Netflix's 4-Part Psychological Crime Series Can Easily Last Another 6 Seasons

via MovieStillsDB Published Sep 19, 2026, 4:34 PM EDT Liz Hersey is an Editor and Critic for ScreenRant's TV team, editing, reviewing, writing, and creating content about the iconic shows you love to watch. She began her editing career at ScreenRant in 2019, shortly after joining the site as a Writer that same year. With a passion for all things books, Liz frequently attends Toronto literary events and conferences, and loves interacting with her book lover community. In addition to being an avid reader of the romance and thriller genres, Liz is a writer of several short stories, and is currently at work on a young adult witch novel. When she's not working, reading, or writing, Liz can be found seeing movies at her local cinema, attending live jazz events, or curling up on the couch to binge her favorite TV shows. You can reach her at liz.h@screenrant.com. Sign in to your ScreenRant account In our current TV era of short-lived streaming content, it's refreshing to think that a series has the potential to last 10 seasons — even if Netflix's psychological crime show also happens to be the most controversial show on TV. From Ryan Murphy, Monster found a winning formula for long-running success: the anthology format. Based on real-life murder cases, each season of Monster centers around a notorious killer — or "monster" — in American history. Season 1 covered Jeffrey Dahmer (Evan Peters), season 2 the Menendez brothers (Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez), season 3 Ed Gein (Charlie Hunnam), and the most recent installment, which premiered on Netflix on September 17, 2026, Monster season 4 dramatizes the story of Lizzie Borden (Ella Beatty). With a 45% Rotten Tomatoes score, Monster is hardly beloved by critics. In fact, no season has achieved a "Fresh" score, with The Lizzie Borden Story's 56% landing on the higher end of the spectrum. However, despite its backlash and critical flogging, Monster has shown no signs of slowing down. Quite the opposite, actually, as Ian Brennan, the series co-creator, recently told THR that he and Murphy envision Monster running for a total of 10 seasons — and love or hate the show, it has the ingredients to accomplish that goal. Netflix Can Easily Take Monster To 10 Seasons The two biggest obstacles preventing a TV series from making it to 10 seasons are low ratings and running out of ideas. Monster certainly doesn't suffer from the former, as each of the show's first three installments has garnered incredibly high viewership for Netflix, with The Lizzie Borden Story set to continue that trend. There's also hardly a shortage of infamous American homicide cases, so it's not like the series will run out of ideas. If anything, Monster has the opposite problem. Brennan revealed to THR that he and Murphy "toggle between" three or four subjects, eliminating those that don't feel right. "You can really tell when it’s wrong right away," Brennan said, "because you’re asking people to spend seven or eight or nine or 10 hours getting inside this person’s head. They better be really interesting." Now Streaming · Press Play How Well Do You Know Netflix Originals? “Red light, green light.” 🌀StrangerThingsThe Upside Down 🎭SquidGamePlayer 456 👑TheCrownLong live the Queen 🕸WednesdayNevermore Academy 🌹BridgertonDearest readers PRESS PLAY → 01 Squid Game shattered records on launch in 2021, becoming Netflix’s biggest-ever series debut. Hwang Dong-hyuk’s South Korean thriller centres on a desperate gambler named Seong Gi-hun. What is his player number? A067 B218 C001 D456 ✓ Correct! Gi-hun is Player 456 — the last number drawn. Kang Sae-byeok (the North Korean defector) is 067, Cho Sang-woo (the Stanford-educated finance crook) is 218, and the mysterious elderly Oh Il-nam is 001. Squid Game became Netflix’s first show to hit #1 in every country it launched in, amassing over 1.6 billion hours watched in its first month alone. ✗ Eliminated! The answer is 456. Gi-hun’s number is the very last of the 456 players. 