Netflix’s New 6-Part Crime Thriller Has a Perfect RT Score — Binge or Skip?
Netflix's new 6-part crime thriller earned a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score and has surged on global charts since its release last week – but is it really worth your time to binge-watch this weekend? Screen Rant's "Binge or Skip" series is designed with viewers in mind, providing in-depth analysis of the world's most viral streaming content. Every week, SR offers spoiler-free breakdowns of what works, what doesn’t, and whether this hit Netflix show deserves your time. For the week of December 15–21, 2025, Netflix's top binge-worthy series include #1 new releases like Man Vs Baby, a slapstick family comedy with just 4 snappy episodes. Meanwhile, massive titles like Sean Combs: The Reckoning continue to draw huge viewership.
What City Of Shadows' Perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes Score Really Means
Today, we're taking a deep dive into City of Shadows – a brand new crime thriller series streaming on Netflix that is currently in the Top 5 most-watched shows on the platform worldwide (via FlixPatrol). With just six episodes, the series is the ideal length to binge-watch, especially in a few sittings. That said, this dark TV-MA murder mystery series will not be for everybody. As aforementioned, this series is drawing eyes thanks to its perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score, which some have called "rare." All things considered, only five critics have reviewed the show, which is a small sample size. A wide slate of notable publications, such as The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Rolling Stone, and even us here at Screen Rant, have not formally reviewed the "perfect" series. Additionally, the few reviews that do exist have mostly rated the series either 3 or 3.5 stars out of a possible 5, so it's not like City of Shadows is receiving top marks across the board. While a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score is a great way for Netflix to promote the series, the way Rotten Tomatoes aggregates its scores does not actually indicate that the series is truly universally acclaimed.
Is City Of Shadows On Netflix Worth Binge-Watching This Week?
As a TV critic who already binge-watched City of Shadows and is a big fan of crime dramas like Task, Black Rabbit, Mayor of Kingstown, and more, I have a few key (and spoiler-free) takeaways that may help viewers determine whether this series is actually worth their time. Firstly, while City of Shadows begins with a gripping opening scene, the pace of the series falls a bit flat and becomes sluggish throughout its premiere episode. The story is strong enough, and the visuals are polished, albeit not always the most cinematic, which made the show somewhat challenging to stay engaged in from start to finish. To really call this show a thriller, versus a standard TV drama or mystery, the series needed more of a consistent edge-of-your-seat type of adrenaline rush that was hardly sustained. The two lead detectives, while easy to follow, felt more like they were walking viewers through the plot, rather than experiencing it alongside them. That said, there are conspiratorial elements in City of Shadows that reminded me of classic films like The Da Vinci Code. The series was also filmed in Barcelona, Spain, which is naturally beautiful and compelling. As for the pacing, which is personally my biggest issue with this series, viewers expecting more of a crime-centric slow burn, like Netflix's massive summer hit Untamed, may actually enjoy it. This "perfect" Rotten Tomatoes series is not flawless, and this "thriller" is not all that gripping. That said, the strong murder mystery premise, combined with a gorgeous Barcelona setting and conspiracy themes, makes City of Shadows worth binge-watching for Netflix viewers who can endure a slow-burning crime drama.
