Netflix has a new fantasy series in its catalog that is lighting up streaming charts, and the dark show has already become one of the streamer’s best. Netflix made the streaming era what it is. Due to that, the streamer has been at the top of the game for several years, with many exciting movies and TV shows released in that time.
As such, Netflix’s TV show library is no joke. It is made up of both licensed shows and Netflix Original series. When it comes to the former, subscribers can find genre shows like The Man in the High Castle, Better Call Saul, and many more. That said, subscribers are really joining the service to explore all the originals that Netflix has to offer.
Those come in many genres, with some of Netflix’s most popular series being the crime thriller His & Hers, the sci-fi Stranger Things, the spy thriller The Night Agent, the horror Wednesday, and so on. To stand among Netflix’s best TV shows is something that only a few projects manage to do every year. That said, this July, a new Netflix series has managed to accomplish that feat.
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🌀Stranger ThingsThe Upside Down
🎭Squid GamePlayer 456
👑The CrownLong live the Queen
🕸WednesdayNevermore Academy
🌹BridgertonDearest readers
01
Squid Game shattered records on launch in 2021, becoming Netflix’s biggest-ever series debut. Hwang Dong-hyuk’s South Korean thriller centres on a desperate gambler named Seong Gi-hun. What is his player number?
✓ Correct! Gi-hun is Player 456 — the last number drawn. Kang Sae-byeok (the North Korean defector) is 067, Cho Sang-woo (the Stanford-educated finance crook) is 218, and the mysterious elderly Oh Il-nam is 001. Squid Game became Netflix’s first show to hit #1 in every country it launched in, amassing over 1.6 billion hours watched in its first month alone.
✗ Eliminated! The answer is 456. Gi-hun’s number is the very last of the 456 players. 067 is Sae-byeok the defector, 218 is Sang-woo the Stanford grad, and 001 is the mysterious old man Oh Il-nam whose identity becomes the series’ biggest reveal. Squid Game became Netflix’s most-watched launch ever, hitting #1 in 94 countries.
02
The Tim Burton-directed Addams Family spin-off set at Nevermore Academy became Netflix’s second-biggest English-language debut in 2022 and launched a TikTok dance craze. Which young actress plays the deadpan title character?
✓ Correct! Jenna Ortega — a Disney Channel graduate and indie-horror favourite (X, Scream VI) — took the role Christina Ricci made iconic in the 1990s films and made it entirely her own. Her now-famous cello-accompanied dance scene became an overnight TikTok phenomenon, and her performance earned Wednesday two Emmy nominations despite airing mid-season.
✗ Eliminated! The answer is Jenna Ortega. Millie Bobby Brown is Eleven on Stranger Things, Sadie Sink plays Max Mayfield (also Stranger Things), and Maya Hawke plays Robin. Ortega’s deadpan Wednesday Addams — and her viral cello-dance scene — turned the show into a global phenomenon in late 2022.
03
In 2013, Netflix released a dark political thriller starring Kevin Spacey as a ruthless congressman breaking the fourth wall. It became the first major streaming original to land a Primetime Emmy nomination and effectively invented prestige streaming TV. Which show was it?
✓ Correct! House of Cards — adapted by Beau Willimon from the 1990 BBC series — became Netflix’s first prestige original and proved a streaming service could go toe-to-toe with HBO. Kevin Spacey’s Frank Underwood and his asides to camera defined early streaming TV. Orange Is the New Black followed months later in July 2013 and became Netflix’s longest-running original at the time.
✗ Eliminated! The answer is House of Cards (February 2013). Orange Is the New Black launched five months later (July 2013), Arrested Development’s Netflix revival came in May 2013, and Hemlock Grove was a horror effort the same spring. House of Cards was the flagship — the first streaming original to earn a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Drama Series.
04
Peter Morgan’s The Crown famously recast its entire ensemble every two seasons to age the royal family. After Claire Foy played Queen Elizabeth II in seasons 1-2, which Oscar-winning actress took the crown for seasons 3-4?
✓ Correct! Olivia Colman — fresh off her Best Actress Oscar for The Favourite — played the Queen across seasons 3 and 4, covering the late 1960s through the early Thatcher years. Imelda Staunton took over for seasons 5-6, Helena Bonham Carter played Princess Margaret in seasons 3-4, and Gillian Anderson stole the show as Margaret Thatcher in season 4.
✗ Eliminated! The answer is Olivia Colman. Imelda Staunton took over for the final two seasons (5-6). Helena Bonham Carter played the chain-smoking Princess Margaret during seasons 3-4 alongside Colman. Gillian Anderson delivered an Emmy-winning Margaret Thatcher in season 4. Colman anchored the show’s middle era fresh off her 2019 Oscar win.
05
The Duffer Brothers’ 1980s nostalgia juggernaut sees Eleven and the gang battle inter-dimensional horrors from a portal beneath the town’s Hawkins National Laboratory. In which fictional US town and state is the series set?
✓ Correct! Hawkins, Indiana — a fictional Midwestern small town that became one of TV’s most iconic settings. The Duffer Brothers chose Indiana for its unassuming, ordinary-America vibe, making the supernatural chaos feel more jarring. Derry is Stephen King’s It setting, Hill Valley is from Back to the Future, and Twin Peaks is David Lynch’s famous town.
✗ Eliminated! The answer is Hawkins, Indiana. Derry, Maine is the fictional town from Stephen King’s It. Hill Valley is Marty McFly’s home in Back to the Future. Twin Peaks, Washington is David Lynch’s famous fictional town. Hawkins is The Duffer Brothers’ deliberately ordinary Midwestern setting — the flat, unassuming backdrop that makes Vecna’s horrors hit harder.
