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It’s wild to think that a platform that started as a mail-order DVD rental service went on to revolutionize the way people consume content, especially TV. When streaming started taking over in 2007, viewers suddenly had the freedom to watch whatever they wanted, and Netflix capitalized on that before anyone else. The streamer started releasing entire seasons at once and practically gave birth to what the world now calls binge-watching. However, the format is only half the story.
Making every episode immediately available means very little unless the show is good enough to keep people wanting more. As the streaming era grew, Netflix also invested in ambitious original series that introduced unforgettable characters and took creative risks that rivaled traditional television networks. Given that, here are the best Netflix shows that are still the gold standard because they helped establish the identity of streaming TV itself.
10
‘The Punisher’ (2017–2019)
The Punisher follows one of Marvel’s most difficult characters after his debut in Daredevil Season 2. The series centers on Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) and begins after he has already eliminated the criminals he believes were responsible for murdering his wife and children. With his revenge supposedly complete, Frank adopts a new identity and takes a construction job to avoid thinking about the life he lost. However, his attempt at a normal life is interrupted when former NSA analyst David Lieberman, also known as Micro (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), contacts him with evidence that his family’s murder was connected to a much larger conspiracy. The trail eventually leads back to Frank’s closest military friend, Billy Russo (Ben Barnes), who now runs the private security company Anvil and knows far more about the attack on Frank’s family than he initially admits.
The relationship between Frank and Micro gives the first season much of its emotional core as it goes from a hostile partnership to a genuine friendship. The Punisher is known for its action. The fact that Frank has no superpowers makes every fight feel exhausting. The violence can get a bit too much, but it ultimately exists to serve a purpose in the narrative. The Punisher is aware that Frank is not a conventional hero, and never tries to present him as one. The series still holds up because beneath all the gunfights and violence, it’s actually a pretty compelling character study.
9
‘Sense8’ (2015–2018)
Sense8 is easily one of the most unique shows Netflix has ever made, and it’s a shame that it went off air after just two seasons. The series follows eight strangers living in different parts of the world who suddenly discover that they are mentally and emotionally connected. They can appear in one another’s surroundings, feel the same pain and pleasure, and temporarily access each other’s knowledge or physical abilities. The whole thing begins as a frightening invasion of privacy, but the characters quickly learn the importance of this connection in their lives. What’s interesting is that initially, each character feels like they are in a completely different story. However, the way their connection slowly brings them all together is what keeps the audience hooked.
The Sensates are forced to understand lives, cultures, and identities that are completely different from their own, and that diversity is what makes Sense8 such a fun watch. Now, the stakes come when the audience realizes that this group is particularly dangerous to the Biologic Preservation Organization, which captures and experiments on Sensates. The conspiracy provides the larger plot, but never overshadows the human element of the series. The show’s global scale also feels genuine because production actually filmed across numerous cities and countries, including Berlin, Mumbai, Nairobi, Seoul, Mexico City, London, San Francisco, and Reykjavík. There’s no denying that the show can be a bit overwhelming, and the plot takes its sweet time to become clear. However, sticking around until the end is definitely worth it because the pure ambition of the show makes it unlike anything else on TV.
8
‘Mindhunter’ (2017–2019)
Mindhunter is a crime show like no other because it actually isn’t interested in catching the killer, but what happens after. The series is set in the late 1970s, and follows FBI agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany) alongside psychologist Wendy Carr (Anna Torv), as they begin interviewing imprisoned murderers to understand how they operate psychologically. This narrative fictionalizes the very foundation of modern criminal profiling. Mindhunter is extremely restrained in its approach to violence, but that is the show’s greatest strength.
The show’s most unsettling scenes come from the strange, unpredictable conversations the team has with fictional versions of criminals including Edmund Kemper (Cameron Britton), Charles Manson (Damon Herriman), Richard Speck (Jack Erdie), and more. At the same time, Mindhunter explores how Ford and Tench are affected by this gruelling project that they take on. The show rarely uses graphic violence because it doesn’t need to. The controlled camerawork, muted colours, slow pacing, and long stretches of silence make every interview feel dangerous, even when nobody moves at all. The show also covers how criminal profiling is actually applied to active cases involving grieving families, and other systemic forces at play. Sadly, Mindhunter ended after only two seasons, but it remains the benchmark for crime TV.
