At the end of the decade,Netflixis an undeniable powerhouse in television series production. The streaming giant that changed the entire distribution model of the entertainment landscape also helped usher in the so-called new Golden Age of TV by giving a new platform to some of the biggest and most inventive creative talents in the industry, taking away the rules and restrictions, and throwing their inexplicably vast arsenal of money at them.
And in 2019, Netflix had one of their biggest years yet on the TV side. going toe-to-toe with HBO at theEmmys in wins and nominations(though HBO ultimately won both this year), anddominating the Golden Globe nominationsin both TV and film – the first year Netflix outpaced the studios at the starry awards show, a sign that the streamer’s ever-growing film presence is finally catching up with its prestige TV.
And what a lineup they had in 2019. The best series of the year ranged from returning awards favorites likeGLOW,The Crown, andStranger Things; a second season ofDavid Fincher’s serial killer dramaMindhunter, which somehow managed to be more Fincher-esque than ever; a feat of technical wizardry with the puppetry epicThe Dark Crystal: Rise of the Resistance; inventive new genre-hybrid half-hour comedies likeRussian DollandLiving with Yourself; the sketch comedy glory ofI Think You Should Leave; and gone-too-soon oddballs likeSanta Clarita DietandBrit Marling’s baffling but soulfulThe OA.
With that in mind, we polled the Collider.com staff for the 15 best Netflix series of the year, submitted our votes, and here’s what came back. (Editor’s Note: Unfortunately the article was written before the mad delights of The Witcher were launched.)
15. The Crown
It feels likeThe Crowncompletely came into its own with the arrival of Season 3 in November. Featuring a new cast of characters led by recent Oscar-winnerOlivia Colman,Helena Bonham Carter,Tobias Menzies, andBen Daniels,The CrownSeason 3 took us from the 1960s to the late ’70s as the role between the British monarchy and its subjects rapidly evolved. Even though an older, wiser Queen Elizabeth II (Colman) was seemingly more settled in her role as the calm, cool, collected symbolic head of state, there was no shortage of familial strife or drama. As Elizabeth’s eldest, Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor), found his footing as a royal figure while learning how to deal with the responsibilities of the crown, it was Princess Margaret (Bonham Carter) who remained a magnet for romantic drama as her marriage to Lord Snowdon (Daniels) fell apart.
The sumptuousness ofThe Crownremained firmly intact, with all 10 episodes of the season allowing for some much-needed escapism as the year wound down. Every single one of the new cast members — but especially Colman and O’Connor — came to play this season and turned in riveting performances as fictionalized versions of the royal family. It was also a devilish delight to see events from more recent history play out onscreen, as Charles' early romance with Camilla Shand (later Parker-Bowles) unfurled across the screen while Elizabeth II enjoyed her settled, somewhat easier alliance with Prince Phillip (Menzies) — somehow 50% more crotchety and yet still a boss?! — and Margaret explored a new romance as she drifted from Snowdon. All of it was damn good fun and sets up what will no doubt be an exciting Season 4. –Allie Gemmill
14. The Umbrella Academy
Based on the popular and award-winning Dark Horse Comics graphic novels created and written byGerard Way(the frontman of the band My Chemical Romance) and illustrated byGabriel Bá, the Netflix seriesThe Umbrella Academyfollows the “children” of Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore), a billionaire industrialist who adopts seven of the 43 infants inexplicably born on the same day in 1989 to random women who showed no signs of pregnancy the day before. While they’ve been prepared to save the world, things are never that easy, and now that the impending apocalypse is very real, Luther (Tom Hopper), Diego (David Castañeda), Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman), Klaus (Robert Sheehan), Vanya (Ellen Page) and Number Five (Aidan Gallagher) must get over their own family drama, if they have any chance of stopping global destruction.
