Thanksgiving Binge: A Curated List of Netflix Shows | Mailee Phan

If your Thanksgiving break plans consist of very little, you may be searching for some extra entertainment, or just something to take your mind off of the high amounts of schoolwork during this season. To make sure you’re ready to focus again at the end of the break, here’s a curated list of Netflix shows that are super bingeable!

Derry Girls - 19 episodes, 3 seasons

A feel-good comedy series, Derry Girls centers around the life of a 16-year-old high schooler in Northern Ireland, and her exploits with her closest friends. Taking place in the 1990s, the show provides not just an insight into the relationships of teenage girls, but how they balance their own troubles with the concerns of the armed police and British Army checkpoints occupying their town. The third and final season was released just in May of this year, and ties up the story well, making for a show perfect for binging without any unsatisfying cliffhangers.

The Midnight Club - 10 episodes

The Midnight Club is created by Mike Flanagan, known for his other Netflix shows, The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and Midnight Mass, as well as his movie adaptations of Stephen King’s works. With such a vast collection of well-known and celebrated works, this series is sure to please. Once again, the story takes place within an eerie manor, a hospice to be more exact, with a central cast of eight members of the “Midnight Club”, in which meetings at midnight take place to share scary stories with each other. The club, a group of terminally ill teenagers confined to the hospice, as a result of their supernatural horror stories, form a pact that whoever dies first will attempt to contact the surviving member from beyond the grave.

Dark - 26 episodes, 3 seasons

A German TV show, Dark is a mind-bending thriller drama centered around the relationships between four families amidst ongoing cases of disappearances of young children in their small town. There’s a lot more to this show than meets the eye, as the episodes quickly swerve outside of the bounds of a predictable narrative, making a show completely unlike anything else seen before. Each character’s backstory and motives are thoroughly explored across all three seasons, creating an interweb of stories so intricate it’s bound to keep the viewer thinking about the show long after watching.

The Watcher - 7 episodes

From Ryan Murphy, known for American Horror Story and Glee, The Watcher is based on a real life story of a couple that, after buying a house in 2014 in the New Jersey suburbs, begin to be sent increasingly concerning letters by a stalker known simply as “The Watcher”. Because of such a long history of working in TV horror, Ryan Murphy ensures a thriller designed to keep you on the edge of your seat, as the horrifying adaptation of true events takes place.

The Crown - 60 episodes, 5 seasons

With such a widespread obsession with the British monarchy and its highs and lows, it’s expected that a show should exist centered around the Queen. The narrative expands beyond just Queen Elizabeth II, however. It also provides a mostly accurate depiction of the most influential figures with ties to the royal family, such as Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, Harold Wilson, and many others, including a long arc with Princess Diana. The latest season released just earlier this month, so it’s a better time than ever to get caught up on royal history.

I Think You Should Leave - 12 episodes, 2 seasons

There’s no other way to describe I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson than simply absurdist comedy. The skits in this show are so bizarre and in such rapid succession that it is hard not to keep watching, as you begin to wonder both how Tim Robinson comes up with such strange concepts and where he’ll go next. Not only this, but a variety of guest actors such as Bob Odenkirk, Tim Heidecker, Andy Samberg, and Cecily Strong, among many others, keep the audience guessing as to who will show up beside Robinson next. Plus, the episodes are so short that if you find it’s not your style of humor, only eleven minutes were lost.