We knew going into December that there wouldn’t be much left for the final week of the year. Most of the major streamers don’t have anything new to show this week. However, Netflix held back Squid Game season 2 for just such an occasion, while Disney+ is burning off episodes of What If…? like they’re going out of fashion.
Since we have one last weekend in 2024, it seems like an opportune time to catch up on some other recent arrivals like Virgin River season 6 on Netflix, Dexter: Original Sin on Paramount+ with Showtime, or Day of the Jackal on Peacock. Between everything on our list of the best new shows to stream, you should have more than enough to keep you busy until 2025 arrives next week.
When you’re done here, check out the best new movies to stream this week, as well as the best shows on Netflix, the best shows on Hulu, the best new shows on Max, the best shows on Amazon Prime Video, and the best shows on Disney+.
Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Max, Disney+, Paramount+, Peacock, and Apple TV+ all have one thing in common: They’re more expensive than they used to be. We can live with higher rates as long as new shows keep coming, but it’s always a good idea to consider signing up for the ad-supported tiers, which are worth it if you can sit through a few commercials.
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What If...?2021 -
Squid Game2021
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Virgin River2019
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Dexter: Original Sin2024
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Secret Level2024
Disney+
What If...? (2021)
69%Marvel’s What If…? is coming to an end after three seasons. The first episode back is a riff on Pacific Rim with giant mech Avengers facing an army of Hulk kaijus. So that seems to be the wildest episode of the year in a season that includes a wedding for Howard the Duck and the Marvel universe reenvisioned as Western characters in 1872.
Along the way, there’s a buddy comedy story between the Winter Soldier and Red Guardian, as well as the What If…? debut of Storm from the X-Men, as well as the Eternals, Moon Knight, and Shang-Chi. More importantly, The Watcher (Jeffrey Wright) will once again come to the forefront as his story reaches its conclusion alongside a few familiar faces from the first two seasons.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew (2024)
71%
7.2/10Sometimes, when defending a few of the worst creative decisions, Star Wars apologists will fall back on the claim that the franchise is meant for children. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is one of the few projects where that defense is objectively true. This is a younger-skewing show with children as the main characters and an intentional riff on the classic Steven Spielberg coming-of-age Amblin flicks.
Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), KB (Kyriana Kratter), and Neel (Robert Timothy Smith) are a group of children who discover a lost spaceship on their home world, At Attin. While exploring the ship, the vessel takes off with the kids trapped inside. Now, these younglings have to find their way back home and figure out who they can trust. They should probably be wary about Jod Na Nawood (Jude Law), a charming con man who appears to have the power to access the Force.
Netflix
Squid Game (2021)
61%
8.0/10Having lived through the games in Squid Game season 1, Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) is coming back in season 2 to take it all down from the inside. For the first time, the show pulls back the curtain to reveal some of the faces who have been pulling the strings, including the guards. Gi-hun wants answers, and he’s got the fortune to make sure that he gets them.
Soon enough, Gi-hun will be back where he started, alongside a fresh crop of players. Gi-hun may feel like he knows what to expect, but the games have changed since he was the champion. And among a new group, even Gi-hun isn’t sure who he can trust or which players are willing to sell him out if it helps them win.
Virgin River (2019)
7.4/10Virgin River debuted on Netflix five years ago, and it started out as the story of Melinda “Mel” Monroe (Alexandra Breckenridge), a nurse practitioner who badly needed a fresh start in a small town. What she found was a lot of drama and new love with a man named Jack Sheridan (Martin Henderson).
A lot has happened in the last five seasons, but the newly premiered sixth season is finally letting Mel and Jack get married. This is one romance story that’s far from over, as there’s a seventh season on the way.
Cobra Kai (2018)
71%
8.5/10Cobra Kai season 6 part 2 finds the dojo’s best students in the Sekai Taikai, the world championships of karate. Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) is distracted by revelations about his late mentor, Mr. Miyagi. The rest of the dojo is stunned by the resurgence of Cobra Kai with Tory Nichols (Peyton List) now representing that dojo in the tournament.
Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) has also found a new rival, Sensei Wolf (Lewis Tan). The bigger issues facing the dojo lie beyond the tournament and the return of some old enemies. Fans will have to wait until 2025 to see the grand finale of Cobra Kai, but things are left in a very interesting place by the end of season 6 part 2.
Apple TV+
The Secret Lives of Animals (2024)
Silo (2023)
80%
8.1/10Silo‘s second season could have been called Silos, because the narrative splits off now that Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson) is out of her Silo and trapped in a new one. Juliette also learned the hard way that she may have made a serious mistake. Now, she needs to find her way back home to prevent others from following in her example.
In the meantime, Juliette’s actions in the first season have led to rumblings of revolution at her original silo. Bernard (Tim Robbins) is the new mayor, and it’s his job to keep the population under control. Even if Juliette can’t make it back, there may not be any way to hold back this revolution.
Paramount+
Dexter: Original Sin (2024)
Not even death can keep Dexter Morgan from killing again, but it’s easier to set up a prequel series than it is to bring him back to life. Dexter: Original Sin explores the early years of Dexter (Patrick Gibson), when he was driven to kill but more prone to making mistakes. Michael C. Hall, who portrayed Dexter on the two previous series, will lend his voice to Dexter’s inner monologue.
Most of the supporting characters from the first Dexter are present, albeit a lot younger than they were on the old show. The prequel will give Dexter’s adoptive father, Harry Morgan (Christian Slater), a bigger role as he tries to instill a code in his murderous son to keep him from killing innocent people or getting caught by the cops.
