Check out our list of top most exciting bingeable series on Netflix you may not have watched yet Jul 30, 2018
Need ideas for a new show to obsess over? Check out our list of top most exciting bingeable series on Netflix you may not have watched yet.
The Good Wife (2009 – 2016)
FD Smart Rating: 8.5/10
IMDB: 8.2
Netflix: 4/5
For years I never watched the Good Wife, simply because of the title. Then one rainy day, this all changed and I had a whole seven seasons to binge on.
The Good Wife sits somewhere in between Suits, The Practice and Ally McBeal. It’s serious, but not as intense in terms of complicated storylines which are impossible to follow if you’re not a law student. It’s funny, but it’s not psychedelic funny (cue dancing baby). It’s a steady, dependable show with constantly recurring characters (think Judges, clients, opposition teams).
The first episode sets the tone for the seven seasons to come. We see a politician (Big, from Sex and the City) admit he cheated on his wife with a prostitute. His housewife of 17 years then suddenly has to decide whether to leave him, and what to do with her newfound freedom from her husband. She decides to return to law, the subject in which she studied at university. Finding herself in competition with people half her age, we follow Alica Florrick’s work career case by case.
One of the most impressive things about Good Wife was how relevant the storylines are. In 2012, they aired an episode called “Bitcoin for Dummies”. They had plot lines covering everything from police brutality to NASA and pro-life court cases. They were always on the latest news – which is also reflected by the improvement of smart phones in every season.
The Good Wife is best for: Watching alone, when you don’t want the excitement of murder mysteries and are not in the mood for a romantic comedy
Luther (2010 – present)
FD Smart Rating: 8.5/10
IMDB: 8.5/10
Netflix: 4/5
For English people, this show is legendary. However it has still yet to make its full break internationally, which makes it a prime candidate for shows you may not have watched yet.
Luther is a British crime drama, following John Luther (Idris Elba) and his nemesis Alice Morgan (Ruth Wilson) through the streets of London in a fast paced, short series of the psychological thriller kind. It’s won the Critic’s Choice award, a Golden Globe and had over 11 Primetime Emmy nominations. Both Idris Elba and Ruth Wilson give outstanding performances in this show, and the acting alone makes this worth watching.
Luther is your typical TV Detective Chief Inspector. He’s troubled, occasionally violent, and very often doesn’t follow any rules set out to him, which is what makes him such an interesting character to follow. In being a typical TV detective, his decisions are often actually very atypical and unpredictable.
Luther is best for: Saturday night prime time viewing at home with your partner. Definitely not suitable for kids.
Dark (2017 – Present)
FD Smart Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB: 8.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 86%
Dark takes a couple of episodes to warm up to, but the wait is very worth it if you’re into sci-fi thrillers. It is in German, so you can rely on Netflix’s subtitles, or you can also watch it dubbed in English. The dubbed version has some pretty poor voice acting, however, the storyline is strong enough to carry through this. Take your pick of the two, and thank us later.
It’s hard to tell you much about Dark without giving the plot away. It’s literally dark, full of twists and turns and quite honestly you may, like us, need a notebook to write down some things.
Dark is set in a tiny German town where kids start to disappear. The main story line follows a teenager, Jonas Kahnwald, who’s father has just killed himself and a police officer, Ulrich Nielsen, who’s younger brother disappeared in the forest 33 years earlier.
Dark is best for: Times you’re fully awake and want to have your brain messed with. Do not watch when tired.
Utopia (2013-2014)
FD Smart Rating: 8.7
IMDB: 8.5
Netflix: 4/5
TV.com: 8.8/10
Another English series and another drama sci-fi series, but this is truly fascinating watching. It begins with a bunch of oddball strangers who find an odd comic book and suddenly become targeted, nay, hunted down by an even odder set of killers. They begin to realise what the book contains – and why everyone is after it.
The book contains a hidden meaning, passed down from the author to his daughter. The series focuses on a rather interesting topic – that of global overpopulation and the strains that an overpopulated planet would bring on the earth and the rest of the living populations.
Having watched this series back in 2013 when it was first released, it is one that has always been very memorable to me as a very interesting concept of dealing with what is quite frankly, a real global issue.
Utopia is best for: When you’re feeling into conspiracy theories, bloodshed and punchy plotlines.
Broadchurch (2013 – 2017)
FD Smart Rating: 8.6
IMDB: 8.4/10
Netflix: 4/5
Broadchurch is a murder mystery set in a small British coastal town in Dorset. It starts with the corpse of an 11 year old boy, found on a beach at the foot of a giant cliff. The scenic backdrops and beautiful cinematography are captivating alongside the thrilling storyline.
We see how the murder of the young boy shocks the small town community, and how a regionwide media storm sends shockwaves through people who have no idea what is coming for them.
The story follows Detective Inspector Alec Hardy (David Tennant) who’s harsh and angry character is beautifully balanced out by the more optimistic charm of Detective Sargent Ellie Miller (Olivia Coleman). The pace of the series matches the landscape it is filmed in. It is slow, yet compelling, and slowly unwinds with more and more layers of mystery.
The show is a fantastic watch, and the biggest drawback of the series is that they ended it after three seasons.
Broadchurch is best for: A Sunday afternoon on the sofa
Lost 2004 - 2010
FD Smart Rating: 8.8
IMDB: 8.4
Netflix: 4/5
We realise it’s very unlikely no one hasn’t seen Lost yet, but if you haven’t, you absolutely must. Lost revolutionised TV. Lost created binge watching. It created social media groups, a Lost wiki in 2004, IRC channels. It had a truly international audience. It became the basis of what Netflix strives for in every TV series. True binge-ability.
Lost is punchy episodes with massive cliff hangers. A mind boggling storyline. Character insight and development like we had never seen before. OK, it got a bit crazy towards the end (and lest we forget the writer’s strike which happened mid-way through season 3, which was painful watching indeed), but power through, and you’ll be rewarded to arguably the most fascinating journey and storyline that has been. After all, there is a reason why this 2004 show still has a cult following today. The Guardian even just published another article on it , 14 years after it first aired.
If you started watching it, but gave up, we highly recommend getting back into it. There is no better time than the present to explore the relationship between a man of science and a man of faith stranded on a desert island. It’s sci-fi, it’s drama, it’s comedy, it’s romantic and it’s got oh so many layers to ponder over for years to come.
We won’t bother explaining what the show is about as it’s impossible to have lived through this era and never heard of Lost. So if you really haven’t seen it – go watch it now. If you have seen it, then you know that “We have to go back!”