Netflix is one of the oldest streaming services in the game, and despite rising costs, it still gives people a ton for their money. With so many original shows available to watch, it can be hard to choose where to start. That’s where we come in, with a list of shows guaranteed to satisfy from the first episode to the last.
Before we get to it, there are some ground rules: 1) All these shows have to have more than one season, so no miniseries allowed, no matter how good they are. To be a true binge, it’s got to last a while. 2) The shows have to be finished, so they have no more seasons forthcoming. 3) They must be Netflix originals, so a show like Peaky Blinders, while terrific, is ineligible, since it’s a BBC production Netflix merely distributed outside the UK. 4) The shows have to be great.
And that’s it! Let’s get started.
Mindhunter (2 seasons)
Serial killing it
Detective shows are a dime a dozen, and there are a lot of good ones out there. But there’s very little like Mindhunter, a show about the early days of the FBI’s Behavior Science Unit, where agents were trying to crack the growing serial epidemic of the 1970s by trying to get inside the heads of these maniacs.
The show features terrific performances from the likes of Jonathan Groff, a laundry list of cameos from serial killers that will make true crime fans happy, and precise direction from David Fincher, who’s known for movies like Fight Club and Se7en. It’s detailed, stylish, and exacting. It’s so good it basically ruined other detective shows for me.
The Crown (6 seasons)
The carefully curated life of a modern royal
Netflix’s Emmy-winning drama about the life of Queen Elizabeth II and her family is stately and ambitious. It spans several decades of history, starting when the queen is a young woman (playing by Claire Foy) and following her into adulthood (played by Olivia Colman) and finally into old age (played by Imelda Staunton).
The production values are off the charts, and we get to spend time with historical figures like Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, and Princess Diana. The show finds drama in the minutiae of the lives of the members of the British royal family, which sounds a little dull but works because of how carefully the show is made.
The Last Kingdom (5 seasons)
The insane, action-packed life of a medieval royal
The Last Kingdom is also set in England, but in the late 9th and early 10th centuries, when things were rather more dangerous for the royal family. We meet historical figures like King Alfred (David Dawson), but the show mostly revolves around Uhtred of Bebbanburg (Alexander Dreymon), a warrior who spends most of the series trying to reclaim his ancestral castle, and maybe helping to unite the warring kingdoms of the country that would become England when he has the time.
The result is a sprawling, epic series that in some ways is Netflix’s answer to Game of Thrones, a historical fiction show that’s better than most fantasy series. The story ends with a movie called Seven Kings Must Die, but it isn’t quite as well-regarded as the TV show. Happily, the series works just as well without it.
Narcos (3 seasons)
Plata, plomo, cash, or credit?
Narcos is a crime epic chronicling the rise and fall of drug lord Pablo Escobar (Wagner Moura). We get to know the people investigating him, including DEA agent Javier Peña (Pedro Pascal), as well as a large cast of people on both sides of the law. Narcos is a thrilling, well-paced show that digs into a part of history that isn’t talked about often enough.
GLOW
Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling
That’s enough doom and gloom. GLOW is a comedy inspired by the real-life Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, an all-female wrestling federation that became popular in the 1980s. The outfits are great, the performances from leads Alison Brie and Betty Gilpin are hilarious as well as emotionally compelling, and the wrestling sequences are a ton of fun to watch.
Love (3 seasons)
A sitcom for sad people
Love is also a comedy, although a bit heavier on cringe than GLOW. Produced by Judd Apatow, the guy behind moves like The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Superbad, Love revolves around Mickey (Gillian Jacobs) and Gus (Paul Rust), a pair of people who stumble towards love despite their many hangups and toxic tendencies. Love is awkward, funny, romantic, and sweet without being cloying.
BoJack Horseman (6 seasons)
The funniest tragedy in animation
BoJack Horseman is a strange beast, literally and figuratively. It’s about a washed-up Hollywood actor (Will Arnett) who happens to be a talking horse. There are lots of talking animals in this world, and also humans. It’s treated as normal. With a premise like that, you won’t be surprised to hear that this animated sitcom has plenty of very goofy gags. But as the show goes on, it also explores some incredibly dark themes, and the ending is bittersweet.
BoJack Horseman never stops being a comedy, but calling it just a comedy and nothing more sells it short. It’s worth experiencing the whole way through.
Arcane (2 seasons)
Stylish dense animated epic
Sticking with animation, Arcane is about a pair of sisters who find themselves on opposite sides of a brutal class war in a dystopian world starkly divided between the haves and the have-nots. It’s set in the universe created by the video game League of Legends, but can be watched by anyone.
People who love Arcane tend to really love Arcane. The show is hailed for its complex characters, engaging story, deep lore, and painterly animation style. Even if you’re not usually into animation or sci-fi, Arcane is a singular show that’s worth a try.
Dark (3 seasons)
The show that dares you to understand it
Dark is one of those strange, scary, twisted shows that seem designed to break your brain. It’s set in a small German town where children start to mysterious disappear, but once time travel is introduced into the mix, it becomes a sci-fi odyssey designed like a puzzle. The lore is so dense that you could watch this show three times over and still not understand everything about it.
To some, that will be a turn-off. But for those of you out there who live for that kind of thing, Dark is the perfect TV show.
Cobra Kai (6 seasons)
From YouTube to Netflix to your heart
We end with another light watch, because you deserve it. Cobra Kai, a continuation of the Karate Kid movies that picks up with the now-grown characters training a new generation of martial arts masters, started as a YouTube show, but it spent over half its life as a Netflix Original, so it counts.
Cobra Kai introduces us to a large cast of characters fighting for martial arts glory. There’s plenty of exciting action, but nothing too violent, and the show has a self-aware tone that keeps things light. It’s a funny action melodrama that runs for 65 episodes, so it’s a story you can have fun with for a long while.
And the shows to come
There are other good shows that didn’t make it on this list. Marvel series like Daredevil and Jessica Jones are terrific, but it feels odd recommending shows that are technically continued on Disney+. Dead To Me is a solid dramady, but we have to cut the list off somewhere.
The next great front-to-back Netflix show is probably going on right now. Maybe it’s Bridgerton, the network’s alternative Regency-era romance. Maybe it’s One Piece, one of the few live-action anime adaptations not to embarrass itself. And there are other great series in the future we can’t even imagine. Until they get here, these shows should keep you more than busy.
