The top 10 all-time best shows to watch on Netflix
The top 10 all-time best shows to watch on Netflix
From ‘Ozark’ to ‘Mindhunter,’ this list looks at the shows that left the biggest mark on Netflix.
I have a long and satisfying relationship with Netflix. Shows like “Ozark,” “Squid Game,” and “Black Mirror” aren’t just things I watched — they’re big markers that helped shape my taste both as a TV fan, and as a writer. And that’s what makes this list so fun to put together. It’s not just about what’s “best,” it’s about what made an impact. The shows that shaped how I think about story, tone, and character. Now, there’s a new show on this list that helped set the tone for Netflix in the crime drama space (it lands at No. 8), but that doesn’t change the goal of this article: count down the top 10 Netflix series of all time. So let’s do it!
Top 10 all-time TV shows streaming on Netflix:
No. 10: ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ (2020) | Limited series drama
“The Queen’s Gambit” really snuck up on me. Chess is not exactly the kind of thing that usually makes me want to stay up way too late, but this show absolutely did. Watching Beth Harmon sit down across from people and quietly destroy them is weirdly thrilling. The whole thing feels elegant and restrained, but there’s always this low-level pressure underneath it that keeps pulling you into the next scene.
The series follows Beth from childhood into the world of elite chess, as she rises through the ranks while dealing with addiction, loneliness, and the pressure that comes with being the smartest person in the room. Anya Taylor-Joy is so good here — every look and silent moment carries weight. The matches are staged with real tension, the period look is gorgeous, and the show never feels like it’s pushing too hard for importance. It’s sharp, complete, and still one of the easiest Netflix shows to get completely wrapped up in.
The Queen’s Gambit
In a 1950s orphanage, a young girl reveals an astonishing talent for chess and begins an unlikely journey to stardom while grappling with addiction.
No. 9: ‘BoJack Horseman’ (2014) | Animated dark comedy
I’m not usually someone who automatically clicks on animated shows, but “BoJack Horseman” totally broke through that for me. It’s up there with “Bob’s Burgers” as one of my favorites ever. On the surface, it looks like this ridiculous Hollywood story about a washed-up sitcom horse trying to stay relevant, but that’s really just the entry point.
What makes it hit so hard is how funny and brutal it can be at the same time. Yes, it absolutely nails the entertainment industry satire, but it’s also painfully honest about depression, addiction, ego, and the ways people wreck their own lives. The heavier moments land when you least expect them, and they really stay with you. I had it at No. 3 on my Hollywood shows list, and I still stand by that. “BoJack Horseman” gets under your skin and doesn’t really leave.
BoJack Horseman
Meet the most beloved sitcom horse of the ’90s , 20 years later. He’s a curmudgeon with a heart of…not quite gold…but something like gold. Copper?
No. 8: ‘Mindhunter’ (2017) | Psychological crime thriller
“Mindhunter” is such a cool example of a show taking something that should be boring on paper and somehow making it completely gripping. It’s basically about the early days of FBI profiling, with agents sitting across from imprisoned killers and trying to understand how their brains work. That’s the show. A lot of talking. A lot of weirdly quiet rooms. And somehow it’s more intense than most crime shows with car chases and shootouts.
Now don’t be surprised if you have to lean in for this one because this show never oversells anything. The writing trusts you to pay attention, the performances are great across the board, and the whole thing has this unsettling mood that just keeps building the longer you watch. Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany, and Anna Torv are all doing really great work, and the interview scenes are so good they almost feel like their own kind of horror. It’s smart, creepy, and helped Netflix make a claim as a real player in prestige TV.
MINDHUNTER
An agent in the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit develops profiling techniques as he pursues notorious serial killers and rapists.
No. 7: ‘Baby Reindeer’ (2024) | Psychological drama
My wife and I got to “Baby Reindeer” a little later than everyone else, but honestly, that didn’t matter. Once we started it, it was obvious pretty fast why people were so locked in. It begins in this pretty contained, almost low-key way, with a struggling comedian and a woman who keeps inserting herself into his life. Then it keeps closing in and turning into something way more disturbing than you think it’s going to be. Richard Gadd really goes for it here, especially when you know how personal the material is. And Jessica Gunning is completely unforgettable in a way that’s both amazing and deeply unsettling.
What really makes the show work is how raw it feels. It’s not only about obsession or isolation. It’s also about what happens when people don’t know how to ask for help, speak up, or draw a line before everything gets completely out of hand. The scale stays intimate, but the pressure never eases up. There’s nothing flashy about it. No cheap twists. No forced big moments. Just brutally honest storytelling that can be tough to sit with at times. Still, if you want something different and without formula, this is one of the strangest stories Netflix has ever put out.
Baby Reindeer
When a struggling comedian shows one act of kindness to a vulnerable woman, it sparks a suffocating obsession which threatens to wreck both their lives.
No. 6: ‘Stranger Things’ (2016) | Sci-fi, horror, adventure
“Stranger Things” is the show that made Netflix feel massive. There were strong originals before it, sure, but this was the one that felt like it changed the scale of what the platform could be. Everybody watched it. Everybody talked about it. It starts with a boy vanishing in a small Indiana town, then his friends cross paths with a strange girl who has powers and might be connected to everything that’s going wrong.
From there, the story keeps getting bigger, pulling in secret labs, government cover-ups, and the Upside Down. What makes it land is how well it mixes sci-fi, horror, and ’80s nostalgia without ever feeling like a lazy throwback. The cast is great right away, and the show knows how to juggle heart, suspense, and just enough creature chaos to keep things moving. Now that it’s finished, it really does feel like the end of an era. At its height, “Stranger Things” wasn’t just a hit — it was a culture moment.
