7 Netflix Mystery Shows That Hook You in the First Scene

Image via Netflix Published Nov 5, 2026, 2:09 PM EST Michael Block is a 14 time GLAM Award nominated writer, producer, and host of the podcast Block Talk. Throughout his time in the entertainment industry, he has worked on and off Broadway as a stage manager, written several produced plays, critiqued hundreds of theatrical performances, drag and cabaret shows, and has produced events randing from drag competitoons to variety concerts! On Block Talk, he interviews nightlife personalities, covers the wide world of entertainment through features, ranking episodes, and recaps ALL of Drag Race, as well as Dragula and Survivor. He has interviewed hundreds of RuGirls that span the globe at DragCon NYC, DragCon LA, and DragCon UK. In his free time, he makes one-of-a-kind jewelry and gift baskets with his mom. He is a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community. Sign in to your Collider account Leading the streaming crusade, Netflix has stood at the top of excellent content. From legendary shows during its early days like Orange Is the New Black to modern masterpieces like The Diplomat, viewers seek brilliant, risky storytelling for their binge-watching pleasure. The thrill of a good series is being drawn in so much that you'll keep watching until the very end. When it comes to Netflix's mystery options, a handful hook you within the first scene. We are here to honor the incredible mystery-centric shows that hook you instantly. From a terrifying, disorienting wake-up that establishes the entire story to the discovery of a body that sets the mystery into hyperdrive, these shows master the art of immediate intrigue. While Netflix has some perfect shows that are incredible all the way through, they don't have the same brilliant hook as these seven entries. 'Bodies' (2023) Image via Netflix Sometimes high-concept narratives scare people away, but Bodies is a highly addictive puzzle that pulls you in instantly. Created by Paul Tomalin, Bodies is based on the DC Vertigo graphic novel of the same name. The eight-episode sci-fi mystery thriller follows four different detectives in four distinct eras who all discover the exact same unidentified body in a London alleyway. As their investigations unfold across time, they realize their cases are deeply interconnected. Together, they must unravel a massive, century-spanning conspiracy that threatens humanity's future. A truly brilliant and gripping thriller, Bodies succeeds because you're dropped right into the seismic action. To kick off the story, streetlights in London begin to flicker and pop just before Detective Sergeant Shahara Hasan (Amaka Okafor) is deployed to police a far-right protest. While monitoring the tense crowd, Shahara spots a suspicious teenage boy hiding behind a bin and carrying a gun. Against orders, she chases him through the streets until he leads her into Longharvest Lane in Whitechapel. There, instead of a simple cornered suspect, she discovers a naked, dead white male body lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to the eye. The victim doesn't just lie there cold—he gasps out a terrified, reality-bending statement before bolting, instantly elevating the mystery from a standard murder to something deeply unsettling. By plunging the audience into high-stakes, chaotic action that defies conventional crime-drama logic, the premiere makes it clear this mystery is unlike any other thriller you've seen. Rather than lingering as a slow-burn procedural, the premiere swiftly layers in parallel historical and futuristic teasers, creating an immediate puzzle of time and causality. It's an adrenaline-fueled opening that packs a thrilling punch. 'Dark' (2017–2020) Image via Netflix While many people point to Squid Game as the foreign language thriller that changed the game, the German sci-fi mystery thriller Dark paved the way first. Created by Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese, Dark follows four interconnected families in the small town of Winden as a child's disappearance uncovers a multi-generational time-travel conspiracy. As the characters search for the truth across linked timelines in 1953, 1986, and 2019, they become trapped in a deterministic loop of fate and cause and effect. For three strong seasons, Dark served as a brilliant time-travel drama that explores the existential implications of time and its effect on human nature and life. In the first scene of the series, a voice-over recites a quote by Albert Einstein about time being an illusion, accompanied by a montage of ticking clocks, a complex cork board of interconnected strings and photos, and a dark study room. The sequence then moves directly to November 19, 2019, where Michael Kahnwald (Sebastian Rudolph) stands in his attic, seals a mysterious letter with strict instructions—"Do not open before November 4th at 10:13 p.m."—looks at a family photograph, and commits suicide by hanging himself. The shocking scene subverts the standard true-crime missing-persons formula and replaces it with cold, existential dread. The scene follows a calculated, deeply unsettling thematic blueprint that lets you know you are watching a tragedy already in motion. The camera lingers on this devastating, quiet moment, leaving you with urgent questions: why he did it, what's in the letter, and the significance of that specific date. By the time the hypnotic, mirrored opening credits roll to the tune of Apparat's "Goodbye," the show had already laid out its entire central puzzle. 