5 Addictive Apple TV Miniseries You Can Finish In One Day

Netflix might stand tallest among the streaming giants of today's television landscape, but it's also undeniably been getting further and further away from delivering the kind of quality shows that set it apart in the beginning (although it still offers some addictive miniseries). It's increasingly quantity over quality now, and, sadly, its competitors like HBO Max, Prime Video, or Apple TV seem to slowly incorporate that same approach into their own content-making strategy.

Out of all of them, however, it's Apple TV that still tries adamantly to keep producing prestigious shows ("Severance," "Shrinking," and "Slow Horses") rather than churning out mediocre, if serviceable, projects that go down easy without leaving much of an impact. That's especially true for most of its miniseries that are often so enthralling and mesmerizing that you don't even want to leave your couch before finishing them in one go. Luckily, there are five that you can watch within a single day.

Accomplished crime novelist Dennis Lehane's first miniseries, 2022's "Black Bird," as a writer-creator, is a pitch-black foray into the deep depths of true crime. Based on Jimmy Keene's autobiographical non-fiction book, "In with the Devil: a Fallen Hero, a Serial Killer, and a Dangerous Bargain for Redemption," the six-episode show tells the true story of Keene (Taron Egerton). A convicted gangster from Chicago who made a deal with the FBI to get a confession out of a suspected serial killer, Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser), while in prison in exchange for a shorter sentence and a clean record.

After getting incarcerated, viewers follow him as he purposefully befriends Hall to slowly elicit the details of his vicious crimes, involving numerous female victims he kidnapped, raped, and killed throughout the 1980s. The series unflinchingly delves into exposing and exploring the twisted psyche of a serial killer (with a similarly painstaking approach as David Fincher's "Mindhunter") through a criminal. You aren't just granted access to Hall's dark mind but to Keene's emotional deterioration and mental capacity to comprehend such bottomless cruelties, eventually cracking under their weight as any moral human being would.

While it's surely not for the faint of heart, "Black Bird" is a truly fascinating examination of violence, inhumanity, and evil, thanks to the mind-blowing performances that both Egerton and Hauser (who won an Emmy for it) deliver with chilling authenticity. It might not be wise or mentally healthy to wolf down all six episodes in one day, but given how absorbing and intense the show is, nobody would blame you for doing so.

Lee Eisenberg's 2023 period drama, "Lessons in Chemistry" — based on Bonnie Garmus' debut novel of the same name — is as much a heart-wrenching love story as it is an aspirational and empowering tale about womanhood and feminism. Starring Brie Larson at her absolute best, the eight-episode show competently and confidently navigates sexism, racial discrimination, heartbreak, and every prejudice that befell women in the '50s and '60s (much of which still applies today).

"Lessons in Chemistry" isn't another melodramatic tearjerker but a smart and emotionally layered series that rides on its complex, passionate, and relatable characters as much as it does on its overarching narrative. Larson plays Elizabeth Zott — a chemist who's denied proper research because of her gender — as she falls in love with another devoted researcher, Calvin Evans (played by Bill Pullman's son, Lewis), and suddenly finds herself in a tragic and gruelling scenario she always wanted to avoid. The miniseries follows her battle and overcome these struggles as she unexpectedly becomes a popular TV host (despite her know-it-all and matter-of-fact personality) for a cooking show that turns into an overnight sensation.

Applying her immense knowledge of chemistry to cooking, she quickly turns into a star, connecting with millions of women across the country. Her career and personal life (riddled with tragedies, setbacks, and hard-earned successes) is as inspirational as it is harrowing at times, but a truly rewarding journey for viewers to get lost in for a day.

Mark Bomback's eight-episode miniseries, "Defending Jacob" — based on William Landay's bestseller of the same name — is one of those gripping murder mysteries that unfold through a legal battle, presenting an intricate moral dilemma. Jacob Barber (Jaeden Martell), a strange and introverted 14-year-old boy, is accused of stabbing a fellow student to death who had previously bullied him at school. His loving parents, Andy (Chris Evans) and Laurie (Michelle Dockery) — the former being a respected Assistant District Attorney — adamantly defend him in and outside of court, even though there are some off-putting and alarming signs that suggest their son may not be as innocent as he claims.

As usual in these types of stories, the truth might be a lot more complicated than it initially seems. "Defending Jacob" is inherently ambiguous and never gives easy answers, not even in its home stretch. It does, however, deliver food for thought about guilt, bullying, violence, and the limits (or lack thereof) of parental love in a situation that both strengthens and jeopardizes it.

Underlined by phenomenal performances from a terrific cast (in addition to the main actors, the series features J.K. Simmons, Pablo Schreiber, and Cherry Jones in key supporting roles), strong writing, and an aptly depressive visual tone, "Defending Jacob" is among Apple TV's hits for a reason. If you're a fan of the genre, don't miss it.

Georgia Pritchett's 2021 eight-episode psychological drama, "The Shrink Next Door," is one of the most underrated and underseen Apple TV miniseries by far. Despite starring Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd, the show divided critics and audiences in equal measure upon its release, never quite getting the attention from a wider audience that I believe it deserved. Based on the podcast of the same name by Joe Nocera, "The Shrink Next Door" tells the true story of Marty Markowitz (Ferrell) and his exploitative and scheming therapist, Dr. Ike Herschkopf (Rudd).

Presented as a dark dramedy, the plot follows Marty and Ike's increasingly bonkers relationship as patient and doctor, and then as "friends," over the years. The comical tone is indeed much-needed here because the true story is so bleak and enraging at times that it'd be hard to bear without some humor. If you're already skeptical about private and pricy mental health professionals, this tale will only reassure and amplify your belief about how they can take advantage of troubled people at their most vulnerable for personal gain.

Even though Rudd's Dr. Herschkopf is likely an exaggerated and overblown version of the real person it's based on, his masterful manipulation and elaborate gaslighting still feel spine-chillingly real. And so does the naivety of Ferrell's Markowitz, whose life rapidly begins falling apart the more time he spends with his therapist, yet he's unable to recognize what's happening to him until he totally loses himself. "The Shrink Next Door" might not be an easy watch for everyone, but if it pulls you in early on, you'll be hooked to see it through and then rewarded with an ending that's both baffling and satisfying.

Carlton Cuse and John Ridley's five-episode miniseries, "Five Days at Memorial," based on Sheri Fink's 2013 non-fiction book of the same name, is a devastating retelling of what happened at the New Orleans Memorial Medical Center after Hurricane Katrina struck the hospital in 2005. If you think that the drama in "The Pitt" is too heavy and tragic, this show will likely eviscerate your soul. I don't mean that in a bad way, though. In fact, the humanity, care, and compassion depicted in this binge-worthy medical drama are among the purest ever captured in a television series.

Boasting a vast and remarkable cast — including Vera Farmiga, Cherry Jones, Robert Pine, W. Earl Brown, and Julie Ann Emery among others — "Five Days at Memorial" painstakingly portrays how medical professionals deal with an impossibly harrowing situation the best they can, even if that means crossing ethical and moral boundaries for their patients. The show depicts the disaster and its immediate repercussions, as well as the legal suit the doctors and nurses faced after they were rescued from a five-day-long nightmare, which left many of them traumatized.

The 2022 series won a Primetime Emmy for Best Visual Effects in a Single Episode in 2023, but that only reflects a portion of its greatness. Its writing, direction, and performances are simply superb, encapsulating the effort these people had to perform to ease their patients' suffering, save as many as they could, and survive a horrible tragedy. Undoubtedly, "Five Days at Memorial" is top-tier television.