Despite being the biggest streaming service on the planet, Netflix isn't always known for being a perfect company. From both sudden and long-winding cancellations to underwhelming adaptations and beyond, the company has had its share of minor downfalls. But this has been a pretty spectacular past few months, thanks to the massive success of the thriller Squid Game and action caper Red Notice, among others. And among November's high-profile releases, three different Netflix original series earned 100% Certified Fresh critics scores on Rotten Tomatoes.
Let's run down the three recent Netflix releases that received widespread praise and passing grades from critics (even if audiences didn't always agree with those). To kick things off is another South Korean original that fans cannot stop talking about.
Hellbound
Based on the animated web series of the same name, Hellbound is a dark fantasy thriller that centers on supernatural demons/angels rising up from Hell in order to drag humans down. The six-episode first season, which is split into two main arcs, completely won critics over with its genre mash-up mixing procedurals with horror, all while offering an intelligent and thought-provoking look at the concepts of humanity, mortal sins, media influence and societal corruption.
Perhaps it's no surprise that Hellbound has been such a winner with critics, considering it was created by Yeon Sang-ho, who directed the instantly iconic zombie horror Train to Busan, as well as its sequel Peninsula and the superhero flick Psychokinesis. The new series was released on November 19 and immediately landed in the list of Netflix's Top 10 most popular TV shows.
Arcane: League Of Legends
Serving as a prequel to the extremely popular MOBA video game from Riot Games, Arcane: League of Legends aimed to capitalize on the global success of the game, and it definitely did so, with the new series earning tons of praise from fans and critics alike. And one of the big compliments featured in many reviews is that Arcane can be enjoyed by both hardcore players and those who have never even heard of the game itself. Which speaks to the super-high Audience score of 98% on Rotten Tomatoes.
With a voice cast that includes Hawkeye's Hailee Steinfeld, Army of the Dead's Ella Purnell and Lucifer vet Kevin Alejandro, among others, Arcane is set in the cities of Piltover and Zaun, following two sisters on opposite ends of a technology-fueled war. Taking the rare approach of being a staggered release, rather than dropping all episodes at once, Arcane has already been confirmed for a second season, with even more streaming projects likely to come from this video game universe.
Narcos: Mexico Season 3
While the first two entries in this list were all-new debuts, Narcos: Mexico attained perfect critic scores for its third and final season. Not that the drug war can ever be conquered or concluded, but reviews were altogether glowing for the latest batch of episodes, which were released on November 5. And what's more, the fact that the dark drama had to end on a non-conclusive note didn't even stunt the show's appeal with viewers.
With a cast led by the always great Scoot McNairy, Alejandro Edda and more, Narcos: Mexico Season 3 was championed for keeping things tight and stressful, with new showrunner Carlo Bernard taking over to bring the story to a close. Granted, only five critics reviewed the series, which is fairly normal for a later season, but its 100% score is still maintained.
Netflix no doubt has tons more new and returning series on the way during the rest of 2021 and into 2022 and beyond, and while the chances are low for every single one of them to nail perfect Rotten Tomatoes scores, we can feel confident that at least some of them will reign supreme.
