10 Perfect Netflix Shows With 20 Episodes or Less

2 hours ago 12

India Amarteifio in Queen Charlotte- A Bridgerton Story (2023)

Published Jul 26, 2026, 5:26 AM EDT

Jiminna Shillingford is an avid reader and a passionate storyteller. She is obsessed with all things TV, from anime and romantic fantasy to action-packed series. With that deep affection, Jiminna longs to share her excitement with all her readers through the Collider platform as a TV author. Through her writing she has created stories and blog posts of amazing book recommendations, showcasing her love of writing. Jiminna's goal is to inspire others to discover and embrace their love of stories in all of its forms.

Some of Netflix's greatest shows work incredibly well because they're short, focused, and carefully crafted pieces of art rather than sprawling stories that span dozens of episodes, all in the name of leaving a stronger impression. Whether it's a miniseries, an impeccably paced single season, or a concise multi-season beauty, these short Netflix series prove that sometimes less can actually be more.

Memorable series like Netflix's Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, which is a short and remarkably steamy romance series, and the animated Netflix watch, Blue Eye Samurai, which delivers sharp action and a captivating revenge story, are two brilliant examples of shows that feel much stronger with a smaller episode count. Compiled on this list are fantastic Netflix watches that are still quite incredible despite having twenty episodes or fewer.

10 'One Day' (2024)

Dexter sitting with a vision of Emma in the finale One Day.

This woefully underrated Netflix romance drama is a miniseries that doesn’t waste a single scene. One Day follows Emma Morley (Ambika Mod) and Dexter Mayhew (Leo Woodall), who become rather close friends after meeting the night of their university graduation on July 15, 1988. Although the two go their separate ways the next day, the series continues to focus on their relationship’s evolution as it revisits them on the same date across the years.

One Day is a truly exceptional watch. It’s a complete, emotionally satisfying story that never feels as if it's overstaying its welcome. Every episode of One Day feels important due to its unique year-by-year structure that masterfully showcases Dexter and Emma’s relationship, all the while capturing the passage of time with incredible honesty. The series may be “small,” but it is fantastically mighty, a brilliant series with zero filler that wields sharp writing that balances humor, romance, and intense heartbreak.

9 'Russian Doll' (2019–2022)

Nadia leaning and looking at something offscreen in Russian Doll

This dark comedic thriller series may not have lasted terribly long, but it did leave an impression on its viewers. Russian Doll follows the cynical game developer in New York City, Nadia Vulvokov (Natasha Lyonne), who is forced to relive the night of her 36th birthday over and over again.

Russian Doll delivered fifteen episodes of a mind-bending, moving tale. The series and its clever time-loop premise impressed viewers, with fans dubbing it a compact good time that is both smart enough to feel complete and short enough to finish quickly. Russian Doll doesn’t waste its limited episode count, with each one offering another philosophical question, clever revelation, or emotional breakthrough, making it the perfect series to binge for those looking for something short and sweet.

8 'Derry Girls' (2018–2022)

Several characters from Derry Girls standing with jean jackets and backpacks.

With just nineteen episodes under its belt, this underrated comedy gives audiences a complete, hilarious, and heartfelt story. Set in 1990s Northern Ireland, Derry Girls centers around a group of teenage girls and a rather overwhelmed English boy as they tackle family, school, friendship, and the growing political conflicts surrounding them.

Few comedy dramas are capable of being as outrageously funny, fast-paced, and incredibly heartwarming as Derry Girls. The show is endlessly rewatchable, never feeling stretched thin because, somehow, every installment delivers genuine laughs, meaningful growth, and sweet character moments all without wasting a single minute. Derry Girls is horribly underrated despite being practically perfect. It's one of Netflix’s finest, a short but memorable viewing experience that is loud, ridiculous, emotional, and deeply satisfying.

7 'Blue Eye Samurai' (2023–Present)

Mizu standing near Madame Kaji, both looking stoically ahead

Blue Eye Samurai has to be one of Netflix’s greatest modern animated series. It may only span eight episodes with more to come, but it somehow feels epically complete and wastes absolutely nothing with just a single season. Set in Edo-period Japan, the period drama focuses on mixed-race swordmaster Mizu (Maya Erskine), who has been disguising herself as a man as she dives headfirst into a relentless pursuit of revenge.

