Despite ever-growing competition, Netflix is still king.
With what seems like an endless library of content, Netflix can be overwhelming when choosing what to watch. Whether you're in the mood for a gripping drama, a laugh-out-loud comedy, or a thrilling mystery, we've got you covered. Even when you think you've watched everything, there's likely still at least one show you missed on Netflix that's worth your time.
So, to cut through the noise of the seemingly never-ending flow of new releases, we've compiled a list of shows that you absolutely need to lock in with — especially during one of the coziest seasons of the year.
Check out our updated list of the 15 best TV shows on Netflix for October 2025 and what to watch now.
Looking for more streaming recommendations? Check out our guides to the best TV shows available on AppleTV, Peacock, Hulu, and HBO Max, plus the best movies on Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, Apple TV, and Tubi.
Squid Game
Creator: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Cast: Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Wi Ha-joon
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 2
Sometimes, a series just hits at the right time — and that was certainly the case with Squid Game, a show that was so popular when it first hit the streamer during the COVID-19 pandemic that it seemed like all anyone was talking about for months. The show’s premise is terrifyingly compelling: 456 contestants, all facing financial hardships, agree to compete in a series of deadly children’s games for a huge cash prize.
Season 2 of Squid Game is upon us this December, with creator Hwang Dong-hyuk teasing even more brutality. It’ll be exciting to see if the show can top its first season’s acclaim — a season that landed the series at the top spot on Netflix’s most popular series when it was first released.
Boots
Creator: Andy Parker
Cast: Miles Heizer, Max Parker, Vera Farmiga
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 1
A military comedy drama is certainly a unique blend of genres for TV, but Boots proves that it’s a wholly original formula that works great. Set in the 1990s, it tells the story of Cameron Cope, a closeted teen who enlists in the Marines to follow his best friend. It’s fun, it’s affecting, and it’s anchored by a stellar performance by Miles Heizer. Especially at a time when masculinity and queerness are such hot topics, Boots has a genuinely interesting take on its themes while balancing both its comedy and its drama.
House of Guinness
Creator: Steven Knight
Cast: Anthony Boyle, Louis Partridge, Emily Fairn
Genre: Historical Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 1
While House of Guinness’s title conjures thoughts of HBO’s House of the Dragon, it has more in common with the familial intrigue of Succession than swords and flying monsters. In this historical drama from the creator of Peaky Blinders, the patriarch of Ireland’s famed stout beer dies, leaving his four children (and the fate of the brewery) in the lurch. Set in the 1860s, the show has uniformly great performances from its cast, and plenty of surprises across its eight episodes. It’s great TV, even if you’re not able to “Split the G.”
Wayward
Creator: Mae Martin
Cast: Mae Martin, Alyvia Alyn Lind, Sydney Topliffe
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 1
Created by and starring Mae Martin, Wayward is a spooky and cerebral thriller about a small town and a secretive academy for troubled adolescents. Featuring a chilling performance from Toni Collette as the academy’s head teacher, the miniseries is as magnetic as it is bingeable. It also offers plenty of strange twists and is all-in-all more challenging than most narrative series streaming these days.
With its dark secrets and woodsy small-town setting, it’s hard not to think of the similarities between a place called “Tall Pines” and a place called “Twin Peaks.” That’s not a bad thing, though, with Netflix’s Wayward featuring just as engrossing a mystery at its heart as the famous David Lynch series.
Pokémon Concierge
Creator: Harumi Doki
Cast: Karen Fukuhara, Imani Hakim, Josh Keaton
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Comedy
Rating: TV-PG
Number of Seasons: 1
Since it first hit American shores in 1996, Pokémon has been a hit with kids and adults alike. No wonder Netflix was so eager to get more Pokémon content onto its platform. Reportedly, Pokémon Concierge was in the works with the streamer since 2019, and knowing that it’s a stop-motion animated series, that timeline for development makes sense.
Thankfully, it’s now available to stream on Netflix, offering a new charming outlet for everyone’s favorite pocket monsters in a series about a workaholic who joins a Pokémon retreat as a member of the concierge desk. Each episode is between fourteen and twenty minutes, making it a great, bite-sized piece of Pokémon storytelling to put on when you’re looking for a bit of a nostalgic escape. The detailed, eye-catching stop-motion is a delight.
Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
Creator: Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan
Cast: Evan Peters, Richard Jenkins, Penelope Ann Miller, Niecy Nash
Genre: Crime, Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 3
If you're looking to lock in this spooky season, the Monster TV series on Netflix may be your bag. Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is a 2022 Netflix limited series that chronicles the life and crimes of notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. This Ryan Murphy series focuses explicitly on Dahmer's childhood through his arrest in 1991, concentrating on his murders of 17 young men and boys between 1978 and 1991 in Milwaukee and Ohio.
Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story became one of Netflix's most-watched series upon release, but remains highly divisive due to ethical questions about the show's depiction of murder.
