Top 10 Netflix Series 2021

Netflix, formerly the unquestioned Goliath of television streaming, has had an eventful year. Netflix's premium television selection decreased as rivals like HBO Max and Apple TV+ expanded their lineups with compelling originals and oldies. That is until the second half of the year arrived, and the platform abruptly dropped Squid Game and Maid. It regained its proper position as the alpha dog.

In the past year, Netflix has produced something for everyone, from the return of the Moordale High students to the launch of a new chair in the English department at Pembroke University. More were present. We have no clue where the time has gone, but as we go into the new year, it's time to select the top 10 Netflix original television series from 2021.

1. Maid

On October 1, the Netflix limited series Maid debuted on the service, and it has since consistently been among the Top 5 Shows in numerous nations. The Queen's Gambit, last year's great blockbuster, was seen by 62 million members; according to Netflix, the series is on track to reach 67 million homes in its first four weeks. If you haven't seen Maid yet, it's a 10-episode limited series that follows a young woman struggling with domestic abuse, poverty, homelessness, and a tumultuous mother-daughter relationship. Maid's success has been overshadowed in the media by Squid Game's astounding success (viewed by an amazing 142 million accounts).

The Series Maid was influenced by the New York Times best-selling memoir Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive by Stephanie Land. The television adaptation of the novel focuses more on Alex's interactions with her mother, Paula, and ex-boyfriend, Sean. Alex, played by Margaret Qualley, is a young mother fleeing an abusive marriage. In the first episode of the series, Alex sneaks out of her relationship with Sean (Nick Robinson) and leaves with their little daughter. Alex, unemployed and homeless, struggles to make ends meet so that she and her little daughter Maddy, who Rylea Nevaeh Whittet portrays, can live. Alex truly has no one to turn to for assistance. Andie MacDowell, Qualley's mother, plays her mother, Paula, an eccentric artist who demonstrates to be untrustworthy and unable to watch out for Alex. Her absent father, Hank (Billy Burke), initially shows little interest in assisting. All of Alex's pals belong to Sean. She is left to care for her daughter and herself alone. She turns to social services for assistance but receives little meaningful aid. She does get a position at Value Maids thanks to the social worker, but more than the salary is needed to support her.

2. Squid Games

A Korean series with a strange name is the most popular program on Netflix. A world where children's games become deadly is the subject of the unsettling nine-episode television series Squid Game. The first Korean drama to top the Netflix charts just four days after its premiere, Squid Game is the greatest series launch in business history. Bloody and brutal, it is also incredibly bingeable and addicting. Here are some details regarding the highly successful program.

Minor plot spoilers are in store. However, we'll cover the essentials of the program and not who survives or dies.

Squid Game, which debuted on streaming services on September 17, centres on a group of South Koreans who are deeply in debt. When they realize that the games could be their only opportunity to gain the money they need to survive, several agree to return after being misled into a fatal tournament of children's games. There is a lot on the line: 45 billion South Korean won, or $38 million (£27 million, AU$52 million), but the chances of surviving are slim. Imagine The Hunger Games with just Red Light, Green Light, and marbles contests.

3. Sex Education

The main character of this British series, Otis Milburn, portrayed by Asa Butterfield, and his high school pals are the source of the series' name. Otis becomes a sex therapist for his fellow high school students due to a sequence of incidents. His mother is a sex therapist, Jean Milburn, as portrayed by Gillian Anderson.

Asa needs to give his peers the same advice his mother gives to grownups. When this happens accidentally, Maeve Wiley notices it (Emma Mackey). Maeve recognizes the potential for profit, so she comes to a deal with Asa whereby she will discover customers who require sex and manage all business matters (collecting the money).

The movie introduces Otis and Maeve's classmates using the subject of sex therapy, but the underlying tale is one of a high school student "coming of age." Asa's mother is quite direct with him, so as he develops into a therapist, he becomes accustomed to handling awkward circumstances. Connor Swindells, who plays Adam Groff, and Alistair Petrie, who plays Mr. Goff, Adam's father and the headmaster of Moordale Secondary School, round out the cast.

The television show "Coming of Age" has 45-minute episodes. Other students from the high school make an appearance, including Eric (Ncuti Gatwa), who must confront his homosexuality. Another: Tanya Reynolds' character Lily is anxious to break her virginity. The other high school students who visit Asa for sex therapy include Aimee Lou Wood (who solves her problem by taking matters into her own hands), Mimi Keene (who frustrates her lesbian partner), and Kedar Williams-Stirling (a sex symbol whose two mothers are having a difficult time getting along), all of whom have different sexual problems.

4. The Chair

The Pembroke College English department's continuous work is displayed in The Chair series. Ji-Yoon Kim of Sandra Oh is responsible for leading the department because it is doing better than it once did. Ji-Yoon, played by Sandra Oh, is often put in awkward positions throughout the series, yet she always manages to shine. To control her daughter and her life, Ji-Yoon seeks strategies to deal with the numerous dramatic situations that arise in the institution. The 30-minute episodes maintain the audience's interest by revealing the inner workings of a department that has been using a systematic strategy of racism and sexism that has been ingrained in them for decades. They also try to alter it by designating an Asian professor as chair, but it is insufficient.

