2025 has been an astonishing year for small-screen entertainment, a year that has featured everything from astonishing debuts like The Pitt and The Studio, miniseries sensations like Adolescence, and even pop-culture-defining continuations of ongoing shows like Severance. However, for all the continuations and expansions television has seen throughout the year, 2025 has also served up the final chapter of some of the modern era’s greatest series.
Encompassing everything from streaming sci-fi hits to superhero spectacles, dystopian dramas, crime capers, and even nostalgic comedy cult classics, the year has brought an end to many tremendous shows. Of course, the good thing about that is it’s now possible to return to the start and rewatch them from the beginning right through to the end to enjoy the story and spectacle anew.
10
‘Squid Game’ (2021–2025)
Exploding onto the scene in 2021, Squid Game fast became a worldwide cultural phenomenon for Netflix, an enthralling and playfully surreal story of survival laced with undertones of capitalist criticism and the desperation social disparity breeds. The premise is simple but invitingly brilliant, following hundreds of contestants as they participate in a series of children’s games amped up by deadly consequences for failure, with the last competitor standing claiming the cash prize.
Over the course of its three seasons, Squid Game generates thrills aplenty, with its harrowing stakes mixing with shattering plot twists and moments of poignant, meditative humanity to conjure a rich and immersive series of high-octane intensity. While the series came to an end in 2025, there is no doubt that its legacy will live on for many years to come, be it through American spin-offs or even reality contest series.
9
‘Poker Face’ (2023–2025)
Armed with the infectious fun Rian Johnson brings to crime mystery stories, Natasha Lyonne’s delightfully sharp performance, and a litany of Hollywood A-list guest stars, Poker Face is a joyous romp of murder investigation drama. Its two seasons follow Lyonne’s Charlie Cale, a woman on the run from a casino boss who travels around America in her 1969 Plymouth Barracuda using her innate ability to tell when people are lying to solve homicide cases.
Marrying overarching character drama with case-of-the-week exuberance gives Poker Face a vibrant air of intrigue and excitement, combining the thrills and spills of crime drama with flourishes of dark comedy to create a world of wicked glee. It was announced that the series had been canceled after just its second season, and while Rian Johnson is active in pitching the series to other networks, it would proceed without Lyonne occupying the lead role.
8
‘Vera’ (2011–2025)
There is a peculiar comfort to many of Britain’s greatest crime series, a pleasant idea that all the evil in the world can be held at bay by honest and good-natured people simply doing their job. Vera is one of the more recent in a long line of series that have exuded this tone, combining the tender warmth and humanity of many older crime shows with a more mature and hard-edged understanding of the world.
Brenda Blethyn stars as Vera Stanhope, an obsessive detective chief inspector with the Northumberland & City Police who solves crimes with her keen observations and cunning mind. The series became something of a lynchpin of accessible British crime television over the past decade, with its 14-season run coming to an end early in 2025 in the form of a two-episode final season and a documentary special exploring the behind-the-scenes process of the series.
7
‘The Sandman’ (2022–2025)
A high-concept surrealist fantasy based on the works of Neil Gaiman, Sam Keith, and Mike Dringenberg that ran from 1989 to 1996, The Sandman’s two-season run offers a vibrant, mind-bending world of imaginative divinity powered by Tom Sturridge’s ethereal performance. He stars as the personification of dreams and the ruler of the Dreaming, who, after a century of incarceration, must restore order to his domain, which has spiraled into chaos in his absence.
Not only does the series offer a visual treat of special effects, great performances aplenty, and an entrancing world of wonder and nightmares, but The Sandman also manages to be incredibly faithful to its source material while adapting the story with inspired creativity and boldness. While its second season had its faults, The Sandman as a whole remains a treat of fantasy television as well as one of Netflix’s most audacious and brilliant productions.
6
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ (2017–2025)
Based on Margaret Atwood’s novel of the same name, The Handmaid’s Tale is a piercing and politically charged dystopian series that engulfed millions of viewers with the audacity of its thematic might as well as the bleak vision of its futuristic setting. It takes place in a world where fertility rates have collapsed, with Gilead—formerly a part of the U.S.—under the rule of a fundamentalist and totalitarian regime that forces what few fertile women there are into sexual slavery. When June (Elisabeth Moss) is made a “Handmaid” to a Gilead officer, she begrudgingly adheres to their rules while dreaming of being reunited with her family.