Stranger Things
When a young boy vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces, and one strange little girl.
No. 5: ‘Peaky Blinders’ (2013) | Crime drama
“Peaky Blinders” has a vibe to it right away. The show drops you into post-World War I Birmingham and follows Tommy Shelby, a gang leader and veteran who’s building power with this almost unnerving level of control. Yes, it’s a story about gangs, money, and domination, but the thing that really hooks you is Tommy. He’s quiet, sharp, haunted, and every decision feels like it could either make him unstoppable or ruin everything.
What makes “Peaky Blinders” stand out is that it has the style to pull you in and the substance to back it up. It looks incredible, with all that smoke, shadow, and slow-motion swagger, and the modern music gives the whole thing this pulse that keeps it from feeling dusty or overly period-piece. But under all of that, it’s really about trauma, family, and ambition eating away at people from the inside. The stakes keep growing, the world keeps getting bigger, and it still never loses sight of what makes it tick. And now, with the story continuing in “Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man,” it’s obvious this world still has more left in the tank. It’s stylish, intense, and completely dialed in.
Peaky Blinders
A gangster family epic set in 1919 Birmingham, England and centered on a gang who sew razor blades in the peaks of their caps, and their fierce boss Tommy Shelby, who means to move up in the world.
No. 4: ‘Narcos’ (2015) | Historical crime drama
“Narcos” is one of the big early signs that Netflix could absolutely hang when it came to prestige crime drama. Season 1, with its focus on Pablo Escobar’s rise and fall, is one of my favorite seasons of TV. It’s lean, intense, and confident from the first episode. The combination of narration, archival footage, and dramatized scenes gives the whole thing a scale that feels cinematic, but also grimy and real in a way that hits hard.
A lot of that comes down to Wagner Moura. He makes Escobar magnetic and terrifying at the same time, which is exactly what the show needs. There’s tension in basically every scene he’s in. But “Narcos” also knows how to widen the frame, pulling in the DEA, the politics, and the fallout around all of it. The later seasons open the door to different cartels and storylines, but those first episodes are where the show really plants its flag. If you want a crime series that feels rough, urgent, and totally locked in, “Narcos” still delivers.
Narcos
A gritty chronicle of the war against Colombia’s infamously violent and powerful drug cartels.
No. 3: ‘Black Mirror’ (2011) | Sci-fi, psychological thriller
I’m fully in on “Black Mirror.” Every time a new season shows up, it jumps right to the top of my list. I’m not really a horror guy, but this show gets to me in a different way. It’s not about big scares. It’s about that slow, uneasy feeling that creeps in when you start thinking too hard about where all this tech stuff is headed. The episodes are standalone stories, but they’re all poking at the same basic fear: what happens when technology moves faster than we do? And right now, that question feels more relevant than ever.
And even though it’s an anthology series about technology, none of the ideas feel repetitive. One episode is about digital consciousness, another takes on social media or influencer culture, and then suddenly you get something about AI and intimacy that feels a little too close to real life. The range is a huge part of the appeal. “Black Mirror” proved that sci-fi doesn’t need one giant mythology to be gripping. Sometimes all you need is one killer premise, an excellent script, and an hour to make people feel a little worse about the future.
Black Mirror
Twisted tales run wild in this mind-bending anthology series that reveals humanity’s worst traits, greatest innovations and more.
No. 2: ‘Squid Game’ (2021) | Thriller, survival drama
“Squid Game” is still the most stressed I’ve ever been watching a show. Genuinely. Nothing else on TV or in a movie has put me that on edge. The only thing I can really compare it to is watching “Gravity” in a packed theater and feeling completely trapped in it. During Season 1 of “Squid Game,” I was all the way in. Heart pounding, shoulders tight, just waiting for the next awful thing to happen. And usually it did.
What makes it even crazier is that it wasn’t some one-season fluke. The final season shot right to the top of the Netflix charts when it dropped, which says a lot. The story gets darker and more personal, especially as Seong Gi-hun becomes more driven by revenge, but it still hangs onto the core thing that made it hit in the first place. It’s also a huge reminder that language is not a barrier when the storytelling is this strong. It’s a Korean show (so prepare for subtitles or watch it dubbed if you must), and it still became one of the defining hits in Netflix history. That changed the conversation, and it’s a big reason it belongs this high.
Squid Game
Hundreds of cash-strapped players accept a strange invitation to compete in children’s games. Inside, a tempting prize awaits — with deadly high stakes.
No. 1: ‘Ozark’ (2017) | Crime drama, thriller
“Ozark” is still my No. 1 show on Netflix. A lot of crime dramas ease off the gas between the big moments. This one really doesn’t. Every episode piles on more pressure, every choice creates a new disaster, and the tension just keeps ratcheting up. Season 3, in particular, is brutal once Wendy’s brother Ben enters the picture. Tom Pelphrey is unbelievable in that stretch, and that whole storyline has never left me.
And the ending absolutely lands. It feels true to the show, but it’s also hard as hell to sit through. It’s precise, cold, and exactly where this whole thing was always headed. Jason Bateman and Laura Linney are both fantastic; the supporting cast keeps up the whole way, and the writing never softens the show’s view of what people will do when survival is on the line. Out of all the crime dramas on Netflix that build slowly and squeeze the life out of you, “Ozark” does it the best. It’s still my favorite thing on the platform.
Ozark
A financial adviser drags his family from Chicago to the Missouri Ozarks, where he must launder $500 million in five years to appease a drug boss.