What is the best Netflix original series out there? There are a lot of good shows on Netflix, but which is the best? Everyone has an opinion. There are superheroes in comic books, zombies in sitcoms, and ’80s-infused sci-fi on the streaming platform. Here's a list of 60 of the best Netflix series to watch right now if you need help deciding which one to watch next.
House of Cards (8.9/10)
It is the grandfather of the Netflix original programming, and now with five seasons under its belt, it has had a lot of highs and lows. We see Frank Underwood's rise from Speaker of the House to President of the United States at the beginning of the first season. It hits some rough spots during the third season, especially when Underwood turns against his wife Clare (Robin Wright). However, the show is never short of twists, turns, and even a huge surprise, and it's always a pleasure to watch Wright chew scenery with delight and disdain in equal measure. Even if their stories often end in dead ends, the supporting cast, which includes Molly Parker, Michael Kelly, Reg E. Cathey, Constance Zimmer, and Corey Stoll, is always excellent.Travelers (8.1/10)
Netflix and a Canadian television network Showcase co-produced Travelers, a sci-fi series starring Eric McCormick (Will & Grace). The story revolves around people from hundreds of years in the future who are sent back in time to take the place of those about to die. To prevent a bleak future, they are sent back, just like Terminator. Presently, these people are tasked with preventing a dystopia in the future, but they must also learn to adapt to their host bodies. A Netflix show like this is it all: Easy-to-binge, utterly addictive, utterly entertaining, and immediately engaging. Though it borrows heavily from other sci-fi shows and movies, it does an excellent job of shaking it up and giving it a new twist.Atypical (8.3/10)
ABC's Atypical is a family sitcom that will fit in with other family shows (Speechless, Black-ish, Fresh off the Boat, etc.). Sam Gardner (Keir Gilchrist) is an autistic 18-year-old from Connecticut. The series follows his encounters with women, the inappropriate crush he has on his therapist, and the relationship he has with the girl he eventually asks to prom. Aside from coping with his autistic son's disabilities, the movie explores his parents' issues, as Michael Rapaport attempts to connect with his son, and Jennifer Jason Leigh struggles to find her own identity despite being the mother of an autistic child. However, it is the older sister (Brigette Lundy-Paine) who is the real star in the show since she protects and creates her own life separate from her younger brother. The show doesn't do anything groundbreaking, but it's still very funny, heartwarming, and cute.Seven Seconds (7.8/10)
www.netflix.com This season of Veena Sud's The Killing follows the same racial politics themes as the first. Beau Knapp plays Peter Jablonski, a white police officer who runs over a 15-year-old African American kid on his bike and leaves him to die. In truth, the initial accident was an accident, but the cover-up is what brings the drama. Jersey City police are protecting their own, while the grieving family is seeking justice, but this is more than just a criminal case. A racial divide emerges between cops and the black community, the prosecution office, and other cops, ultimately raising the question: How valuable is being a black kid? Sadly, the answer is not much, at least in terms of the criminal justice system. There is a slow start to the series, but by the end of the fourth episode viewers will be hooked and never let go. There are also some superb performances, including those by Regina King, Clare-Hope Ashitey, and Michael Mosley.Master of None(8.3/10)
Master of None is a post-racial dating and relationship sitcom about millennials created by Aziz Ansari. The series retains the ability to convey the anxieties of dating, of new relationships, and of settling down, however it successfully incorporates texting and social media into the mix naturally and without drawing attention to itself. As well as exploring intimacy, it avoids stereotypical gender roles or relationship clichés. This is a unique, new, and most importantly, kind product. The show features genuinely good people, and the romance between Ansari's character and Noel Wells is unbelievable in the first season. Master of None isn't laugh-out-loud funny, but it is funny in the observations it makes, clever in its writing, and honest in the depiction of its characters. This is one of the best sitcoms of all time and also a kind of guide for a new generation of daters.The Punisher (8.7/10)
Marvel's sixth Netflix series suffers from the same weaknesses that have plagued its previous seasons, namely that it takes a strong character and stretches it too thin. Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) is, aside from Jessica Jones, arguably the most compelling character in Netflix's Marvel universe. A villain in Daredevil's second season, he becomes a dark anti-hero in these episodes, a man who has no regard for the lives of other people, who he tortures and pummels to death. There are moments of levity and occasional doses of humor in the first season, thanks to Castle's buddy partner dynamic with David Lieberman (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). While the show's follow-up lags somewhat, its introduction of new characters forces Castle to confront his past in interesting ways and pushes his carefully constructed persona to the limit.Peaky Blinders(8/10)