Blue Eye Samurai wields a masterful story, and it delivers a complete and remarkably satisfying first season that makes the most of every single scene. Each episode brilliantly expands the show’s richly realized world while skillfully balancing deeply emotional character development with breathtaking sword fights. Even with its concise runtime, Blue Eye Samurai offers audiences battles that carry real weight, major relationships, and revelations, cementing it as one of Netflix’s greatest.

6 'Midnight Mass' (2021)

Hamish Linklater and Zach Gilford sit on a bench outside in Mike Flanagan's Midnight Mass on Netflix.

Even with so few episodes, this supernatural horror delivers quite the viewing experience. Set on an isolated island community, Midnight Mass follows the troubled young man Riley Flynn (Zach Gilford) as he’s released from prison and returns home to a new charismatic priest named Father Paul Hill (Hamish Linklater).

Midnight Mass is often lauded as one of Flanagan’s most mature works. The series uses its short run to craft a slow-burning, contemplative horror story that focuses more on emotional and spiritual aspects rather than basic jump scares. Midnight Mass ensures that each of its character arcs is fully drawn during every installment, without ever feeling like it's dragging. With tight writing and a brilliant ensemble, the hit Netflix limited series is often regarded as one of the best horrors produced by the streaming platform, making it the perfect addition to this list.

Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Personality Quiz Which Sci-Fi Hero Are You Most Like? Paul Atreides · Captain Kirk · Princess Leia · Ellen Ripley · Max Rockatansky

Five iconic heroes. Five completely different ways of facing an impossible universe. One of them shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of refusing to back down. Eight questions will tell you which one.

🏜️Paul Atreides

🖖Capt. Kirk

✊Princess Leia

🔦Ellen Ripley

🔥Max Rockatansky

FIND YOUR HERO →

How do you lead when the stakes couldn't be higher? The way you lead under pressure is the most honest thing about you.

AI absorb everything — every variable, every pattern — and move only when I know the path forward. BI read the room, make the call, and own the consequences. Hesitation costs more than mistakes. CI rally people. A cause needs a voice, and I refuse to let fear be louder than conviction. DI assess the threat, establish what needs doing, and get it done without waiting for permission. EI don't lead. I act. Others can follow or not — I'm already moving.

NEXT QUESTION →

What is your greatest strength in a crisis? The quality that keeps you alive when everything else fails.

APrescience — the ability to see further ahead than anyone else and plan accordingly. BImprovisation — I'm at my best when the plan falls apart and I have to invent a new one. CConviction — I know what I'm fighting for, and that certainty doesn't waver under fire. DComposure — I stay functional when everyone around me is falling apart. Panic is a luxury. EEndurance — I outlast things. I take the hit and keep moving long after others have stopped.

NEXT QUESTION →

What is the thing you'd sacrifice everything else for? Your deepest motivation is your truest compass.

AThe survival and dignity of my people — even if I have to become something frightening to ensure it. BThe safety of my crew — every single one of them. No one gets left behind. CFreedom — for my people, for every world still crushed under the weight of an empire. DThe truth — what actually happened, what's actually out there, whether anyone believes me or not. EThe one person — or the one memory — that still makes any of this worth surviving for.

NEXT QUESTION →

How do you relate to the people around you? Who you are to others under pressure is who you really are.

AWith intensity and distance — I care deeply, but the weight I carry makes closeness complicated. BWith warmth and irreverence — I take the mission seriously, not myself. CWith directness and trust — I say what I mean, and I expect the people I work with to rise to it. DWith professional care but clear limits — I'll protect you, but I won't pretend we're family. EWith wariness that slowly becomes loyalty — I don't trust easily, but when I do, it holds.

NEXT QUESTION →

You're facing a threat that no one else believes is real. What do you do? How you respond when you're the only one who sees it defines everything.