Ji-Yoon realizes that she is not the one who can alter the department as a result of the challenges she encounters due to other teachers' demands and everyone's expectations, where no one is willing to accept responsibility for their acts. Ji-Yoon, portrayed by Sandra Oh, is the protagonist of the show. She attempts to pull things together, but no one seems to grasp her viewpoint, no one helps her, and everyone loads her with their theatrics. In addition to having to behave like a mother to every one of her coworkers, Ji-Yoon is also unable to comprehend her daughter. The only person who assists her is her father, who takes care of Ju Ju, although he is also constrained by Ju Ju's behaviour and the little language barrier.

When viewed through Ji-viewpoint, Yoon's series occasionally gets tiresome. Along with the voyage are the embarrassing situations and embarrassing bystander reactions. Jay Duplass' character, Bill Dobson, has been dealing with his wife's loss and makes things worse by putting himself in awkward situations. Despite this, he manages to maintain some control over his life, even though he feels completely alone since his daughter departed for college. It was a great surprise to have David Duchovny there, and learning about his academic accomplishments was fascinating.

5. I Think You Should Leave

Tim Robinson returns for Season 2 of his instantly cult-classic sketch comedy series I Think You Should Leave after his hot dog skit, which became a meme, went global. The hot dog is a recurring motif. All six 15-minute episodes are hilarious and bizarre; you can watch them all in one sitting.

Although the idea of I Think You Should Leave isn't very novel - pop culture parodies, office etiquette, and awkward dinner dates are all staples of sketch comedy - it is one of the funniest and most contemporary TV comedies. Although its humour is usually called "wacky" or "out there," it isn't so far-fetched that its origins cannot be identified; in fact, Tim Heidecker and Bob Odenkirk from Tim & Eric and the Mr Show both make guest appearances. Yet much humour that dares to veer off the usual course does so at the risk of becoming lost in the weeds. I Think You Should Leave is so mind-blowingly amazing because it consistently takes detours along the path less travelled to humour while still arriving at its objective. Customers become accustomed to a particular hit-to-miss ratio.

6. Lupin

George Kay is the author of the French action-adventure mystery series Lupin. The show centres on the escapades of gentleman thief Assane Diop, who describes himself as today's Arsène Lupin.

The show debuted on Friday, January 8, 2021, and rapidly became the first French program to air on the streamer's American platform. A top ten list. With 76 million homes globally reached in its first 28 days, the debut instalment of the series broke a record for a French show on Netflix.

On Friday, June 11, 2021, the series' second instalment was made available. The series has been given a third season. Assane Diop, a gentleman burglar, embarks on a quest to get revenge on a wealthy family for an injustice done to his father after being inspired by Arsène Lupin's escapades.

7. You

In the third season, Joe and Love are married and living in the fictional Californian suburb of Madre Linda with their infant son, Henry. As the nature of their connection changes, Joe keeps repeating the cycle of obsession with a growing fascination for Natalie Engler, the neighbour. This time, Love reverses the narrative to make sure Joe's obsessive behaviour won't so easily shatter her goal of having the ideal family, but when Love murders Natalie, Joe becomes fixated with Marienne, a librarian with whom he shares a rough upbringing in the foster system. Theo, Natalie's stepson, develops a passionate love for Love, further straining the connection between Joe and Love.

8. High on the Hog

The brand-new "High on the Hog" on Netflix is more than a cooking, history, or travel program. All those genres are joyfully combined, and it's infused with a great regard for the people and places that helped shape African American food, which later evolved into American food.

The four-part series, based on Jessica B. Harris' seminal book of the same name, goes to Benin, West Africa, as well as cities in South Carolina, Texas, Philadelphia, and New York. By doing this, the program exposes the histories behind the cuisine served at African American tables and how it relates to Black history.

Food-loving filmmakers Karis Jagger and Fabienne Toback came up with the idea for "High on the Hog"; they acted as executive producers and hired "Life, Animated" director Roger Ross Williams. The initiative marked Stephen Satterfield's first TV hosting role as a food writer, chef, and sommelier.

9. The Serpent

Netflix presently has a streaming version of The Serpent, a BBC crime thriller starring Charles Sobhraj. Tahar Rahim and Jenna Coleman provide mainly great performances in this well-shot thriller, but the plot and the characters are miscast, and the writing is weak. Dominik Scherrer's fantastic soundtrack adds even more power to the film. Charles Sobhraj, a transnational criminal, is the centre of The Serpent. The program examines his robberies, murders, and crimes in various settings and contexts.

The Serpent tells the story of Charles Sobhraj's life and deeds. By hopping over several eras and situations, it expands and investigates his various occurrences and victims. The numerous heartbreaking events in this episode include how three people drugged, robbed, and killed innocent travellers, but the storyline is what prevents it from rising above the ordinary.

Three individual victims and their timeframes are introduced right from the first episode. However, the amazing magnetism that Charles possessed and used to attract his victims cannot be as well-represented. The Serpent cranks up the pace and raises the stakes for Sobhraj after a few initially plodding episodes, and from that point on, its atmosphere starts to become even more alluring, and The Serpent may have easily been among the finest crime series to have appeared recently if it weren't for the strange timeframes and a few subpar performances.

10. Pretend It's a City

With the help of renowned author and comic Fran Lebowitz, the spectator explores and learns about New York City in the documentary Pretend It's A City. The documentary features interviews with filmmaker Martin Scorsese and is a celebration and a mockery of New York's oddities, nooks, and offensive odours. Lebowitz discusses living in New York City with her pal Scorsese. Throughout the movie, there are snippets of old television interviews and videos of Scorsese and Lebowitz exploring the city.