You read that right. After months of empty threats of cancelling our family’s Netflix subscription, my dad has finally come through on that promise. As of October 12th, my Netflix subscription will be terminated so that my family can get HBO Max instead. Why we can’t have both streaming platforms is a complexity that my father just can’t seem to explain. As we also have Amazon Prime, Hulu (with ads ugh), and cable, I know that there will still be plenty of things for me to stream. Still, there are some originals on Netflix that just can’t be found anywhere else, so I ranked the 15 I have viewed.

15) The Umbrella Academy

I know that a second season of this show came out, but I have personally not found the time or motivation to watch it. Again, while the first season was fine and I finished it, there was nothing that really drew me in and made me want to see what this family would get into next. If you are interested, it is about a family with super powers that has to save the world or something.

14) Outer Banks

I was not a fan of this show but I feel obligated to include it. Yeah it is pretty cool that they shot this southern action show here, but the acting and plots are subpar. I did finish season 1 in quarantine, but I could not bring myself to watch season 2, as the clips I saw are just beyond unrealistic.

13) Stranger Things

Controversial opinion here: Stranger Things just isn’t that good. I have tried multiple times to make myself like this show, and it is just not possible. Maybe it is because Millie Bobby Brown annoys me, or maybe I just can’t seem to relate to a show where the main characters are younger than me. Still, season 4 looks really good so maybe I will just skip over to that one.

12) Ginny and Georgia

I watched this show when it first came out, and it’s another okay one. While I will most likely watch season 2 when it comes out, I wouldn’t say that Ginny and Georgia really stood out or changed my life for the better. The main summary of the show is that it’s about a girl and her young mom moving to a new town to restart their life, but the daughter is pretty self-absorbed so it is difficult to watch.

11)  Emily in Paris

Every few months my mom and I agree on a Netflix show to watch together which inevitably takes months to watch because of our conflicting schedules. So, the 10 episodes of Emily in Paris, a quirky little show about an American in marketing that travels to Paris, took a while to get through. Ultimately, the show was pretty unmemorable, and there was a lot of outrage when it was nominated for some awards. While Lily Collins is pretty problematic, I liked the idea behind the show, and I’m hoping season 2 will produce some better writing.

10) On my Block

I started watching On My Block at the beginning of quarantine two years ago. First of all, I love the theme song, which is “Changes” by DeJ Loaf. While I don’t remember much else from the first three seasons, I did just finish the fourth season. The first few episodes were pretty good but after about episode 5 it became a chore to watch.

9) Never Have I Ever

This show is about an Indian-American teenager growing up while facing struggles with her identity. I didn’t even know this show was a thing when it first came out, but this summer I saw a few clips and became interested, so I promptly watched the two seasons currently available in a matter of days. While the writing shows that producers seriously have no idea how teenagers speak, I really liked this show. With some satirical commentary from John McEnroe, this show was funnier than expected and had two likeable love interests.

8) Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

This show is a remake of the classic Sabrina the Teenage Witch. I kept up for the first few seasons, but ultimately I moved on to bigger and better things. While I like this modernized take, which includes Mckenna Grace, Hollywood’s current favorite young star, you can tell that this came from the same production team as Riverdale. Still, I think the storylines are interesting and I would recommend this one.

7) Bridgerton

This period piece about a wealthy English family was wildly overrated. Sorry to Anna Cook’s article last year, but I don’t think it deserved the hype it got. I thought it was fine, and I did finish the first season, but the main character annoyed me. Furthermore, while I am obsessed with period pieces, I don’t think this show really lived up to past shows or its Gossip Girl ideals. Still, I think the fact that the next season will revolve around a different sibling will keep the show interesting, so I will probably be tuning back in.

6) Squid Game

Is there any explanation necessary here? All anyone has talked about the past week was “Player 456 this” and “Player 067 that.” Personally, I thought the first few episodes were interesting but it began to dull out. If you want some more information on this show in particular you should check out Mary and Gray’s articles.

5) The Crown

This drama about Queen Elizabeth II is another show that my mom and I watched together. While I peeled off around season 2, she has kept up with it and I will randomly sit in while she watches the Diana episodes. The show couldn’t keep me consistently interested, probably because the entire cast looks identical to me, but I commend it in general. The Crown and its cast have received many awards that I think they are deserving of.

4) You

While season 1 didn’t really hook me, season 2 definitely did. Jenny Ortega is one of those celebrities that has always bugged me for no reason, but Penn Badgley and Victoria Pedretti excellently play psychopaths that still have you rooting for their victory. Unfortunately, with the next season releasing October 15th, just three days after my subscription ends, I will not be able to watch season 3 of this cutting edge drama (unless someone wants to let me leech off their account 😉).

3) Elite

Love. I originally watched this Spanish-speaking show in English back in the beginning of quarantine and although I always get slightly annoyed by the dub being off, I binged all three seasons. I like that while the seasons are cohesive, there’s a new problem each season that will enamor you. Additionally, all the seasons begin in media res, and each episode has flashbacks so that the audience is solving the mystery at the same time as the characters. I also watched a couple episodes with the original audio for some Spanish summer work, and that’s also a good watch option.

2) Sex Education

I am currently binging season 3 before my subscription ends. With a very fun cast, this show explores many of the modern problems that teenagers face, in a way that doesn’t care to censor any of the hard truths. I personally really like Aimee and Eric, and I am interested to see where this season takes them as I am only on episode 2 while I write this.

1) The Society

I was obsessed when this show came out a couple years ago. This modern take on Lord of the Flies is a lesser known drama, which is probably why it was not renewed for a second season. While Netflix did make this grievous mistake, you shouldn’t so I would suggest you go watch this immediately, although it will leave you on a cliffhanger that will never be answered.

While these are 15 shows I have found the time to watch, there are a lot more out there. I’ve also heard good things about Shadow and Bone, Tiny Pretty Things, Quicksand, and Money Heist. Netflix Original Movies typically rank pretty low on Rotten Tomatoes–take She’s All That for example–so I wouldn’t waste my time on those. With that being said, I’m off to HBOMax, so in a month when my dad ends that subscription maybe you will be seeing another article like this.