The Sandman
Creator: Allan Heinberg
Cast: Tom Sturridge, Boyd Holbrook, Vivienne Acheampong
Genre: Fantasy, Drama, Horror
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 2
Based on the acclaimed graphic novel series, season two of The Sandman shows that the series has the potential and literary worldbuilding of some of the best fantasy series on television (we’re looking at you, Game of Thrones). Or, perhaps it had that potential, before news hit of Neil Gaiman’s sexual assault allegations (although it supposedly was never going to be more than two seasons anyway).
Season order notwithstanding, the release of season two of The Sandman has been pretty muted thanks to the Gaiman controversy. Which is certainly a shame, since Tom Sturridge is every bit as engaging as Dream this time around, and the mythos this show is infused with at times rivals GoT. If you were a fan of the first season and can separate the art from the artist, it still has plenty to offer.
Blue-Eye Samurai
Creator: Amber Noizumi, Michael Green
Cast: Maya Erskine, Brenda Song, Kenneth Branagh
Genre: Action, Animation, Adventure
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 1
If you couldn’t get enough of FX’s Shōgun this year, do yourself a favor and check out Blue-Eye Samurai while you wait for the next season to drop. Set in Japan’s Edo period, this action series pairs beautiful animated landscapes with impressive, bloody fight sequences to thrilling effect. It’s like a female-led adult version of Samurai Jack.
A visually-striking revenge tale paired with an impressive voice cast (from Maya Erskine and Brenda Song to Kenneth Branagh) makes this extra bingeable. Good thing it’s already renewed for a second season.
Wednesday
Creator: Alfred Gough, Miles Millar
Cast: Jenna Ortega, Gwendoline Christie, Riki Lindhome, Christina Ricci
Genre: Comedy
Rating: TV-14
Number of Seasons: 1
Tim Burton finally takes a swing at The Addams Family. After a prank goes awry, Wednesday is expelled from school. Her parents decide to enroll her at Nevermore Academy, a school for outsiders. It also happens to be where they fell in love. Despite the change of scenery, Wednesday still finds herself bored and on the fringes of school society, until a series of peculiar deaths occur. She decides if anyone is going to get to the bottom of what’s happening, it might as well be her. Scream and X star Jenna Ortega stars as the Addams’ daughter. Taking on the role of Gomez and Morticia are the perfectly cast Luis Guzman and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Monster: The Ed Gein Story
Creator: Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan
Cast: Charlie Hunnam, Suzanna Son, Laurie Metcalf
Genre: Crime, Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 3
Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s serial killer anthology series has always been catnip for true crime fans, but season three, The Ed Gein Story, takes the show into seriously unsettling territory. By intertwining references to the Hollywood murderers the real Gein inspired (ranging from Hitchcock’s Psycho to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Monster becomes even more disturbing in its implication of the viewer itself.
It can be an overwhelming experience, even if you’re a veteran of serial killer content and know the true story. That being said, if you’re a fan of the series or interested in this take, buckle up and keep the lights on.
Caught
In this six-part miniseries from Argentina, a journalist with a reputation for catching criminals who would otherwise evade justice faces a dilemma when the suspect in a 17-year-old’s disappearance is a close friend. If you live for the twisty, tense mysteries that have become part and parcel of Netflix and other major streamers, you’ll be right at home with this gripping premise.
Based on the book by Harlan Coben, this thrilling mystery is short enough that you can binge it in a day if you just can’t wait to find out how things shake out. We’re betting you’ll want to.
The Diplomat
Creator: Debora Cahn
Cast: Keri Russell, Rufus Sewell, David Gyasi
Genre: Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 3
Amid an international crisis, a US diplomat contends with her high-profile job as ambassador to the UK and her strained marriage to a political star.
You
Creator: Greg Berlanti, Sera Gamble
Cast: Penn Badgley, Victoria Pedretti, Elizabeth Lail, Tati Gabrielle
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 5
Boy meets girl. Boy finds girl's social media profiles. Boy becomes obsessed with girl. An unexpected encounter with "Joe" turns several women's lives into nightmares. After being given a dose of his own medicine last season, he finds himself starting anew in London. Still lusting after Marienne, he vows to change who he was. The problem is, does he even know who he really is?
Beef
Creator: Lee Sung Jin
Cast: Steven Yeun, Ali Wong, Joseph Lee, Young Mazino
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 1
Amy (Ali Wong) is not feeling great. Neither is Danny (Steven Yeun). Both are on the verge of a breakdown. Then, they met each other. While in a parking lot, Danny backs out in front of Amy. She honks and flips him off. Somehow, it escalates from there. The two begin to obsess over getting one-up on one another. It starts to seep into their everyday lives. The thought of revenge overtakes their mind. This dark comedy plays out the fantasy that we all may entertain when we are wrong. Even if we would probably never act on it.
Monster: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story
Creator: Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan
Cast: Javier Bardem, Cooper Koch, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Chloë Sevigny
Genre: Crime, Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Number of Seasons: 3
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story follows Lyle and Erik Menendez, two brothers who fatally shot their parents in their Beverly Hills home in 1989. During their trials, the brothers cited years of abuse as the reason for murdering their parents. However, prosecutors argued that their motive was to get their hands on the family fortune.