4 Must-Watch Netflix Series

Warning: some reviews may contain small spoilers!

1. Maid 

This limited season is one of Netflix’s newest editions and has ranked among Netflix’s top 10 trending TV shows. Maid follows Alex (Margaret Qualley) and her daughter Maddy (Rylea Nevaeh Whittet) on the journey of fleeing an abusive relationship from Alex’s ex-boyfriend, Sean (Nick Robinson). In the middle of the night, after a horrific and violent argument with alcoholic Sean, Alex quickly escapes their home and flees to a nearby friend’s house, only to find out that they almost entirely side with Sean. At that point, Alex is forced to go into survival mode with her 2-year-old daughter, with only a couple of dollars to put in her gas tank to make it to a wooded area to sleep in her car. With each episode, viewers are shown Alex’s awareness of her situation, portraying pop-up tallies of Alex’s cautious spending, and endlessly watching Alex attempt to scrape together as much money as she can in order to just get by. When Alex lands a job at Value Maids, she opens a new door that reveals the toxicity her family members hold, with her mother being unreliable and emotionally unavailable with undiagnosed bipolar disorder, and her father being discovered as an abuser himself. 

As a viewer, I give Maid a 5/5 rating. I was instantly wrapped into this series, and truthfully, I watched the entire season four times (yes, it really is that good!). Although we are shown Alex’s struggles with finances, basic-need accessibility, and toxic, unstable family, each episode gives us a little hint of hope of Alex on the uphill. It isn’t until midway through the season where we see Alex take complete control over her life and stop allowing toxic people to manipulate her, and hey, it works out because she makes it to a completely new life in the end!

Although Maid poses some trigger warnings, I feel the producers did a great job being sensitive to all viewers. The series shows a physically and emotionally abusive setting. But, overall it highlights how Alex was able to completely dismiss toxic behaviors and become available for herself in order to provide her and Maddy with the resources, support, safety, and a fresh start they deserve to move forward.

2. Unbelievable 

Keeping up with the 5/5 reviews, Unbelievable is a Netflix limited series that follows the story of multiple women that were victims of horrific sexual assault crimes. The series begins with Marie Adler (Kaitlyn Dever) who not only fell victim to a sexual assault crime, but also to the police questioning her story to the point where they were ready to convict her for fabricating a false story and reporting it to the police department. While similar sexual assaults unfold, viewers are brought back and forth to Marie’s life, watching her fall into a darkness, while being blacklisted from her friends and family, and fearing for her life living alone in an apartment. When two female investigators (we love girl bosses in action!) team up to work the sexual assault cases, they spend countless hours and sleepless nights investigating every possible lead and suspect. It is not until later in the series that one of the investigators comes across Marie’s report, eventually leading the investigator to call Marie’s hometown police department only to be given the cold shoulder and told Marie made the story up. At the end of the series, the suspect is arrested and during the search, Marie’s driver’s license is found. When Marie’s hometown police department catches wind of the news, they express sincere apologies to Marie— like that will make it all better, right? When Marie has finally healed from the sexual assault, she sues the city and walks away with a couple hundred thousand dollars— get that bag girl, we love queens who hold people accountable!

I highly recommend Unbelievable, but of course, proceed with caution as it does discuss sexual assaults in detail. This series truly highlights a problem we see in the everyday world when a person reports a crime. In fact, did you know a large majority of sexual assaults are not even reported? Unbelievable hooked me in as soon as the two girl-boss investigators took charge of the case and were not backing down until someone was caught— I definitely felt like I was right there solving the crime with them.

And if you are wondering, yes, I also watched this series several times. 

3. Bates Motel 

Okay, so Bates Motel is actually my favorite show out of all of the shows I reviewed, but I give it a 4/5 solely because the first and second seasons were almost the exact same, just with new character introductions. Sadly, Netflix took Bates Motel off the platform recently, but the show is available for free on Peacock and with purchase on Amazon Video. With that being said, Bates Motel is a psychological thriller that follows Norma Bates (Vera Farmiga) and her son Norman (Freddie Highmore) on their journey to White Pine Bay, Oregon to purchase a motel and begin a new life after the death of Norma’s abusive ex-husband. The catch? Norman is completely insane.

Throughout each season we see Norman black-out without any memory of it occurring, but the murders he commits unknowingly eventually catch up to him in season 5 (I don’t want to spoil too much!). Midway through the series, Norman completely unravels, forcing Norma to admit Norman to a mental institution (Pine View) where it is revealed that Norman believes he is his mother when he blacks out. Of course, the viewers already knew this through Norman’s routine blackouts and taking on Norma’s entire persona, even going to the extent of wearing her clothing and talking in first person as if he was her. Meanwhile, when Norman is at Pine View things get spicy between Norma and sheriff Alex Romero (Néstor Carbonell) and when Norman finds out, it is not a pretty situation. Overall, I highly recommend Bates Motel and of course, this is another show that I have watched not four, not five, but six times— I know, ridiculous. With each season it becomes more apparent that Norman is aware of his behavior. When people in White Pine Bay go missing why does Norman have pieces of their belongings hidden in his room? This show will draw you in, keep you entertained (especially through seasons 3-5), and expose the true secrets that hide behind the walls (or minds?) of Norma, Norman, and the Bates Motel.

4. Atypical

This show is one of my comfort shows, so definitely a 5/5 for me. Atypical follows the main character, Sam (Keir Gilchrist), on his academic and social journey with autism. Sam is confronted with the stigmas surrounding autism and is determined to create his own path and ditch the statistics. My favorite character (and ultimate girl boss), Paige (Jenna Boyd), is Sam’s girlfriend, and while she is a high-energy perfectionist, Paige helps Sam with his struggles and takes on the world by his side. On the other side of Sam’s world, his sister Casey (Brigette Lundy-Paine), struggles with her sexuality and feelings towards her classmate Izzy (Fivel Stewart). While Sam is trying to strive for independence and navigate through the world, it feels like the weight of the world is on Casey’s shoulders. With Casey in a relationship with Evan (Graham Rogers) and trying find a way to tell him about Izzy, on top of starting at a new school, being Sam’s support system, and taking on the news of an affair (shhh!), she is truly the backbone of the entire show!

Whether you’re looking for a high-stakes drama, or a feel-good show, look no further. Happy watching!