Which Netflix television shows emerge as the best of 2020? The pandemic has undoubtedly ushered in an online streaming boom, leading to increased viewership among divergent demographics. While most TV networks and services have struggled due to a dearth of newer programs, Netflix has managed to outshine them by a considerable degree.
Netflix released a plethora of new movies, television shows, and documentaries even amid the pandemic, while adding 28 million paid Netflix memberships over the span of nine months. This, in part, can be attributed to people having more time on their hands while at home due to social distancing, spurring an acceleration in binge-watching and streaming subscription trends.
While 2020 was an uneven year for the big screen, it saw a wide variety of TV shows that boasted of a promising premise, immersive worldbuilding, and relatable characters. Here are our picks of the best Netflix TV shows of the year.
15. Dash & Lily
Based on the YA novel Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, Dash & Lily follows a Christmas cynic, Dash (Austin Abrams), and an ardent believer in the magic of Christmas, Lily (Midori Francis). Lily aches for a miracle in the realm of love, as she yearns for a meaningful romantic encounter - this spurs her to plant a secret diary in a bookstore that points the reader toward a treasure hunt. Having solved all the clues, Dash reaches out to Lily through the diary, going back and forth with banter, dares, and evocative moments. While Dash & Lily does not offer anything new or exciting in terms of premise, it does not try and force a rose-tinted worldview upon the viewer. The end result of Dash & Lily's first season is a lighthearted rom-com with flawed yet deeply likable characters.
14. Outer Banks
An action-adventure teen drama set in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Outer Banks follows a group of teenagers, Pogues, who are determined to unravel the cause behind the disappearance of ring leader John B’s (Chase Stokes) father. Halfway through the investigation, they stumble upon a treasure that is connected to the case, while being chased by the law and Kooks, who are deemed superior. The reason why Outer Banks emerged as appealing to audiences can be attributed to the melee of relatable characters, who are fun to watch despite a severe case of mediocre writing. Granted, Outer Banks does rely too much upon the Pogues vs. Kooks divide to trigger narrative conflicts, but the show provides a slow, meandering escape to the picturesque.
13. Ratched
Ryan Murphy’s psychological thriller, Ratched, is based on the character of Mildred Ratched from Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and stars Sarah Paulson in the titular role. Serving as a prequel to the events of Cuckoo’s Nest, Ratched delves deep into the origin story of Nurse Mildred, who manipulates her way through the ranks with the aid of lies and blackmail, while working in a psychiatric hospital that conducts unsettling experiments on its patients. Murphy manages to create a world that appears both lavish and heinous at the same time, making use of sickly-green color palettes and carefully-crafted costume choices. However, the first season of Ratched does make for an anticipatory watch, as Mildred is currently miles away from being the literary villain people both loathe and love.
12. The Stranger
This eight-part British mystery thriller is based on the eponymous 2015 Harlan Coben novel, and stars Richard Armitage, Siobhan Finneran, and Hannah John-Kamen. The Stranger chronicles a mysterious phenomenon in which a stranger tells secrets to various characters throughout the series, which seems to have a disastrous impact on the receivers' personal lives. One such character is Adam Price (Armitage), who learns about the story of a faked pregnancy concerning his wife, Corinne, which turns out to be true. Soon after, Connie disappears mysteriously, which is essentially treated as the central mystery of the series. Managing to keep audiences at the edge of their seats, The Stranger paces its narrative at an effectively taut clip, making it a commendable adaptation of the original book.
11. The Baby-Sitters Club
Based on the children’s novel series of the same name, The Baby-Sitters Club is a charming comedy-drama created by Rachel Shukert. A primary reason behind this show’s success could be its genuine drive to evoke hope, which is much-needed in our times. Five middle-schoolers, Kristy, Claudia, Stacey, Mary, and Elizabeth, form the crux of the club as they start a babysitting business in Stoneybrook, Connecticut. The Baby-Sitters Club is diverse in terms of its cast and plotlines and succeeds in portraying particular subjects with masterful nuance, such as the validity and importance of transgender children. The show, despite being set in contemporary times, harbors an old-fashioned charm reminiscent of the titular Baby-Sitters Club book series, which is refreshing to behold.
