28 Best TV Drama Series Sure to Hook You Immediately - Netflix Tudum

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    28 Drama Series Sure to Hook You  Immediately

    Cancel all your plans, because these shows will have your attention from start to finish.
    By Allison Picurro
    April 17, 2024

Drama series come in many different shapes and sizes. Some are grounded in reality; some can transport you to another world entirely. Some build their narratives around intricate crime plots, others are inspired by true stories or focus on sweeping romance. Some even toe the line between drama and comedy. There are countless ways to make a drama series, really — the only requirement is that it’s an absorbing watch.

Whether you ended up here because you know exactly what type of drama you’re looking for or you need a bit of guidance, we’re here to help. Here’s our wide-ranging list of 25 drama series to check out right now.  

If you want to get engrossed in a drama series…

The Tourist

If you’re wondering how this Irishman found himself in the Australian outback, so is he. At the start of the series, Elliot (Jamie Dornan) wakes up in a rural Australian hospital after he was forced off the road and left for dead. With no memory of who he is or why he’s so far from home, Elliot has to piece together any clues that might help him recover his identity. Luckily, he has help from Helen (Danielle Macdonald), a local cop-in-training who takes a special interest in his case. In Season 2, the pair travel back to Ireland as they continue putting the puzzle pieces of his life back together. But they’re soon confronted with the dangerous consequences of his past. 

The Tourist

2022   TV-MA   2 Seasons

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The Lincoln Lawyer

How about a good, old-fashioned legal drama? Developed by David E. Kelley (the mind behind shows like Ally McBeal and Big Little Lies) and based on the novels by Michael Connelly, The Lincoln Lawyer centers around idealistic criminal defense lawyer Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) who re-enters the world of the law and starts running a legal practice out of the back of his car (a Lincoln, of course). Just in case that wasn’t difficult enough, getting back in the game also means working closely with his ex-wives: Maggie (Neve Campbell), a prosecutor, and Lorna (Becki Newton), his aide. Season 1 roped Mickey into a tangled web of conspiracies after the death of a colleague, while Season 2 sees him taking on a highly publicized murder case. 

The Lincoln Lawyer

2022   TV-MA   2 Seasons

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Dead to Me

Christina Applegate as a depressed recent widow finding it hard to adjust after the sudden death of her husband. Linda Cardellini as the curiously peppy new friend she meets in a support group. A double-take twist involving an emotionally abusive ex, played by James Marsden. What more could you ask for? The series focuses on the friendship that blossoms between Jen (Applegate) and Judy (Cardellini), and also explores the lingering effects of grief and guilt, as well as what people will sacrifice in order to keep their darkest secrets. If you like your drama with a side of gallows humor, then pitch-black, morbidly funny Dead to Me is for you.

The Crown

Epic in scale and intimate in scope, Peter Morgan’s dramatization of the life and times of Queen Elizabeth II chronicles her initial rise to the throne and everything that came after. The first and second seasons star Claire Foy as the young queen and cover her marriage to Prince Philip (Matt Smith), while Olivia Colman steps into her majesty’s sensible heels for the third and fourth seasons, which delve into, among other things, the Margaret Thatcher (Gillian Anderson) years and the introduction of Princess Diana (Emma Corrin). Imelda Staunton takes over as Elizabeth for Seasons 5 and 6, as the story explores the highly dissected disintegration of Charles (Dominic West) and Diana’s (now portrayed by Elizabeth Debicki) marriage, the aftermath of Diana’s tragic death, and their sons, William and Harry, coming of age in the public eye. The Crown remains a fascinating watch because of the enduring relevance of its (royal) subjects.

Mo

Mohammed Amer may be best known for his role as the foul-mouthed, diner-running cousin of Ramy Youssef’s protagonist on Ramy, but Mo gives Amer the opportunity to step into the title role. Loosely based on Amer’s real-life history as a Palestinian refugee, the series — which was developed by Amer and Youssef — explores the fictional Mo’s experience navigating America’s lengthy asylum process as he struggles to make ends meet in Houston, Texas. With biting humor, Mo explores the weight of familial obligation and the very human struggle with grief. It also thoughtfully excavates what it means to find yourself in a country you weren’t born in but nonetheless call home.

