These Are 25 of the Best TV Shows on Netflix That Won’t Disappoint

The second season of Netflix’s The Recruit has just arrived, making now the perfect time to binge this political thriller starring Noah Centineo as CIA lawyer Owen Hendricks. When the show began, Hendricks found himself negotiating with a former CIA asset who was attempting to extort the agency. In season two, the drama heads to Seoul when Hendricks finds himself working on a mission with Korean intelligence.

Jenna Ortega stars in Netflix’s Wednesday, a modern take on the life of one of the most morbid teens in pop culture history, Wednesday Addams. The series, executive produced and occasionally directed by Tim Burton, quickly became one of the most popular shows on Netflix when it premiered in 2022, and season two is scheduled to arrive later in 2025.

Gabriel Basso stars in The Night Agent, based on the novel of the same name written by Matthew Quirk. In the show’s first season, FBI agent Peter Sutherland (Basso) works at the White House in the top secret Night Agent program, where he gets pulled into a dangerous conspiracy when he learns a mole might be lurking within the government.

Envious (Envidiosa) is an Argentinian comedy starring Griselda Siciliani as Vicky, a 40-year-old woman who is depressed and jealous that all of her friends are getting married and she’s not. After abruptly breaking up with her long-term boyfriend Dani, things for Vickly fall apart even more when Dani immediately marries a hot younger woman. An under-the-radar gem, Envious is buoyed by Siciliani’s terrific comedic presence. Season two just arrived on Netflix last week.

Inspired by real events from writer-actor Richard Gadd’s own life, Baby Reindeer follows Donny Dunn, an aspiring comedian whose day job is bartending. The bar is where he extends kindness to a stranger named Martha played by Jessica Gunning, setting off a months-long chain ordeal of stalking. Donny’s experience being stalked triggers a wave of unaddressed trauma, making for an interesting story. The seven-episode series won a string of Emmy awards along with the Golden Globes for Best Limited Series and Best Supporting Actress for Gunning.

Though Girls5Eva only lasted three seasons, it remains a source of incredible comedy thanks to its wild performances and hilarious songs. (“New York Lonely Boy” and “I’m Afraid (Dawn’s Song of Fears)” hit especially close to home.) The show was originally a Peacock original, but was picked up (and canceled just as quickly) by Netflix. Created by Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt writer Meredith Scardino, the show is about a reunited ’90s girl group played by Sara Bareilles, who proved that her comedy timing was as good as her musical talent, Busy Philipps, Paula Pell and Renee Elise Goldsberry, whose truly unhinged performance as self-obsessed has-been Wickie Roy is one of the great comedic performances of late.

Praised by CNET’s Aaron Pruner as a “brilliant new take on the anti-hero story,” Netflix’s Ripley is the latest book-to-screen adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel character. Andrew Scott plays the cunning Tom Ripley, a stylish con man who uses morally sketchy methods to get what he wants — even murder.  Filmed in stark black and white, the series won four Emmys including those for cinematography and visual effects, as well as directing for Steven Zallian.

This thriller was all anyone talked about when it debuted, and for good reason. Hundreds of people in desperate need of cash compete in a series of games that become a fight for survival. If you can handle the grotesque and gory themes throughout this show, it’s an enthralling watch. Season 2, which arrived at the end of December, marks the return of Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), also known as Player 456, as he reenters the competition in hopes of ending it for good. A third and final season has also been confirmed.

When the spy thriller Black Doves arrived to Netflix last year, it quickly shot into the Netflix Top 10 and was quickly renewed for a second season. The addictive series stars Keira Knightly — who received a Golden Globe nomination for the role — as a spy named Helen Webb married to a politician in the British government who has no idea about her true identity. Ben Whishaw plays Helen’s friend and associate Sam, an assassin battling his own sense of morality, in this action-packed (and very bloody) series filled with espionage and some very dark humor.

A compelling, artful retelling of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. The Crown touches on many themes beyond the monarchy, including politics, family and the tumult of royal marriages — namely that of Charles and Diana. Beyond the spectacular casting across all six seasons, the show is supported by strong writing and gripping storylines that stir emotion in viewers, regardless of how they actually feel about the British monarchy. 

Sex Education is a coming-of-age British comedy that gave Gillian Anderson one of her best roles, as a divorced sex therapist raising a teen son Otis (Asa Butterfield). It also served as a breeding ground for incredible young talent, including Emma Mackey, Aimee Lou Wood, Connor Swindells and Ncuti Gatwa, who is the newest Doctor Who. Taking place at a high school filled with sexually curious teens, the show began with Otis doling out sex advice to his classmates after absorbing information from his mother’s profession, but it evolved into one of the most heartfelt teen romantic dramedies of the last few years.

Lauded as one of the best television shows of all time, Breaking Bad has all the merits of a standout series: a suspenseful storyline, dynamic characters and shocking plot twists — many of which are not for the faint of heart. It follows high school chemistry teacher Walter White, who turns to cooking meth when he’s diagnosed with cancer and worries about providing for his family. But his knack for producing the illegal substance leads him down roads he never imagined. 

Animated series Blue Eye Samurai unfolds with Mizu, a mixed-race woman warrior who is seeking revenge against four men — one of whom is her father. Set during the Edo period in Japan, the show features Maya Erskine as Mizu with Stephanie Hsu, Ming-Na Wen, George Takei, Masi Oka, Brenda Song, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa and Mark Dacascos among the cast. Season 1 of the Emmy winner is streaming now. 