Peaky Blinders is a historical drama about an Irish-Romani criminal family set in Birmingham, England, in 1919, a few months after World War I ended in November 1918. The Peaky Blinders gang and its ambitious and crafty boss Tommy Shelby are at the centre of the tale (Murphy). Major Chester Campbell (Neill), a detective chief inspector in the Royal Irish Constabulary dispatched by Winston Churchill from Belfast to clear up the city of the Irish Republican Army, Communists, gangs, and common criminals, becomes aware of the group. Winston Churchill (Andy Nyman in the first series, Richard McCabe in the second series) accused him of stifling dissent.Unorthodox (8/10)
Shira Hass stars as a young, ultra-Orthodox Jewish lady who quits her community and starts a new life after an arranged marriage in this limited series. Esther is a girl who grows up under rigorous religious surveillance and finds the fortitude to choose her own path while still fighting against the principles and teachings of her upbringing. It's not an easy watch by any stretch of the imagination, but it is enlightening.Narcos (8.9/10)
Netflix's Narcos chronicles the rise and fall of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar and the Medelln gang. Brazilian director José Padilha (Elite Squad) mixes Scarface and Goodfellas to follow the life of Escobar by splicing together exaggerated sequences and genuine news footage. However, the main narrative here is the Colombian drug trade and the introduction of cocaine from South America into the United States in the 1980s, not the people. Escobar is used as a vehicle to demonstrate the futility of the American drug war and the toll it had on both Colombian criminals and US law enforcement. Narcos is a decent dramatic series.Big Mouth (8/10)
Nick Kroll's animated comedy is full of familiar voices and even more familiar life problems. Featuring a group of pre-pubescent friends, Kroll plays a younger version of himself, a young man named Andrew who goes through some painful changes, like inconvenient erections, strange wet dreams, and bat mitzvah meltdowns. Andrew's own Hormone Monster - also voiced by Kroll - usually causes all these surprising and funny things to happen. He delights (literally) in shocking and embarrassing him. Although the show is painfully accurate, it's probably hilarious if you're fortunate enough to have grown up during that angst-filled era.The Umbrella Academy (8/10)
In a world where superhero team-ups abound, this adaptation of an award-winning comic series created by Gerard Way - yes, that My Chemical Romance singer - feels wholly unique and totally refreshing. In the show, seven kids are born simultaneously to mothers who don't even know they're pregnant. Their dysfunctional upbringing catches up with them as they grow up, and they're forced to struggle to live normal lives after being adopted by a mysterious billionaire and trained to fight evil. Season two takes place in the 1960s, starting a doomsday cult, and showing the bloody assassination of JFK. The genre needs something weird right now.
Dead To Me (8.1/10)
In this drama, Christina Applegate plays a wife trying to recover from the traumatic events surrounding her husband's accidental death in a horrible hit-and-run accident. Linda Cardellini plays the widow's sunny, optimistic best friend in an equal measure of humor and empathy. Grieving together, they decide to investigate a murder mystery while navigating the challenges of moving on after loss. You'll never know what to expect from this show, which is half the fun of it, and its second season of cliffhanger-heavy intrigue has dispelled any worries it wouldn't be able to keep up its momentum.The Witcher (8.5/10)
Based on a best-selling series of books and a popular video game franchise, this fantasy epic stars Henry Cavill. Despite their high expectations, Cavill, playing Geralt, a monster hunter with mutations, exceeds them. Hersrich revealed to us the way the show evolved from page to screen, introducing key characters early on such as Yennefer, a sorceress, and Ciri, the destined princess. An adventure in the style of Lord Of The Rings crossed with a detective procedural. You'll enjoy it.
You (7.9/10)
Lifetime drama featuring Penn Badgley from Gossip Girl now has a streaming platform relationship, which makes us swoon over the scumbag she portrays. As Joe Goldberg, the film stars Badgley as an urban bookshop worker who courts a beautiful blonde (Elizabeth Lail) called Beck. This thriller ends without a happy ending at that point. As part of Joe's "courting," he steals her apartment, holds her boyfriend hostage, and watches over her every move. In the first episode alone he does that. There is no denying that the dating world of today can be a terrifying landscape. As if that wasn't enough, in the show's second season, Badgley preyed on another unlucky girl named Love (Victoria Pedretti), who put up a fight as opposed to his previous victims. Season three continues Joe Goldberg's troubled relationship with his pregnant girlfriend Love in their new suburban home.
Sex Education (8.3/10)
Nick Kroll's Big Mouth was wildly successful, with this British mockumentary exploring all manner of cringe-worthy, taboo subjects associated with sex, only without animation. Through a mother-son pair, the series follows their journey through those uncomfortable “talks.” Here, the mother is a sex therapist named Jean Milburn (a terrific Gillian Anderson) and her son is the kid who has to deal with her excessive overbearing tendencies at home while serving as a sex therapist himself in an underground ring. The show makes use of ’80s high-school tropes in order to boost its comedy value, but it goes into how these teens are portrayed and how they interact with sex with great nuance and thought. Anderson's comedic timing is impeccable.
