Alien: Earth
FX / Hulu
When a film universe is brought to television, it has the added challenge of holding fans’ attention spans for an entire season. If it doesn’t grab them in a satisfying way, they may step out and never return. Thankfully, there were no such problems with Noah Hawley’s long-anticipated “Alien: Earth,” which had me gagging for the next episode like it was regular old terrestrial television again.
I was initially a little dubious about the show after Ridley Scott’s over-explaining in “Prometheus” and “Alien: Covenant,” but Hawley does an incredible job of expanding the universe in fascinating directions and introducing ghastly new creatures, all while remaining faithful to what made Ridley Scott and James Cameron’s first two movies so special. The show even manages to pull off the unthinkable, giving us a beady little critter that manages to upstage the iconic Xenomorph.
It isn’t totally perfect, however. The standout flashback episode “In Space, No One…” is a gripping piece of work that ranks alongside “Alien” and “Aliens” as the best entries in the franchise, but dropping it into the middle of the season gave the last few episodes a lot to live up to. Indeed, the concluding chapters felt a little rushed and underwhelming by comparison, as Hawley’s directors had an awful lot of stuff to crack through satisfactorily before the cliffhanger finale.
Nevertheless, thanks to an appealing cast, assured direction, and stunning production design, “Alien: Earth” has positioned itself as a superior prequel series to rival the best of what other networks have to offer. I can’t wait to see what happens next, especially what that eyeball thing has up its tentacle. (Lee Adams)
Andor Season 2
Des Willie/Lucasfilm
Hold up: A franchise about space wizards intended for children is allowed to be this good? Even the most ardent of “Star Wars” fans would have to admit that the vast majority of movies and shows set in that galaxy far, far away haven’t exactly tried to shoot for the stars. Most have been content to settle for the narrative equivalent of smashing action figures together, in the hopes that audiences will be too busy pointing at the screen Leonardo DiCaprio-style to cancel their Disney+ subscriptions for another day. Few have bothered to aim for anything remotely resembling true, meaningful art. Well, that is no longer the case following Tony Gilroy’s entrance to one of the most storied IPs of all.
Into this morass of brand management came the amazing “Andor,” the stubborn little production that could with absolutely no business being as good as it was. The brilliant debut season was only outdone by its second and final one, a masterclass of storytelling, political commentary, and laser-focused themes about the lengths these unsung heroes will go in the fight against fascism. The fact that the season’s resonating depiction of organized rebellion and desperate revolutionaries made the leap into real-world protests around the globe speaks to the (unfortunately) perfect timing of this anti-authoritarian manifesto. That so many viewers were moved to tears by the heroics of Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor, shocked by the extremism of Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård), and sickened by the grandiose bootlicking of Kyle Soller’s Syril Karn and Denise Gough’s Dedra Meero indicates a level of writing and understanding of TV as a medium we’ve hardly ever seen before in our popcorn entertainment.
“Andor” came, “Andor” saw, and “Andor” conquered us by raising the bar and refusing to accept anything less. We have friends everywhere, indeed. (Jeremy Mathai)
The Bear Season 4
FX/Hulu
Many dismissed “The Bear” after its meandering, self-indulgent third season, which featured leads Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) and Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) in a perpetual state of self-induced misery, wracked with guilt and indecision in a way that was agonizing to watch. At the time it wasn’t clear if the season’s plodding nature was an intentional choice to keep the viewers in the characters’ headspace, or if the aimlessness was the show’s new normal.
Thankfully, the season 4 premiere sees its character lock back in, and for the nine episodes we watch them steadily dig their way out of last season’s depression. Season 4 is focused and energetic. The characters grow and change rather than slowly decay. It’s filled with some of the most cathartic moments in the whole show, and it’s powerful in a way that even retroactively improves the season before it. We have proof now that season 3 was going somewhere, that it was an intentional low point designed to make season 4’s highs hit harder.
Season 4 featured its lead trio (White and Edebiri along with Ebon Moss-Bachrach) delivering career-high performances in nearly every episode, so it feels fitting that the season’s finale centers itself around a single intense conversation between the three. It’s these kinds of bold creative choices that have always made “The Bear” stand out. The choices haven’t always landed in the past, but in season 4, they definitely do. (Michael Boyle)
Daredevil: Born Again
Marvel Studios
“It’s not entirely unpleasant seeing you again.” That’s what the villainous Wilson Fisk/Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio) says to his nemesis, heroic vigilante Matt Murdock/Daredevil (Charlie Cox) in the first episode of “Daredevil: Born Again.” Fans will probably be similarly warm to the show itself, a revival of Netflix’s three season “Daredevil” series.
