8 Near-Perfect Netflix Miniseries That Nobody Remembers Today

Published Sep 5, 2026, 8:30 AM EDT Adrienne Tyler is a movies & TV features writer, with a focus on horror. She has written for Netflix, FanSided, & more. She was a regular guest on the Netfreaks podcast and was a YouTuber at some point. Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once. Netflix has produced many great TV shows and miniseries, and in the latter group, it has some near-perfect shows that have become forgotten for different reasons. Although there’s now a lot of competition in the world of streaming, Netflix is still one of the most popular and bigger platforms. Netflix’s success has been, in large part, thanks to its original content, both movies and TV shows. Some Netflix original TV projects now rank among the best TV shows of all time, and it has something for all types of viewers. While some of the best Netflix original shows are multi-season ones, such as Ozark, Dark, BoJack Horseman, and Stranger Things, the streamer is also home to great miniseries. Some notable examples are The Haunting of Hill House, Maid, The Queen’s Gambit, Adolescence, and Baby Reindeer, all of them covering different topics and with different tones and styles. However, while some miniseries have succeeded, others have become forgotten. A miniseries doesn’t have to be bad to end up being forgotten by the audience, as many great shows have had that fate for a variety of reasons – from bad marketing to low viewership and sometimes bigger competition that ultimately overshadowed them. Luckily, these Netflix miniseries can still be enjoyed on the platform, and with time, they could finally reach a wider audience and more recognition. Quicksand Quicksand is a Swedish psychological crime drama miniseries based on Malin Persson Giolito’s 2016 novel of the same name. Quicksand is the story of Maja Norberg (Hanna Ardéhn), an 18-year-old high school student arrested and suspected of murder after a school shooting takes place at her school. Also found on the scene is Maja’s ex-boyfriend, Sebastian (Felix Sandman), who Maja admits to killing, but denies the school shooting. What follows is the trial, with flashbacks to explore how Maja and Sebastian met, the development of their toxic relationship, and the events that lead to the tragedy at Djursholm senior high school. Like many other great non-English Netflix TV shows, Quicksand got no promotional campaign, and international shows like it rarely catch the attention of a wider, English-speaking audience. Ripley Netflix Ripley is a neo-noir psychological thriller miniseries based on Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley. Set in 1961 New York, Ripley introduces the audience to Tom Ripley (Andrew Scott), a down-at-heel con-man. Ripley ends up being hired by a wealthy man to convince his son, Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn), to return home from Italy – however, the man is unaware of Ripley’s actions and methods, and meeting Dickie kickstarts a web of deceit, fraud, and murder for Ripley. Ripley was a critical success, praised for its approach to the novel (which was famously adapted into a movie in 1999, starring Matt Damon), pace, Scott’s performance, and visuals. Despite its positive critical reception, Ripley failed to reach a wide audience, getting low viewership numbers from the beginning, with some pointing out its black-and-white aesthetic as a weakness and one of the main reasons why viewers didn’t feel initially drawn to it. Katla Katla is an Icelandic mystery-drama TV series created by Baltasar Kormákur and Sigurjón Kjartansson. Katla takes place a year after the eruption of the Katla volcano, with only a few people still living in the nearby town of Vík despite the dangers. A woman who disappeared 20 years earlier suddenly appears, covered in ash, and not having aged a single day – and this is only the first of many other dead, ash-caked people appearing in town, making the residents believe in the legends of “changelings.” As the town residents try to find a reason for their return, they also struggle with the emotions and unresolved issues from the past that emerge alongside their dead loved ones. Katla has been praised for its emotional depth and complexity, concept, and pace, as well as for how it addresses themes like grief and death. Like other international Netflix shows on this list, Katla didn’t get the promotional campaign it deserved. Clark Clark is a Swedish miniseries based on the life of Swedish criminal Clark Olofsson. As such, Clark tells the wild and at times unbelievable journey of Clark Olofsson (Bill Skarsgård), from his difficult childhood to becoming a juvenile criminal and using his natural charisma to commit various crimes throughout his adulthood. However, Clark leaves the audience wondering how much of what they just saw is true and which parts are lies, which is, ultimately, part of the show’s charm. Olofsson’s Norrmalmstorg robbery made way for the term “Stockholm syndrome.” Clark was well-received by critics, who noted its pace, blend of drama and comedy, and Skarsgård’s performance as some of its strengths. Despite its critical success, Clark didn’t get much attention when it was released, and remains one of Netflix’s most underrated hidden gems. Unorthodox Unorthodox is a German drama miniseries based on Deborah Feldman's 2012 autobiography of the same name. Unorthodox tells the story of Esty Shapiro (Shira Haas), a 19-year-old Jewish woman in an unhappy arranged marriage in the Satmar sect in New York City. Esty escapes and runs away to Berlin, where her estranged mother lives, and does her best to live a secular life and reject all the beliefs she grew up with. When her husband learns of Esty's pregnancy, he's sent to Berlin by the rabbi to find her. Unorthodox holds a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes critics' score, and has been praised for its themes, how it approached its source material, and Haas’ performance. As it's only four episodes long and is a self-contained story, Unorthodox didn't get much attention. Dracula Based on Bram Stoker's classic 1897 novel, the miniseries Dracula was developed by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat. Dracula tells the story of Count Dracula (Claes Bang), from his origins in Eastern Europe to meeting Mina Murray and Jonathan Harker, and facing the descendants of Van Helsing. Dracula blends horror, drama, and humor, though without turning it into a comedy, and with just three episodes, it's a perfect binge-watch. However, it's worth noting that some of the reasons why it became a forgotten Netflix miniseries is that it had some disappointing twists and a quality drop in the final episode that viewers didn't appreciate. Still, Dracula is worth checking out. Archive 81 Netflix Archive 81 is a supernatural horror TV series based on the podcast of the same name by Daniel Powell and Marc Sollinger. Archive 81 follows Dan Turner (Mamoudou Athie), a film archivist hired to restore a collection of damaged videotapes from 1994. The tapes are about Melody Pendras (Dina Shihabi), who was investigating a cult that resided in an apartment building that mysteriously burned down. Dan and Melody end up forming a psychological bond despite living in different decades, and they find themselves in the middle of a disturbing mystery. Archive 81 wasn’t made as a miniseries, instead becoming one after its cancelation after one season. Archive 81 is now one of Netflix’s best and most underrated horror shows, and its cancelation, slow-burn pace, and unresolved story have led to it not being widely remembered. Bodies Bodies is a British sci-fi mystery thriller series based on Si Spencer’s graphic novel of the same name. The events of Bodies begin with the appearance of a dead body in the Whitechapel area of London – however, the same body appears in the same location in 1890, 1941, 2023, and 2053. Four detectives, one from each year, take on the case, and their investigations soon become interlinked, and they make a major, disturbing discovery. Bodies is one of the best crime TV shows of the decade, but also one of the most underrated and lesser known. One of Bodies’ strengths, like with most of the shows on this list, is that it tells a complete story in just a couple of episodes, but that also led to it not having a lingering effect on the audience. Release Date 2023 - 2023-00-00 Showrunner Paul Tomalin Directors Marco Kreuzpainter, Haolu Wang Writers Paul Tomalin, Danusia Samal