You

Hello, you. Penn Badgley stars as Joe Goldberg, a charismatic bookseller whose charm masks a terrifying history of obsession, stalking, and murder. Using calculated methods like social media tracking and isolation, the very devious Joe has created a pattern of luring unsuspecting women into relationships with him; in his eyes, his victims are simply the objects of his affection, and he turns to violence only after being forced into it. (This series really understands how to portray toxic men.) After a series of wild events that we won’t spoil here, Season 4 sends him across the pond to London, sporting a whole new identity and the same old habits — and will keep you on the edge of your seats until the fifth and final season arrives.

If you want to watch a crime drama…

Ozark

“Family man behaves badly” is one of the most reliable crime drama setups for a reason. Here, the family man is played by Jason Bateman, with Laura Linney starring as his wife. Marty (Bateman) and Wendy Byrde (Linney) are a normal-seeming (albeit unhappily married) couple who just so happen to be knee-deep in the criminal underworld. When we meet them, Marty has been laundering money for a Mexican drug cartel for years — which Wendy has known about the whole time. Things get more complicated when a job goes wrong and Marty is forced to move Wendy and their children from Chicago to Missouri to save their lives. Twisty and slyly funny, Ozark is a story of how people can be corrupted by their own hunger for wealth and power.

Unbelievable

Anchored by powerhouse performances from Toni Collette, Merritt Wever, and Kaitlyn Dever, Unbelievable is based on the true story of the police investigation into a series of rapes in Colorado and Washington from 2008 to 2011. It tells its story across two timelines: one set during the investigation led by the two tenacious detectives (Collette and Wever) who found their way to the truth, and the other during the assault of Marie (Dever), the teenager whose initial accusation kicked off the investigation. The limited series makes for a unique approach to the classic crime formula by devoting significant attention to the victims and the broken complexities of the American judicial system.

Narcos

If you’re looking for a crime drama based in recent history, the thrilling and violent Narcos dramatizes the story of notorious drug kingpin Pablo Escobar (Wagner Moura). Season 1 focuses on his rise to becoming the world’s most prominent cocaine dealer and, eventually, his capture by the DEA and how the agents (played by Boyd Holbrook and Pedro Pascal) in charge of hunting him down got the job done. The series ran for three seasons before spinning off into Narcos: Mexico, which stars Diego Luna and Scoot McNairy, and traces the inception of the Mexican drug trade and the Guadalajara cartel in the ’80s.

If you want to watch a historical drama…

The Queen's Gambit

Chess has never looked as exciting as it does in The Queen’s Gambit, Scott Frank and Allan Scott’s ornate adaptation of the novel by Walter Tevis. Anya Taylor-Joy stars as Beth Harmon, a chess prodigy whose skill at the game results in her competitive ascension throughout the ’50s, even as her dependency on prescription drugs and alcohol grows more severe. The series is as much a look at the mind of a tortured genius as it is a reflection on trauma, anxiety, and how failure to address personal demons can get in the way of a person’s dreams. It’s a great showcase for Taylor-Joy, but The Queen’s Gambit’s excellent supporting cast also includes memorable turns from Moses Ingram, Marielle Heller, Bill Camp, and Harry Melling.

Outlander

No collection of historical dramas would be complete without Outlander, which has risen to megahit status over its seven (and counting) seasons. Based on Diana Gabaldon’s series of novels, Outlander is a time traveling love story about a World War II nurse (Caitriona Balfe) who gets transported to 1743, where she meets and falls in love with a Scottish warrior (Sam Heughan). Yes, this is a romantic (and, let’s just be honest, very sexy) series with a sci-fi edge, but its timeline also spans centuries and covers a wide range of actual historical events, from the American Revolution to the peace protests of the ’60s. Romance can be educational.

