As we approach cooler weather and the impending pumpkin spice, you may be searching for something you can really sink your teeth into and not let go of until you reach the end. Netflix has been a reliable source when you just don’t feel like going out and being seen, and these mainstays pay off whether it’s your first watch-though, or your fifth (no judgement).
Oh, and you don’t have to worry about getting attached to most of the shows on this list only for them to fall victim to the Netflix axe, as they’ve already concluded filming.
Breaking Bad
Breaking Bad was so ahead of its time on so many levels. Arguably, other crime dramas depicted characters doing what was expected of them — I’m thinking Sons of Anarchy or The Sopranos — while Breaking Bad‘s Walter White was consistently compelled to go against the grain as a father, a drug dealer, or kingpin. The result was an unimposing figure who ended up as terrifying as any mob boss.
Love is Blind
Admit it – you got caught up in the hype. You were just thinking, “ok, everyone’s talking about this, I’ll check it out,” and then you got hooked. Ok, may be just me. The unapologetically stupid premise of having people fall in love “sight unseen” has been an absolute phenomenon. And watching how some of the women behave in season 4, I was completely entranced waiting for the reunion and follow-up episodes. You will be too, trust me.
The Mick
Kaitlin Olsen (and honestly, the rest of the cast as well) is absolutely God’s gift to comedy. Ne’er do well Mackenzie “Mickey” Molng shows up at her wealthy estranged sister’s house to hit her up for cash, only to be roped into raising her degenerate kids after said sister and her husband get arrested for fraud and tax evasion. What follows is seriously some of the best physical comedy to come along since we lost the great Chris Farley.
The Keepers
The Keepers follows an intriguing cover-up case in the Catholic school system, but the raw emotion of the women — who were there when this story was playing out in real time, and are still around today — bring the term “web sleuth” to light in a whole new way.
In 1969 Baltimore, a young nun was murdered for her knowledge of the goings-on at an all-girls Catholic school. The shame of the victims kept them quiet for decades, but former students Gemma Hoskins and Abbie Fitzgerald Schaub aim to find out what happened, and uncover secrets that might just be ready to be told.
Sins of Our Mother
We watched, rapt in horror as two children — Tylee Ryan and J. J. Vallow — were reported missing while in the care of their mother, Lori Vallow Daybell, who was filmed and photographed living her best life, seemingly without a care in the world. What would play out over the next nine months would collectively shock us to the core, and leave us with more questions than answers. This series endeavors to shed light on what made this mother a killer, and the truth about her chilling accomplice.
Cheer
I enjoyed this 2020 series for what it was worth. Take into account, it was the very, very beginning of the pandemic – and our future was uncertain. For the first time in years, we didn’t feel obligated to show up and make an appearance to every event held by our friends, and the term “guilty pleasure” suddenly didn’t feel very guilty.
Former cheerleader herself Monica Aldama has been coaching the cheerleading squad of Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas since 2000. We watch the team go through auditions, rehearsals, injuries, and championships. I’m not even going to go into it about that unfortunate incident with what would become my and your favorite mentor/coach Jerry Harris, who would be convicted and sentenced to 12 years in prison for child-related sex crimes. I don’t want to taint the positive experiences of the kids who succeeded in the program or give him air time. I only hope the victims can heal and recover and move on from the trauma he caused.
Arrested Development
Arrested Development was and is an institution in comedy TV. How many shows get canceled and reinstated in their lifetime, by the sheer will of their popularity?
Concerning itself with the Bluths, a family whose matriarch — Lucille Bluth (portrayed by the late, great Jessica Walter) — is a manipulative, critical alcoholic who delivers what amount to some of the best one-liners of the whole of the series, Arrested Development introduced its audience to up-and-coming comics who would eventually become mainstays of TV and film in the wake of its conclusion.
The Queen’s Gambit
Anya Taylor-Joy’s performance as chess savant Beth Harmon solidified her place in the higher echelons of Hollywood’s ranks.
As Beth develops her skills and unmitigated drive to succeed in the world of championship chess, her appetite for drugs and alcohol only grows, and we watch helplessly as the character we’ve gradually become so enamored with sinks into darkness.
Midnight Mass
For the uninitiated audience of the work of Mike Flanagan, you might be thinking, “oh, right. Another vampire show,” but Midnight Mass is so much more. A terrifying portrait of small-town paranoia, the power and arrogance of “the enlightened,” and the perils of blind faith, Midnight Mass‘ central character is a church on the fictional Crockett Island.
Riley Flynn’s return home to Crockett Island after a stint in prison seems to be the catalyst for changes that are occurring in the financially depressed community. With the help of pious congregant Bev Keane, new priest Father Paul Hill seeks to convert the entire population of the island to the undead.
The powerful conclusion of Midnight Mass is not for the faint of heart.
Good Girls
Three friends desperate for cash unwittingly get hemmed up with some unsavory individuals and are forced into the world of organized crime. By turns harrowing and hilarious, Good Girls will have you on the edge of your seat as you watch the women gradually become hardened criminals with questionable judgment and a rightfully fleeting sense of security.
