Having covered the best streaming services' various releases over recent months, there's been a lot of filler and generally a lack of killer new shows in 2024. Well, Netflix's latest no.1 series changes that, as it's truly hilarious – making it my favourite show of the year already.
I'm talking about Kaos, which has been a slow climber up the Netflix chart since its release last month, but which has finally got itself onto the top spot – where I'm sure it looks down upon its subjects in the lower ranks. Check out the trailer below to get a grasp of what this modern spin on classic mythology is all about:
The show is created by Charlie Covell, who penned one of my favourite series of recent times, The End of the F***ing World, whose witty and sometimes bonkers script gives Kaos its winning formula. The show is about the deity Zeus spiralling into paranoia, unbeknown to him that three mortals on Earth could disrupt the power of the gods.
Zeus is played by Jeff Goldblum, well-known for his roles in the Jurassic Park movies, who I think is truly masterful in his god-like command of this role. His delivery is supported by a raft of superb actors, including a breakout role for Nabhaan Rizwan playing Zeus' half-breed offspring, Dionysus. There's even the appearance of Game of Thrones star, Stephen Dillane, playing Prometheus to brilliant effect. And, yes, that's Eddie Izzard in the lead image, who plays Lachesis.
What did surprise me about the show, however, is that its Rotten Tomatoes score wasn't especially high upon its debut. I've been watching its audience score climb, though, with an 80% rating at the time of writing – but it deserves far more than that, in my view, and I suspect as more people watch the show that its quirkiness will help to see it climb further.
All eight episodes of Kaos were released in one go, too, so there's no drip-feeding of episodes released on a weekly basis like so many current other big shows – such as Apple TV+'s Sunny and Bad Monkey, both of which I've been enjoying too (the former a little less as it's come towards its close though).
Kaos reigns right now, though, with many binge-watching their way through the mayhem – and already calling for a second season (which is yet to be confirmed). While The Boys has been a major success for Amazon, I think Netflix could see the same success with this new show – so here's hoping there's more to come.
Update Friday 6 September: note that Kaos was no.1 in Germany, the location from where this article was written, and hasn't reached the top chart spot in the UK to date
