A two-season crime thriller series was so good that it got three more seasons and multiple spinoffs. When it comes to Netflix’s crime thrillers, the streaming service has no shortage of exceptional shows in this genre, including Mindhunter, Ozark, Narcos, The Beast in Me, and Dept. Q.
Mindhunter has a near-perfect 97% critics and 95% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and is widely considered to be a cancelled Netflix show that deserved more seasons. Ozark won four Primetime Emmy Awards and ran for four seasons, while Narcos‘ success led to the spinoff Narcos: Mexico. The Beast in Me received three Golden Globe Award nominations for a miniseries, and Dept. Q is returning for season 2 after being in the platform’s Top 10 for six weeks.
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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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While all the aforementioned titles started out as Netflix originals, this was not the case for Money Heist, although it went on to become one of the streamer’s all-time biggest shows. The Spanish series follows two bold heists orchestrated by Sergio Marquina, better known as The Professor (Álvaro Morte), with the first being to rob the Royal Mint of Spain, and the second one centered on the Bank of Spain. However, seasons 3-5 and the entire Bank of Spain storyline were not originally intended to happen.
Money Heist Was Supposed To End With Season 2, Then Got 3 More Seasons
Money Heist still featuring the cast in masks with weapons.Credit: MovieStillsDB
Money Heist started out as a two-season series that aired on Spain’s Antena 3 network. The first two seasons revolve around the Royal Mint of Spain heist and bring this story to a complete and satisfying conclusion, with the season 2 finale serving as a series finale. When Netflix acquired the rights, the show became a massive streaming hit, despite receiving no significant promotion and simply being another quiet addition to the platform’s library available to subscribers.
This led to Netflix bringing back the show for season 3, which had a much larger budget than its predecessors, and this began the Bank of Spain heist storyline. Seven years later, Money Heist season 3 remains in seventh place on Netflix’s all-time list of most-watched non-English language shows due to its 80 million views.
One of Netflix’s best TV shows of all time is the perfect mix of Squid Game and Ocean’s Eleven, spawning one of the streamer’s best franchises.
The series was also renewed for seasons 4 and 5, which continue and eventually complete the Bank of Spain heist. Season 4’s 106 million views put it in fourth place on Netflix’s all-time non-English language chart, while season 5’s 99.2 million views put it not far behind in sixth place. The only other show to have three seasons on this chart is Squid Game, which occupies the top three spots, and which debuted two years after Money Heist season 3’s release.
Money Heist helped pave the way for Squid Game and other non-English shows on Netflix to become global streaming sensations and integral to popular culture. Netflix’s 2020 documentary Money Heist: The Phenomenon digs deeper into this impact, and how the once little-known show took the world by storm, not just on streaming, but in how the characters’ red jumpsuits and Salvador Dalí masks have become real-world symbols of resistance. Given how big the show had become, its world expanded beyond the fifth and final season.
Money Heist Expanded To The Berlin & Korea Spinoffs
Pedro Alonso in Berlin.
Before the final episodes of Money Heist season 5 were released, Netflix announced that a Berlin spinoff was in the works. Berlin (Pedro Alonso) is a charismatic and ruthless jewel thief who is in charge of leading The Professor’s scheme to rob the Royal Mint of Spain. He became a fan-favorite character, and the spinoff serves as a prequel that is set before the events of the original show’s first season.
Berlin and the Jewels of Paris is available as an eight-episode miniseries released in 2023 and sees the titular character involved in a different heist with a completely new crew. The spinoff returned with the eight-episode Berlin and the Lady with an Ermine in May 2026, and as of this writing, a month later, it is still in second place on Netflix’s worldwide streaming chart. Some familiar faces from the original series appear across the two seasons, including The Professor, Inspector Raquel Murillo (Itziar Ituño), and Inspector Alicia Sierra (Najwa Nimri).
Berlin isn’t the only spinoff, though, as Netflix released Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area in 2022. It takes the premise of the show that preceded it but provides a new spin in a world where North and South Korea are formally at peace and have a new currency being printed at the United Korea Mint, which is where the heist unfolds. There is one season with 12 episodes, and a cast that features Squid Game‘s Park Hae-soo as Berlin, Oldboy‘s Yoo Ji-tae as The Professor, and Lost‘s Kim Yunjin as Inspector Seon Woojin.
Berlin and Money Heist: Korea are not going to be the only expansions of the franchise. On May 9, a cryptic video and caption were shared that read: “Bella Ciao is STILL playing. The world of ‘Money Heist’ continues.” Money Heist‘s “Bella Ciao” song has real-world history behind it relating to revolution, and it plays an important role in the series.
As for what Money Heist‘s surprise announcement means, it is unconfirmed whether it will be a direct continuation of the original series or another spinoff, but it has been made clear that the franchise is not over. Bringing the crew back together for the Bank of Spain heist after the chaos and satisfying ending to their first venture already felt like a bit of a stretch. The show made it work, but pulling it off for a third time would be difficult.
There is the possibility of only following what comes next for certain characters, like The Professor, as he takes on a new heist and works with a different crew, somewhat akin to what Berlin did, but as a sequel. Another way to follow in Berlin‘s footsteps could be to do a prequel that is centered on a different character before the Royal Mint of Spain heist. Alicia Sierra, Tokyo (Úrsula Corberó), and Marseille (Luka Peroš) are among the existing characters who could be worthy of a prequel.
As intriguing as it is to explore the backstories or futures of established characters, another option is to start fresh with an entirely new cast. This story could be set in the same world as Money Heist and Berlin, with the new characters taking on a new heist inspired by what The Professor and the other characters achieved. The red jumpsuits and Dalí masks could even be used again as a nod to their inspiration and what came before.