'Mindhunter' (2017–2019) A truly unique entry into the true crime genre, the psychological crime thriller Mindhunter, created by Joe Penhall, is based on Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit by John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker. The series follows FBI agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany) as they pioneer the Behavioral Science Unit. Alongside psychologist Dr. Wendy Carr (Anna Torv), they interview incarcerated serial killers to understand their psychology and apply these insights to active murder cases. The series also explores the heavy emotional toll and institutional skepticism the team faces as it builds the foundation of modern criminal profiling. Tackling the crime genre in a unique way, this two-season series introduces a new way to analyze crime stories. The series opens in Braddock, Pennsylvania, in 1977 with a tense hostage standoff that serves as the catalyst for the entire series. A deeply disturbed man named Cody Miller (David H. Holmes) robs a liquor store, steals a shotgun, and barricades himself inside a building with a woman and several other hostages. As local police bark orders, young FBI Special Agent Holden Ford arrives as the hostage negotiator. Holden tries to de-escalate the situation by establishing an empathetic, human connection with the suspect. He taps into the suspect's delusion as Cody demands to see his wife and begins shouting that he is literally invisible. Holden speaks softly, telling Cody that he can see he is cold, which coaxes Cody to pull his pants back up and take his primary hostage back inside. Holden learns Cody's wife is arriving, but advises against letting them speak. Realizing his demands aren't being met and that his "invisibility" is failing, Cody suddenly stops listening to Holden and blows his own head off with a shotgun. The scene closes with Holden returning home covered in blood, trying and failing to scrub the stain out of his white dress shirt. The scene establishes the series' central conflict as Holden doesn't see the result as a success, left obsessed with the realization that traditional, authoritative FBI methods fail against abnormal psychology. Directed by David Fincher, the sudden, graphic shock instantly breaks traditional television formulas and signals to the audience that no one is safe. Holden's failure will eventually become his success, as the traditional rules of law enforcement are entirely useless against a changing landscape of irrational, deeply broken minds. 'The Madness' (2024) Image via Netflix A seemingly forgotten series, The Madness is an action conspiracy thriller unlike anything you've ever experienced. Created by Stephen Belber, The Madness follows Muncie Daniels (Colman Domingo), a prominent media pundit and political commentator. While on a solo writing retreat in the Pocono Mountains, Muncie stumbles upon the body of a murdered white supremacist and is framed for the assassination. Forced to go on the run as a fugitive, he must navigate a web of mass disinformation and expose a deep political conspiracy to clear his name and keep his family safe. A high-octane thrill ride, The Madness is all about Domingo and his dominating performance from the jump. In the opening scene, Muncie wakes up disoriented and alone in the Poconos woods, stumbles onto a nearby roadway, and flags down a ride. He goes to a local family restaurant where patrons stare at him, and he tells police officers Wagner (Hamish Allan-Headley) and Lutz (Dylan Taylor) he's had a rough morning. Suddenly, flashes of memory surface before he transitions to getting makeup done and preparing to host his CNN-style television program. The scene immediately grips you by using a flash-forward technique that forces instant empathy and high-stakes mystery. Rather than build to the crisis, the series drops you directly into the terrifying aftermath of a violent event. Injured, bloodied, and completely disoriented, the audience is instantly placed in his exact shoes as the protagonist. The peace is shattered as Muncie is shown frantically sprinting through the woods while a gunshot rings out in the distance. The shaky, claustrophobic cinematography mimics a raw survival instinct, generating immediate adrenaline and a palpable sense of danger. Then, by moving from frantic chaos to Muncie's normal life, you are desperate to figure out how an articulate, high-profile media analyst could possibly end up running for his life in a remote swamp. Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which Netflix Character Would Be Your Best Friend? Dustin · Emily · Wednesday · Gi-hun Some friends drag you out of the house. Some sit with you on the worst night of your life. Netflix has written both, plus the one who tells you the truth you have been avoiding all week. Answer eight quick questions about how you actually do friendship, and find out which of them was always going to end up in your corner. 