Series Snapshot ~ 8/28/25

By: [email protected] on Thu, 08/28/2025 - 13:53

Welcome to the Series Snapshot, a weekly deep dive into the shows topping the streaming charts.

A new miniseries claims Netflix’s most watched of the week, Hostage. A political thriller in which a fictionalized British prime minister and French president get tangled in a kidnapping and blackmail fiasco. Hostage comes from series creator Matt Charman and is being met with mixed but overall positive reviews. The five-episode series features strong performances from stars Suranne Jones, Julie Delpy, and Corey Mylchreest, and all episodes released August 21st.

The most-watched series at Hulu this week is once again Alien: Earth, which has been getting more and more praise from critics and fans. The series has been credited for its high production value, set design, pacing and casting, with particular acknowledgement for its performances from leads Timothy Olyphant, Sydney Chandler, and Alex Lawther. Some fans feel the new series is even better than the recent feature film Alien: Romulus, which rekindled interest in the franchise. Alien may be entering a new renaissance, and with the highly anticipated sequel to the 2014 videogame Alien: Isolation confirmed to be in development, it’s almost certain the new series will get multiple seasons, and creator Noah Hawley has stated such to be his intention.

At MAX, a superhero comedy has shot to the top of the charts, Peacemaker, starring John Cena, Danielle Brooks, and Freddie Stroma. The first episode of the series’ second season released August 21st, and will continue to air on a weekly basis. The new season is set in the DC universe, after the events of Superman (2025) and will feature an alternate reality where Peacemaker is loved and admired. So far, only one episode has dropped, but already the show is getting praise for its balance between humor, action sequences, and heartfelt characters.

Amazon’s popular teen drama The Summer I Turned Pretty continues its streak at the top this week. The original series has been extremely popular amongst young adults, who feel invested in the show’s many twists, turns, breakups and reunions. Despite the massive popularity, it seems unlikely a fourth season will be produced, as the series is adapted from a trilogy of novels by Jenny Han, who is also the executive producer and showrunner. The Summer I Turned Pretty stars Gavin Casalegno, Lola Tung, Christopher Briney, and Rain Spencer, and will conclude September 17th, with episodes airing every Wednesday.

Hulu isn’t the only platform to feature an Alien apocalypse, with AppleTV original Invasion taking the lead after premiering its third season August 22nd. Invasion has received high marks for its performances, score and writing, but has left audiences wanting more action and more aliens, with some making comparisons to the “always-a-few-more-episodes-away” dragons from Game of Thrones. However, season three’s thrilling first episode has audiences excited for more, and Invasion’s plot is finally picking up speed, after a first season that didn’t culminate in much of a climax. Invasion season three stars Shamier Anderson, Golshifteh Farahani, and Shioli Kutsuna.

When adjusted for the Hulu bundle, Disney’s most watched series this week is High Potential. High Potential’s first season aired September 17, 2024, and its new season is set to premiere almost exactly one year later, September 16. High Potential is only available on Disney Plus in the UK, which makes its spot on the charts even more impressive. Viewers are likely streaming the series as a re-cap in anticipation of the second season. The series revolves around single mother Morgan Gillory (Kaitlin Olson) who has a genius IQ but begins the series as a custodian for the LAPD. After helping the police solve a difficult case, she gets recruited as a consultant and the series takes off from there. High Potential also stars Daniel Sunjata and Judy Reyes.