Netflix’s #1 Streaming Series Worldwide Is Showing Sherlock How It’s Done

Sherlock may be one of the most beloved mystery series of all time, but Netflix’s current globally most-watched show is giving the consulting detective of Baker Street a run for his money. 140 years after Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created the character, Sherlock Holmes still inspires myriad TV series, with Guy Ritchie’s Prime Video show Young Sherlock as the latest iteration, while Benedict Cumberbatch’s modern portrayalremains the gold standard.

However, Netflix’s best mystery show isn’t connected to Sherlock Holmes, but to another fictional character. Premiering in 2021, Lupin is a French series centered on Assane Diop (Omar Sy), a career criminal who draws inspiration from the iconic literary character Arsène Lupin, a gentleman thief and master of disguise, to plan an elaborate heist and revenge plot.

Stylish and sexy yet smart and substantial, Lupin remains a critical darling and a reliable hit-maker for Netflix. Having premiered on October 23, 2026, Lupin season 4 is enjoying huge streaming success as the streaming platform’s #1 show worldwide. Lupin has also accomplished something Sherlock couldn’t: remain excellent across four seasons.

Netflix’s Lupin Is Arguably A Better Detective Series Than Sherlock

Despite its continued popularity on Netflix, Lupin hasn’t reached the pop culture heights of the BBC’s Sherlock, though all signs point to it being the superior series. Critically, the Netflix show has an impressive 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, with Lupin seasons 3 and 4 at a perfect 100%, while Sherlock‘s is a middling 78%, with its fourth and final season a “rotten” 54%.

When it first premiered, Sherlock more than deserved its flowers. The show successfully brought the iconic detective into the 21st century without sacrificing an ounce of his literary essence. Benedict Cumberbatch traded Sherlock’s pipe-smoking charm for razor-sharp intelligence and eccentricity, while Martin Freeman transformed Dr. John Watson from a bumbling sidekick into a steadfast moral compass who proves empathy and intelligence aren’t mutually exclusive.

Cumberbatch and Freeman brought innovative approaches to their Sherlock characters, and the actors shared remarkable onscreen chemistry, making it a thrill to watch them solve mysteries together, while the show’s early episodic structure made it highly bingeable.

Unfortunately, Sherlock became a victim of its own success. Sherlock’s cleverness, once the engine of the series, took on an almost psychic quality, making Sherlock feel less like a cerebral mystery and more like a superhero show. And of course, every superhero needs a villain. Andrew Scott’s brilliant turn as Sherlock’s nemesis, Moriarty, remains an absolute high point of the show, but Sherlock refused to let him die — literally. Bringing Scott back at every turn completely undermined the series’ latter half, leading to Sherlock‘s incredibly disappointing series finale.

In contrast, Lupin has remained consistent throughout its four seasons. It has never needed to take any flights of fancy with its storytelling or its protagonist, but it hasn’t rested on its laurels either. Lupin is, in fact, a masterclass in maintaining quality across multiple seasons.

How Lupin Stays Fresh 4 Seasons In

As digestible as episodic series are, formulaic storytelling tends to grow stale fast, and that can lead to a show taking unwieldy swings in an effort to stay fresh, à la Sherlock. However, as a serialized story, Lupin avoids this problem entirely, with each episode seeing the protagonist work toward his larger goal.

In seasons 1 and 2, that means exposing billionaire Hubert Pellegrini (Hervé Pierre), the man who framed Assane’s father for theft years ago. While Lupin season 3 changes course, with Assane going from an anonymous thief to a wanted man, this isn’t a tonally dissonant narrative departure; it’s perfectly in keeping with the story. Lupin season 4 freshens things up even more by featuring a time jump and beginning with the protagonist behind bars.

Lupin constantly evolves, but it never strays from its central theme: family. This is what fuels Assane, whether it’s clearing his father’s name or ensuring his son Raoul (Etan Simon and Théo Christie) has a bright future. With Lupin season 4 ending on the series’ biggest cliffhanger yet, it shows no signs of slowing down — and it doesn’t even need to turn Assane into a superhero.