And overcoming family drama is easier said than done. At times wacky and wild, twisted and gruesome, funny and romantic, and always unpredictable, the series has some excellent dance numbers, a chimpanzee butler with a British accent named Pogo, an adoptive robot mother, a fascinating pair of assassins, and plenty of time travel. It also has a huge cliffhanger ending that will make any viewer grateful that a second season is coming, and will be released in 2020. –Christina Radish
13. Unbelievable
Netflix original seriesUnbelievableis, well, nothing short of incredible. There is a damn good reason series leadsToni Collette,Merritt Wever, andKaitlyn Deverwere nominated for Emmys for their work on this heartbreaking, timely, incisive, and horrifying series from showrunnersSusannah Grant,Michael Chabon, andAyelet Waldman. Based on an actual case,Unbelievablebegins with the rape of Marie Adler (Dever), a young adult on her own for the first time. In an unnerving rendering on the legal system’s approach to cases of sexual assault and rape, Marie is mistreated, doubted, and bullied at every turn by the investigators handling her case and her lawyer, who would rather get Marie to recant her testimony the minute her story seems shaky rather than believe her. Eventually, Marie’s case is picked up by kick-ass detectives Grace Rasmussen (Collette) and Karen Duvall (Wever), who team up across county lines to find a serial rapist who is seemingly uncatchable.
Unbelievableis not only a deeply affecting drama but it is sharply written, wonderfully acted, and is one of the best explorations, for worse and sometimes better, of a very real experience many women face to this day. There is empathy at the right time for those characters in need of it and zero punches are pulled when holding another character’s feet to the fire or when the series seeks out answers to the tough questions.Unbelievablewill make you think, make you cry, and stay with you long after the credits have rolled but trust me, it’s worth the watch. –Allie Gammill
12. The OA
RIPBrit MarlingandZal Batmanglij’s far-too-short-lived fantasy series, which combined baffling batshit fantasy with honest-to-god spiritually moving existential ideas in one of the most bizarre creative power moves in TV history. MayThe OAever rest in peace. Because I sure as hell will not. Netflix canceled this emotionally gonzo masterpiece after two seasons, and if Season 1 was compulsive if occasionally infuriating viewing, Season 2 was an immensely satisfying hard turn into fantasy and innovation that never once played it safe.The OASeason 2 was going to end up on my best-of-the-year lists the moment it trotted out a shockingly horny telepathic octopus, but its constant determination to combine grace with freak-flag-flying insanity made me fall face-plant, head-over-heels in love. –Haleigh Foutch
11. Santa Clarita Diet
I’m still miffed as heck we won’t be getting another season ofSanta Clarita Diet(why, Netflix?!) but I’m happy I got to enjoy one final ride with Season 3.Drew BarrymoreandTimothy Olyphantwere, without a doubt, the MVPs of the show as married high school sweethearts Sheila and Joel Hammond. By the time we got to Season 3 this year, we’d seen Sheila be turned into a zombie after eating mutated shellfish and Joel happily (almosttoohappily, TBH) go along for the ride as he helped her retain some of her humanity while helping her find some satisfactory (read: human) food. These actors haveSpencer TracyandKatharine Hepburn-levels of onscreen chemistry, so watching them bounce off one another and banter while working with a seriously smart script and some clever twists on the zombie genre madeSanta Clarita Dietfeel so fresh and fun. Sheila may be a member of the undead but this show, which was canceled well before it needed to be, was very much alive. –Allie Gemmill
10. Black Mirror
