Most of Disney+’s big hits belong to major franchises, particularly the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars. Lokiis climbing back up the charts after the success of Avengers: Endgame Encore, and Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lordbecame one of the streamer’s biggest hits of the year. Surprisingly, Disney+ has found a new hit that doesn’t feature any superheroes or spaceships, but still connects with audiences worldwide. Per FlixPatrol, this series is topping Disney+’s Top 10 charts worldwide and proving to be quite a draw.
So what series is outmatching the Avengers and the Rebel Alliance? It’s none other than R.J. Decker, which debuted in March. Based on Carl Hiaasen‘s novel Double Whammy, R.J. Decker follows Scott Speedman‘s titular private eye as he picks up the pieces of his life after an incident that cost him his career as a photojournalist and landed him in jail for eighteen months. Decker tackles cases ranging from the straightforward to the strange, while reconnecting with his old cellmate, Aloysius “Wish” Aiken (Kevin Rankin), who now owes a bar, and his ex-wife, Catherine Delacroix (Adelaide Clemens).
‘R.J. Decker’ Blends Crime-Solving With Screwball Comedy
R.J. Decker talking to a woman on a patio in ‘R.J. Decker’Image via ABC
Throughout Season 1, R.J. Decker quickly established a blend of crime-solving, comedy, and catharsis. R.J. often finds himself in the middle of a case that escalates when he least expects it, forcing him to think outside the box. The episode “In Vanity Veritas” is a perfect example: it opens with R.J. trailing a woman whose husband thinks she’s cheating. Once the woman enters a fancy house, it immediately blows up, shifting his case to a murder investigation. Most of the humor also comes from R.J.’s interactions with Catherine, as, in a twist, they actually get along well despite their divorce; it’s Catherine’s wife, Mel (Bevin Blu), who’s hostile toward him — which makes things more complicated, as Mel is the detective that R.J. has to go to for info.
R.J. Decker also works thanks to Scott Speedman’s performance. Speedman brings an easygoing demeanor to R.J., often deflecting questions or accusations with wry humor. Yet there are moments when he reflects on his past actions and how they upended his life, giving viewers a deeper look into what drives him to solve crimes. His complicated relationship with Emilia “Emi” Ochoa (Jaina Lee Ortiz) also adds plenty of depth to the series. While R.J. and Emi are drawn to each other, she also got him in trouble, and he hasn’t forgotten it. Anyone who’s watched the Underworldmovies knows that Speedman is no stranger to complicated romances, and this twist adds plenty of drama to R.J. Decker‘s story.
Collider Exclusive · Villain Personality Quiz Which Criminal Mastermind Would Be Your Nemesis? Lecter · Joker · Moriarty · Chigurh
Four of the finest criminal minds ever put on screen. One of them would look at you and see something worth their time. Eight questions decide which one comes for you, why they picked you, and what they would want when they arrived.
🍷Lecter
🃏Joker
♟️Moriarty
🪙Chigurh
01
What would a criminal mastermind notice about you first? Great villains choose their opponents carefully. Something about you got their attention.
02
How do they make first contact? The introduction tells you everything about what is coming next.
03
What do you actually believe about right and wrong? Every nemesis is really an argument about the thing you believe most.
04
What finally gets under your skin? Everybody has a pressure point. Finding yours is the whole plan.
05
They have made their move. How do you fight back? This is the part of the film where the audience finds out who you are.
06
What would they use against you? A good villain never brings a weapon you have not already handed them.
07
What do they actually want from you? The money is never the point. Something else always is.
08
How does it end between the two of you? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides who comes for you.
The Case File Is Complete Your Nemesis Is…
Four criminal masterminds. One of them was always going to be yours.
Here is who comes for you, why they picked you out of everyone available, and what they want from
the encounter.
The Silence of the Lambs · Hannibal · 1991–2002
Hannibal Lecter
Your nemesis does not want to beat you. He wants to know you
completely, and he is patient enough to wait for it. The frightening part is how good the
conversation is.
Lecter is the most dangerous kind of opponent: the one who finds you interesting. He
never raises his voice, because he has never needed to.
You keep a great deal to yourself and you are careful about what you show. That reserve
is exactly the door he would knock on.
The films understood something other thrillers missed. The horror is not the violence.
It is being perfectly understood by the wrong person.
He would be unfailingly polite about all of it. That is the worst part.
Batman · The Dark Knight · 1989–2019
The Joker
Your nemesis is not after money, territory or revenge. He is
after a demonstration, and you are the person he has chosen to prove his point on.
The Joker only picks opponents who believe in something. Your decency is not a defence
against him. It is the entire reason he showed up.
He has no plan you can predict and nothing you can take away, which removes every tool
you would normally reach for.
His whole argument is that you are one bad day away from being him, and you would spend
the rest of your life proving him wrong.
He would call it a magic trick. You would call it the worst night of your life.
Sherlock Holmes · The Final Problem · Since 1893
Moriarty
Your nemesis respects you, which sounds flattering until you work
out what it means. He chose you because nobody else was worth his time.
Moriarty is the original criminal mastermind, the template every later one borrows from:
a mind the equal of the hero’s, pointed the wrong way.
You enjoy being the cleverest person in the room. He is counting on exactly that, and he
has already built the room.
This is the rare nemesis who would be genuinely disappointed if you lost badly. He needs
the game to be worth playing.
It ends the way these things always end. Two people, one problem, and only one way down.
No Country for Old Men · 2007
Anton Chigurh
Your nemesis has no personal interest in you whatsoever, and that
is precisely what makes him unsurvivable. You are not a rival. You are a stop on the way.
Chigurh does not negotiate, gloat or explain. He arrives, he asks one question, and the
answer was decided long before you opened your mouth.
You trust yourself to handle things. He is the one problem in the world that has no
interest in how capable you are.
No Country for Old Men rewrote the screen villain by removing the thing audiences
quietly rely on: the sense that talking might work.
Call it. He will wait.
‘R.J. Decker’ Continues ABC’s Trend of Off-Beat Procedurals
R.J. Decker‘s success cements ABC as the network where procedurals can step outside the box, thanks to similar series like High Potentialand Will Trent, which have made a splash. Its creator, Robert Doherty, is no stranger to high-concept procedurals, thanks to his work on Elementary. With R.J. Decker returning for Season 2, Doherty intends to raise the stakes thanks to the murder of Emi’s father, Victor, driving a wedge between her and R.J. There’s also the matter of R.J.’s estranged father, Reggie (Beau Bridges), entering the picture, as Doherty told TVLine that viewers will learn more about what shaped R.J. into the man he currently is.
“One of the things we wanted to do in the second season was to look more closely at who R.J. is, aside from the fact that he spent 18 months in prison for something he only sort of did. We’ll learn a little bit more about what R.J.’s childhood was like, and we’ll explore the path that led him here… a fair amount of that can be traced back to what it was like growing up with the kind of dad he had.”
Thanks to a great leading man in Scott Speedman, a story that balances humor and crime-solving, and a hook that makes it stand out from the pack, R.J. Decker has become a bona fide success. Hopefully, that success will continue for multiple seasons.
Release Date
March 3, 2026
Directors
Paul McGuigan, Christine Moore, Holly Dale, Kenneth Biller, Michael Lehmann, Seith Mann
Writers
Robert Doherty, Jason Tracey, Liz Friedman, Jamie Savarese, Juan Carlos Fernandez, Kenneth Biller
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