Prime Video might be the most underrated streaming service on the market and rarely gets the same attention as Netflix or HBO in mainstream conversations. However, it has quietly built a catalog filled with some of the most unique and rewarding shows of the last decade. In fact, many of the streamer’s best originals are the kinds of shows people only discover years later, only to realize how much they have been missing out on.
That’s because Prime Video has been taking chances on stories that other platforms probably wouldn’t touch because they feel too niche or experimental. If you’ve spent years scrolling past Prime Video originals without giving them a chance, here are the great shows on the streamer that you’ll wish you watched sooner.
‘Daisy Jones & The Six’ (2023)
Daisy Jones & The Six looks like a straightforward music drama about the rise and fall of a fictional rock band in the 1970s. However, the series is so much more than that. The story, based on Taylor Jenkins Reid‘s novel, unfolds in the style of a retrospective documentary, and that storytelling technique gives it a realism that the plot really needs. The series follows aspiring singer Daisy Jones (Riley Keough) and The Six, a struggling rock band led by Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin). The group is on the verge of superstardom thanks to Billy and Daisy’s creative partnership. However, their growing feelings for each other seriously complicate the situation. Daisy Jones & The Six is an interesting look at the music industry, but it also focuses on the people behind the music. Billy tries to stay committed to his wife Camila (Camila Morrone) while navigating his chemistry with Daisy.
At the same time, the rest of the band is forced to live in the shadow of that dynamic, which slowly creates fractures that become impossible to ignore. The brilliance of the series is that there isn’t one defining moment that destroys the group. Instead, the breakup feels like the inevitable result of years of unresolved emotions. The show also does an incredible job of capturing the music scene of the 1970s. Even the soundtrack feels authentic to the time and is woven directly into the plot, to the point where it’s easy to forget that these aren’t actually rock records from back in the day. Daisy Jones & The Six‘s greatest strength is that it doesn’t feel like a series about a fictional band. It genuinely feels like a real piece of music history.
‘Patriot’ (2015–2018)
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Patriot is one of the most unique spy shows ever made, which is probably why so many people completely missed it when it first aired. The series follows intelligence officer John Tavner (Michael Dorman), who is tasked with preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons. To do so, he takes on the identity of a mid-level employee at an industrial piping company and travels across Europe to carry out a covert operation. However, no part of that plan is simple. One mistake leads to another, and John finds himself in increasingly absurd situations that threaten the entire operation. Patriot approaches espionage from a different, completely unglamorous angle.
John isn’t the perfect super-agent who effortlessly completes impossible missions. Instead, he is exhausted, emotionally drained, and constantly dealing with one curveball after the other. Watching him desperately improvise his way through these situations is where much of the show’s tension comes from. Despite its heavy subject material, Patriot never feels bleak. The brilliance of the show is that every obstacle feels both completely ridiculous and entirely believable within the world it creates, while John’s deteriorating mental state keeps it all emotionally grounded. Patriot is a great spy show with high stakes and suspense, and at the same time, one of the most original stories on Prime Video.
‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ (2024–Present)
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Mr. & Mrs. Smith takes the basic premise of the iconic 2005 film and runs wild with it. The series follows two strangers, John Smith (Donald Glover) and Jane Smith (Maya Erskine), who agree to work for a mysterious espionage organization that assigns them dangerous missions around the world. The catch is that they must pose as a married couple while doing it. At first, their arrangement is purely professional. They barely know each other and spend much of the early episodes trying to figure out who their partner really is. However, as the missions become more dangerous, their fake marriage gradually evolves into something far more complicated. What makes the show so engaging is that every mission doubles as a new stage in their relationship.
Underneath all the assassinations and undercover operations, the series explores the trust and intimacy that eventually develops between the couple. Over time, it becomes difficult for them to separate their professional partnership from their personal feelings. By the second half of Mr. & Mrs. Smith Season 1, the emotional stakes become just as important as the espionage itself. Glover and Erskine share an effortlessly natural dynamic, which is integral to the narrative. However, what ultimately makes the spy series such a fascinating watch is that it doesn’t just recreate the movie but does something genuinely fresh with its beloved premise.
‘The English’ (2022)
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The English is the perfect intimate Western for today’s age. The miniseries follows English aristocrat Lady Cornelia Locke (Emily Blunt), who travels to the American West in 1890 to seek revenge against the man she believes is responsible for her son’s death. Along the way, she crosses paths with former cavalry scout and member of the Pawnee Nation Eli Whipp (Chaske Spencer), who is traveling to Nebraska to claim land he was promised for his military service. The chance encounter gradually evolves into a meaningful partnership as the two realize their histories may be connected in unexpected ways. The English starts as a revenge story, but it keeps revealing new layers beneath that narrative.
