8 Netflix Miniseries Endings That Are Genuine Masterpieces
Christine is a freelance writer for Collider with two decades of experience covering all types of TV shows and movies spanning every genre. With a particular affinity for dramas, true crime, sitcoms, and thrillers, if it's a top TV show, Christine has likely watched it and is eager to share her thoughts. When she's not furiously writing away, you can find her enjoying the next binge obsession with a glass of wine in front of the TV.
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Spoiler Alert: This list contains spoilers for multiple shows.The mark of a good TV miniseries is not just a great beginning and narrative, but also a solid end. If a show takes you on a journey throughout then falls flat, it can leave you with a bad taste in your mouth, no matter how good the meat in the middle was. Netflix has tons of miniseries, and while most of them end on a high, a few stand-out with genuine masterpiece endings.
These stories all wrap up in different ways. One makes you wait literally until the final minutes to reveal a huge twist. One ends with a quiet, dialogue-driven but powerful episode, while another wraps up with new beginnings. The lesson that you reap what you sow is emphasized in yet another miniseries that ranks among the Netflix ones with genuine masterpiece endings.
'His & Hers' (2026)
I haven't seen a show with a twist as wild as His & Hers in years. Not only is it unexpected, you also don't get this resolution until the final minutes of the last episode. It's only then that everything you have been questioning throughout the entire narrative finally comes into focus. While other shows reveal twists by a penultimate episode, or even the beginning of the finale, His & Hers keeps you guessing literally all the way through, a strategy that pays off.
Throughout the perfect from beginning to end show, you know that a woman has been brutally murdered and there's an investigation into her death. You know that Detective Jack Harper (Jon Bernthal) is leading the charge and his estranged wife Anna (Tessa Thompson), a news reporter, is back in town to look into it, too. They both have a past with the deceased, and after a while, everyone starts looking like a potential suspect. The ending might fall short of bringing proper attention to a serious matter, but it does throw you for a loop in the best way possible. It's the kind of ending that will leave you reeling and eager to talk to others about what happened.
'Adolescence' (2025)
What makes the ending of Adolescence so powerful is not that it amps up intensity, but rather that it does the exact opposite. The British psychological crime drama begins like a rocket as police storm a household to arrest 13-year-old Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) for murder. By the end of the short four-episode series, Jamie's parents Eddie (Stephen Graham) and Manda (Christine Tremarco) are quietly taking it all in. They're wondering what they did wrong or if they could have done anything differently, heavy with emotions about a life torn apart.
It's very dialogue-driven, the pair talking about signs they might have missed, rules they could have instilled, things they could have paid more attention to. They're beating themselves up about what happened and exhausted from the fallout. It's something any parent can relate to, even when dealing with situations that are far less serious than the one in this series. It's raw and real without a sappy soundtrack or salacious twists. This raw realness is precisely why it's such a masterpiece.
'Baby Reindeer' (2024)
Richard Gadd bravely tells a story in Baby Reindeer that mirrors what he says happened in his own life. His character Donny Dunn is an aspiring comedian and bartender who chats up Martha Scott (Jessica Gunning) when she sits down at his bar. But she mistakes his kindness and casual flirtation for something more and starts to relentlessly and obsessively stalk him. Meanwhile, Donny is dealing with questions about his sexuality and processing a horrifying sexual assault by an older TV writer who takes advantage of his vulnerability.
The most powerful moment in the seven-episode series comes in the penultimate episode when, during a comedy set that isn't going well, Donny breaks down and unloads all his feelings onto a stunned crowd. The story doesn't wrap up with a nice bow, showing that even when Donny tries to face some of his trauma head on, it's never easy to do. It explores how pain and trauma never really leave you. And the ending delivers a wonderfully poignant full-circle moment.
'The Fall of the House of Usher' (2023)
The works of famous poet and writer Edgar Allan Poe are all macabre, and such is the case with this Gothic horror drama that combines many of his stories and characters into a thematic narrative. The Fall of the House of Usher is framed by patriarch Roderick Usher (Bruce Greenwood), a corrupt pharmaceuticals company CEO, giving his statement to the police about the deaths of his six adult children.
While the story explores how each one met their untimely end as well as the backstory as to why, the ending brings it all together with a "you reap what you sow" moment. It's a story of wealth, power, and greed, and the ultimate cost you pay in the end for fortune and control. Through the entire series, you hope that someone will pay for everything that has happened, even if the victims aren't necessarily likable people.
Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which Netflix Character Would Be Your Best Friend? Dustin · Emily · Wednesday · Gi-hun
Some friends drag you out of the house. Some sit with you on the worst night of your life. Netflix has written both, plus the one who tells you the truth you have been avoiding all week. Answer eight quick questions about how you actually do friendship, and find out which of them was always going to end up in your corner.
🧢Dustin(Stranger Things)
🗼Emily(Emily in Paris)
🕷️Wednesday(Wednesday)
🟢Gi-hun(Squid Game)
01
How do you usually end up making a new friend? The origin story says a lot about the friendship that follows it.
02
What is a perfect Saturday with your best friend? Friendship is mostly built out of very ordinary hours.
03
You call them at two in the morning. What happens? This is the real test of a friendship, and everybody knows it.
04
What do you want from them when you are clearly wrong? The best friendships are the ones that survive being corrected.
05
What do your friends actually value about you? The friend you attract says something about the friend you are.
06
You have a falling out. How does it go? How a friendship repairs itself matters more than how it breaks.