10. Feel Good
Mae Martin’s Feel Good is a six-part program with the international release handled by Netflix. Feel Good follows the endearing romance of George and Mae, who happen to meet at the comedy club where Mae performs. After dating for a while, George learns that Mae is a former drug addict, and she urges Mae to attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings. George, having never dated a woman before, finds it difficult to introduce Mae to her friends, which understandably frustrates the latter. Martin’s immaculate writing and delivery imbues Feel Good with startling depth and authenticity, while the show manages to maintain its funny bone right until the end. The series is paced in a taut manner, without appearing too frenzied or heavy-hitting, while helming a story that is deeply and intrinsically humane.
9. The Haunting of Bly Manor
Based on Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, Mike Flanagan’s sequel to the wildly popular The Haunting of Hill House is an earnest tale of hope, terror, love gained, and love lost. The Haunting of Bly Manor opens with Dani (Victoria Pedretti) arriving in the UK to interview for the position of au pair for the Wingrave children at Bly. The true merit of Bly Manor lies in the treatment of its characters and its themes, which explore the haunting of and by our lovers and loved ones, wherein the ghost of memory manifests in the form of guilt, rage, and often, sacrifice. A life entrenched in emotional agony can be akin to an eternal purgatory, much like the perennial anguish and guilt harbored by Henry Wingrave (Henry Thomas) for a significant part of the series. Literal ghosts make several appearances too, haunting every scene, while either being tucked amid the shadows or gliding past the corner of one’s eye. The end result is moving and phantasmagoric, in which love emerges as something to truly root for.
8. Big Mouth
2020 witnessed the fourth season of Big Mouth, the adult animated sitcom created by Family Guy writer Andrew Goldberg. The newest season of Big Mouth centers upon the shattering of friendships and emotions, only for the characters to come together stronger than ever before. The season premiere, “The New Me” opens with Nick (Nick Croll), Andrew (John Mulaney), and Jessi (Jessi Klein) being set to sleepaway camp, while Lola and Jay cavort around Bridgetown with no holds barred. Despite being at a fault often due to character oversimplification, Big Mouth eventually is an empathetic approach to the toils and tribulations of adolescence, despite continuing its thread of cringe comedy. It is also important to note that season 4 works well due to its refreshing change of pace, while expertly mapping the inevitable transition of the characters into emotional maturity, which is almost endearing to watch.
7. Blood of Zeus
Blood of Zeus is a fresh take on the Greek saga of the Olympians and their clash with the Titans, which is woven as a lost story in the oral tradition centered upon Heron (Derek Phillips), a peasant who discovers that he is the son of Zeus (Jason O'Mara). Born out of an affair between Zeus and a human woman, Heron is required to undergo an immense transformation in order to fight against Seraphim (Elias Toufexis), a powerful half-demon with mysterious origins and motivations. Blood of Zeus can undoubtedly be deemed as the most compelling American anime on Netflix, owing to its well-plotted storyline, impressive visuals, and grand, sweeping score. The fight scenes, in particular, are beautifully rendered, especially the one in which Heron takes on Cerberus in a chance encounter, along with the final, extremely bloody showdown.
6. Unorthodox
The German-American drama miniseries was the first Netflix series to be primarily in Yiddish, and it is inspired by Deborah Feldman's 2012 autobiography, Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots. Unorthodox zeroes in on Esty (Shira Haas), a 19-year old Jewish woman trapped in an unhappy arranged marriage among an ultra-orthodox Brooklyn community. Suffocated by her surroundings, Esty absconds to Berlin with the hopes of exploring a more free, secular existence. Unorthodox received widespread critical acclaim due to the masterful adaptation of its source material and Haas’ extraordinary performance. Unorthodox reaches artistic heights in the scene in which Esty sees a villa where the Nazis made the decision to exterminate Jews in concentration camps - something which visibly rattles her. As a response, Esty walks into the water, taking off her clothes layer by layer, embracing her freedom without shame or hesitation.
