Credit: Netflix

When it comes to summer weekends, thinking out loud sucks the life out of you, let alone gathering enough courage for outdoor plans. But does that mean we let them go to waste? Never! For days like this, the ultimate way to unwind and escape is to call your friends over to Netflix & Chill. In case you’ve already sent the invite, follow the next steps in tow.

While the easiest part of this weekend plan is texting your group to camp at yours, things only get tougher from here on out.

From deciding on a genre to curating a weekend watchlist that complements your cravings is honestly no cakewalk.

So, if you’re struggling, let us do the heavy lifting to offer you a trip down the blockbuster lanes with the five best series to binge on Netflix this weekend.

The five best series to stream on Netflix this weekend

Midnight at the Pera Palace (Emre Şahin, 2022-Present)

Based on the real-life Pera Palace Hotel and based on Charles King’s historical 2014 non-fiction book, Midnight at the Pera Palace: The Birth of Modern Istanbul, Midnight at the Pera Palace is a time-travel drama about an orphaned modern-day reporter, Esra, who accidentally travels to 1919, courtesy of a mysterious key. It all begins when Esra takes up an assignment to write a piece on Istanbul’s titular hotel’s 130th anniversary.

While touring the palace, she learns that one of the rooms acts as a time portal when locked with a specific key at midnight. As Esra finds herself at the end of World War I, she further discovers that she’s actually the exact doppelganger of Peride, a woman who was crucial in saving Atatürk from an assassination plot. So, while there, Midnight at the Pera Palace follows Esra, who must join forces with the hotel manager and a nightclub owner to prevent the assassination of the founder of modern Turkey.

Half Bad: The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself (Colm McCarthy, Debs Paterson, and Rachna Suri, 2022)

Inspired by Sally Green’s Half Bad novel, The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself is an eight-episode fantasy drama that unfolds in a society divided into the high-born Fairborn Witches and the outcast Blood Witches. The Netflix series follows Nathan Byrne, whose mother was Fairborn and father a Blood Witch, making him the “Half Code,” who is strictly under constant surveillance.

As the illegitimate son of a notorious, fearsome, and violent Blood Witch, Nathan is caught in the crossfire of two warring witch clans. With a sinister prophecy hovering over like dark clouds above his head, Half Bad: The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself follows Nathan, who embarks on a desperate mission to track down his estranged father to undergo a blood ritual before his 17th birthday to survive.

Young Wallander: Killer’s Shadow (Ole Endresen and Jens Jonsson, 2020-2022)

Young Wallander: Killer’s Shadow is a gritty crime drama that will bring the much-needed edge-of-the-seat stuff to your weekend rituals. It follows Kurt Wallander, the titular character, who returns to the Malmo police force as a civilian-turned-detective to investigate a hit-and-run case, following a traumatic tragedy that cost him his mentor. Although his new boss demands strict adherence to police protocol, things get interesting when Kurt begins digging deep into the hit-and-run case.

Not long after he starts his probe, Kurt discovers that the victim is Elias Fager, who, along with his brother, had been convicted years ago for killing a beloved school teacher. But that’s not all. Elias and his brother’s conviction was led by Kurt’s colleague, Frida Rask, who handed him the recent assignment as well. Young Wallander: Killer’s Shadow revolves around Kurt’s desperate pursuit of the truth that brings light to numerous shocking revelations.

Someone Has to Die (Manolo Caro, 2020)

Set in 1950s Spain, Someone Has to Die is a Spanish-Mexican thriller that centres on an incredibly conservative society during the Franco regime, where appearances and family ties are paramount. The limited series follows Gabino, a young man summoned home from Mexico by his wealthy family to prepare for an arranged marriage. But when Gabino returns to his deeply traditional Spanish town, he arrives with Lizaro, an enigmatic ballet dancer.

Gabino and Lizaro’s ambiguous friendship soon becomes the talk of the town, prompting a homophobic outrage with extreme consequences. Someone Has to Die captures the consequences of Gabino’s actions, which lead his family, especially his parents, to resort to extremely vile and violent measures to safeguard and maintain the family’s rigid reputation.

Travelers (Nick Hurran, Andy Mikita, Amanda Tapping, William Waring, Helen Shaver, Martin Wood, and Eric McCormack, 2016-2018)

Lastly, to wrap up the weekend marathon, we wholeheartedly recommend Travelers, which guarantees to leave you seated throughout. The sci-fi series follows a group of operatives from a post-apocalyptic future who send their consciousness back in time to the 21st century. This set of travellers doesn’t travel physically; instead, their minds are projected back in time and overwrite the consciousness of a host who’s about to die.

By taking over the bodies of hosts just moments before their deaths, these operatives work in secret teams to rewrite and alter historical events to prevent the catastrophic collapse of humanity. But as Travelers progresses, these operatives confront a severe crisis in adapting to 21 century human emotions and personal relationships, making way for a rogue group of travellers called The Faction.