10 Best Netflix Original Shows to Keep You Busy Until ‘Wednesday’ Returns

Netflix’s Wednesday might be the show of the moment right now, but speculations about what’s next won’t get confirmed or debunked until the second season’s part 2 arrives on the platform next month.

While Wednesday’s fans are being tortured by all those mysteries surrounding the season’s major plat twists, cliffhangers and, what’s even better, Larissa Weems’ unexpected return, Netflix’s other original shows are waiting for them to turn into some sort of a salvation.

In case you don’t know what else to do with your Netflix subscription, here’s the best of the best that the streamer can boast of right now.

‘Bridgerton’ (2020 — )

• On Rotten Tomatoes, Bridgerton holds scores of 84% and 74% from critics and viewers
• On IMDb, the show is rated 7.4/10

Based on the romantic drama book series of the same name, the show follows numerous members of the Bridgerton family as they are getting prepared to enter the Regency London marriage market.

However, high society can’t live without its own complications, so the Bridgerton are yet to fight for their true love.

‘Ozark’ (2017 — 2022)

• On Rotten Tomatoes, Ozark keeps scores of 82% and 86% from critics and audiences
• On IMDb, the show rates 8.4/10

Starring Jason Bateman, the series follows financial advisor Marty Byrde whose major trouble with a Mexican drug cartel drives him and his family out of Chicago as they pursue a new life in the Lake of the Ozarks region.

However, soon Marty realizes he hasn’t quite escaped the biggest threat and now is about to meet local criminals, including Kansas City mafia.

‘Dark’ (2017 — 2020)

• On Rotten Tomatoes, Dark has scores of 95% and 94% from critics and viewers
• On IMDb, the show’s rating is 8.7/10

One of Netflix’s biggest sci-fi hits, the show has its premise unfolding in a small German town where two children vanish.

When their families unite their forces and embark on a mission to find them, the town’s darkest secrets start manifesting themselves, intertwining the present events with the place’s past and future.

‘Black Mirror’ (2011 — )

• On Rotten Tomatoes, Black Mirror holds scores of 83% and 80% from critics and audiences
• On IMDb, the show is rated 8.7/10

A sci-fi anthology series that made some go crazy over technological paranoia, Black Mirror is a collection of eerie stories about how modern world affects humanity’s nature.

While some episodes are way too scary to imagine their stories getting into real life, others have already turned into realty, making fans fear for what else the show can predict.

‘Russian Doll’ (2019 — 2022)

• On Rotten Tomatoes, Russian Doll keeps scores of 97% and 77% from critics and viewers
• On IMDb, the show rates 7.7/10

Starring Natasha Lyonne, the comedy drama series finds its lead Nadia in the midst of a major problem as she’s set to celebrate her birthday.

At some point, Nadia gets into a mysterious loop and remains stuck in the same event dying at the end of the night every time.

‘Squid Game’ (2021 — 2025)

• On Rotten Tomatoes, Squid Game has scores of 86% and 66% from critics and audiences
• On IMDb, the show’s rating is 8/10

A South Korean hit thriller series, Squid Game follows hundreds of money-thirsty participants of a deadly competition that replicates children’s games in the most gruesome way possible, with only one of those getting to the millions-worthy prize.

‘Baby Reindeer’ (2024)

• On Rotten Tomatoes, Baby Reindeer holds scores of 99% and 80% from critics and viewers
• On IMDb, the show is rated 7.7/10

Based on Richard Gadd’s personal experience, Baby Reindeer is a tension-inducing drama that centres on an aspiring comedian who suddenly finds a stalker in a seemingly harmless woman that once visits the bar he works in.

‘Adolescence’ (2025)

• On Rotten Tomatoes, Adolescence has scores of 98% and 74% from critics and audiences
• On IMDb, the show rates 7.4/10

One of Netflix’s most popular TV shows in history, this year’s crime drama series follows 13-year-old Jamie Miller whose routine morning at home before the school is interrupted by his arrest for murdering his schoolmate.

As a result, Jamie’s entire family gets into the spotlight and has to face the worst nightmare they could never imagine.

‘Stranger Things’ (2016 — 2025)

• On Rotten Tomatoes, Stranger Things holds scores of 92% and 90% from critics and viewers
• On IMDb, the show’s rating is 8.4/10

Another big sci-fi release from Netflix, Stranger Things follows mysteries that unravel in a small Midwestern town when a kid suddenly disappears and a tunnel between the Earth and the afterlife opens, threatening to kill more citizens.

‘The Crown’ (2016 — 2023)

• On Rotten Tomatoes, The Crown has scores of 81% and 92% from critics and audiences
• On IMDb, the show is rated 8.6/10

Based on Peter Morgan’s award-winning play “The Audience”, the show chronicles the life of Queen Elizabeth II who becomes England’s monarch at the age of 26 after her father’s sudden death.

As the decades pass, The Crown tracks down all the major historical events that accompany Elizabeth’s reign, as well as all the family drama she has to become a witness of.