This was a rough list to write this month. A lot of newer shows I checked out (some which I was particularly excited for) just didn’t have enough juice for the list. It’s a bummer, but in the world of streaming it happens. However, there’s always something to watch and these were the ones I kept coming back to this month. Feel free to share yours in the comments!
Hulu: Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service (2025 – present)
It’s like Kitchen Nightmares, but double the cheese. In his newest venture into restaurant renovation, Gordon Ramsay has some help: an insider who works at the restaurant and has seen all the issues up close. This person (not revealed until the episode’s closing moments) provides Ramsay key intel, often including a key to the restaurant for the film crew to explore after hours. The result is a twisty fun little show, obviously scripted but featuring real restaurants with grisly starts and stunning restorations. I’ve said before that I watch whatever Ramsay turns out, but this one is a great time and a fun little episodic romp for after-work viewing.
FOR FANS OF: Kitchen Impossible; Kitchen Nightmares; Hell’s Kitchen
Peacock: Mr. Mercedes (2017 – 2019)
I almost didn’t include this one, but there’s something about it that just keeps pulling me back in. Following Stephen King’s detective/crime novel of the same name, Mr. Mercedes follows retired detective Bill Hodges (played by all-star Brendan Gleeson) as he starts receiving messages from a serial killer identifying himself as Mr. Mercedes. This name refers to a case Hodges left the department unsolved, where a masked killer rammed a stolen Mercedes-Benz into a crowd of people in line for a job fair. The killer is known to us from episode one, and like the book, we’re given dual perspectives between him and Hodges. It’s slower-paced than a lot of shows of this ilk, but there’s something so compelling that I couldn’t stop watching it. The cast more than makes up for the weaker writing moments, and Gleeson is an absolute juggernaut as Hodges. Worth checking out, especially if you’ve read the book or are a fan of King’s other work.
FOR FANS OF: The Outsider; True Detective; The Fall
Netflix: Dark (2017 – 2020)
Dark is a show that’s hard to talk about without giving away a lot of details. Set in the fictional German town of Winden, Dark begins with two children going missing without a trace. What happens next though is both unexpected and unpredictable. Dark has much more in common with Twin Peaks than SVU, and ventures quickly into the supernatural and sci-fi side of mystery. The first season is some of the best television I have ever seen, and while the next two seasons dip in quality comparatively, it’s a solid story that sticks the landing in its conclusion. A perfect show to pick up for those craving a mysterious thriller, but not looking to wait years for the next season.
FOR FANS OF: Severance; Mr. Robot; Lost
Hulu: Little Fires Everywhere (2020)
Dramas so rarely hook me nowadays, but this one grabbed me and gave me all the feelings. Based on the novel of the same name by Celeste Ng, Little Fires Everywhere follows two families in Shaker Heights, OH: one white and very wealthy, and the other black and on the verge of poverty. Those who’ve seen the show will recognize that’s a drastic oversimplification, but I don’t want to give much away. The way this show sets up conflict and its characters is heartfelt in a way that feels earned and not forced. All of the characters are massively flawed, but none more than Reese Witherspoon’s Elena, who is so vile in moments yet never feels inhuman. I watched it for the first time years ago, but I still remember scenes (particularly from the episode Seventy Cents) so vividly. It’s a really solid miniseries and one that deserves more attention than it got.
FOR FANS OF: The Undoing; Big Little Lies; Maid
Netflix: Blue Eye Samurai (2023 – present)
Adult animation has been absolutely on fire in the last few years, and Blue Eye Samurai is no exception. Set in 1600s closed-border Japan, Blue Eye Samurai follows Mizu, a young samurai sworn to avenge their mother’s rape and murder, which is the cause of their mixed bloodline. In other words, they’re out to kill their father. Mizu has striking blue eyes, an uncommon feature in a very homogenous country and is treated with hostility and suspicion by almost everyone they encounter. This show is a gorgeously animated revenge tale inspired heavily by stories like Lady Snowblood or Kill Bill. The fight scenes are absolutely unreal and the voice acting features incredible heavyweights like George Takei, Kenneth Branagh, among others. Absolutely worth checking out, especially with a second season already on the way.
FOR FANS OF: Castlevania; Yasuke; Shogun