The Last Kingdom (8.3/10)
This medieval series centered around an experienced Saxon lord taking on a Danish invasion as England unites against the Vikings will appeal to those who enjoy Vikings, epic battles and political intrigue. Uhtred is a warrior born in Saxony but raised in Viking country. In order to help an English king rule over the continent, he must overcome his own shadow, which he struggles to overcome. While there's an extensive set of supporting characters (including a few historical figures), this show excels at how realism is portrayed in its action, giving viewers grim, realistic warfare that matches any CGI showdown in thrill and tension.
BoJack Horseman (8.6/10)
One of Netflix's best shows also ranks among its least-watched. In a world where humans and anthropomorphic animals coexist, BoJack Horseman is about a horse named Bojack (Arnett), the washed-up star of the 1990s sitcom Horsin' Around. Bojack tries to resurrect his celebrity relevance with mixed results after a decade of lying around drinking and sleeping around. His codependent relationship with a layabout roommate (Aaron Paul) stems from his on-and-off relationship with his Persian cat (Amy Sedaris). His rival (Paul F. Tompkins) is a golden lab. Initially, it appears to be a fun satire of Hollywood. Bojack Horseman may be television's most honest and thorough examination of depression, however. This series is excellently written, has clever jokes, funny situations, and a melancholy undercurrent. Bojack is one of the most human characters on television, despite being a horse. The series takes two or three episodes to hook viewers into its world, but once it does, it becomes impossible to stop watching.
Stranger Things (8.8/10)
The Duffer Brothers' Stranger Things is both familiar and new, a throwback to the early 1980s movies of Steven Spielberg and John Carpenter. In the first season, a boy named Will (think E.T.‘s Elliott) is captured by a The Thing-like creature and trapped in a Poltergeist-like world. Will's mother (Winona Ryder) asks the local sheriff to investigate his disappearance. During this time, Will's goofy, Goonies-like best friends start doing their own sleuthing and befriend an alien princess with telepathic abilities (the E.T. of the series). While the show's second season delved deeper into government conspiracies and alien monsters seeking to wreak havoc on small-town Indiana, its third and final season allowed its charismatic cast to mature, with more sophisticated villains and a Soviet conspiracy to uncover. PG horror/ science fiction, like blockbusters of the early '80s, there's something here for everyone, no matter what their age.
Ozark (8.3/10)
It involves a bunch of stress-inducing watching, which we often call stress-watching television. Ozark comes from the same team that worked on The Accountant with Ben Affleck. Ozark follows a money launderer (Jason Bateman) and his wife (Laura Linney) as they move from Chicago to backwoods Missouri to clean $8 million in three months, lest they be killed by a Mexican drug cartel. The show is not fun to watch, nor is it particularly entertaining, but like Bloodline, it's what makes the viewer want to binge it just so they can find out if and how the antagonists may survive. There's a seedy quality about the show, and Bateman is terrific, but Ozark's entire point is to put the viewer through the wringer.
When They See Us (Limited Series)
The Central Park Five case is reimagined in Ava DuVernay's limited series as an emotionally charged retelling of one of our most tragic events. In the series, a group of young Black men are targeted for a vicious crime and put on trial without any evidence because they are black. This series sheds light on racial profiling and corruption in the NYPD. It is a heartbreaking retelling, but one that seems sadly relevant.The Crown (8.7/10)
A series of intimate and impressive productions, The Crown focuses on the ascent of Queen Elizabeth II, played by Claire Foy, and the first year of her reign. During the final end of Winston Churchill's career, John Lithgow appears as an old man experiencing the ignominy of aging. Elizabeth's mentorship and support from Churchill, despite his limitations, serves as a pivotal emotional anchor. Prince Phillip's role as Elizabeth's consort is among the episodes that explore the most beautifully; like his wife, he by turns delights in and rebels in it. The show is dedicated to exploring Elizabeth's lengthy reign, so we are treated to different versions of the characters over time. The third season of the show sees Olivia Colman taking over the throne as Queen Elizabeth II, Tobias Menzies playing Prince Phillip, and Helena Bonham Carter portraying Princess Margaret.
GLOW (8/10)
Based on the real-life Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling television series, Glow comes from executive producer Jenji Kohan and two of her protégés Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch. G.L.O.W. is the story of a group of failed actresses (Marc Maron) and misfits (Chris Lowell) who join together to form a female wrestling league. Although G.L.O.W. traffics in a number of tropes and stereotypes, the main characters (led by Alison Brie and Betty Gilpin) are so unbelievably lovable they make it impossible not to fall in love with them. The series is fast-paced, funny, and extremely sweet. The show's second season focuses more on the supporting cast, as they prepare for their television debuts and deal with misogyny and sexual harassment in the workplace and its third season sets up a satisfying conclusion to the story these women share.