🧢Dustin(Stranger Things) 🗼Emily(Emily in Paris) 🕷️Wednesday(Wednesday) 🟢Gi-hun(Squid Game) FIND YOUR BEST FRIEND → 01 How do you usually end up making a new friend? The origin story says a lot about the friendship that follows it. AWe got loud about the same obsession and never stopped. BThey invited me somewhere before we had properly met. CWe bonded over disliking exactly the same thing. DThey noticed I was struggling and stayed with me. NEXT QUESTION → 02 What is a perfect Saturday with your best friend? Friendship is mostly built out of very ordinary hours. AA ridiculous plan neither of us should attempt. BSomewhere new, photographed heavily, ending very late. CSomewhere quiet, few people, zero small talk. DSomething simple, and a conversation that actually matters. NEXT QUESTION → 03 You call them at two in the morning. What happens? This is the real test of a friendship, and everybody knows it. AThey are already putting their shoes on. BThey answer instantly and turn it into a plan. CThey answer and say something unflattering and true. DThey listen for an hour and never check the time. NEXT QUESTION → 04 What do you want from them when you are clearly wrong? The best friendships are the ones that survive being corrected. ASupport first. We can review the mistake later. BA relentlessly positive reframe of the entire disaster. CThe blunt version. Do not soften it for me. DPatience, and no judgment about how I got here. NEXT QUESTION → 05 What do your friends actually value about you? The friend you attract says something about the friend you are. AI am all in, always, about everything. BI can turn almost any situation into a good time. CI say the thing nobody else in the room will. DI look after whoever is having the worst day. NEXT QUESTION → 06 You have a falling out. How does it go? How a friendship repairs itself matters more than how it breaks. ALoudly, briefly, then back to normal by Tuesday. BThey apologise first, enthusiastically, with a gift. CCold silence, then one dry joke that fixes everything. DWe talk until we both understand what actually happened. NEXT QUESTION → 07 What do you actually need a best friend for? Everybody is missing something. The right friend fills that gap. ATo make my life bigger than it would be alone. BTo push me out of the house and into my own life. CTo catch me when I start lying to myself. DTo be the person who never gave up on me. NEXT QUESTION → 08 Ten years from now, what keeps the two of you close? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides who you get. AWe would still drop everything for each other, instantly. BWe still make plans, and we still actually go. CWe still cut through each other's nonsense in one sentence. DThey stood by me once when it cost them something. REVEAL MY BEST FRIEND → The Group Chat Has Spoken Your Best Friend Is…Four Netflix characters, four completely different ways of showing up for somebody. This is the one who fits how you actually do friendship, and what having them in your life would be like. Dustin HendersonYou do not do friendship at half volume, and neither does he. What you want is somebody who says yes to the plan before you have finished describing the plan. Dustin is the friend the entire show runs on: loyal past the point of sense, enthusiastic about everything, and incapable of leaving anybody behind. You have the same instinct. Your friendships are loud, specific and slightly ridiculous, and they last for decades because of it. He is also the one person who would take your strangest interest completely seriously, which is far rarer than it sounds. You would have a group chat. It would never once be quiet. Emily CooperYou are the friend who makes things happen, and so is she. Together you would be mildly exhausting to everyone around you and completely delighted with yourselves. Emily treats an ordinary Tuesday as something that could be turned into an occasion, which is either the best or the worst quality in a friend depending on your energy levels. You share her refusal to sit still. Neither of you has ever accepted a night in when something was happening somewhere else. She is far more loyal than people give her credit for. She defends her friends loudly, publicly, and occasionally before checking the facts. She would post the photo without asking. You would forgive her, because it is a very good photo. Wednesday AddamsYou have no patience for pleasant lies, and she has no ability to tell them. What looks like coldness from the outside is the most reliable friendship on this list. Wednesday never says a kind thing she does not mean, which makes the rare ones count for an enormous amount. You would rather be told the truth than be made comfortable. She is constitutionally incapable of offering you anything else. Underneath all of it she is ferociously protective. She simply refuses to make a performance out of caring. Do not expect a birthday message. Do expect her to ruin anyone who wrongs you. Seong Gi-hunYou look after whoever is having the worst day. So does he. It is the least strategic way to move through the world and the best possible quality in a friend. Gi-hun is not the strongest player in Squid Game, or the cleverest. He is the one who keeps choosing to protect somebody else, over and over, at genuine cost to himself. You have the same instinct. You notice who is struggling and you stay with them, long after anybody would blame you for leaving. He is a flawed friend, and that is part of why it lands. He lets people down, then comes back and tries again, which is more than most manage. He would give you his last chance and never once mention that he had done it. