Netflix’s 6-Part Crime Thriller With 94% on Rotten Tomatoes Skyrockets to Millions of Views, Making Season 2 Likely

Netflix just dropped a new original a couple weeks ago, and it has already turned into one of those shows you finish and immediately wonder when season 2 is happening. The numbers and the buzz make that hope feel pretty reasonable.

Quick snapshot

• Title: 'Legends' (a Netflix original, based on a true story)
• Timing: Arrived on Netflix within the last two weeks
• Heat check: Currently #6 on Netflix's Top 10 Most Watched, up two spots from last weekend
• Scores: 96% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes; 85% from audiences
• Setting and premise: 1990s Britain, during the heroin surge; a team of not-exactly-trained-for-this civil servants go undercover to take on the gangs flooding their community with drugs and violence
• Cast: Steve Coogan, Tom Burke, and Hayley Squires lead the first season

Here is what makes the show stand out: it is a crime thriller that does not just follow a couple of cops chasing a couple of crooks. It zooms out to show the wider machinery of a city under pressure, and then zooms back in to watch everyday public servants step way outside their comfort zones. That angle gives the undercover beats a different kind of tension, because these folks are competent in spreadsheets, not stakeouts.

"Legends has that rare thing that made The Wire remarkable: it seems to tell the story not just of a few cops and robbers, but of a whole city."

— Charlotte Ivers

Critics have been loudly on board (hence that 96%), and viewers are quickly catching up as the series climbs the charts. The audience score is a touch lower, in part because the show takes its time getting up to speed, but the word-of-mouth is strong once it locks in. One enthusiastic reaction: even with the slow burn at the top, the performances are uniformly sharp and the back half hits hard enough that people are already predicting awards chatter.

"Legends is a genuinely excellent crime drama that pulls the viewer in almost as far as it pulls Guy into his assumed identity — which is to say, further than is probably comfortable, and further than you’ll be able to resist."

— Dustin Rowles

That patient, lived-in style is also why fans are banging the drum for a second season. In an era of disposable binge-and-forget shows, this one feels more carefully built: layered, morally messy, and not afraid of gray areas. Between the chart surge, the critic love, and the fan momentum, hoping for more does not feel like a stretch. No official word yet, but the tea leaves look friendly.

Bottom line: if you like your crime stories smart, grounded, and a little gnarly, 'Legends' is absolutely worth a weekend. And if you are already done, yeah, I am refreshing the renewal news too.