The fifth season of the dark sci-fi series,Black Mirror, will not likely be remembered as favorably as seasons past. Only three episodes,Charlie Bookertold tales of virtual reality’s threat to real human experience, extreme guilt, and the tremendous burden of fame. The standouts this year wereAndrew Scott’s manic and unstable performance as a driver for a fictitious ride-sharing app, and the wildMiley Cyrusepisode. The former features Scott’s character wrestling with what he’s done, who he blames, and how he attempts to right that wrong. The former features Scott’s character wrestling with what he’s done, who he blames, and how he attempts to right that wrong. It’s been a big year for the Irish actor, who wowed as the lead inA Dark Placeand then earned a Golden Globe nod for his “Hot Priest” role inFleabag. He’s in top form here—his performance as emotionally affecting as we’ve seen in the show. Cyrus’ episode, called “Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too,” was the most buzzed-about. Not only does it tap into the idolatry of celebrity in Western culture, but it exposes the sometimes hellish reality of pop stardom—that utter blackness simmering behind the veil of an ostensibly impeccable life. And yet, this one provides one of the series’ more hopeful resolutions. –Brendan Michael
9. Living with Yourself
It may seem like lighter fare, but this new dramedy series starringPaul Ruddand Paul Rudd has more depth than meets the eye. With brief episodes running under thirty minutes,Living with Yourselftells the tale of Miles, a man stuck in a rut trying to better himself. So he does what any clear-headed 40-something guy does: he pays $50,000 to a massage parlor in the hopes of lifting his spirits… because a guy he works with did it, and it helped him. Unfortunately, the result is a bit more complicated when Miles is cloned and now has to, as the title suggests, live with himself when the clone version has nowhere else to go. And this clone version is better than Miles in every way. Funny and darker than you’d expect, this is one that will suck you in and tempt you to finish in one weekend (it’s only eight episodes). It’s also got something to say about marriage and what makes us who we are, easily making it one of Netflix’s most binge-worthy new series of 2019. –Brendan Michael
8. The Dark Crystal
Hup! First thing’s first, I would positively die for Hup, the stalwart podling who was last-minute usurped by Baby Yoda as the year’s cutest puppet. But more importantly,The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistanceis a knockout one-of-a-kind series that features some of the most impressive, staggering technical accomplishments of the year with this in-camera puppet epic, built on resplendent, detailed sets, with a goldmine of creature creations. But it is also truly a high fantasyepicfilled with rich mythology that ambitiously grows from the already compelling world-building inJim HensonandFrank Oz’s beloved 1982 film, with some of the best court politicking, betrayal and redemptive arcs this side ofGame of Thrones.It also features an absolutely bananas voice cast includingJason Isaacs,Mark Hamill,Anya Taylor Joy,Taron Egerton,Keegan Michael Key,Simon PeggandNathalie Emmanuel, just to name a few, not to mention the artful physical work of their puppeteer counterparts–Haleigh Foutch
7. Big Mouth
Big Mouthcontinues to be the greatest show on Netflix about horny, confused children. The third season of the animated comedy from creatorsNick Kroll,Andrew Goldberg,Mark Levin, andJennifer Flackettcontinues to tackle the most awkward period in everyone’s lives with a mix of sincerity and absurdity. Which is appropriate, because “sincerely absurd” is kind of what it feels like to go through puberty. Kroll and the rest of the main cast -John Mulaney,Jessi Klein,Jenny Slate, andJason Mantzoukis- handle the volatile emotions of pre-teens admirably. And the show offers up a brand new set of musical numbers, including a truly hilarious song about Florida that is one of my favorite moments of the entire season. Netflix recently greenlitBig Mouthfor three more seasons, which is honestly the best news I’ve heard in the past six months. The only negative thing I can say about the show is that I wish it had existed back when I was in middle school. –Tom Reimann
GLOWis one of the best and most consistently entertaining shows on television, and I’ll be sad when its fourth and final season brings the series to a close. Especially since Season 3 proves this show is still going strong. This third batch of episodes moved the action to Las Vegas, and the act of forcing the characters to all live with one another ratcheted up the drama and comedy equally. At heart, this series is really an exploration of what it means to be a woman, especially living in a predominantly male world, and I’m consistently enthralled by the myriad of avenues of femininity that this show explores. But on top of all that it’s just supremely entertaining, anchored by two of the best performances on all of TV courtesy ofBetty GilpinandAlison Brie. –Adam Chitwood
