With it being the heart of hurricane season in the States, power outages are pretty common right now. When the lights and the internet go out, you’ve got to have something to do to pass the time, and having your favorite Netflix series downloaded and ready to go can be a lifesaver.
If you’re in the middle of a series, or you’re jumping around from show to show, it can be a little difficult to make sure you have the right episodes downloaded. That’s why I like to have some shorter, self-contained series on hand and ready to go when the power trips. Netflix makes it really easy, especially because they have a great collection of short shows. From spooky ghost stories to dark British shows, they have great choices for whatever mood you might be in.
The Haunting of Hill House
The perfect time for a horror story
Personally, I think that a power outage is the perfect time to watch some horror. It takes me back to being a kid and telling ghost stories in the dark. One of the best candidates to watch when things get dark and spooky is The Haunting of Hill House. It is a slow-burn ghost story that keeps the tension building over the course of the whole series, rather than relying on tons of jump scares throughout. It was director Mike Flanagan’s breakout piece and remains one of the best shows on Netflix.
The show focuses on the Crain family, comprised of Hugh (Henry Thomas) and Oli and their five children. They move into Hill House with the intention of fixing it up and flipping it, only to be exposed to a series of increasingly horrifying supernatural events. As adults, the children reunite after their youngest sister, Nell (Victoria Pedretti), dies, and they are forced to confront their trauma and relive the events that happened in Hill House
If you’ve already watched The Haunting of Hill House, and you’re looking for a similar vibe, I highly recommend Mike Flanagan’s other Netflix shows, The Haunting of Bly Manorand Midnight Mass.
The Queen’s Gambit
A one-season wonder
Back in 2020, the world was shaken, we were put on lockdown, and we were all told that we had to stay indoors. At almost the same time, The Queen’s Gambithit Netflix. It became an instant phenomenon, and it jump-started an interest in chess for a whole new generation. Director Scott Frank was able to take a slow and intellectual game and put it at the center of a high-stakes drama, packed with so much character and emotion. It is the perfect show to binge-watch when the lights go out and there is nothing else to do.
It follows Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy), an orphaned chess prodigy, on her rise through the chess world. It is a gripping story that goes well beyond the board, depicting the struggles of addiction and the emotional cost of childhood stardom. The eye for detail in this series is fantastic, and every chess game that is played is real and based on historic matches.
Baby Reindeer
Psychological and heart-wrenching
This is one that you should keep as a download for when you’re feeling quite sturdy emotionally. It is dark, gritty, and completely unfiltered. Despite being so heavy, when I first watched it I couldn’t look away, and I watched the entire series in a single sitting. Baby Reindeeris one season, making it great for binge-watching when the power goes out. Be aware that it delves into some pretty sensitive topics, and it doesn’t make any attempts to sugarcoat anything.
Baby Reindeer walks a gray line between fiction and reality. It follows Donny, an amateur comedian who navigates starting his career while simultaneously having to deal with a serial stalker, Martha (Jessica Gunning). A lot of the events are heavily inspired by the life of writer Richard Gadd, who also plays the main character. Everything that happens is very fictionalized, though, something that Gadd has driven home a number of times, despite what some of the marketing for the show might suggest.
The Gentlemen
Something a little bit lighter
A spin-off of Guy Ritchie’s 2019 crime comedy film, The Gentlemenon Netflix blends the world of aristocracy with the British criminal underground. The first season only came out back in 2024, making the show pretty young. A second season has also just debuted on Netflix, with it hitting the platform in September of this year. Whether you’ve watched the first season already or you’re just getting into it for the first time, it is perfect for binge-watching. Each season is eight episodes long, meaning that they are nice and compact.
The Gentlemenoozes style and is aesthetically one of the nicest shows I’ve watched in a while. It depicts the story of Eddie Horniman (Theo James), who inherits a massive 500-year-old estate, only to find out that it sits at the center of a covert cannabis empire. Directed by Guy Ritchie, it comes loaded with witty humor, sharp-tongued dialog, and twist-heavy power struggles.
The power going out is the perfect time for a binge session
Netflix has some great miniseries that don’t demand a ton of your time but still manage to tell gripping and impactful stories that will stick with you. All the shows listed above are great self-contained stories, being only a season or two long. This makes them perfect for getting through in a single sitting, especially when the lights go out. Just make sure you have them downloaded and ready to go.