Marvel’s Daredevil (8.6/10)
Daredevil is brilliantly shot, excellently choreographed, and superbly written. It does not belong to the Marvel Cinematic Universe at all, so the movie is an entirely separate entity. There is some light and humor in the show to make its characters sympathetic, but it's darker, more brutal, and grittier than the film franchise. The show nails the tone of the comic, the characters are complex, and it really grasps the grey area between hero and villain, and how violence blurs the line between them. Those fight scenes are brutal, and Charlie Cox makes Matt Murdock look even better than he does in this film. The show's villains - Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin in the first season, and Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle in the second - are not caricatures. At times, they're sympathetic in their own right and three-dimensional. One of Netflix's best original series and the best superhero series on television, Daredevil is a potent combination of writing, acting, and directing. Marvel's deal with Netflix ended too soon, as the third season of the show showcased Cox's mastery of being a tortured hero while setting up plenty of intriguing storylines.
Russian Doll (8/10)
A woman is forced to relive the last day she lived over and over again in this Groundhog Day from hell remake starring Natasha Lyonne. The concept has been done before, but this series stands out from the rest thanks to a blend of dark humor and supernatural elements. Her character, Nadia, goes through a never-ending cycle of partying, dying, then waking up to do it all over again. As one of the often-overlooked OITNB stars, this show reveals her comedic chops. Even with the bleak premise, Lyonne manages to cram in a universal message that basically reads, "The world is a chaotic place, let's help each other out the best we can."Godless (8.3/10)
Godless is a feminist Western and a programme about dads and sons, executive produced by Steven Soderbergh and written, directed, and developed by Scott Frank, who also penned Logan and Out of Sight. The series is set in the 1880s in La Belle, a tiny mining village where virtually all of the males have perished in a mining accident. Enter Roy Goode (Jack O'Connell), a charismatic gunslinger on the run from the mentor he betrayed, Frank Griffin (Jeff Daniels), who had previously slaughtered everyone in another tiny town for sheltering Goode, along with his gang of outlaws. In the end, the series puts a mainly female-dominated community against a violent, cruel criminal band. Scoot McNairy, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, and Sam Waterston play cops, but Downton Abby's virtually unrecognisable shotgun wielding pioneer lady Michelle Dockery and Merritt Wever, a bisexual woman out of f–ks to give, are the standouts in Godless. Beautiful photography, poetic language, a few spectacular shoot-outs, and excellent performances from the whole ensemble make this a fantastic series.Orange is the New Black (8.1/10)
Jenji Kohan's ability to blend social critique with humour is ideal for a prison narrative.Orange Is the New Black is as entertaining as Weeds was in its early stages, but Kohan has found a way to bring poignancy to the overall message of her storytelling. Orange is the New Black's varied, entertaining ensemble cast is chock-full of fan favourites, and while the show traffics in stereotypes, it also questions and complicates them. The acting is great, the writing is brilliant, and the plots are engrossing. More significantly, it pushes us to root for those who make bad judgments and recognise that we all make bad decisions because we are human. The series will make viewers laugh and ponder, and every now and then, I will make a joke.Mindhunter (8.6/10)
Jonathan Groff plays Holden Ford in Mindhunter, a figure based on the real-life Douglas, J. E. (the inspiration for Jack Crawford in the Hannibal series).. The series is based on the origins of a real FBI behavioural science section that studied serial murderers in the 1970s and 1980s. Ford is a young FBI agent who is fascinated by psychology, which leads to an interest in the psychology of serial killers. It's an enthralling look at the roots of a science that has inspired dozens of police procedurals. What's more fascinating here is that, although Ford is researching serial killers (all of whom are based on actual cases), Ford develops his own fixation with serial murderers, mirroring serial killers' preoccupation with their victims. Fans of Joe Penhall and executive producer David Fincher (who also directs many episodes) will love Mindhunter for its attention to detail and devotion to character and research over surprise twists and discoveries.Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (7.8/10)
NBC was supposed to air this Tina Fey sitcom, but the network decided to give it to Netflix instead. The show is as dense and irreverent as 30 Rock, but it is also incredibly life-affirming. Netflix's original series is hilarious and fast-paced, filled with pop culture references, and perhaps the easiest one to binge. As with 30 Rock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt has an impressive collection of celebrity appearances and pop culture references throughout its four seasons.American Vandal (8.2/10)