APrepare in silence. If they won't listen, I'll be ready when they finally have to. BKeep pushing until someone listens — and if no one does, handle it myself. CBuild the case, find the allies, and make the threat impossible to ignore. DDocument everything. The truth matters even if no one believes it yet. EStop trying to convince anyone. Survive it. That's the only argument that counts.

NEXT QUESTION →

What has your heroism cost you personally? Every hero pays. The question is what — and whether they'd pay it again.

AMy innocence — I've seen what I'm capable of, and I can't unsee it. BPeople I loved — the command chair has a view, but it's a lonely one. CA normal life — I gave up everything ordinary the moment I chose the cause. DMy sense of safety — I know exactly what's out there now, and I can't pretend otherwise. EAlmost everything — and I'm still not sure what I'm carrying it all for. But I keep going.

NEXT QUESTION →

How do you feel about the rules of the world you're in? Every hero has a relationship with the system. What's yours?

AI understand them deeply — and I know exactly which ones must be broken, and why. BI respect the spirit of them and bend the letter when the situation demands it. CThe system is the problem. I'm not here to work within it — I'm here to dismantle it. DI follow protocol until protocol stops being useful. Then I make the call myself. EThe rules collapsed a long time ago. What's left is instinct, and mine are reliable.

NEXT QUESTION →

When everything is on the line, what keeps you going? The answer is the most honest thing about you.

ADestiny — or something that feels so much like it that the difference no longer matters. BThe people on my ship — their faces, their trust, the fact that they're counting on me. CThe belief that what we're fighting for is worth every sacrifice, including this one. DSheer refusal to let it win — whatever it is. I don't stop. That's just who I am. EI'm not sure anymore. But the road is still there, and I'm still on it.

REVEAL MY HERO →

Your Hero Has Been Identified Your Sci-Fi Hero Is…

Your answers point to the iconic sci-fi hero who shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of facing the impossible.

Paul Atreides

You carry a weight most people would crumble under — the knowledge of what you're capable of, and the burden of what you might have to become.

You see further ahead than others and you plan accordingly, even when the vision frightens you.
You are driven by loyalty to your people and a sense of destiny you didn't ask for but can't escape.
Paul Atreides is not simply a hero — he is someone who understands the cost of power and chooses to bear it anyway.
That gravity, that willingness to carry what others won't, is exactly you.

Captain Kirk

You lead with instinct, warmth, and an absolute refusal to accept a no-win scenario — because you've always believed there's a third option nobody else has thought of yet.

You take the mission seriously without ever taking yourself too seriously.
Your crew would follow you anywhere, not because you demand it, but because you've earned it.
Kirk's genius isn't tactical — it's human. He reads people, bends rules with purpose, and wills outcomes into existence through sheer conviction.
That combination of warmth, audacity, and relentless optimism is unmistakably yours.

Princess Leia

You are the kind of person who holds the line when everyone else is losing faith — not because you're fearless, but because giving up simply isn't something you're capable of.

You lead through conviction. Your voice carries because your belief is unshakeable.
You gave up everything ordinary the moment you chose the cause, and you've never looked back.
Leia is not a supporting character in her own story — she is the moral centre of the entire rebellion.
That same fierce, principled, unbreakable core is what defines you.

Ellen Ripley

You are not reckless, not grandiose, and not particularly interested in being anyone's hero — you just refuse to stop when it matters.

You see threats clearly, you document the truth even when no one listens, and when the time comes you handle it yourself.
Ripley's heroism is earned, not performed. She doesn't have a speech — she has a flamethrower and a plan.
You share her composure under the worst possible pressure, and her refusal to pretend the monster isn't there.
When it counts, you don't flinch. That's everything.

Max Rockatansky

You have been through fire that would break most people — and what came out the other side is something the world underestimates at its peril.

