Seven Emmys have dragged David Harbour's HBO thriller back into the global top ten, five months after it ended
David Harbour’s DTF St. Louis has sneaked back into HBO Max’s global top 10 — but the real surprise is where it’s landed.
When a show the size of Stranger Things finally winds down, you do wonder a bit what happens next for its cast. David Harbour was so thoroughly welded to the gruff, haunted Jim Hopper persona that it felt almost risky—he had a few cracks elsewhere (that Hellboy reboot, those Marvel bits as Red Guardian, the Christmas carnage in Violent Night) but, let’s face it, he was mostly working with a riff on the same formula. The obvious question loomed: could Harbour push out of that orbit and do something truly new, or would he end up boxed in as ‘that bloke from Hawkins’?
Turns out, Harbour’s first proper series after exiting the Upside Down takes a swing in a rather less predictable direction. DTF St. Louis landed on HBO back on 1 March, and this month it’s barged its way into the global top 10 on HBO Max all over again—quite the feat, really, considering it wrapped up more than five months ago.
DTF St. Louis hit a global top 10 streaming spot on HBO Max in September 2026, months after its finale.
The Unusual Mystery (and That Title)
If you were one of the many who saw the title and kept scrolling—wouldn’t blame you there—the brains behind the show is Steven Conrad, yes, that Steven Conrad, the bloke responsible for Patriot, the cult Amazon series that’s become a bit of a secret handshake among TV obsessives. Harbour’s front and centre as Floyd Smernitch, a sign language interpreter and doting stepdad who genuinely, tragically has no idea his weatherman mate Clark, played by Jason Bateman, is in an affair with Floyd’s wife, Carol (Linda Cardellini).
And just as you’re thinking the usual suburban comedy-of-errors, Floyd winds up dead—kicking off a story that keeps rewinding and spiralling, as a pair of mismatched detectives (Richard Jenkins and Joy Sunday from Wednesday) try to untangle the mess. At the core: the titular DTF app, pitched as a discreet playground for bored married types, which ties the whole sordid web together. On paper it’s standard dead-body-blueprint stuff—but Conrad’s fingerprints are all over it, giving it that distinctively slow-burn oddball vibe he does so well.
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Critical Love and Emmy Gold
Critics were mostly on board from the start—reviewers handed the series scores hovering in the high 80s on Rotten Tomatoes, which is no small thing. Roger Ebert’s site called it "wickedly entertaining" and "an addictive watch", while singling out Bateman’s turn as some of his very best.
DTF St. Louis walked away from this month's Primetime Emmys with seven wins, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, plus acting trophies for Harbour and Cardellini.
Funny bit of history: Harbour, who’s been called up for Emmys a few times before thanks to Stranger Things, actually never won for it. This time, playing an ASL interpreter in a twisty tragicomedy about marital infidelity, he finally gets the trophy. Call it poetic, or just odd, but there’s a certain symmetry in that. And with the Emmys run, audience numbers have shot back up, leaving DTF St. Louis sitting at number seven in the global streaming charts—alongside current big-hitters like Lanterns that still have new episodes dropping.