7
‘Narcos’ (2015–2017)
Narcos is a Netflix masterpiece that begins with the rise of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar (Wagner Moura), who turns the Medellín Cartel into an international empire using his wealth, intimidation, and extreme violence. On the other hand, the story also follows DEA agents Steve Murphy (Boyd Holbrook) and Javier Peña (Pedro Pascal), whose investigation pulls them into a conflict involving traffickers, police officers, politicians, informants, and rival criminal groups. Narcos Season 1 moves at a relentless pace and covers years of Escobar’s life as he goes from a small-time smuggler to one of the most powerful men in Colombia. However, he is never presented as a one-dimensional villain. As dangerous as he is, he also builds homes for the poor and loves his family.
Now, the fact that he is simultaneously ordering assassinations and bombings is what makes him such an intriguing character. Narcos never excuses what Escobar does, but it explains why so many people were willing to protect him. The show’s documentary-like style is a major reason all of this information feels easy and even addictive to follow. It’s not every day that a series combines history, action, politics, and intense character on this scale, which is why Narcos is a crime drama in its own league.
6
‘The Haunting of Hill House’ (2018)
The Haunting of Hill House is a highly-acclaimed ghost story, but it’s also so much more than just that. Mike Flanagan’s loose reimagining of Shirley Jackson’s novel follows the Crains across two timelines. In the past, Hugh (Henry Thomas) and Olivia Crain (Carla Gugino) move into Hill House with their five children. They plan to renovate the mansion, sell it, and use the money to build their dream home. However, one terrible night, Hugh flees the house with the children while Olivia remains behind and mysteriously dies. The second timeline follows the family over twenty years after the incident and shows how each of them deals with the trauma in a different way. The siblings are forced to come together when their sister Nell (Victoria Pedretti) returns to Hill House and dies there, because they can no longer avoid discussing what happened to them in that house.
The clever part is that every character remembers the house differently. The series keeps returning to the same events from different perspectives, and gradually reveals that nobody ever had the complete story. The show hits its creative peak during episode six, “Two Storms,” which is filmed in long, continuous shots that move between the past and present. Hill House itself is an active character in the narrative, and Flanagan takes his sweet time dropping Easter eggs and hints for fans to catch. Even then, The Haunting of Hill House never solely relies on jump scares or hidden monsters. The show’s most memorable revelations, including the identity of the Bent-Neck Lady, stay true to its extremely personal narrative that stays with the audience long after the credits roll. Flanagan’s miniseries redefined what horror could achieve on TV, and nothing else in the genre has come close to its brilliance yet.
5
‘The Crown’ (2016–2023)
Image via Netflix
The Crown made one of the riskiest casting decisions in television history, and it paid off. Every two seasons, the show replaced its main characters as the story moved into a new period of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. Claire Foy plays the young Elizabeth, Olivia Colman takes over during her middle years, and Imelda Staunton carries the role into the final decades covered by the series. However, instead of being jarring, the changes only make the narrative feel all the more personal. The Crown begins before Elizabeth becomes queen, when she is still a young wife married to Prince Philip (Matt Smith). After the unexpected death of her father, King George VI (Jared Harris), she inherits the throne at only twenty-five and quickly learns that the crown must always come before her personal feelings.
As the decades move forward, the series covers several political and national events to show how the monarchy adapted without ever really changing its ways. That conflict becomes even more damaging with the arrival of Diana Spencer (Emma Corrin) and her marriage to Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor). It’s obviously important to remember that the show takes quite a lot of historical liberties, imagines private conversations, and occasionally comes too close to the tabloid drama it means to satirize. Even then, its scale and unmatched performances easily place it among Netflix’s best shows of all time.
4
‘BoJack Horseman’ (2014–2020)
A lot of people write BoJack Horseman off for being yet another animated comedy series, but they couldn’t be more wrong. The story follows BoJack Horseman (Will Arnett), a washed-up actor who became famous through a cheesy 1990s sitcom. Decades later, he lives alone in a Hollywood mansion, drinks too much, complains about everything, and hopes that a memoir will make people care about him again. To write it, he hires Diane Nguyen (Alison Brie), who gradually becomes one of the few people willing to understand him without excusing his rash behavior.