067 is Sae-byeok the defector, 218 is Sang-woo the Stanford grad, and 001 is the mysterious old man Oh Il-nam whose identity becomes the series’ biggest reveal. Squid Game became Netflix’s most-watched launch ever, hitting #1 in 94 countries. NEXT → 02 The Tim Burton-directed Addams Family spin-off set at Nevermore Academy became Netflix’s second-biggest English-language debut in 2022 and launched a TikTok dance craze. Which young actress plays the deadpan title character? AJenna Ortega BMillie Bobby Brown CSadie Sink DMaya Hawke ✓ Correct! Jenna Ortega — a Disney Channel graduate and indie-horror favourite (X, Scream VI) — took the role Christina Ricci made iconic in the 1990s films and made it entirely her own. Her now-famous cello-accompanied dance scene became an overnight TikTok phenomenon, and her performance earned Wednesday two Emmy nominations despite airing mid-season. ✗ Eliminated! The answer is Jenna Ortega. Millie Bobby Brown is Eleven on Stranger Things, Sadie Sink plays Max Mayfield (also Stranger Things), and Maya Hawke plays Robin. Ortega’s deadpan Wednesday Addams — and her viral cello-dance scene — turned the show into a global phenomenon in late 2022. NEXT → 03 In 2013, Netflix released a dark political thriller starring Kevin Spacey as a ruthless congressman breaking the fourth wall. It became the first major streaming original to land a Primetime Emmy nomination and effectively invented prestige streaming TV. Which show was it? AOrange Is the New Black BHouse of Cards CArrested Development (revival) DHemlock Grove ✓ Correct! House of Cards — adapted by Beau Willimon from the 1990 BBC series — became Netflix’s first prestige original and proved a streaming service could go toe-to-toe with HBO. Kevin Spacey’s Frank Underwood and his asides to camera defined early streaming TV. Orange Is the New Black followed months later in July 2013 and became Netflix’s longest-running original at the time. ✗ Eliminated! The answer is House of Cards (February 2013). Orange Is the New Black launched five months later (July 2013), Arrested Development’s Netflix revival came in May 2013, and Hemlock Grove was a horror effort the same spring. House of Cards was the flagship — the first streaming original to earn a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Drama Series. NEXT → 04 Peter Morgan’s The Crown famously recast its entire ensemble every two seasons to age the royal family. After Claire Foy played Queen Elizabeth II in seasons 1-2, which Oscar-winning actress took the crown for seasons 3-4? AImelda Staunton BOlivia Colman CHelena Bonham Carter DGillian Anderson ✓ Correct! Olivia Colman — fresh off her Best Actress Oscar for The Favourite — played the Queen across seasons 3 and 4, covering the late 1960s through the early Thatcher years. Imelda Staunton took over for seasons 5-6, Helena Bonham Carter played Princess Margaret in seasons 3-4, and Gillian Anderson stole the show as Margaret Thatcher in season 4. ✗ Eliminated! The answer is Olivia Colman. Imelda Staunton took over for the final two seasons (5-6). Helena Bonham Carter played the chain-smoking Princess Margaret during seasons 3-4 alongside Colman. Gillian Anderson delivered an Emmy-winning Margaret Thatcher in season 4. Colman anchored the show’s middle era fresh off her 2019 Oscar win. NEXT → 05 The Duffer Brothers’ 1980s nostalgia juggernaut sees Eleven and the gang battle inter-dimensional horrors from a portal beneath the town’s Hawkins National Laboratory. In which fictional US town and state is the series set? ADerry, Maine BHawkins, Indiana CHill Valley, California DTwin Peaks, Washington ✓ Correct! Hawkins, Indiana — a fictional Midwestern small town that became one of TV’s most iconic settings. The Duffer Brothers chose Indiana for its unassuming, ordinary-America vibe, making the supernatural chaos feel more jarring. Derry is Stephen King’s It setting, Hill Valley is from Back to the Future, and Twin Peaks is David Lynch’s famous town. ✗ Eliminated! The answer is Hawkins, Indiana. Derry, Maine is the fictional town from Stephen King’s It. Hill Valley is Marty McFly’s home in Back to the Future. Twin Peaks, Washington is David Lynch’s famous fictional town. Hawkins is The Duffer Brothers’ deliberately ordinary Midwestern setting — the flat, unassuming backdrop that makes Vecna’s horrors hit harder. NEXT → 06 Netflix’s Regency romance juggernaut — based on Julia Quinn’s novels and famous for its colour-blind casting, string-quartet pop covers, and narrated gossip column — is produced by which prolific showrunner’s production banner? AShonda Rhimes (Shondaland) BRyan Murphy CJulian Fellowes DJenji Kohan ✓ Correct! Shonda Rhimes — the creator of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal — produces Bridgerton through her Shondaland banner as the first major fruit of her massive 2017 Netflix deal. Chris Van Dusen created the show, but Shondaland’s signature ensemble-romance DNA is all over it. Julian Fellowes did Downton Abbey, Ryan Murphy did Monster/Dahmer, and Jenji Kohan did Orange Is the New Black. ✗ Eliminated! The answer is Shonda Rhimes (Shondaland). Ryan Murphy produces true-crime anthologies like Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. Julian Fellowes is the Downton Abbey/Gilded Age creator — a different period drama entirely. Jenji Kohan is behind