It’s been a decade since Cox and D’Onofrio first started playing those parts, but even with the hiatus, they slip back in like they took no break at all. “Born Again” explores new stories — Kingpin as the mayor of New York City, a vigilante on trial for the manslaughter of a corrupt cop, etc. — that still resonate with the important themes of Daredevil’s character. Namely, discrepancies between the law and justice, and if violence is ever an acceptable way to resolve those contradictions. Yet at times it also feels more classically TV-like than the original series; here’s to weekly release schedules and standalone episodes.
“Born Again” faced release delays following extensive reshoots, which by reports were not tweaking so much as overhauling the series. You can see the seams in some places, like bland supporting characters and the subplot about art-themed serial killer Muse. The revised “Daredevil: Born Again” season 1 still succeeds enough to entice you for season 2, which will carry on from a jaw-dropping cliffhanger where Fisk goes from mayor to dictator. (Devin Meenan)
Deli Boys
Elizabeth Sisson/Hulu
What if “Succession” took place over several bite-sized sitcom episodes and focused on a pair of ineffectual sons of a low-level crime lord, running drugs through his successful deli chain in the greater Philadelphia area? Instead of a not-so-subtle riff on Rupert Murdoch, however, this story focuses instead on a family of Pakistanis simply trying to achieve the American dream: breaking the law for personal gain, as countless white people have done before. No, there’s nothing remotely serious or “prestige” about Hulu’s “Deli Boys.” But that irreverent tone, its focus on the cultural specificity of South Asian families, and some of most foul-mouthed comedy of anything in 2025 all add up to the one streaming series worth recommending as a hidden gem.
From Pakistani-American creator Abdullah Saeed, “Deli Boys” feels like a lightning bolt directed right at the heart of most discussions surrounding representation these days. Where so many well-meaning viewers crave comfort shows, taking underrepresented demographics and uplifting them to showcase the humanity that’s too often denied them, this sitcom takes a very different tack. The vast majority of our main protagonists here are some of the most selfish, murderous, and straight-up clueless misfits you’ll ever see. Daddy’s boy Mir (Asif Ali) and deadbeat Raj (Saagar Shaikh) are nobody’s first choice to take over the family business following the gruesome golfing death of their millionaire father — least of all their conniving Lucky Auntie (Poorna Jagannathan) or the power-grabbing Ahmad Uncle (Brian George). But their bumbling journey through the criminal underworld is easily one the funniest pleasant surprises of the year. (Jeremy Mathai)
Ironheart
Marvel Studios
These past few years have been quite up and down for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, haven’t they? “Captain America: Brave New World” underperformed at the box office, and “Secret Invasion” was a critical dud — just to name a couple of examples of projects that didn’t live up to the franchise’s lofty expectations. That said, 2025 has been a return to form for the MCU in many ways, with “Thunderbolts*” and “Fantastic Four: The First Steps” being particularly awesome from a quality standpoint.
However, we shouldn’t let the big cinematic releases overshadow a good Disney+ series either, which brings us to “Ironheart.” Arriving at a time when “superhero fatigue” was a prominent term in the pop culture discourse, “Ironheart” felt like a breath of fresh air, with the series offering small-scale action and character-driven storytelling instead of cosmic chaos and multiversal madness.
“Ironheart” follows the eponymous hero, aka Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), after she returns to Chicago and gets involved with a local crime unit so she can raise money to improve her super suit. However, being back home also allows her to reconnect with her friends and family, which is when “Ironheart” really shines. Chinaka Hodge’s series cares more about the human stories than the larger-than-life superhero drama (not that it skimps out on the action either, mind you).
Don’t pay any attention to the review bombers who showed up in their droves to try and bury “Ironheart” without giving it a chance. This series is a reminder of what makes the MCU so special — namely, lovable characters with their own distinct stories (Kieran Fisher)
Marvel Zombies
Marvel Studios
In a world where edgier superhero fare like “The Boys” is challenging the mainstream, it can be easy to see a major player like the Marvel Cinematic Universe as toothless and neutered … or, at least, it was. “Marvel Zombies” is a gory counterpoint that fixes such prejudices with a vengeance.