This satire of true-crime documentaries, American Vandal, can sound silly and sophomoric in theory, and it is, but it's incredibly clever, cleverly scripted, and smartly written. A true crime docuseries, but not a murder one - interviews, investigations, multiple suspects, and numerous conspiracy theories. Apparently, a student at the high school has spray painted unwanted messages on 27 cars. His graduation is at stake due to this crime. A brilliant whodunnit that just so happens to be the best parody of 2017 - it even earned a Peabody for its excellence. In the second season, the guys are investigating a new mystery: the cafeteria's contaminated lemonade. Wait until you see how much sh*t they have planned for season two.Sense 8 (8.4/10)
The Wachowskis' Sense8 tells the story of a group of people around the world who are suddenly linked mentally. The disparate stories about love and relationships weave in and out of one another as in Cloud Atlas. The series often seems unwieldy, yet there's a moment in every episode so moving that viewers can't help but feel moved by the affection the characters feel for each other despite all its sci-fi flourishes. Despite being sometimes cheesy and sometimes illogical, it is one of the most diverse, multicultural, romantic, life-affirming sci-fi series of all time. Although it may require some patience from viewers, it's an incredibly special series for idealists and romantics.Marvel’s Jessica Jones(8/10)
Jessica Jones has occasionally fallen short as an episodic series. The series doesn't make use of Jones' P I skills in much of the first season, instead focusing on one plotline involving Kilgrave (David Tennant), the series' big bad. However, Tennant's character is the reason to watch the series - he is alluring yet vile, charming yet repugnant - and themes of rape and abuse resonate loudly throughout. Kilgrave's absence causes the series to veer off course, diving into Jessica's traumatized upbringing in season two and pitting her against her sister in season three. However, it is a captivating and thematically-rich series that covers ground that few superhero series would dare to tread. Although it isn't necessarily the most entertaining series, it is by far the bravest and most original.Altered Carbon(8.2/10)
Altered Carbon is based on Richard K. Morgan's science fiction novel of the same name published in 2002. It blends some great, new concepts with a lot of derivative ideas to make an often frustrating but often brilliant series. There is a future where the consciences of everyone have been downloaded and stacked into different "sleeves," or bodies. As a rule, unless one's stack is destroyed, one can live forever; however, in reality, only the wealthy can afford to buy the necessary sleeves to live permanently. Joel Kinnaman plays Takeshi Kovacs, a former United Nations elite soldier who now works as a private investigator for a wealthy patron to solve the murder of his own sleeve. While the premise is fascinating, the show becomes mired in world-building before it can establish its characters. Despite the fact that Anthony Mackie plays Kovacs instead of Kinnaman in the latest installment, things pick up right where they left off. The story follows Kovacs trying to live in a world where human consciousness is passed from body to body in the hopes of attaining immortality while searching for his lost love, solving murder mysteries, and seeking redemption.The End of the F***ing World (8.2/10)
This dark-black comedy is based on Charles S. Forsman's comic series about James (Alex Lawther), a confused 17-year-old, and his growing relationship with Alyssa (Jessica Barden), a damaged classmate. Charlie Covell and Jonathan Entwistle wrote and directed the series, which is like a high school version of True Romance, about two deeply troubled, misanthropic teenagers who trust each other and are willing to do anything to maintain their relationship. There are a few laughs in the first season, but things become more serious in season two, when Alyssa has to deal with the aftermath of the pair's crime spree and a new psychopath enters the mix.The OA (7.8/10)
Both critics and viewers were divided on The OA, with about half of them strongly disliking it, while the other half was incredibly intrigued by the Brit Marling series. It's about a blind, adopted woman named Praire Johnson who goes missing for seven years, returns with scars on her back, and has clearly been underground for some time. She can also see. Her disappearance is only known to a small core group of followers, the OA, who call themselves members. This is a highly imaginative, ambitious series and, while it is wildly uneven, it still remains watchable, filled with both profound and eye-rolling moments. However, The OA is flawed because it buys too readily into its ethos and ultimately takes itself far too seriously. Despite building a compelling mystery, it fails to resolve it satisfactorily.Grace and Frankie (8.3/10)
Grace and Frankie stars Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Sam Waterston, and Martin Sheen as two best friends who move in together after their husbands leave them for each other. Friendliness describes the series best. There is humor, but not humorlessness; the dialogue is sometimes clever and always pleasant. In spite of the novelty of the conceit, the storylines remain familiar and don't really progress. In fact, they don't really need to. This is a nice group of people to hang out with, bolstered by a supporting cast that includes Brooklyn Decker, June Diane Raphael, and Ethan Embry. Those who have been fans of the main cast for a long time will find the show irresistible.On My Block (8.3/10)