Peaky Blinders

Oppenheimer might have sparked a new wave of Cillian Murphy fever, but Peaky Blinders fans have been raving about his talent (and his haircut) for years. Set in 19th century England, the period drama stars Murphy as Tommy Shelby, the cunning yet reserved boss of the Peaky Blinders crime family, who oversees operations as they ascend to the top of the criminal underworld in post-World War I Birmingham. As the gang expands, so does the series, spinning into a tale of international intrigue and adding to its sprawling cast — which includes Tom Hardy, Josh O’Connor, the late Helen McCrory, and many, many more — as it goes. With six gritty, stylish seasons, it should keep you busy for a while.

If you want to watch a romantic drama…

One Day

If you’re looking for a story about the ups and downs of falling in love — the excitement, the longing, and everything in between — look no further. Dexter Mayhew (Leo Woodall) and Emma Morley (Ambika Mod) meet for the first time on July 15, 1988 — their last night of university — before going their separate ways, but that one day is only the beginning of their relationship. Based on David Nicholls’ bestselling novel, the limited series follows their decades-spanning love story. Each of One Day’s 14 episodes revisits Dex and Em on the same date over the years as they navigate their life journeys, both together and separately, and experience their own highs, lows, romances, and heartbreaks. With so much history between the pair, will they find their way back to each other? 

Bridgerton

Dear reader, Shonda Rhimes has made addictive TV dramas her signature, but she took things to a whole new level with this steamy period piece. Rhimes executive produces the lavish adaptation of Julia Quinn’s book series, set in Regency-era London and revolving around the complicated social hierarchies of high society, as young men and women from prominent families attempt to find love. Season 1 follows the story of Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) and her initially fake (but of course, eventually very real) courtship with Simon, Duke of Hastings (Regé-Jean Page), while Season 2 turns its focus to her eldest brother Anthony’s (Jonathan Bailey) enemies-to-lovers romance with Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley). There’s even more gossip (and instrumental covers of anachronistic pop songs, probably) to come, with Season 3 set to put Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) and her longtime crush, Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton), in the spotlight.

Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story

If you finish Bridgerton and are left only with the insatiable need for more Bridgerton, we can’t neglect to mention Queen Charlotte. Created by Shonda Rhimes, the prequel series gives its titular monarch (played as a young woman by India Amarteifio and as an older woman by Golda Rosheuvel, who reprises her role from Bridgerton) a rich backstory of her own, explaining how the fearless Charlotte’s politically convenient marriage to King George III (Corey Mylchreest) came to be. It’s a romantic fantasy that imagines an integrated ton, where the queen is a Black woman whose arrival at court shifts Regency-era England’s perception of race in the Bridgerton universe, but it also delves into the king’s very real health struggles — making it a “fiction inspired by fact” saga that’s sweeping and poignant in equal measure.

Heartstopper

Alice Oseman’s acclaimed graphic novel comes alive in this British dramedy about Charlie (Joe Locke), a young gay student who falls for Nick (Kit Connor), his rugby-playing classmate. Heartstopper uniquely taps into the self-consciousness of first love and the all-consuming brutality of teen emotion through the use of animations — cartoon beating hearts, falling leaves, and tiny sparks that pop up on screen to literally illustrate characters’ explosive bursts of feeling — ensuring that its webcomic spirit never gets lost in translation. It’s a show that never looks down at its teen romance, treating it with tender sincerity. That, plus a colorful cast of supporting characters who all have vibrant inner lives of their own, makes for a sweet, swoony, and satisfying watch.

