Netflix's top 10 has 3 great shows to stream right now — and one's a brutal Western thriller

Taylor Kitsch and Betty Gilpin in "American Primeval" coming soon to Netflix
(Image credit: Netflix)

Between Netflix shows at the moment? If you've spent even a couple of minutes scrolling through the streaming service's vast library of shows and movies, you'll know that Netflix is home to a lot of stuff.

Now, I'm not gonna claim a big library of content is a bad thing, but it can make choosing your next show a bit of a pain. Even if you just limit yourself to Netflix's Top 10 shows, you can't always guarantee that the most popular ones are going to be the streamer's best options.

That's precisely why we regularly pull out a handful of top Netflix shows from that same chart. Right now, the three best shows you can stream from that list are the streamer's new Western thriller, "Squid Game's" second chapter, and an AMC spinoff that just got added to Netflix.

This article is based on what was in the Netflix U.S. Top 10 shows list as of 11 a.m ET on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025.

Best shows in the Netflix Top 10

'American Primeval'

American Primeval | Official Trailer | Netflix - YouTube American Primeval | Official Trailer | Netflix - YouTube
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While it has been unseated by the WWE Raw, "American Primeval" has otherwise maintained its position as Netflix's No. 1 show since it hit the streamer last week.

This intense Western survival thriller comes from "The Revenant" writer Mark L. Smith and takes us back to 1857 to chart a mother and son's desperate journey across the Old West as they set out to make a fresh start. Along the way, we meet various groups of Americans all doing their best to survive in his harsh landscape of freedom and cruelty. It's a brutal watch and a far cry from some of the other Western tales you might be used to.

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'Squid Game'

Squid Game: Season 2 | Official Trailer | Netflix - YouTube Squid Game: Season 2 | Official Trailer | Netflix - YouTube
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While the Korean Netflix drama has slipped from the No. 1 it once occupied, it's no surprise to see "Squid Game" season 2 fairly high in the Netflix chart several weeks on from its late December release. After all, we had to wait three whole years to see what Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) did next, and the original series was full of emotion and gripping twists.

This second season sees sole "Squid Game" season 1 survivor Gi-hun heading back into that deadly environment with a brand new goal in mind: tear down the games from the inside and put a stop to them once and for all. As he soon finds out, though, that job will be anything but easy, as he brushes up against new contestants and faces fresh trials.

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'The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live'

The Ones Who Live | Final Trailer | Premieres February 25th on AMC and AMC+ - YouTube The Ones Who Live | Final Trailer | Premieres February 25th on AMC and AMC+ - YouTube
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"The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live" is just one of the (many) "Walking Dead" spinoffs to grace our screens over the years, but it was probably one of the most anticipated of the bunch, precisely because it reunited us with two of the series' very best characters: Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Dania Gurira).

This six-episode miniseries is an emotional and romantic affair that explores Rick and Michonne's efforts to find one another after they were separated out in the zombie-infested world years ago.

Watch on Netflix

Full Netflix Top 10 shows list

  1. "WWE Raw"
  2. "American Primeval"
  3. "Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action"
  4. "Squid Game"
  5. "The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live"
  6. "Gabriel Iglesias: Legend of Fluffy"
  7. "Younger"
  8. "Missing You"
  9. "The Breakthrough"
  10. "I Am a Killer"

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Staff Writer, Streaming

Martin is a Streaming Writer at Tom’s Guide, covering all things movies and TV. If it’s in the theaters or available to stream somewhere, he’s probably watched it… especially if it has a dragon in it. Before joining the team, he was a Staff Writer at What To Watch where he wrote about a broad range of shows that stretched from "Doctor Who" and "The Witcher" to "Bridgerton" and "Love Island". When he’s not watching the next must-see movie or show, he’s probably still in front of a screen playing massive RPGs, reading, spending a fortune on TCGs, or watching the NFL.