07
What do you actually need a best friend for? Everybody is missing something. The right friend fills that gap.
08
Ten years from now, what keeps the two of you close? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides who you get.
The Group Chat Has Spoken Your Best Friend Is…
Four Netflix characters, four completely different ways of showing up for somebody. This is the one who fits how you actually do friendship, and what having them in your life would be like.
Dustin Henderson
You do not do friendship at half volume, and neither does he. What you want is somebody who says yes to the plan before you have finished describing the plan.
- Dustin is the friend the entire show runs on: loyal past the point of sense, enthusiastic about everything, and incapable of leaving anybody behind.
- You have the same instinct. Your friendships are loud, specific and slightly ridiculous, and they last for decades because of it.
- He is also the one person who would take your strangest interest completely seriously, which is far rarer than it sounds.
- You would have a group chat. It would never once be quiet.
Emily Cooper
You are the friend who makes things happen, and so is she. Together you would be mildly exhausting to everyone around you and completely delighted with yourselves.
- Emily treats an ordinary Tuesday as something that could be turned into an occasion, which is either the best or the worst quality in a friend depending on your energy levels.
- You share her refusal to sit still. Neither of you has ever accepted a night in when something was happening somewhere else.
- She is far more loyal than people give her credit for. She defends her friends loudly, publicly, and occasionally before checking the facts.
- She would post the photo without asking. You would forgive her, because it is a very good photo.
Wednesday Addams
You have no patience for pleasant lies, and she has no ability to tell them. What looks like coldness from the outside is the most reliable friendship on this list.
- Wednesday never says a kind thing she does not mean, which makes the rare ones count for an enormous amount.
- You would rather be told the truth than be made comfortable. She is constitutionally incapable of offering you anything else.
- Underneath all of it she is ferociously protective. She simply refuses to make a performance out of caring.
- Do not expect a birthday message. Do expect her to ruin anyone who wrongs you.
Seong Gi-hun
You look after whoever is having the worst day. So does he. It is the least strategic way to move through the world and the best possible quality in a friend.
- Gi-hun is not the strongest player in Squid Game, or the cleverest. He is the one who keeps choosing to protect somebody else, over and over, at genuine cost to himself.
- You have the same instinct. You notice who is struggling and you stay with them, long after anybody would blame you for leaving.
- He is a flawed friend, and that is part of why it lands. He lets people down, then comes back and tries again, which is more than most manage.
- He would give you his last chance and never once mention that he had done it.
'Bodyguard' (2018)
PS David Budd (Richard Madden) is a veteran who is now serving as personal protection for the Home Secretary in Bodyguard. He uncovers secrets, lies, conspiracies, and corruption, which puts him and his family in danger. It's a wild ride through all six episodes, culminating in an explosive end. David finds himself in an impossible position, and you'll feel beads of sweat on your forehead as you watch the gripping performance.
It's one of the best miniseries with perfect pacing, keeping you glued to your screen. The story slowly comes together until the climax and a big twist that will leave you gutted. So much commentary is packed into the series as a whole, but the ending brings home messages about trauma, duty, trust, lies, and deceit.
'Griselda' (2024)
Sofía Vergara proved anyone who doubted her acting abilities outside of comedy wrong when she nailed this grittier role. She plays Columbian drug lord Griselda Blanco, a terrifying woman working in the drug underworld. The real Blanco earned the nickname the Godmother of Cocaine and cartel leader Pablo Escobar reportedly said that "the only man I was ever afraid of was a woman named Griselda Blanco." Based on her real-life story, the series follows Blanco's rise to power and her eventual downfall. It's fast-paced throughout with heightened intensity at the end that adds to its impact.
Once you recognize how Blanco's intense pursuit of power and money has left her with problems money can't fix, things go from bad to worse. The end mirrors real life and emphasizes this cautionary tale. While Blanco earned a reputation for being powerful, it didn't really get her to a place of peace or happiness in the end.
'Unorthodox' (2020)
A gripping and emotional story, Unorthodox is based on the real-life story of Deborah Feldman, who escaped her Hasidic roots to live outside of the religion. Esty Shapiro (Shira Haas) is preparing to be married in an arranged ceremony, and she is feeling reluctant. Despite this being the only life she knows, Esty yearns for something more. So, she runs off to Berlin to explore a secular life.
The story follows Esty's journey to discovering her identity along with her husband's journey to find her. The end of the four-part series leaves you questioning the idea of religion, individual paths in life, and the idea of finding oneself outside a life you are told you must live. Haas' performance, in the end, is truly moving. The fact that the end comes after just four episodes rather than filler episodes to draw out the plot makes it even more impactful. Unorthodox is one of the greatest Netflix miniseries of all time.
'The Queen's Gambit' (2020)
Anya Taylor-Joy is brilliant as Beth Harmon in The Queen's Gambit, a troubled orphan who realizes she has a gift for the game of chess. As she works her way up on the competition circuits, she battles personal addiction demons and works on finding her identity and an ability to trust and communicate with others in a meaningful way. Set in the mid 1950s, the coming-of-age period drama explores a determined young woman's journey to make a name for herself in a game dominated by men.
The ending is satisfying in a way you would expect, reminding us that while Beth has proven herself to be a skilled player, it's a love for the game that truly drives her. And what she has learned along the way about herself and about life is what's most important. The ending demonstrates the power of healing and the importance of finding a community with which to belong. Beth begins the show as an isolated young girl and blossoms leaps and bounds as she finds people who eventually welcome her into their circles.
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