If you want to watch a sci-fi drama…

Black Mirror

It’s never too late to get into Charlie Brooker’s anthology, which specializes in uncovering our darkest fears brought on by our ever-increasing reliance on technology. Episodes stand alone, and many are set in dystopian near-futures where revolutionary tech advancements — usually created with the intention of making human life easier — tend to hurt more than they help. The impressive roster of cast members (including Salma Hayek, Daniel Kaluuya, Jon Hamm, Annie Murphy, and more) and genre experimentation help keep the series fresh. If you enjoy feeling unsettled, episodes like “Mazey Day” and “Playtest” experiment with horror; if you prefer something lighter (it’s not all so bleak!), “San Junipero” and “Hang the DJ” are delightfully romantic. 

Alice in Borderland

Based on the manga by Haro Aso, the first season of Alice in Borderland introduces us to Arisu (Kento Yamazaki), a video game enthusiast who becomes trapped in an alternate version of Tokyo where he’s forced to play life-or-death games in order to earn extensions on his “visa.” He doesn’t know how or why he’s there, but he quickly discovers that if he doesn’t play along, he risks being killed by lasers shot from the sky. As he tries to uncover the mystery of the games, he fights to stay alive by teaming up with his fellow players. The series earned a legion of fans thanks to a potent combination of lovable characters and a thrilling story, all set against the backdrop of a chillingly dystopian universe.

The Umbrella Academy

Steve Blackman’s imaginative series, based on the comics by Gerard Way (of My Chemical Romance fame) and Gabriel Bá, follows a group of superpowered, adopted siblings who were raised by their father to form a crime-fighting team. As they aged, the pressure got to be too much, causing a rift. Years later, their father’s death brings them back together, and sparks their curiosity about the mystery of how he died, as well as their own shady origins. And things only get weirder from there! Case in point: time travel plays a big role as the series goes on (it’s due to conclude with an upcoming Season 4), and one character is half-ape and has lived on the moon.

If you want to watch a teen drama…

My Life With the Walter Boys

After losing her family in a sudden, tragic accident, 15-year-old Jackie Howard (Nikki Rodriguez) is forced to move across the country from Manhattan to rural Colorado. Jackie’s entire life was planned out to a T: she received straight A’s at her all-girls prep school and was headed for Princeton. But when her whole world is upended, she moves in with her mother’s college best friend, Katherine Walter (Sarah Rafferty), her husband, and their 10 rowdy boys. This heartfelt coming-of-age story follows Jackie as she navigates her new life, determined to stay focused on her dream of getting into Princeton while also untangling her complicated feelings for Walter brothers Alex (Ashby Gentry) and Cole (Noah LaLonde). The series is based on the popular WattPad novel by Ali Novak, which she wrote at 15 and has since been turned into a published book.

Outer Banks

A sun-kissed story of action, adventure, class dynamics, and treasure-hunting (what a combo!), Outer Banks follows a scrappy group of teens just trying to get by as they spend their summers working in a North Carolina beachside town. But things heat up after they’re enlisted by their ringleader, John B (Chase Stokes), to help him track down his missing father, which subsequently leads them on a quest to find $400 million worth of gold. From love triangles to the near-constant threat of death, Outer Banks has just about everything you could want from teen TV. The young cast includes Madelyn Cline (who appears in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, also on Netflix), Drew Starkey, and Rudy Pankow.

Elite

Sometimes you really just need a show with the ideal mix of camp and genuine high-stakes drama. Elite, a Spanish-language series set at an exclusive private school, contains a healthy mix of both of those things. The story kicks off with three working-class scholarship students shaking up the high school social order by enrolling at Las Encinas, and tracks the inevitable culture clash between the working-class students and their exorbitantly rich classmates. The commentary on wealth disparity, along with thoughtful musings on race and sexuality, is what makes Elite so intelligent, while the murder mystery (yup!) woven throughout the fabric of each season proves that this is a show that, above all, knows how to have fun.