The animated show uses the “What If… Zombies?!” episode of its fellow Marvel Animation show “What If…?” as a starting point, and expands upon it with the kind of splatter George A. Romero would be proud of. The premise is simple: The world is overrun by zombies, and countless alternate-universe versions of your favorite heroes and villains suffer bloody deaths in the hands of their undead adversaries. What’s more, the zombies here are far from regular horror shamblers. As many familiar characters find out the hard way, they still have the powers and abilities they had in life, which makes for some unprecedentedly serious MCU shocks on the “who will survive and what will be left of them” front.
All of that could amount to little more than a whole bunch of empty narrative calories, but “Marvel Zombies” is a show where brutality serves a purpose. The zombie plague is overseen by the MCU’s best villain, Wanda Maximoff (Elisabeth Olsen). Her mind-controlling powers, which were the secret driving force of “WandaVision” and have played a role in most of her onscreen appearances, have made her this world’s official Queen of the Dead. On the protagonist side, the show builds Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan as the Frodo to Wanda’s Sauron … and the cliffhanger ending of the season suggests that there’s plenty more where this story came from. (Pauli Poisuo)
One Thousand Blows
Hulu
“A Thousand Blows” feels like its lead character after its first season. It’s a surprise underdog contender, overlooked thanks to Stephen Graham’s other main event of the year, and not catching as much attention as “Peaky Blinders” co-creator Steven Knight’s other series in 2025, “House of Guinness,” which audiences still probably haven’t quite shaken the taste of. And yet, there’s so much to pick apart in the Victorian period boxing drama that should absolutely be worth your attention.
For “Adolescence” fans, it really is a game of spot the star, because besides Graham starring and co-creating the show, half of the cast of Netflix’s award-winning series appear here and are delivering the exact same standard. They’re also surrounding another relatively unknown lead, who, while having a few years on Owen Cooper, could be getting teed up to show he has just as much talent to throw in the ring.
Malachi Kirby plays Hezekiah Moscow, a Jamaican immigrant in the early 19th century, who fights against London-famous underground boxer Sugar Goodson (Graham), who commands the screen with a silent ferocity just waiting to explode in the form of a bare-knuckled fist. The real knockout, however, is Erin Doherty as pickpocket gang leader Mary Carr, who, with the confirmation of a second season, seems poised to steal the show from everyone. Give it a whirl and see what you’re missing out on and you’ll be hungry for more by the time the final bell rings. (Nick Staniforth)
Paradise
Hulu
Dan Fogelman has struck TV gold again. Only after three years of wrapping up “This is Us” which shattered our hearts, he returned with a bang, bringing his former star, Sterling K. Brown, with him. Hulu’s “Paradise” offers that same emotional maturity that Fogelman has done to perfection before, but this time, ti’s combined with a multi-layered mystery that begins with the murder of the (alternate) United States president played by a possibly never-better James Marsden. Brown portrays Secret Service agent Xavier Collins, who dives into investigating how, why, and who killed the president under his and his team’s watch.
Mind-boggling twists abound in this thriller — and you’ll be shook by some of them, for sure — but it’s really the heart underneath the murder mystery that makes this an exceptional watch. The intriguing friendship and bond between Collins and the president is what draws the viewer in immediately because the smooth rapport and back-and-forth between Brown and Marsden is really something we didn’t know we needed in our lives. Fogelman also ups the ante this time around with sizzling suspense and masterfully conducted chaos that leads to one of the most mind-blowing reveals in a TV series this year. “Paradise” is truly appointment television at its most gripping. (Akos Peterbencze)
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
MArvel Studios
It feels fitting that Marvel’s first great animated series is all about Spider-Man. “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” gives Peter Parker a new origin story, one that is heavily inspired by the Marvel Cinematic Universe while creating its own unique space within the larger Marvel multiverse. Visually, this is a stunning show, with crisp and vibrant colors and animation that packs an element of kineticism in its action scenes, and a 3D cel-shaded style that captures the look and feel of hand-drawn 2D “Spider-Man” comics. Though purists may scoff at the many changes the cartoon does to the Spider-Man mythos, they make for a truly fresh take on the comics full of surprises that nevertheless retain the core of the character and his stories.
We have seen many “Spider-Man” cartoons in the past, and yet “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” stands out thanks to its unique portrayal of classic characters, the fascinating relationship between Peter and Norman Osborn (here reimagined as Peter’s mentor) and a new cast of supporting characters serving as Peter’s friends and classmates. The character’s blend of superheroes and mundane teenage drama makes it perfectly suited for the medium of TV, and the show manages to strike a good balance between serialized mythology-building and relatively standalone episodes. (Rafael Motamayor)