In its basic form, On My Block is another teen drama about a group of funny, street smart kids trying to make their lives work. Despite its praise for its multicultural cast and ability to touch on issues such as immigration and the effects of gang violence, the show maintains a fresh perspective while focusing on the lives of these four friends making it on the rough streets of an inner Los Angeles neighborhood. While it deals with larger themes, the show is best when it focuses on the close bond between four very different kids.13 Reasons Why (8.2/10)
It is an intriguing story featuring a teenage girl who kills herself and leaves behind a suicide note. The note is a series of 13 tapes, each addressed to an individual who was primarily responsible for her decision to commit suicide. A group of 13 people are given the tapes, and they have to deal with the guilt they feel for the role they played in her death, while also keeping their secrets hidden as the contents of the tape threaten to ruin relationships and cost the school millions in an ongoing lawsuit. In its first season, the drama stirred up controversy with its heavy subject matter, which was a direct and unflinching look at teen suicide. It is indeed a heavy series, especially for one featuring teen characters, but it is also incredibly compelling, heartbreaking, and admirable for the action and character development shown. It asks tough questions even in its later seasons as these kids mature and try to move on from this failure.Bloodline (8.1/10)
While the show's follow-up seasons faltered a bit, the show's first season was a master class in slow-burn and the second season had a killer cast and unpredictable twists that made it an essential watch. Ben Mendelsohn portrays one of the best television performances of this decade as the Rayburn siblings, John (Kyle Chandler), Meg (Linda Cardellini), Kevin (Norbert Leo Butz) and Danny, played by Kyle Chandler. It's Danny, the black sheep of the family, who returns home to the hotel business and makes a hash of everyone, exposing secrets and putting everyone's lives in danger. It's a stressful series. There is no entertainment here, but rather a panic attack intended for viewers. Ultimately, this is a show you must binge, not for the sake of finding out what happens next, but because not doing so means living with these characters' anxiety that much longer.I Am Not Okay With This (7.6/10)
A supernatural look at adolescence starring Sharp Objects' Sophia Lillis is presented by the Stranger Things team this time. Lillian plays Sydney, a young woman whose father commits suicide in her family's basement, who moves away from her best friend to a stifling town and begins manifesting her angst with increasingly volatile episodes of telekinesis. Think Carrie crossed with The End of the F*cking World.Luke Cage (7.5/10)
As the third installment in Marvel's Defenders series, Luke Cage follows the title character - first introduced in Jessica Jones - to Harlem, where he works as a sweeper in a barbershop and as a dishwasher in a restaurant. The powerful and unbreakable Cage gets dragged into crime-fighting against his better instincts in order to save Harlem from violence and corruption. Mike Colter nails his portrayal - he perfectly straddles the line between imposing and kind - and Luke Cage has every bit of thematic complexity of Jessica Jones.One Day at a Time (8.2/10)
One Day at a Time is a remake of an iconic 1970s sitcom produced by 94-year-old Norman Lear. The series manages to accomplish what its predecessor failed to do as well as surpass it. Based on a true story, the new version tells about a Cuban American family headed by a single mom (Justina Machado) raising three children with the help of her mother (Rita Moreno). While the jokes seem a bit out of place on streaming services, the characters are still engaging in an honest way as they adjust to life on a modest nurse's salary and maintain their Cuban heritage while integrating with American society (much like Fresh Off the Boat). Despite being more poignant than funny, this sitcom offers a warm, loving commentary on single parenthood that resonates just as powerfully today as it did in the early 1970s.Everything Sucks! (7.5/10)
It could be described as a comedic counterpart to Stranger Things, but it is so much more than that. The show follows a group of high schoolers - the popular, the unpopular, and the in-between - as they search for their own identities and try to find their place in not only high school, but in the world at large. It is about a freshman from the A/V club, Luke (Jahi Di'Allo Winston), falling in love with Kate (Peyton Kennedy), who is struggling with her sexual identity as a lesbian. In spite of the specific issues they face, the range of emotions they experience is universal - falling in love, experiencing heartbreak, and seeking acceptance and validation from others. While the series is infused with '90s nostalgia, it doesn't rely on nostalgia to tell its story, and the story it tells is one of the most hopeful, optimistic, and deeply moving shows on Netflix.Dear White People (6.3/10)
Dear White People, one of Netflix's best and most underappreciated series, is a television adaptation that improves on the original film in every respect. The book covers more than just black versus white; those who are woke versus those who are not; black people challenging the system versus those who find solutions within it; and light-skinned black people versus darker-skinned black people. Logan Browning leads a stellar cast of characters in this intriguing and clever television show. It's as entertaining as it is insightful, and it's great to have him on board.Alias Grace (7.9/10)
