Even though Netflix has been streaming movies and TV series for around thirteen years, we have stuck around. I fall into this category as well, but I often finish binge-watching a series and am now at a loss of what to watch next and aimlessly search for something new and intriguing and usually come out disappointed. Since I believe I am not the only one that experiences this unnecessary stress, I am here to take that burden of endless searching away and give you my top ten underrated and binge-worthy series on Netflix.
- Atypical
I am going to start with comedies since it’s genre usually a crowd favorite. The first series, in no particular order, is Atypical. This series is a coming of age comedy that follows Sam, a teenager on the autism spectrum, through his self-discovery and growth of his independence. This show not only provides the viewer with an accurate representation of someone with autism but is also very relatable to any individual that went through puberty, which is hopefully most of us.
- Schitt’s Creek
Next on the comedy list is Schitt’s Creek. This series shows the hardships that a previously wealthy family experiences after losing almost all of their assets as they move into a small town called Schitt’s Creek. This town is their only remaining asset, even though the family only bought it as a joke the year prior. Furthermore, this series is six seasons long, so this is more of a binge for over a week or two than just one night.
- Dear White People
Dear White People is set at Winchester University, a predominately white Ivy League college. The series focuses on the cultural biases, social injustices, activism, and politics that a group of students of color is faced with throughout their college years. Even though this series hits some heavy topics, they are displayed through irony, self-deprecation, and brutally honest humor that still highlights the issues of today’s “post-racial” society.
- Sex Education
Ending this genre and gradually moving to drama, Sex Education is a British comedy-drama that follows a socially awkward high school student. Alongside the fact that Otis has little to no experience in sexual relations, he lives with his mother who is a sex therapist. While in the beginning this seems like a curse, he uses his mother’s sex knowledge and books around the house to improve his social status at school by providing his peers with an underground sex therapy clinic.
- Designated Survivor
Going full force into the next category, Designated Survivor brings us full force into drama. After a devastating attack during the State of the Union address, the president and most of the Cabinet dies. The Housing and Urban Development secretary, who was named to be the designated survivor in the case of such an event like this, is faced with a variety of obstacles as the new President of the United States.
- Mindhunter
This series takes the viewer into the minds of serial killers to better understand the common characteristics they all possess. Two FBI agents take it upon themselves to try and develop a modern serial killer profiling technique to catch these criminals faster or even diagnosis an individual before they commit a crime. This series may make your skin crawl and keep you up at night, so I recommend watching it during the day or fully committing to staying up all night and bingeing to avoid poor sleep.
- Altered Carbon
This series is based in the faraway future where technology has been developed to allow human bodies to be interchangeable, as well as making death no longer a permanent thing. This show follows the journey of Takeshi Kovacs, the only surviving elite soldier whose mind has been imprisoned for centuries until a very wealthy businessman offers him a chance to live again. However, this is under the condition that Takeshi will solve a murder once he is resurrected. Even though this is future based and has some sci-fi elements, the special effects aren’t cringey at all, but rather pretty impressive.
- Once Upon a Time
This series puts a big twist on the well-known fairy-tales by colliding them with modern life. After the Evil Queen casts a spell that freezes the fairytale world in time, it brings all of the characters to present-day Storybrooke, Maine. The only hope to unfreeze time is Snow White and Prince Charming’s daughter that escaped before the spell hit. While many longer series can cause the viewer to lose interest after season two, this series is not one of them. You will be clicking “next episode” throughout all seven seasons.
- Glitch
Where drama and mystery are mixed, you find Glitch. This series is staged in a small town where six recently deceased and buried residents return from their death in optimal health. This show focuses on finding a reasonable explanations for their return, as well as the life-changing effects this event has on the police officer that discovered them, one being very personal to the officer.
- The Society
Last but not least, The Society is a mystery that puts a modern take on “Lord of the Flies”. A group of high school students from Connecticut leaves on a bus for a long camping trip to only return home the same day because of a storm. However, when they arrive back at school, they come to find that all of the adults in their town are nowhere to be found. After the students take advantage of this new freedom, they realize the danger of this new situation. While they try to discover the reasoning behind everything that happened, they try to create order to survive. Sadly, this series is only one season, but the second season is coming out this year, and will definitely be worth the wait.