Landman (2024)
61%
8.2/10While Paramount+ would surely love to be streaming the new season of Yellowstone right about now, it does have yet another Taylor Sheridan-created drama. Landman features Billy Bob Thornton as Tommy Norris, an amoral fixer for an oil company called M*Tex, which is owned by Monty Miller (Jon Hamm).
Tommy deals with obscene amounts of money to keep the oil flowing, which involves crossing ethical lines on a weekly basis. It’s all part of the job for him. But at least Tommy can control that part of his life. Dealing with his kids Cooper (Jacob Lofland) and Ainsely (Michelle Randolph), as well as his ex-wife, Angela (Ali Larter), is more of a challenge.
Amazon Prime Video
Secret Level (2024)
53%
8.1/10Almost every video game has a story behind it, even older titles that didn’t have the technological advantages that modern consoles provide. Prime Video’s Secret Level is a new anthology series that picks a different game to explore in each episode, including one of the earliest arcade hits: Pac-Man.
That’s for the old-school gamers. Modern players will have plenty of more recent game worlds to dive into, including Armored Core, The Outer Worlds 2, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, and Dungeons & Dragons. These episodes are relatively short, with runtimes of around 20 minutes or shorter, but they are fun ways to revisit the worlds inside their respective games from a fresh perspective.
Cruel Intentions (2024)
37%
4.5/10Hollywood has been trying to reboot Cruel Intentions as a TV show for the better part of the last two decades. We would have preferred the 2015 incarnation that had Sarah Michelle Gellar attached to reprise her role from the movie, which was loosely adapted from Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ 1782 novel Les Liaisons dangereuses.
In Prime Video’s Cruel Intentions, The names and settings are slightly different from the movie, but the dynamic between step-siblings Caroline Merteuil (Sarah Catherine Hook) and Lucien Belmont (Zac Burgess) should seem very familiar. Caroline needs Lucien to seduce Annie Grover (Savannah Lee Smith), the daughter of the vice president of the United States, to help save her sorority. If Lucien pulls it off, Caroline will sleep with him. And if he fails, Caroline gets his car. But as Lucien goes forward with the plan, his feelings for Annie may become genuine.
Hulu
Paris Has Fallen (2024)
6.5/10Paris Has Fallen is technically a spinoff from the Has Fallen film series, but don’t expect to see Gerard Butler on this show. It has a thematic connection to the movies, rather than sharing characters in common. French security officer Vincent Taleb (Tewfik Jallab) is at the center of this series alongside MI6 agent Zara Taylor (Ritu Arya). As the title implies, the French government is the target of terrorists this time.
Jacob Pearce (Sean Harris) is the man behind the attacks, and he has a very personal ax to grind over some terrible things that happened to him. Regardless of Jacob’s justifications for his actions, more people will die if Vincent and Zara can’t bring him down in time.
Say Nothing (2024)
77%
8.0/10Between Shogun and The Bear, FX was already having a banner year in 2024. The cable network — and by extension, Hulu — continues that hot streak with Say Nothing, an adaptation of Patrick Radden Keefe’s nonfiction book about The Troubles, a three-decade struggle for freedom in Northern Ireland that gave way to acts of terrorism.
This nine-episode miniseries chronicles four decades of The Troubles, largely through the eyes of sisters Dolours (Lola Petticrew) and Marian Price (Hazel Doupe). The girls have been raised in the IRA by their parents, but they aren’t content to take a back seat in what they see as a war against their oppressors. The Price sisters want to be on the frontlines of the conflict, even if that means taking up arms and making terrible sacrifices along the way.
Max (formerly HBO and HBO Max)
Creature Commandos (2024)
78%
8.0/10Creature Commandos is the first project in James Gunn’s new DC Universe film and TV continuity. Although, strangely enough, the animated series also maintains continuity with Gunn’s The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, both of which were in the DCEU as well.
Since Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) was exposed as the power behind the Suicide Squad/Task Force X, she’s resorted to sending monsters on covert missions under the command of Rick Flagg Sr. (Frank Grillo). Now, Eric Frankenstein (David Harbour), the Bride (Indira Varma), G.I. Robot (Sean Gunn), Doctor Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk), and the rest have to figure out how to be a team when facing impossible odds and magical powers beyond their comprehension.
Dune: Prophecy (2024)
63%
7.5/10Dune gets its own Game of Thrones-style series with Dune: Prophecy, a prequel story set 10,000 years before the films. For generations, the Sisterhood has amassed power and influence in the galaxy. But just when Mother Superior Valya Harkonnen (Emily Watson) and her sister, Tula Harkonnen (Olivia Williams), are on the verge of achieving their ambitions, their fortune and luck start to suffer.
Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel) openly opposes the Sisterhood’s agenda and accuses them of working against Emperor Javicco Corrino (Mark Strong). That wouldn’t be a problem if Hart didn’t have access to the Emperor. Now, Hart has the inside track at convincing the Emperor to act against his perceived enemies, even if the Sisterhood isn’t actually trying to overthrow him.
Peacock
The Day of the Jackal (2024)
74%
8.1/10You won’t be thinking about Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them when you see Eddie Redmayne in The Day of the Jackal. Redmayne completely sheds his likable good guy persona as The Jackal, a ruthlessly efficient assassin. No Time To Die‘s Lashana Lynch co-stars as MI6 agent Bianca Pullman, who conducts her own investigation into The Jackal.
What Bianca doesn’t know is that The Jackal has a wife, Nuria (Úrsula Corberó), and a child. He’s also facing some intrigue of his own when a client neglects to pay him for a successful hit. Another client tries to shortchange him for a very dangerous assignment to take out billionaire Ulle Dag Charles (Khalid Abdalla). It’s a serious mistake to cross The Jackal, and even Bianca risks her own life to track him down.