06
Netflix’s Regency romance juggernaut — based on Julia Quinn’s novels and famous for its colour-blind casting, string-quartet pop covers, and narrated gossip column — is produced by which prolific showrunner’s production banner?
✓ Correct! Shonda Rhimes — the creator of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal — produces Bridgerton through her Shondaland banner as the first major fruit of her massive 2017 Netflix deal. Chris Van Dusen created the show, but Shondaland’s signature ensemble-romance DNA is all over it. Julian Fellowes did Downton Abbey, Ryan Murphy did Monster/Dahmer, and Jenji Kohan did Orange Is the New Black.
✗ Eliminated! The answer is Shonda Rhimes (Shondaland). Ryan Murphy produces true-crime anthologies like Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. Julian Fellowes is the Downton Abbey/Gilded Age creator — a different period drama entirely. Jenji Kohan is behind Orange Is the New Black and Weeds. Bridgerton was the first big payoff of Rhimes’ nine-figure Netflix deal.
07
La Casa de Papel (Money Heist) became a global phenomenon on Netflix after a modest Spanish TV debut — partly thanks to its gang’s instantly recognisable red jumpsuits paired with a mask of which famous figure?
✓ Correct! The Salvador Dalí mask — with its upturned moustache — became the show’s defining visual alongside the red jumpsuits, a nod to Spanish artistic rebellion and surrealist individuality. It inspired protest iconography worldwide, from Lebanon to France. The original Antena 3 version underperformed; Netflix acquired it in 2017, re-edited it, and turned it into a global sensation.
✗ Eliminated! The answer is Salvador Dalí. Guy Fawkes is the V for Vendetta mask that Anonymous adopted. Che Guevara is a common revolutionary image but not the heist crew’s mask. Picasso is a frequent wrong answer given he’s the more globally-known Spanish artist — but the Dalí mask, with its iconic moustache, is the one fused forever with Money Heist’s red jumpsuits.
08
Netflix’s 2020 limited series about a Cold War-era chess prodigy named Beth Harmon caused a global surge in chess-set sales and was one of the streamer’s most-watched shows that year. Who played Beth?
✓ Correct! Anya Taylor-Joy — already a cult favourite from The Witch and Emma — broke out globally as Beth Harmon, winning the Golden Globe for Best Actress. The Queen’s Gambit pulled 62 million households in its first 28 days and caused such a chess-boom that Chess.com and retailers ran out of sets. It also made Walter Tevis’s 1983 novel a surprise bestseller almost 40 years later.
✗ Eliminated! The answer is Anya Taylor-Joy. Florence Pugh (Midsommar, Oppenheimer), Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird), and Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People, Where the Crawdads Sing) are all frequent competitors in similar roles. Taylor-Joy’s Beth Harmon earned her a Golden Globe, a SAG Award, and turned Walter Tevis’s 1983 novel into a sudden bestseller.
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Platinum subscriber — or still on the free trial?
The show in question is The East Palace. The South Korean supernatural series was released on the streaming service on July 17, with all of its eight episodes dropping at once. Now, a week after its debut, I’m convinced that it is not too early to say that The East Palace can already be called one of Netflix’s best shows ever.
Why Netflix’s The East Palace Has Become One Of Its Best Series
The East Palace comes with a TV-MA rating, the equivalent of an R given to movies. Netflix’s new dark fantasy series focuses on Nam Joo-hyuk’s Gu-cheon, a ghost-slayer, and Roh Yoon-seo’s Saeng-gang, who has the power of listening to the dead. As its title suggests, the action of the fantasy series takes place inside a palace, with its ruler putting together the duo, against Gu-cheon’s wishes, to investigate a curse that has led to several deaths of royal family members over 30 years. Together, they venture into the unknown and explore what haunts the cursed palace.
The East Palace has become a universally beloved show. Not only is its plot creative, with high-skill action sequences, and dark atmosphere, gorgeous cinematography, pitch-perfect VFX, and strong performances, but the show has also earned rave reviews that surpass many of Netflix’s best series. The East Palace holds a rare perfect 100% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing. While a little lower, its 91% audience score is still stellar, and goes to show that both critics and viewers are loving this dark R-rated fantasy adventure.
Netflix’s The East Palace Is Yet Another South Korean Hit On the Streaming Service
Image courtesy of Everett Collection
Over the years, Netflix’s output of foreign series has consistently increased. To that end, South Korean shows have become some of the most creative and exciting that the streaming service has to offer. Everyone either watched or at the very least heard about the global phenomenon that became Squid Game, with many still asking for the rumored American spinoff to come to fruition. However, Netflix has many other engaging South Korean hits that viewers should give a try, and The East Palace‘s newfound success, with the R-rated fantasy series now at Netflix’s #6 worldwide, according to FlixPatrol, could boost those.
For those who have finished The East Palace already, other noteworthy South Korean fantasy series on Netflix include the supernatural Hellbound, the magic-focused Alchemy of Souls, and many more. Among the country’s best shows on Netflix are also a few zombie series, with the high school-based All of Us Dead being one of the genre’s most nerve-wracking experiences ever. Another hit South Korean zombie show on Netflix is Kingdom, which mixes a zombie action thriller with a political drama set in the Joseon Dynasty. The East Palace can be a gateway to Netflix’s many must-watch South Korean shows.
