Squid Game season 2 makes its triumphant debut one day after Christmas. Nothing screams holiday cheer more than a show about game contestants dying in the most brutal ways possible. For something with more thrills, check out Black Doves, the excellent espionage drama starring Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw.
Beyond the high-profile titles, Netflix has thousands of programs to watch, so much so that you can waste precious time scrolling instead of streaming. To save time, this guide recommends three underrated shows available to stream right now. The picks include a mystery involving a missing airplane, an invigorating thriller about a prison break, and an interesting teen soap.
Manifest – 2018-2023
If Manifest hadoriginated on Netflix instead of NBC, who knows how much bigger an audience it could have reached? As soon as the show hit Netflix, Manifest instantly became one of the most popular shows on the streamer. This surge in fandom led to Netflix renewing the show for a fourth and final season.
Manifest’s excellent premise follows the passengers and crew of Montego Air Flight 828 from Jamaica to New York City. After some brief turbulence, the flight is rerouted to upstate New York. Upon arrival, those aboard the plane are shocked to learn that over five and a half years have passed during their flight. How is that remotely possible? That’s where the mystery begins in this addictive supernatural thriller.
Watch Manifest on Netflix.
Prison Break – 2005-2024
Prison Break is a show where its fans refuse to let it die. The crime drama aired from 2005 to 2009, spanning four seasons and a TV movie. The series’ audience grew on streaming, leading Fox to revive it for a nine-episode fifth season in 2017. Fast forward to this month, and Hulu picked up a pilot for a new chapter of Prison Break. This is now a sign to see what all the hype’s about.
After being wrongly convicted of killing the vice president’s brother, Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) is sentenced to death. Convinced of his innocence, Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller), Lincoln’s brother, plans to use his knowledge as a structural engineer to break him out of prison. For Michael, the only way out is through. To execute the breakout, he must do the unthinkable: commit a crime and get sent to Lincoln’s prison.
Watch Prison Break on Netflix.
Riverdale – 2017-2023
By the end of its run, Riverdale fully embraced the supernatural by executing a time jump to mixed results. The series strayed too far away from the original premise of an eerie high school mystery. The first half of Riverdale is far superior to the back half, and it’s been so long that the initial seasons are somewhat forgotten.
With the show off the air, now’s the time to revisit what made it so fun. Based on the long-running Archie Comics series, Riverdale begins with the tragic death of a local teen that shakes the town to its core. High school students Archie Andrews (KJ Apa), Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes), Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart), and Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse) try to live normal lives, but the town’s enigmatic dark secrets threaten to tear the community apart.
Watch Riverdale on Netflix.
This British action spy thriller swooped down like a bird of prey and dropped an early Christmas present in the laps of Netflix viewers who needed some excitement with their holiday cheer. Not only is Black Doves a hit out of the gate, it’s already lined up a second season.
Pirates of the Caribbean‘s Keira Knightley stars in the series as a woman on a mission of revenge, and Black Doves even takes place during the Christmas season. But by the time Knightley’s Helen Webb is done, there won’t be many silent nights until she gets the payback she desires.
Black Doves – 2024
Without spoiling the ending of Black Doves, we can say that most of the season’s plotlines are wrapped up by the end of episode 6. There are some hints about where the show can go in its second season, as well as a semi-ominous note about the ultimate fate of undercover spies.
However, Black Doves sticks the landing for its first season in a satisfying way. It also leaves fans eager to see more of Helen and Sam in this world, because they’re a great team and a lot of fun to watch.
Watch Black Doves on Netflix.
