5 more great Netflix shows that are impossible to stop watching after the first episode

Published Sep 26, 2026, 12:45 PM EDT After graduating from Marist University with a degree in communications and journalism, Dan Girolamo has over 10 years of experience writing about entertainment and sports. Dan's work can be seen in various publications, including Digital Trends, SportsCasting, and Tom's Guide. Throughout his career, Dan has interviewed several high-profile filmmakers and creatives, including Brendan Fraser, Jamie Lee Curtis, Caitriona Balfe, Frank Grillo, Miranda Cosgrove, Jai Courtney, Chris Columbus and James Cameron. Dan joins How-To Geek as a Senior Editor. When he's not writing about entertainment, Dan is either watching a movie or praying for the New York Knicks to win a championship. I still believe in pilot episodes. Though the streaming model has changed the importance of pilot episodes, the first episode is still one of the biggest factors in determining whether a viewer will continue watching the show or abandon it. A common theme with the greatest shows of all time is that they have signature pilot episodes. Thanks to its mix of originals and licensed content, Netflix has a wealth of shows with terrific first episodes. Once I watched these pilots, I was hooked. One is an excellent sports docuseries, while another is a riveting spy thriller. However, my top pick is a crime show about a teacher who gets caught up in some illegal cooking. 5 The OA Embrace the strangeness I mean this as a compliment: The OA is for those who love weird stuff. Consider me one of those people. The OA is easily one of Netflix's boldest and strangest shows. Created by Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, The OA is a show that combines science fiction, supernatural elements, and fantasy. You might be confused by the show's multiverse, and that's OK. You don't need to understand everything to enjoy the innovative story. Within the first minute, Prairie Johnson (Marling) jumps off a bridge and survives the fall. Prairie has been missing for seven years, and despite being blind upon her disappearance, she can now see. How's that for an opening scene? Prairie calls herself the OA ("original angel"), and she needs help creating a portal to another dimension. When I say to expect the unexpected, I mean it. Also, The OA, which doesn't run its title card until nearly an hour into the first episode, is so cocky that I respect it. The OA has 16 episodes across two seasons. The OA Release Date 2016 - 2019-00-00 4 Bodyguard A conflicted soldier finds himself in a troublesome situation I think enough time has passed since his character’s death on Game of Thrones that Richard Madden is no longer just "the guy who played Robb Stark." Madden didn't have enough time to show his full arsenal in Game of Thrones. Bodyguard is a much better dramatic showcase for Madden, who won a Golden Globe for his performance. In the opening sequence of Bodyguard, Police Sergeant David Budd (Madden) thwarts a suicide bomber's plan on a train to London. Budd's heroics land him a job as a bodyguard for the Home Secretary, Julia Montague (Keeley Hawes), a controversial politician whom he thoroughly disagrees with. Bodyguard gets better with each episode, as the audience learns more about Budd, Montague, and the terrorist plot. With only six episodes, you can easily finish Bodyguard in one weekend. Bodyguard has one season of six episodes. 3 The Last Dance One final run with the Chicago Bulls Let’s travel back to April 2020. The pandemic is in the early stages. All of the major sports leagues had put their seasons on hold. As a diehard sports fan, I didn’t know what to watch. I was craving competition of some kind. Thankfully, ESPN and Netflix accelerated the release of The Last Dance, with the first two episodes premiering on April 19, 2020. ESPN, thank you. The 10-episode documentary gave me something to look forward to every Sunday for the next month. The Last Dance examines the final year of the Chicago Bulls dynasty during the 1997-1998 season. The series also explores the origins of Michael Jordan’s career with the Bulls and how the team went from good to great. The Last Dance is catnip for hoops fans. It’s also an informative documentary about sacrifice and what it takes to achieve greatness, two themes that appeal to general audiences. The Last Dance consists of 10 episodes. 2 Homeland Showtime's Emmy-winning drama involving espionage Give me Claire Danes playing a distressed woman in a psychological thriller, and I’m sold. Danes played CIA operations officer Carrie Mathison in Homeland, Showtime’s spy drama based on the Israeli series Prisoners of War. Carrie learns from an informant that an American POW has been turned. Carrie suspects the traitor is Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis), a Marine held captive by al-Qaeda for eight years. You find out by the end of the first episode whether Carrie might be onto something. Once that twist is revealed, Homeland becomes an invigorating spy thriller where lines are blurred and allegiances are questioned. The show goes off the rails in later seasons. But those first three seasons, especially the first, are excellent. Homeland has 96 episodes across eight seasons. 1 Breaking Bad Say my name My pick for the greatest show of all time is Breaking Bad, Vince Gilligan’s crime drama about a teacher with cancer who turns to cooking meth for money. People forget that Breaking Bad was not a ratings darling early on. In fact, AMC nearly canceled the show, which would have been a tragedy. Thankfully, the show received a huge increase in viewership after the first three seasons became available on Netflix. Thank you, streaming! Breaking Bad’s pilot introduces Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a high school science teacher diagnosed with lung cancer. Given two years to live, Walt decides to cook crystal meth with his former student, drug dealer Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), to ensure his family’s financial future. The riveting pilot frames Walt’s decision to cook drugs as admirable, which makes his inevitable turn into a ruthless villain that much more shocking. Breaking Bad has 62 episodes across five seasons. More shows to check out It's the weekend, so I'm always looking for new shows to watch. One of the shows I'm eyeing is Brothers, Apple TV's comedy starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. It's no True Detective, but any excuse to watch McConaughey and Harrelson show off their innate chemistry is something I want to watch. Subscription with ads Yes, $8/month Simultaneous streams Two or four