Sarah Polley adapts Margaret Atwood's novel Alias Grace, itself based on a true story, set in Canada during the middle of the 19th century, for the screen, where Grace Marks (Sarah Gadon) is convicted of a double murder. Having spent time in a mental asylum and in prison, a first-generation therapist is called in to try and determine if Grace is guilty, innocent, lying or telling the truth. It is as baffling to the viewer as it is to the doctor to hear Grace's account of the murders, but that's not the point. Alias Grace is an exploration of the tyrannizing and abused lives of women and the men in their lives. As a result of this abuse, in a system controlled by men, if a woman rose up and murdered her terrorizer, who could blame her? This clever, brilliantly acted, and entertaining series is more than that, it is relevant to the times.A Series Of Unfortunate Events (7.9/10)
There's no reason not to enjoy a show based on a children's book series, even if it is made for children. Netflix's adaptation of Lemony Snicket's darkly comic tale about three orphans trying to escape their evil guardian, Count Olaf, hits all the right notes for fans of the book. With every episode, Neil Patrick Harris plays Olaf, an evil genius whose greed and moral depravity reach new heights, and his poor victims, the Baudelaire children, prove more resilient than they thought.Wet Hot American Summer: First Day Of Camp (7.4/10)
Those who haven't seen Wet Hot American Summer or did not like it should not watch Netflix's adaptation without watching the original film first. A bunch of '80s teen movies (Zapped, Summer School, School Spirit, Meatballs, etc.) are referenced for effect, referencing a gag within a joke that is only understood by a specific demographic. The series makes fun of a small window, but for those who get the joke, it's hard not to appreciate the level of detail that David Wain and Michael Showalter have incorporated into it. It's a prequel to a movie in which the same actors played teenagers at a sleepaway summer camp when they were 30. A number of characters in the original film get their origin stories in this sequel. It contains a lot of meta humor, a lot of callbacks, and a lot of Easter Eggs. As a stand-alone series, WHAS is brilliant, but it does not work particularly well.Safe (7.4/10)
In this thriller, Michael C. Hall plays a well-to-do British family man whose daughter goes missing. In this one, Hall's haracter jumps from flashbacks to the present while grappling with guilt over his wife's death and frantically searching for his missing teen who may have uncovered a decades-old secret kept by those close to him before she disappeared. Finding out who and why dunnit is probably not going to happen until the end.Lady Dynamite (7.5/10)
Following a breakdown, Bamford (who suffers from depression and bipolar disorder) tries to ease her way back into the etertainment industry with the help of her friends and her manager (Fred Melamed), beginning by building a bench to connect with her community (which is similar to what Bamford did in real life). With Lady Dynamite, creators Pam Brady (South Park) and Mitch Hurwitz (Arrested Development) combine extreme versions of the shows' sensibilities, although it also has the absurdist streak of Brady's Hamlet 2. One episode shows Patton Oswalt - who plays an actor who is playing a cop in the show about Bamford's life - breaking character to suggest Bamford not mix her TV series with her stand-up because it didn't work for him. Afterward, Oswalt and Bamford discuss Breaking Bad before using a Breaking Bad reference to indicate a time jump. It's a lot to keep track of in Lady Dynamite, but it rewards those who keep up.Lupin (7.6/10)
The film stars Omar Sy as a man hell-bent on revenge in this gripping mystery thriller. In "Assane Diop," Sy plays the role of a master thief who seeks revenge against his father's wealthy employer for accusing him of stealing a valuable diamond necklace. Assane's father kills himself out of shame, but the con-man manages to wreck havoc on his enemy, imagining himself as the master thief Arsène Lupin, created by Maurice Leblanc in the early 1900s.Santa Clarita Diet (7.8/10)
Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant star in this zombie comedy, which features an intriguing plot - a suburban mom/real estate agent is mysteriously infected by a zombie virus and must kill to stay alive. It is filled with a handful of hilarious moments and a number of gross-out moments, but it doesn't add up to much. Nonetheless, it's a light and entertaining series, with an excellent cast, and it's just addictive enough to keep viewers pressing the next button after each episode until the three seasons are consumed like a quick fast food meal.The Get Down (7.8/10)
A lavish, ambitious, and expensive series by Baz Luhrmann (The Great Gatsby, Moulin Rouge) explores the hip-hop scene in the South Bronx in the 1970s. Lurhmann's campy bombastic style distracts from the substance of The Get Down with over the top messiness. Pilot episode is too long and unfocused, but as the series progresses, it begins to improve dramatically. As the characters are introduced and storylines coalesce, The Get Down transforms into a delightfully eclectic, infectious and upbeat 1970's cultural fusion. The plots don't always work, but every episode features a musical number that will stop viewers in their tracks.