You don't ask for help, don't need validation, and don't wait for anyone to tell you the rules no longer apply.
Your loyalty, when it finally arrives, is absolute — but it's earned in silence and tested in action, not in words.
Max is not a nihilist. He is someone who lost everything and found, against his will, that he still has something worth protecting.
That bruised, stubborn, ultimately human core is exactly yours.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

5 'Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story' (2023)

This Bridgerton expansion is a brilliant romance spinoff that works incredibly well with just six episodes. Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story centers around young Charlotte (India Amarteifio), just before she becomes queen, as she enters an arranged marriage with King George (Corey Mylchreest), which surprises her in ways she never could have foreseen.

Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story's short run only works to its advantage as it never loses sight of the central relationship, giving every episode great significance. The series masterfully balances the sensuality and elegance of its larger story with a far more mature and bittersweet love story. With just a few episodes, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story delivers a moving romance about sacrifice, love, and endurance, making it clear that six episodes is all the show really needs.

4 'The Haunting of Hill House' (2018)

Nell deceased as the Bent Neck Lady hanging in the sky in the series Haunting of Hill house.

The Haunting of Hill House is one of Netflix’s most beloved limited series because it genuinely feels both enormous and intimate despite its short run. The series focuses on the Crain family across their childhood and adulthood as they remain traumatized by what occurred inside Hill House.

Even with The Haunting of Hill House being a standout hit, it is still somehow terribly underrated. The limited series and its ten-episode run deliver both emotional depth and quality shocks. The Haunting of Hill House wields top-notch directing, acting, and production, a concise single-season masterpiece that offers audiences an enticingly horrific yet incredibly emotional watch. The series’ length enforces discipline, balancing family drama with scares so brilliantly that it easily earns a spot on this list among Netflix's short but incredible series.

3 'When They See Us' (2019)

Yusef holding his mother, Sharonne, in 'When They See Us'

This four-part miniseries, directed by Ava DuVernay, may be incredibly short, but for its length, it definitely leaves an enormous impact. Set in New York City, When They See Us centers around five Black and Latino teenagers—Kevin Richardson (Caleel Harris), Yusef Salaam (Ethan Herisse), Antron McCray (Asante Blackk), Korey Wise (Jharrel Jerome), and Raymond Santana (Marquis Rodriguez)—who are wrongfully accused and convicted of a 1989 assault.

When They See Us is a masterful series whose short format only heightens its urgency surrounding each episode. The dramatized tale based on a true story packs such an emotional punch with its tight pacing that every installment feels incredibly significant. From performances to direction, When They See Us definitely deserves its status as one of Netflix's greatest. It may not be the excessively lengthy watch that Netflix tends to produce, but it’s a memorable four-episode series that ensures viewers stay fully engaged.

2 'Arcane' (2021–2024)

Arcane is an exceptionally stunning animated series set in the steampunk world of the wealthy city of Piltover and its industrial slum, Zaun. The story follows two orphaned sisters from Zaun: Vi (Hailee Steinfeld) and her younger sister Powder, who later becomes the infamous Jinx (Ella Purnell) as growing divisions, political conflict, and personal tragedy push them apart.

Arcane is no doubt one of Netflix’s greatest animated series ever created. Its two-season run is tight yet expansive enough to develop complex characters and plot. Incredibly loved, Arcane is praised for its blend of unique emotional depth and 3D and 2D animation. In four to six hours, the sci-fi beauty gifts viewers a complete saga with no filler arcs, and is impeccable proof that a truly unforgettable story doesn’t require dozens of episodes to feel truly satisfying.

1 'The Queen's Gambit' (2020)

Benny Watts (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) and Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) in 'The Queen's Gambit'

The Queen’s Gambit is a masterpiece that sparked a renewed passion for the game of chess. The period drama focuses on orphaned chess prodigy Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy), who discovers an extraordinary gift for chess and eventually, a very dangerous affinity for tranquilizers.

This single-season drama offers audiences tightly written episodes, standout performances, and impeccable production. The Queen’s Gambit is universally lauded as an almost magical viewing experience that may not last for an incredibly long time, but remains with its viewers long after the credits are rolling. It is in no way boring; in fact, the series is a rather thrilling watch for a drama surrounding the game of chess. The Queen’s Gambit uses every minute to fulfill both its emotional stakes and character arcs, creating a complete experience that’s remarkably crafted from beginning to end.