Pulling from League of Legends lore, Arcane stands out as an animated fantasy series about socioeconomic inequalities in Piltover and Zaun. Corruption, violence and more are explored in the show through the characters’ journeys. Season 1 is available now and Season 2 came out in three parts last fall.

Peaky Blinders tells the story of an English gang run by Thomas Shelby (Cillian Murphy) and his family after World War I. The gang controls the city of Birmingham, but Shelby begins to set his sights beyond the streets as he aims to move up in the world. What sells this show is not only its compelling storyline, but also its stellar casting. For fans of period dramas — and crime shows — Peaky Blinders is a must-watch. A word of caution, though: This gritty series is not for the squeamish. 

Black Mirror is a dark, dystopian imagining of a world overrun by technology and modern “advancements.” A series of standalone episodes each depict their own compelling — and often unsettling — imagining of the impact of our increasingly digital lives. (The anthology format itself can be a refreshing way to consume television in the age of binge-watching.) It will haunt and entertain you in all the best ways. Season 7 will arrive in 2025, and creator Charlie Brooker said that some new episodes are “deeply unpleasant.”

The Great British Baking Show (also known as The Great British Bake-Off) has become synonymous with comfort television, and it continues to deliver all the feel-good vibes. New-ish host Alison Hammond, who joined last season, has proven to be a wonderful addition to the existing cast, which also includes co-host Noel Fielding and judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood. The competition show sees 12 bakers engaging in a series of three baking challenges each week, and though the latest season is over, there are also seven other seasons that offer the same cozy comfort.

This comedy-drama follows Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams), a college dropout with no legal background who somehow lands a job at a prestigious New York law firm working for top attorney Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht). They become a powerful team, but have to keep Mike’s lack of legal credentials under wraps. A testament to Suits’ brilliance is that it became the most-watched acquired series when it hit Netflix in 2023. (The star power of now-Duchess Meghan Markle, who plays paralegal Rachel Zane in the show, was likely also a factor.) All seasons are now streaming on the platform — check them out before the premiere of the show’s reboot, Suits LA, in February.

Netflix’s new Japanese drama Asura has a seemingly straightforward premise: in 1979, four sisters discover that their aging father has had an affair and fathered a boy outside of his marriage to their mother. That’s the starting point, but over the course of the show’s seven episodes, the show layers this family drama with humor and warmth. As the sisters grapple with how to confront their father (and withhold the information from their mother), their own lives change course and new secrets ven emerge. Despite the sisters’ drastically different personalities, they maintain their own bond that’s loving and occasionally contentious, but always remains honest and real.

A road rage incident between Danny Cho (Steven Yeun) and Amy Lau (Ali Wong) turns into a drawn-out feud, setting the stage for an enthralling comedic drama made all the better by stellar casting. Beef stole the show at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards, nabbing eight wins, and won all three categories it was nominated for at the 81st Golden Globe Awards. The show will become an anthology series; a second season starring Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Charles Melton and Cailee Spaeny was recently announced.

Griselda Blanco Restrepo was a ruthless Colombian drug lord who was instrumental in setting up narcotics trade networks to New York and Miami in the 1970s and ’80s. Her violent, tragedy-filled life is the basis for this six-part Netflix original series, which debuted in January 2024. Modern Family star Sofia Vergara plays Blanco, who took her “Godmother” nickname so seriously that she actually named one of her children Michael Corleone Blanco. Helmed by Colombian director Andrés Baiz and produced by the team behind Narcos, it’s a classic rise-and-fall crime drama. Vergara’s performance won plenty of critical praise and earned her an Emmy nomination.

Political drama The Diplomat, which stars Keri Russell as an American diplomat named Kate Wyler in London, returned this fall with its second pulse-pounding season. The show’s first season, which premiered in 2023, is eight episodes, and Season 2 is even shorter, coming in at six episodes, making it the perfect weekend binge if you’re looking for a show that combines action-packed international intrigue and political thrills with soapy marital drama.

Stranger Things is an enthralling medley of horror, drama and nostalgia. Set in the 1980s in fictional small-town Indiana, residents begin experiencing a series of odd events, including the disappearance of a young boy, and begin to search for answers. Though Netflix has only hinted at when the fifth and final season will arrive (they recently wrote that release info would be coming “soon”), it’s rumored to be dropping by mid-2025.

Before it landed at Netflix, Derry Girls aired on Channel 4 in the UK and was the most-watched show ever in Northern Ireland. Set in the 1990s during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the series was inspired by creator Lisa McGee’s experiences growing up. The show centers around five teens attending Catholic school amid the political turmoil of the time, set to a soundtrack of perfectly selected mid-1990s needle drops from the likes of The Cranberries, Salt-N-Pepa and Take That. It also made celebrities of its young stars including Saoirse-Monica Jackson and Nicola Coughlan, who stars in another show on our list, Bridgerton.

One of the most aesthetically pleasing shows on this list. Bridgerton is set in Regency-era England as the Bridgerton siblings search for love while navigating high society — and being the subject of anonymously penned gossip pamphlets. There’s plenty of drama, beautiful costumes and lavish tea parties to keep you coming back for more. Season 4, focusing on Luke Thompson’s longtime bachelor Benedict Bridgerton is currently in production.