Friends from College (6.6/10)
The show combines sitcom television tropes with dark relationship drama to mixed results. Keegan Michael Key, Cobie Smulders, Nat Faxon, Billy Eichner, Annie Parissie, Jae Suh Park, and Fred Savage are the main characters in Friends from College, but the characters are deeply unlikable. This story revolves around a married couple (Key and Smulders) who move back to New York and meet up with their college friends, one of who Key's character is involved with for 20 years (which they continue to do despite the wife's attempt to conceive). When these 40-year-olds get together, they act much like they did in college: they drink too much, they act obnoxious, and old romantic attractions are reignited. The series has plenty of laughs, and many of the situations will resonate with the over-30 demographic, but it doesn't quite gel. Although it has many problems, I enjoyed it, but viewers may not share my enthusiasm, depending on their tolerance of adults acting like college kids.Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life (7.9/10)
Reviving the popular cult series Gilmore Girls for four episodes is a bit of a mixed bag. We are delighted to see characters from the original series return to Stars Hollow, where much of the fast-paced banter and quick-witted barbs remain, although the jokes are long outdated and the pop-culture references are out of date as well. Nonetheless, the season as a whole fails to impress. The plot feels contrived, designed for fan service rather than good storytelling, and while it is set in the present day, it doesn't feel like it fits with this era in American history. A show once so astutely commented on the culture of its day has a problem with that. Its runtimes - each episode lasts 90 minutes - do not help either. It does what other revivals (Arrested Development, Veronica Mars) have done before it: It does not ruin our fond memories of the original, but it certainly dampens our enthusiasm for more.
F is for Family (8/10)
Bill Burr's Netflix animated series is based on his childhood experiences in Massachusetts, and while not a particularly original family sitcom, it is deceptively smart, hilariously profane, and pays great attention to the details of the 1970s. Bill Burr's unapologetically politically incorrect and honest worldview will appeal to anyone who shares it. While the series is vulgar and crudely animated, it also has a few poignant turns that border on the heartbreaking. F is for Family is a great portrayal of what growing up in the 1970s was like for people who are Burr's age.
Love (7.7/10)
The Netflix sitcom Love is another anti-romcom, but unlike both of the other series, its leads aren't funny or boisterous enough to overshadow their unsympathetic natures. Gillian Jacobs plays Mickey, a substance abuser and insecure woman who falls for Gus (Paul Rust) in part because he is nice and not intimidating. Gus purports to be nice, but he is actually scamming lonely women who are searching for safe men who will not screw them over with his non-threatening looks and awkward nice-guy demeanor. Although the series, executive produced by Judd Apatow, succeeds in its goals, its characters are so thoroughly unpleasant that all we can hope is that they get as far away from each other as possible.
Easy 6.8/10)
Aya Cash, Dave Franco, Jake Johnson, Orlando Bloom, Hannibal Buress, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, etc.) improvising through a premise supplied by Joe Swanberg (Drinking Buddies, Happy Christmas). As Easy proves, this kind of arrangement - shot quickly and cheaply - can prove to be a mixed bag. There are, depending on the plotline, phases of aimlessness, cleverness, boringness, sexiness and intrigue. Six loosely connected half-hour vignettes take place across the three seasons in Chicago, exploring different aspects of love. In essence, these are short films, and some of them are good, others not so good, but overall, the films are worth watching.Hemlock Grove (7.2/10)
Hemlock Grove was Netflix's first original series, executive produced by Eli Roth. Sadly, it was also one of the first to end. Hemlock Grove's first season was incredibly popular worldwide, largely due to interest in a horror series and Netflix's binge-watching model, but it received poor reviews and was paced slowly, which dwindled interest. Two teenage girls are found brutally murdered in the town of Hemlock Grove in Pennsylvania, prompting an investigation into the secrets of the town (chiefly, the werewolf population). While there is plenty of gore in the series, there is an occasional spark of life as well. A handful of interesting moments are few and far between, and what's left is an inscrutable mystery, disjointed storylines, and a great deal of unanswered questions. The show is a wacky mess, but not outrageous enough to be entertaining consistently.The Ranch (7.1/10)
In terms of quality, Netflix's attempt to echo Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men with laugh track sitcoms falls between the two. There are some things about The Ranch that make it superior to Two and a Half Men, such as a sense of pathos that runs throughout the series, and Debra Winger and Sam Elliott's outstanding performances. In a series about an alcoholic football player (Ashton Kutcher) who returns to his father's ranch with his brother (Danny Masterson), the show surprisingly works as decent background noise if you don't expect much more. Despite its easy dismissal, it's also very easy to watch.Fuller House (7/10)
The ratings service says that Fuller House is the most popular series on television, but popularity doesn't make something great. Although neither Full House nor Fuller House is high art, nobody watches either for its artistic merits. With its mix of family-friendly themes and an easy-to-follow format, Fuller House is serviceable television for the tween demographic, and decent Saturday morning TV for wistful adults. Enjoy watching the above list of netflix originals. Some are amicably outstanding and worth watching. While some are one time watch and some are time pass watch.
- By Rashmi Goel