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 'The Night Agent' (2023–Present) Image via Netflix One of the greatest long-running Netflix series is The Night Agent. The highly addictive series, created by Shawn Ryan and based on the novel of the same name by Matthew Quirk, follows Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso), a low-level FBI agent who works in the basement of the White House monitoring a phone line that never rings—until the night it does. When a panicked tech CEO calls, Peter is thrust into a sprawling, fast-paced conspiracy involving a Russian mole at the highest levels of the U.S. government. As he runs to protect the witness and clear his own name, he uncovers secrets that lead all the way to the Oval Office. Moving into its fourth and final season, The Night Agent became an instant hit thanks to its simple yet evocative start. In the opening sequence, FBI agent Peter Sutherland boards a DC Metro train during his commute and notices a suspicious man leaving a backpack behind, which he discovers contains a timer-triggered bomb. He immediately forces the train to make an emergency stop in a dark tunnel and helps panic-stricken passengers escape into the underground structures. The bomb detonates moments later, sending a massive fireball through the tunnel and killing one civilian while saving dozens of others thanks to Peter's quick actions. While recovering from the blast, Peter spots the bomber standing among the bystanders on the surface and gives chase, though the suspect manages to elude him after Peter is hurt in a car accident. This high-octane start raises the stakes beyond his life-saving moment. It paints the protagonist as a competent, brave, and quick-thinking hero. The frantic life-or-death scale of the flashback contrasts sharply with the quiet, mundane reality of his day job: sitting in a dark White House basement waiting for a silent emergency phone to ring. This quick-fire tragedy gives Peter instant sympathetic context and raises the emotional weight of every political secret and threat that follows.​​​​​​​ 'The Residence' (2025) Image via Netflix Easily the biggest travesty of 2025 was the cancellation of The Residence, as it was simply perfect. But while many fans mourn the loss of a brilliant vehicle for Uzo Aduba, let's honor why it was so good. Created by Paul William Davies and inspired by The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House by Kate Andersen Brower, the Shondaland series is a comedic murder mystery set in the White House during a high-stakes state dinner. When the White House Chief Usher, A. B. Wynter (Giancarlo Esposito), is found dead, an eccentric and brilliant detective named Cordelia Cupp (Aduba) is brought in to solve the crime, sifting through 157 suspects among the mansion's staff and guests. The show follows Cupp as she teams up with skeptical FBI agent Edwin Park (Randall Park) to untangle the "upstairs, downstairs" whodunit. The Residence is a fun, cozy, campy romp that delivers the right amount of mystery from the start. In the opening scene, A.B. Wynter is found dead by the president's mother-in-law, Nan Cox (Jane Curtin), at 9:57 p.m. after a strange thump is heard. The death is immediately presented as an apparent suicide, with slit wrists and a suicide note. The president's chief adviser, Harry Hollinger (Ken Marino), and other officials try to rush a suicide ruling to avoid a political scandal during the state visit. But once the eccentric Cordelia Cupp arrives, she quickly spots fatal inconsistencies, including signs of poisoning and evidence that the body was moved. The first scene hooks you because of its abrupt, jarring contrast between extreme high-society elegance and sudden, chaotic horror. However, the show immediately subverts this stately elegance by ripping the audience up to the third floor. The story instantly becomes the ultimate locked-room mystery where everyone, even world leaders, is potential suspects. It thrusts the story into the messy inner workings of the staff who have just lost an integral cog of the building. With the arrival of Cupp, it's clear she will not play by the average rules, immediately leading you to adoring the lovable bird-watching underdog. ​​​​​​​ 'Untamed' (2025–Present) Image via Netflix A lesser appreciated crime drama, Untamed takes its audience to a beautiful local for a dark tale. Created by Mark L. Smith and Elle Smith, the thriller follows Kyle Turner (Eric Bana), a special agent for the National Parks Service, as he investigates the suspicious and brutal death of a woman who fell from El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Partnered with Naya Vasquez (Lily Santiago), a rookie ranger who recently transferred from Los Angeles, Turner must navigate a lawless wilderness to uncover a deep-seated criminal conspiracy hiding beneath the park's scenic beauty. As the investigation intensifies, the dark secrets of the park force him to confront long-buried trauma from his own troubled past. A wonderful example of suspense and tension building, Untamed hooks you with the shocking event that sets the wheels in motion. From the beginning, Untamed shows you the majestic locale the story is set in. The camera pans over Yosemite National Park before zooming in on the sheer rock face of El Capitan. Two rock climbers are scaling the cliff when a dead woman's body suddenly plummets from the summit above. The falling body crashes into their gear and gets tangled in their climbing ropes, violently tearing them off their anchors and putting both climbers' lives in immediate danger before they manage to stabilize themselves. It’s an utterly terrifying scene, and while your mind fears for the live ones, you rush to wonder why there is a dead body plummeting. With a breathtaking wilderness scale and immediate, visceral danger, the heart-stopping peril in a beautiful place reminds viewers that danger lurks anywhere. The sequence instantly forces the audience to wonder who the victim is, whether it is a murder or an accident, and how a body ended up at the top of one of the world's most famous rock formations. Untamed Release Date 2025 - 2025-00-00 Network Netflix Directors Nick Murphy Main Genre Drama Seasons 1 Producers Kevin Human Creator(s) Mark L. Smith, Elle Smith Executive Producer(s) Eric Bana, John Wells, Todd Black, Mark L. Smith, Steve Lee Jones, Elle Smith, Tony Shaw, Cliff Roberts, Thomas Bezucha, Erin Jontow