The early episodes are filled with celebrity jokes, ridiculous animal puns, and exaggerated depictions of Hollywood, but the story gradually takes a darker, more complex turn. BoJack Horseman spends a lot of time exploring BoJack’s relationships with his parents and the family trauma that he carries with him well into adulthood. He causes a lot of harm to the people in his life, but the show never brushes it off without any accountability. That complexity is what makes BoJack Horseman the gold standard for adult animation. The show believes that people can improve, but it also understands that improvement does not erase the damage already done.
3
‘The Queen’s Gambit’ (2020)
The Queen’s Gambit is a seven-episode series that follows Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy), an orphan who discovers that she is extraordinarily talented at chess. The show covers her rise from playing games in the basement of a Kentucky orphanage to competing against some of the best players in the world. However, that’s not all The Queen’s Gambit is about because of Beth’s increasing reliance on tranquilizers. The connection between her talent and addiction is established almost immediately. Chess gives Beth order, but the pills convince her that she can only access her full ability while under their influence. The audience follows her through tournaments as she battles sexism and her own self-destructive impulses.
The show has a strong emotional core, which is why it feels compelling to viewers who don’t know anything about chess. The Queen’s Gambit has a distinct visual style that makes the game feel as exhilarating as a boxing final without the need to fully explain every rule. Much of the tension comes from whatever is going on in Beth’s life, and what every single win means for her. Of course, Taylor-Joy deserves a lot of credit for the show’s success because she practically embodied Beth’s confidence, panic, and frustration. The Queen’s Gambit could have been another predictable story about a troubled genius defeating everyone who underestimated her. Instead, it embraced Beth’s complexity.
2
‘House of Cards’ (2013–2018)
House of Cards proved that Netflix could compete with traditional prestige television, and laid the very foundation for streaming originals. The series begins with mastermind politician Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) helping Garrett Walker (Michel Gill) win the presidency under the belief that he will be appointed Secretary of State. When the administration breaks that promise, Frank, with the support of his wife, Claire Underwood (Robin Wright), begins destroying careers, trading favours and creating crises that only he can solve. The initial revenge story gradually evolves into a much larger attempt to take control of the White House itself. However, the show takes an even more interesting turn when the audience realises that Claire and Frank’s marriage is not built around traditional loyalty.
They genuinely love one another, but they also know that power comes before everything else. That tension eventually becomes the real hook of House of Cards. The show is one of Netflix’s most memorable titles thanks to Frank’s fourth-wall monologues that make the audience feel like they are in on all the manipulation. The series turns political corruption into entertainment while constantly reminding the audience that they are essentially cheering for the bad guy. There’s no denying that the show plummeted in terms of quality and its final season was marked with controversy, but that will never take away from the brilliance that initially defined it.
1
‘Stranger Things’ (2016–2025)
Stranger Things is obviously a defining Netflix original. The series, created by Matt and Ross Duffer, begins in 1983 with the disappearance of Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) in the small town of Hawkins. The incident coincides with the arrival of Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), a mysterious girl with psychic abilities who has escaped from a nearby government laboratory. She quickly becomes friends with Will’s friends, Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo), and Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin), whose search for him eventually reveals that Hawkins is connected to a hostile parallel dimension known as the Upside Down.
Every Season of Stranger Things builds on this mystery surrounding the Upside Down, but the supernatural elements never stop feeling personal. Every character in the show stands out with their own motivations and fears. The Demogorgons and the Mindflayer may bring the horror, but the audience stays invested because of how invested they are in this group of friends and their lives. This balance between horror and a heartwarming coming-of-age story is the reason why Stranger Things became such a breakout hit. It’s nostalgic without ever trying hard, and the cast also grows with the story across the show’s five seasons. Stranger Things can be enjoyed by viewers of all ages, and tells the kind of story that people will still be talking about decades later.
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Safwan Azeem
Almontather Rassoul
