The five most gripping series of all time to watch on Netflix
Netflix may have made short-format releases its streaming anthem, drawing in viewers even when they’re on a run. But there’s something about a series that makes you want to dive in and never return.
While no-commitment rides are usually irresistible in today’s fast-forward world, call us old-fashioned, but when was the last time you waited months for a season, knowing well that the wait would be worth it?
So, if it’s been some time, then this watchlist is perfect for you because it will leave you engrossed to the point where leaving the Netflix screen for a minute would feel like a sin itself. And in a few cases, bathroom breaks will also begin to feel like a task.
Although the titles are not exactly new, they stand the test of time in the unrelenting streaming era. Hence, buckle up for a ride with the five most gripping series of all time to watch on Netflix, where even a rewatch makes you feel like just the first time.
The five most gripping series of all time to binge on Netflix
Peaky Blinders (Steven Knight, 2013-2022)
No matter how much you talk about Peaky Blinders, no word is ever enough to describe the television phenomenon. Knowing just how hard it is to keep the viewership intact in shows that stretch through multiple seasons, Steven Knight’s period crime drama is always known for succeeding with the unthinkable.
Based on a real youth gang in Birmingham active from the 1880s to the 1920s, Peaky Blinders revolves around the epic rise and contentious fall of the crime syndicate following the First World War. The craze surrounding the series reached a peak during the COVID-19 pandemic. And even now, it’s far from dying down as a new sequel series and a movie are on the way for fans who never got over the show in the first place.
3 Body Problem (David Benioff, DB Weiss, and Alexander Woo, 2024-Present)
3 Body Problem is a Netflix sensation that serves as the third streaming adaptation of former computer engineer Liu Cixin’s Chinese novel series, Remembrance of Earth’s Past. But we believe once you hit the play button, you’ll realise how it is unlike anything you’ve laid eyes on before. It’s a sprawling sci-fi story that depicts two timelines parallelly on screen: 1960s China and present-day London/Oxford.
The first season primarily focused on a group of five scientists, left overwhelmed and puzzled by a series of unexplained phenomena, who begin their own investigation to unravel the reasons for the mysterious happenings. But the answers they are looking for are somewhat otherworldly and have their roots in decades past. The second and third seasons of 3 Body Problem are already on their way. So, if you’re a first-time watcher, now is the best time to get caught up on it.
Ozark (Bill Dubuque and Mark Williams, 2017-2022)
Deemed one of the most groundbreaking Netflix series ever made, Ozark is a star-studded crime drama starring Jason Bateman and Laura Linney. The show revolves around Marty Byrde, a Chicago-based financial advisor, who had been laundering cash with his business partner for a dangerous drug cartel.
But their plan soon backfires and drags Marty down into the criminal underworld when his partner skims a hefty amount of money, leaving the Byrde family to turn to unbelievably desperate measures.
Breaking Bad (Vince Gilligan, 2008-2013)
Breaking Bad may not be a Netflix original series. But its availability on the platform has honestly made rewatches far easier. The neo-Western crime drama is where television piqued. It follows the timid, overqualified, and frustrated high school chemistry teacher, Walter White, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The main plot kicks in after Walter’s stage III cancer diagnosis, which puts him in a desperate position to secure enough funds for his family before he dies. So, he joins forces with his former student Jesse Pinkman, a small-time drug dealer, to manufacture and sell crystal methamphetamine and the rest? Well, it’s history.
Mr Robot (Sam Esmail, 2015-2019)
Mr Robot is a psychological thriller that viewers tend to keep returning to every now and then. And the reason is quite simple: Mr Robot is one-of-a-kind. The main narrative focuses on an extremely anxious, clinically depressed cybersecurity engineer who also struggles with dissociative identity disorder. His only mode of communication with other people is through hacking.
But then, an enigmatic insurrectionary anarchist called Mr Robot recruits him to join a secret society of hackers, fsociety, who are on a mission to execute a digital revolution through a fatal cyberattack to wipe out the debt records held by the world’s most wicked conglomerate, E Corp. The Emmy-winning series ended nearly six years ago. Still, it remains one of the most gripping television shows ever made.