Best Netflix TV Shows for writing quality

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Best for writing quality

The Witness, Season 1

4.5 feature score

Highest scored product for this feature based on supporting review evidence.

Safest pick

Running Point, Season 2

4.0 feature score

Balances feature score, supporting reviews, and overall product strength.

Most evidence

Virgin River, Season 7

11 supporting reviews

Has the broadest review evidence for this feature.

Best overall product

Rafa, Season 1

4.0 overall score

Strongest overall product among items with scored evidence for this feature.

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#1 The Witness, Season 1
4.5

The writing is praised most when it avoids sensationalism and lets Alex’s childlike reactions stay ordinary and believable. Its restraint helps the drama feel more respectful than manipulative.

Pros: screenplay quality, critic appeal

Cons: plot twists, season pacing

#2 Running Point, Season 2
4.0

The best scripts feature crackling dialogue, clear character voices, and confident comic escalation. Critics of the season point to formulaic resolutions, stale topical jokes, and subplots that disappear too quickly.

Pros: media scrutiny portrayal, season finale quality

Cons: cancellation satisfaction, product placement

#3 Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen, Season 1
3.7

The writing earns credit for sharp thematic ideas, character reversals, and genre play, but exposition, plot holes, and inconsistent choices keep the response divided.

Pros: special effects quality, soundtrack quality

Cons: screenplay quality, series finale quality

#4 Berlin and the Lady with an Ermine, Chapter 2
3.3

The writing can be witty, emotional, and smartly escapist, but contrived plot armor, crowded subplots, and repetition create an uneven result.

Pros: main cast performance, bingeability

Cons: realism, season length

#5 The Boroughs, Season 1
3.3

Writing quality is split: some reviews praise the script as witty or character-focused, while others call it sub-standard or below the cast’s level. The writing is most liked in character...

Pros: main cast performance, acting quality

Cons: cancellation satisfaction, plot clarity

#6 Louis C.K.: Ridiculous
3.2

The writing ranges from polished, observational craft to material some critics call lazy or underdeveloped. Aging and elder-care bits get the most credit, while repeated shock turns weaken the overall...

Pros: main cast performance, dialogue quality

Cons: accountability handling, family friendliness

#7 Virgin River, Season 7
3.2

Writing quality is uneven. The supporting ensemble and several emotional arcs feel fresh and confident, while recycled romance beats, cluttered subplots and thin or clunky stretches hold the season back.

Pros: supporting cast performance, acting quality

Cons: character consistency, screenplay quality

#8 Human Vapor, Season 1
2.8

Writing reactions are mixed. Some reviewers liked the added plot and energetic setup, while the most negative take criticized the characters and plotting as recycled crime-drama material.

Pros: plot originality, emotional impact

Cons: humor, writing quality

#9 Mating Season, Season 1
2.5

Writing quality is uneven across the response. Some praise the later-season voice and relationship dynamics, while critics complain about surface-level jokes, lazy lessons, and weak commentary.

Pros: realism, cultural representation

Cons: age appropriateness, violence level

#10 Worst Neighbor Ever, Season 1
2.5

The writing and overall framing are serviceable but not especially ambitious. One critic felt the familiar Worst Ever approach leaves these serious stories wanting more effort.

Pros: finale satisfaction, season finale quality

Cons: violence level, writing quality

#11 Stranger Things: Tales From ’85
2.3

Writing quality varies from cleverly authentic to aggressively weak. The best reactions praise how closely it captures early Stranger Things, while the harshest call it lazy, contrived, and far below...

Pros: world-building, production design

Cons: plot clarity, realism

#12 Calabasas Confidential, Season 1
2.3

Narrative construction is shaky. K-waves faults the cheap dialogue and superficial relationship dynamics, while Bingebaaz finds the show only moderately sharp.

Pros: world-building, costume design

Cons: family friendliness, age appropriateness

#13 Rafa, Season 1
2.0

One critic found the storytelling too plain, arguing that the series leaves little subtext beneath its champion-and-sacrifice thesis. That makes the documentary clear, but not especially layered in its writing.

Pros: genre satisfaction, soundtrack quality

Cons: writing quality, plot clarity

#14 I Will Find You
1.5

Writing quality is a weak spot for skeptical reviewers. The script is described as flimsy and artificial, even when the show remains watchable.

Pros: cinematography, drama quality

Cons: writing quality, plot clarity