The Juicy Mystery Show Everyone's Loving On Netflix
There's nothing better than a mystery show, is there? And especially when it's on Netflix, aka the most bingeable streaming service out there. The show that everyone is talking about these days is Dare Me, a dark teen drama with a side of mystery that's based on Megan Abbott's crime novel of the same name. As for the storyline, according to the Netflix synopsis, "Relationships topple and loyalties flip when an icy new cheerleading coach takes over the high school squad ruled by Beth and her devoted BFF, Addy." Oh, did we forget to mention that the show follows a group of high school cheerleaders? There's something Netflix watches love about cheerleaders (we're looking at you, Cheer).
Despite the show having premiered on the USA Network, it wasn't until it made its way to Netflix that it started to pick up major success — in fact, according to Netflix, it's the seventh most-watched TV series on Netflix in the U.S. today. Despite the fact that there isn't currently a second season to watch, fans are seriously craving it. One Twitter user wrote, "i know it's wishful thinking that dare me streaming on netflix will popularize it enough to renew it for another season."
Dare Me finds success in captivating performances and a mature and well-developed narrative
What is about this show that fans are so obsessed with? Critics seem to agree that what is especially captivating about the show is its leads — people can't get enough of their impressive performances. In addition, critics find the dichotomy between the show runners to be especially compelling, their relationships being deemed realistic and moving. "Dare Me looks at how damaging unevenness in relationships can be by zeroing in on three characters brought together over scandal," writes the Thrillist.
Alan Sepinwall from Rolling Stone says that there's something about Dare Me that's illicit of a sort of old-school black-and-white mystery film that it does very well. He writes, "Great atmosphere and lived-in performances (especially from [Marlo] Kelly and [Herizen] Guardiola) carry this show a hell of a way farther down the field than a lot of recent dramatic slogs with similarly unbalanced story-to-episode ratios... in a way that gave me the same kind of visceral thrills I'm used to getting from more old-fashioned suspense tales about middle-aged men in fedoras and trench coats."
The overall consensus? Dare Me is a must-watch.