8 Nearly Perfect Miniseries, Ranked: The Shows That Stay With You
A chess prodigy finds her place
Beth Harmon, played by Anya Taylor-Joy, learns chess from a janitor in a Kentucky orphanage and soon challenges experienced players. The Queen’s Gambit is based on Walter Tevis’s 1983 novel. Scott Frank spent years trying to bring it to screen, and Heath Ledger was reportedly once set to direct before his death.
Netflix released the series, and about sixty million households watched it in its first four weeks. Jolene, played by Moses Ingram, returns to support Beth, while Benny Watts, played by Thomas Brodie-Sangster, becomes her rival and closest friend. The Moscow tournament ends with Beth playing strangers in a public park, a fitting finish after seven episodes establish how much chess means to her.
A detective balances home and work
In Mare of Easttown, Kate Winslet plays Mare Sheehan, a Pennsylvania detective known around town partly for winning a state basketball championship in 1989. When a young girl goes missing and another follows, Mare investigates while her family also relies on her.
The production began filming in 2019, paused when the pandemic hit in March 2020, and resumed months later. Angourie Rice plays Mare’s daughter Siobhan, who is trying to build an independent life. Their relationship provides some of the show’s warmest moments.
A murder case changes its suspect
Nasir Khan, played by Riz Ahmed, is a Queens college student who takes his father’s taxi without permission. After a girl enters the cab, the two spend the night together; he wakes to find her stabbed and cannot remember what happened. John Turturro plays John Stone, a defense lawyer who takes the case almost by accident.
James Gandolfini was originally cast as Stone and filmed the pilot before his death in 2013; Turturro then took over the role. Ahmed won an Emmy for his performance, and Michael K. Williams plays Freddy, a prison boss who takes Naz under his protection for a price. The Rikers Island scenes trace Naz’s shift from a frightened young man into someone harder, while Stone’s stray cat subplot offers a glimpse of the lawyer’s character.
A reporter returns to Wind Gap
Amy Adams plays Camille Preaker, a newspaper reporter sent back to Wind Gap, Missouri, to cover the murders of two young girls. At home, Camille faces her controlling mother, Adora, played by Patricia Clarkson, and her teenage half-sister Amma, played by Eliza Scanlen. Amma behaves differently around her friends than she does at home.
Jean-Marc Vallée directed all eight episodes of Sharp Objects, which was filmed in Georgia. The soundtrack features Led Zeppelin, a band that rarely agrees to television use. Amma’s miniature replica of the family house becomes important, while Adams, also an executive producer, gives Camille small habits that reveal her character.
Key points
- The Queen’s Gambit drew about sixty million household viewers in its first four weeks on Netflix.
- Mare of Easttown follows a Pennsylvania detective investigating missing girls while managing family responsibilities.
- The Night Of stars Riz Ahmed as a student who wakes beside a murdered woman with no memory of the night.
- Sharp Objects follows reporter Camille Preaker as she investigates murders in her Missouri hometown.