Orange Is the New Black and Weeds. Bridgerton was the first big payoff of Rhimes’ nine-figure Netflix deal. NEXT → 07 La Casa de Papel (Money Heist) became a global phenomenon on Netflix after a modest Spanish TV debut — partly thanks to its gang’s instantly recognisable red jumpsuits paired with a mask of which famous figure? AGuy Fawkes BSalvador Dalí CChe Guevara DPablo Picasso ✓ Correct! The Salvador Dalí mask — with its upturned moustache — became the show’s defining visual alongside the red jumpsuits, a nod to Spanish artistic rebellion and surrealist individuality. It inspired protest iconography worldwide, from Lebanon to France. The original Antena 3 version underperformed; Netflix acquired it in 2017, re-edited it, and turned it into a global sensation. ✗ Eliminated! The answer is Salvador Dalí. Guy Fawkes is the V for Vendetta mask that Anonymous adopted. Che Guevara is a common revolutionary image but not the heist crew’s mask. Picasso is a frequent wrong answer given he’s the more globally-known Spanish artist — but the Dalí mask, with its iconic moustache, is the one fused forever with Money Heist’s red jumpsuits. NEXT → 08 Netflix’s 2020 limited series about a Cold War-era chess prodigy named Beth Harmon caused a global surge in chess-set sales and was one of the streamer’s most-watched shows that year. Who played Beth? AFlorence Pugh BAnya Taylor-Joy CSaoirse Ronan DDaisy Edgar-Jones ✓ Correct! Anya Taylor-Joy — already a cult favourite from The Witch and Emma — broke out globally as Beth Harmon, winning the Golden Globe for Best Actress. The Queen’s Gambit pulled 62 million households in its first 28 days and caused such a chess-boom that Chess.com and retailers ran out of sets. It also made Walter Tevis’s 1983 novel a surprise bestseller almost 40 years later. ✗ Eliminated! The answer is Anya Taylor-Joy. Florence Pugh (Midsommar, Oppenheimer), Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird), and Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People, Where the Crawdads Sing) are all frequent competitors in similar roles. Taylor-Joy’s Beth Harmon earned her a Golden Globe, a SAG Award, and turned Walter Tevis’s 1983 novel into a sudden bestseller. REVEAL MY SCORE → Credits Rolling · Autoplay On Your Binge-Watcher Rank 🎬 / 8 Platinum subscriber — or still on the free trial? ⤴ PLAY NEXT EPISODE The Lizzie Borden Story also proved that the show is willing to take big swings even within its own framework. Monster season 4 is the first to feature a female killer, an acquitted subject, and takes place in the 19th century. It also features a drastic tonal shift, replacing the gritty procedural elements of Monster's first three seasons with a campy, Gothic romance. Reception to the changes has been deeply divided, but the show's willingness to mix things up means Monster will never grow stale — a necessity for a 10-season show. Which Other Topics Netflix's Monster Should Examine Suzanne Tenner/Netflix © 2026 Though Monster may be a fascinating series, some of the biggest criticisms leveled against it are valid. If Brennan and Murphy indeed plan to keep making Monster for six more seasons, they'd be wise to take these controversies into account, particularly the accusations that the show is exploiting real-life trauma and tragedy, and sensationalizing horrific crimes for entertainment and cheap shock value. Actual, real-life family members of Dahmer's victims have spoken out against Monster, as have the Menedez brothers themselves, and these are all voices that deserve to be heard. For all its problems, Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story is a step in the right direction because it takes place so long ago. Nobody in the Borden family is alive anymore, and thus there's no one that the show is retraumatizing by its depiction of the crimes. Many critics feel that The Lizzie Borden Story's attempts at telling a female revenge story fell flat, but at least the show was trying to say something other than, "Look at these gruesome crimes!" Perhaps, rather than pointing a finger at an individual society has deemed a "monster," the series could examine who gets to make that judgment call in the first place. Keeping it to crimes committed over a century ago, the Salem witch trials might be a good place to start. Still, Monster will court controversy no matter what. But if it's going to last 10 seasons, it should definitely lean more toward The Lizzie Borden Story, less Ed Gein. Release Date September 17, 2026 Network Netflix Directors Max Winkler, Sarah Adina Smith Writers Ian Brennan Cast Vicky Krieps, Ella Beatty, Sarah Paulson, Charlie Hunnam, Rebecca Hall, Billie Lourd, Jessica Barden Creator(s) Ian Brennan