, the song “Bloody Mary” becomes the most used at the moment on the Chinese social network.

The spectators of Wednesday reproduce a scene from the first season, originally on “Goo Goo Muck” Cramps. The videos have accumulated millions of views and this success helps to make Jenna Ortega’s character known to those who had not yet taken a look at the program.

A phenomenon that the platform’s marketing had not anticipated, but which it will therefore try to reproduce at all costs. On its scale, the platform does not have an advertising service as substantial as its rivals. While the studios undertake dense and long-term advertising campaigns, Netflix is often content to brief limited operations. These promotions are also reserved for major releases.

The platform has a another asset up its sleeve: its users. With “Chrissy Wake Up”, the dance of Wednesday or the carousel song of Squid Game season 2, the virality of content helps promote a series and to include it in the pop culture of spectators. To continue, Netflix must therefore create sequences like this. From the creative process, this data is taken into account.

In its season 2, Wednesday relied on a new choreography with a new song by Lady Gaga this time. The singer even made a brief cameo appearance.

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Yet his participation was a central element of the promotion and conversations. In season 5 of Stranger Things, this emulation of viral sequences is also seen. Steve extolling the merits of a vanished chocolate bar (on sale in the United States for a few weeks), the return of Kate Bush’s music, the marketing teams have understood how to use social networks and the enthusiasm of spectators to their advantage. It remains that for Wednesday season 2 as for Stranger Things, the strings are visible.

In 2022, the marketing director of Paramount explained about Top Gun : Maverick : “At every major stage of the marketing…it was really about listening and understanding what young audiences wanted from the film. Of course, the incredible aerial scenes and the presence of Tom Cruise were always at the heart of the appeal, but what we mainly saw was that young people wanted to recognize themselves on screen and see more of the young recruits.”

Moreover, it is the sequence of American football on the beach and to the music of One Republic which remains the most viewed on social networks. In a battle for public attention, any idea is welcome. For studios and platforms alike, it is therefore a matter of finding good elements with viral potential, without distorting the work and its atmosphere. Netflix, like many other platforms, has not yet found the right balance between marketing, storytelling and visual effectiveness.

Netflix we see you (really)

Users are also starting to make their voices heard on social networks, many videos asking the platform to review its way of writing series to satisfy attentive viewers and not just those who listen with one ear. For example, a user says in a video “Dear Netflix Writers, I understand that some people are scrolling on their phones and not paying attention, but I am. Can you stop writing dialogue like I’m folding laundry, like I’m doing my taxes, or like I’m sleeping while watching a show. You don’t have to describe every emotion out loud like it’s an audiobook for people who have left the room. Let the image make sense.”

At a time when Warner Bros is about to join the company, thanks to an unprecedented takeover, this strategy is cause for concern. In the near future, the series Harry Potter will she declaim her narrative issues through dialogue? Productions like House of the Dragon will they exaggerate the importance of betrayals rather than showing them via staging? Netflix has mastered the art of capturing split attention and making its series go viral. But by dint of speaking for those who aren’t really looking, the platform risks losing those who want to see, and feel, every detail.