Cornelia and Eli become entangled in a web of old massacres, stolen land, generational trauma, and the lingering consequences of violence committed years earlier. Nearly every person they encounter seems connected to a different piece of that puzzle, and the series gradually weaves those threads together until the audience understands how deeply everything is intertwined. Now, the show takes its sweet time to unravel this mystery, but that’s what keeps the audience hooked till the very end. Blunt and Chaske’s on-screen chemistry is easily the best part of The English. It’s what turns the show into a Western that feels epic in scope but deeply personal too. The series is one of Prime Video’s most overlooked gems, and deserves way more recognition than it gets.
‘Goliath’ (2016–2021)
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Goliath is a compelling legal drama that everyone can enjoy. The series follows Billy McBride (Billy Bob Thornton), a once-brilliant lawyer who helped build one of Los Angeles’ most powerful law firms before his life completely fell apart. When the story begins, Billy is living out of a motel, struggling with alcoholism, and taking whatever work he can find. However, everything changes when he takes on what appears to be a straightforward wrongful death case involving a major corporation. However, as Billy digs deeper, he uncovers a conspiracy that reaches all the way back to his former law firm and some of the most powerful people in the city. The single lawsuit turns into a full-blown battle between ordinary people and institutions that believe they can get away with anything. None of that ever feels jarring, though, since Goliath steadily expands the scope of each case without losing sight of the personal stakes involved.
Billy is constantly forced to outmaneuver corrupt officials who have far more resources than he does. At the same time, he’s also fighting his own demons, which makes every victory feel truly earned. The supporting cast, particularly Patty Solis-Papagian (Nina Arianda), adds even more personality to the story, and her dynamic with Billy becomes one of the most interesting parts of the show. The series does an excellent job of blending courtroom drama, investigative work, and neo-noir storytelling to create a legal thriller that feels far more unpredictable than the average procedural.
‘Fleabag’ (2016–2019)
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Fleabag is easily one of the most original shows on Prime Video. The series, created by and starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge, follows a young woman known only as Fleabag as she attempts to navigate grief, family dysfunction, failed relationships, and the general chaos of her life in London. The premise seems simple initially. Fleabag runs a struggling café, constantly sabotages her own happiness, and uses humor as a defense mechanism whenever life becomes uncomfortable. However, it quickly becomes clear that she is carrying far more emotional baggage than she is willing to admit. The story gradually peels back the layers of Fleabag’s life to reveal why she is the way she is. She actually spends much of the series breaking the fourth wall and speaking directly to the audience, which initially creates the impression that viewers understand her completely.
However, the entire point is that she is hiding from herself just as much as she is from everyone around her. Her complicated relationships with her sister Claire (Sian Clifford), her father (Bill Paterson), and her godmother (Olivia Colman) provide some of the show’s funniest and most devastating moments, and that duality is truly where Fleabag shines. The highlight of the show, though, is Fleabag’s magnetic romance with the Hot Priest (Andrew Scott), which is genuine, hilarious, and heartbreaking at the same time. Fleabag is one of the most human shows ever made, and whoever hasn’t watched it is seriously missing out on some great TV.
‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ (2017–2023)
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The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is proof that a great character can carry a show for years. The series follows Miriam “Midge” Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan), a perfect 1950s housewife whose life comes crashing down when her husband Joel (Michael Zegen) suddenly leaves her. While dealing with the heartbreak, Midge accidentally discovers a talent for stand-up comedy and decides to pursue a career in an industry that wasn’t really welcoming to women at the time. Initially, the whole thing feels like Midge’s attempt to regain control of her life, but it eventually leads her on an ambitious journey through New York City’s comedy scene and beyond. Midge begins performing in smoky clubs, opening for bigger acts, going on tour, while constantly butting heads with industry insiders who underestimate her. As opposed to her career that keeps gaining momentum, her personal life remains as chaotic as ever.
Joel never fully disappears from the story; her parents, Abe (Tony Shalhoub) and Rose (Marin Hinkle), struggle to understand her choices, and her fiercely loyal manager, Susie Myerson (Alex Borstein), becomes one of the most important people in her life. The show constantly balances these competing storylines without losing sight of Midge’s growth as both a performer and a person, and that becomes the heart of the narrative. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is technically a period drama, but the show’s fast pace and witty humor make it as relatable as ever. It’s charming, funny, and a surprisingly emotional exploration of what happens when a woman refuses to settle, and that makes it one of the most rewarding watches on Prime Video.