XO, Kitty

If the To All the Boys films helped breathe new life into the romantic comedy genre, the spin-off series, XO, Kitty, picks up right where that trilogy left off — while also adding plenty of drama into the mix. XO, Kitty catches us up with Lara Jean Covey’s (Lana Condor) love-obsessed 16-year-old sister, Kitty (Anna Cathcart), who decides to follow her heart by moving to South Korea with the intention of strengthening her connection with long distance boyfriend Dae (Minyeong Choi). She shows up in Seoul and enrolls at his high school, all without telling him — what could go wrong? Spoiler: a lot! Full of hijinks and soundtracked by a collection of K-pop hits, the whimsical and romantic XO, Kitty is a worthy successor to the groundwork Lara Jean and Peter (Noah Centineo) laid over their three films.

If you want to watch a thriller drama…

Squid Game

Even if you somehow missed the hype surrounding this Emmy-winning juggernaut when it dropped in 2021, it’s never too late catch up — especially with Season 2 on the way. Anyone familiar with Korean dramas already knows that the best ones will put you through the emotional wringer, but the gory, engaging Squid Game raised the stakes even higher. The survival series throws a financially downtrodden group of people into a series of children’s games for a chance to win an enormous cash prize — which sounds easy enough, until the players realize losing a game results in their deaths. Winning requires a mix of physical and mental fortitude as the characters discover what lengths they’ll go to for the potential of financial security.

Lupin

Omar Sy stars in this French heist drama that follows Assane Diop, a charming thief who fancies himself something of a Robin Hood by only stealing from those who deserve it — in this case, those connected to France’s history of colonization and racism. When the series begins, he’s setting off to steal a necklace that once belonged to Marie Antoinette, which is actually a mask for Diop’s true goal of exacting revenge on the wealthy family responsible for his father’s death. Diop models his professional identity off of novelist Maurice Leblanc’s 20th century gentleman burglar Arsène Lupin, turning him into a master of disguise and subterfuge, and turning Lupin into a slick thriller.

The Diplomat

Keri Russell as ​​an international political operative with a complicated personal life? Say no more. Really, though: Russell plays Kate Wyler, a career diplomat who has recently been reassigned to take over as the new US ambassador to the UK after an attack on a British aircraft carrier creates an international crisis. She’s also having marital problems with her diplomat husband, Hal (Rufus Sewell), with whom her new role creates even bigger issues. As Kate digs deeper into investigating the attack, she begins to discover the lies and deceits lurking just beneath the surface, making it impossible to know who she can actually trust. Catch up now, because the show’s coming back for a second season.

If you want to watch a horror drama…

Midnight Mass

Mike Flanagan’s name has become synonymous with the horror genre — he previously entertained and terrified us with The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and The Midnight Club — but the ruminative Midnight Mass feels like a special gem, even among other great entries in the Flanaverse. Set on a remote island shaken up by the arrival of a magnetic young priest (Hamish Linklater), the supernatural series acts as a study of its characters and an exploration of faith. While there are a number of solid jump scares, the show prefers to establish an eerie slow burn, which only becomes more unsettling the longer it goes on. But don’t let its thoughtful approach and moody imagery fool you: Midnight Mass has plenty of bloody tricks up its sleeve. If you need even more, Flanagan’s latest series, The Fall of the House of Usher, is also here to keep you up at night.

All of Us Are Dead

This grisly and gripping South Korean series follows a group of students who get trapped in their high school after a zombie virus outbreak begins to spread rapidly among their classmates. The situation grows more dire as the survivors are cut off from communication with the outside world and their food and water supply dwindles, leaving them armed with only their wits as they work together to try to stay alive. (This is the kind of show that gets a lot of mileage out of a well-placed window.) But this is still high school, meaning that petty rivalries and love triangles spread as quickly as the virus, which is part of what makes All of Us Are Dead so watchable. The first season ends on a bit of a cliff-hanger, but don’t worry: It’ll be back for a second.

Find Your Next Netflix Obsession on TudumWhatever you love to stream, we’ve got tips on the latest releases, true crime, book adaptations, stand-up comedy, award-winning films and more.
Additional reporting by Erin Corbett

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