5. The Umbrella Academy
The live-action series adaptation of Gerard Way-Gabriel Bá’s Dark Horse Comics series, season 2 of The Umbrella Academy sports stronger performances and a more succinct narrative execution than its predecessor. Season 2 picks up in the midst of chaos where the audience is transported to the early 60s, owing to Number Five’s (Aidan Gallagher) powers of teleportation and time travel. However, things go awry, as his siblings end up getting scattered across the initial years of the decade. The group eventually comes together in Dallas purely by chance, after which they need to work out how yet another apocalypse can be averted. The Umbrella Academy’s newest season offers much thrill and promise as it loses the plot contrivance and muddled character motivations that dominated much of season 1.
4. Cobra Kai
Season 2 of Cobra Kai picks up exactly where season 1 left off, with Cobra Kai fresh off winning the All Valley Karate Tournament. However, discontentment still plagues their sensei, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), which is exacerbated when his protege Miguel makes a rather controversial move that subverts the true spirit of the game. The philosophical theme that dominates season 2 of Cobra Kai is the idea of second chances, and whether we are truly capable of change on a fundamental level. This sentiment is echoed in the continuing redemption of Johnny, which is executed in an extremely nuanced manner that is neither simplistic nor pretentious. Almost every character in Cobra Kai is flawed in one way or another, paving the way for an all-too-human character portrayal, through which the show dabbles into the ambiguity that lies between the trope of good versus evil.
3. Anne With an E
Loosely based on the Anne of Green Gables book series by Lucy Maud Montgomery, season 3 of Anne With an E continues the wild journey of Anne (Amybeth McNulty), interspersed with contemporary themes and subject matters like bullying, censorship, and sexual harassment. Season 3 opens with Anne’s 16th birthday and then proceeds to explore the fraught dynamics between her and Marilla. Anne with an E is an obvious critique of hegemonic institutions, which raises key questions about the nature of morality, which can seldom be rendered in black and white. The overarching message that resonates through Anne with an E season 3 is the idea of love in spite of differences, or rather, especially amid differences, while battling oppressive structures that attempt to subjugate and oppress.
2. The Crown
The Crown season 4 opens with Elizabeth (Olivia Colman) and Philip (Tobias Menzies) at the family vacation home on the Scottish highlands, with guests of the royal family including Margaret Thatcher (Gillian Anderson) and her husband, Denis (Stephen Boxer). Based on narrative skill and execution, it can be argued that season 4 of The Crown is the best of the series (as of yet), as it is more self-contained and carefully-crafted, and infinitely more entertaining. The narrative thread of Diana itself is a premise that brims with poignancy, as she is rushed into a seemingly fairy-tale marriage while she carries a heavy, anguished, solitary burden. Anderson’s Thatcher is a remarkable character portrait as well, personifying anxious fervor in its most extreme form.
1. The Queen’s Gambit
Scott Frank’s adaptation of Walter Tevis’ eponymous novel, The Queen’s Gambit, quickly evolved into a runaway Netflix hit responsible for re-igniting a passion for chess among people. The Queen’s Gambit is essentially the story of Beth (Anya Taylor-Joy), an orphaned chess prodigy who struggles to navigate the male-dominated world of competitive chess in the Cold War era. Along the way to success, Beth has to face her inner demons, along with the roadblocks that life has thrown her way. The success behind The Queen’s Gambit is undoubtedly due to the true-to-life depiction of chess and skilled storytelling, but the true heart of the show lies in the tale of a flawed underdog who manages to break the glass ceiling through the sheer merit of her talent. It is, first and foremost, a moving coming-of-age story, emboldened by chess as a sport, which is essentially a clash of strategies and individualistic mental moves.