7 Series To Binge On Netflix RN
Since its founding in 1997, Netflix has grown to boast a total of 200 TV series. Such choice makes deciding on your next television venture a little time consuming, and before you know it you’ve spent an hour scrolling through choices and you still haven’t picked one. So the next time you’re spending an afternoon with your Netflix account, try one of these seven incredibly bingable series!
1. Dead To Me
First airing in May this year, Dead To Me is a ten episode series starring Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini. Jen (Applegate) is a recently widowed mother of two boys whose husband was killed in a hit and run accident. At a grief group, she befriends Judy (Cardellini) who is also facing a loss, but of a very different kind. As the story unravels in this dark comedy, the plot oozes with unexpected complexities and clever twists, but what really drives this series are the incredibly raw and refined performances of its two female leads as they navigate the incomprehensible burden of grief.
2. Stranger Things
This science fiction horror series is probably one of Netflix’s most well known, and with the third season being released this July, now is the time to watch it. Set in a fictional 1980s town in Indiana, Stranger Things follows an investigation into a missing boy, Will Byers, and the supernatural events that coincide with this disappearance. Elements of both Spielberg and Stephen King are sprinkled into this bizarre series, with its group of 12 year old protagonists (all immensely talented despite having yet to reach their teen years) and the dark, unknown creatures that invade the town and the minds of those within it. Embellished with the appearance of an almost-mute girl who seems to possess psychokinetic powers and an alternate dimension known as the ‘upside down’, Stranger Things is original, gripping and definitely your next series to binge on Netflix.
3. Friends From College
This Netflix original series that premiered in 2017 centres around a group of Harvard alumni 20 years after their graduation, all living in New York, all still friends (kind of). How I Met Your Mother‘s Cobie Smulders stars in this tragicomedy, married to Ethan (Keegan Michael-Key) who is entangled in an affair with their mutual friend Sam (also married), that dates back to their college days. Yes, this show is just as complicated as it sounds. The six friends struggle to navigate marriage, kids, jobs and their nostalgic friendships that are arguably better suited to their 20-year-old selves. Laced with a humour that is slightly dark and a little bit niche, Friends From College is an enjoyable and hilarious series to add to your Netflix watch list.
4. The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
Debuting in February 2016, this dramatisation of the famous O.J. Simpson murder trial is one of the best documentary film series that Netflix has to offer. The People scrutinises every aspect of this notorious trial: the enigma of O.J. himself, the evidence, the lawyers both good and bad, and the irrevocable influence of race relations on everything. This 10 part series is absorbing and frustrating to watch, inexplicably gripping despite the fact that we know the outcome. If its incredible cast (including John Travolta, Sarah Paulson and David Schwimmer) isn’t enough to convince you, then maybe its nine Emmy awards will.
5. Sex Education
Sex Education stars Asa Butterfield, a quiet and awkward teenaged boy, who despite his mother’s occupation as a sex therapist, lacks any romantic experience. Otis Milburn (Butterfield) is enlisted by Maeve, an immensely more confident and bold classmate to start a sex advice clinic to help their fellow students navigate their sex and relationship problems. Sex Education is heartfelt, funny, charming and the perfect amount of awkward to make it relatable. Every character is complex and even the most unlikeable characters can’t help but gain your affection as the series unravels this unexpectedly touching and hilarious story of British teenagers and their relationships.
6. Dynasty
Based on the 1981 soap opera, Netflix has recreated this classic TV drama, starring Elizabeth Gillies. Dynasty follows the bold and ruthless Fallon Carrington (Gillies) and her CEO father (Grant Show) as he remarries a young wife, Cristal whom Fallon despises. With its rivalling billionaires, family feuds, gold diggers, extravagant parties and secret affairs, Dynasty creates itself as the perfect guilty pleasure television. Two seasons are currently available on Netflix, and once you’ve started it, you’ll be finished in no time.
7. Atypical
Atypical focuses on the life of Sam Gardner, an 18-year-old boy with autism as he navigates high school and everything that comes with it. Season one begins with Sam’s interest in having a romantic relationship, which unravels into an attraction towards his therapist Julia. Atypical also focuses much of its attention onto Sam’s family: his sister Casey and parents Doug and Elsa, intricately exploring a family dynamic that is both close and distant. Atypical is moving, funny and poignant, and definitely worth a watch.