With its viscerally brutal story of misogyny and systemic abuse, the series has become a puncturing cultural examination, transcending the screen to become a symbol for women’s rights movements as well as a magnificently realized series of high drama. The Handmaid’s Tale ended in May with the finale of its sixth season.
5
‘Resident Alien’ (2021–2025)
A welcoming mixture of sci-fi and comedy based on Steve Parkhouse and Peter Hogan’s comic book series, Resident Alien coasts on Alan Tudyk’s infectious, oddball charisma as he stars as Harry Vanderspiegle, an alien who crash-lands in Patience, Colorado, and steals the identity of a doctor he killed. While he arrives with an intent to destroy the human race, his time spent in Patience causes him to question the morality of his mission as he forms connections with the members of the town’s community.
Hysterical, heartfelt, and holding heaps of human goodness, Resident Alien charms throughout the entirety of its four-season run. Even as it slowly finds its feet in its formula, it is laced with a winning attitude and strong sense of humor that makes for endearing viewing from the outset. The sidesplitting sci-fi series ended in August with a fantastic finale that capped off the show beautifully.
4
‘Cobra Kai’ (2018–2025)
A legacy sequel to what is one of the most iconic titles of 1980s cinema, Cobra Kai continues the story of The Karate Kid with a playful spin on its characters. While Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) has become a successful businessman in the years since the 1984 All-Valley Karate Tournament, his rival Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) has spiraled to the point that he is a depressed alcoholic with an estranged family struggling to get by as a part-time handyman. After using his karate skills to defend his teenage neighbor from bullies, however, Johnny finds a new lease on life as he re-opens Cobra Kai and rekindles his rivalry with Daniel.
While it could have easily come across as a cheap ploy to capitalize on nostalgia, Cobra Kai excels as an uplifting story of second chances, unlikely heroes, and heartfelt humor that packs an emotional punch when it wants to. Every single one of its six seasons received widespread critical acclaim, with Cobra Kai thriving on Netflix as a universally adored and uplifting dose of family fun.
3
‘Peacemaker’ (2022–2025)
An inspired spin-off from 2021’s The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker saw the DCU under James Gunn expand to small-screen with astounding results, with the HBO Max series pulling no punches as an ultra-violent and callously crude dose of superhero irreverence. John Cena reprises his role as Peacemaker/Chris Smith, with Season 1 following the jingoistic anti-hero as he joins A.R.G.U.S. to help eradicate parasitic butterflies, while Season 2 sees him travel to an alternate universe where he is a beloved hero.
Gunn’s talent for extreme comedic vulgarity combines with Cena’s screen presence and charisma to brilliant effect, making Peacemaker one of the most daring and impressionable ventures the superhero genre has seen in any visual format for some time. While the release of the show’s second season in 2025 does mark an end to the series, Cena’s Peacemaker is set to remain in Gunn’s DC universe going forward.
2
‘Andor’ (2022–2025)
Disney’s handling of the Star Wars franchise since they acquired it has been frustrating to say the least, stilted between pioneering new horizons for the story world and enticing fans with traditionalism to the extent that it is clunky and sporadic, as well as ferociously divisive. However, one thing all Star Wars fans can agree on is that Andor is a marvel of modern television, an engulfing gem of action, sci-fi, and even suspense that brings a new dramatic might to the galaxy far, far away.
Diego Luna reprises his role from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as Cassian Andor, with the acclaimed prequel series covering his journey with the Rebel Alliance as they rise to oppose the tyranny of the Galactic Empire. Gritty, grounded, and bereft of lightsaber battles and Jedi knights, Andor is a much-needed breath of fresh air for the franchise. It’s an immersive story of high-stakes and striking immorality, and it’s one of the most defining titles of 2020s television thus far.
1
‘Stranger Things’ (2016–2025)
There hasn’t been a more defining series over the past 10 years than Netflix’s sci-fi sensation, Stranger Things. Incorporating elements of nostalgic genre fare, intoxicating adventure, ensemble intrigue, and even flourishes of horror and comedy, the hit series has excelled as a spectacle of pure entertainment, a riveting affair that has become arguably the biggest cultural phenomenon from the small screen of its time.
While it follows a vast web of characters, it centers its focus on Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), a young girl with superhuman abilities whose escape from a scientific lab opens a portal between Earth and a terrifying realm known as the “Upside Down” that has monumental effects on the residents of Hawkins, Indiana. After an astonishing run of five seasons across nine years, Stranger Things finally came to a close late in 2025, with the release of its final season standing as one of the biggest pop-culture moments of the decade so far.
