As the largest streaming service worldwide, Netflix is home to high-quality and award-winning TV shows. These include hits like Squid Game, Stranger Things, and Arcane. With this platform, it’s inevitable that some deceiving TV shows creep their way in. Here’s a list of Netflix shows that just aren’t as good as they seem.

Insatiable

Insatiable follows 17-year-old Patty, who grew up overweight. Because of this, she was bullied and shamed by her peers. In this show, Patty loses weight and vows to seek revenge against those who bullied her by entering pageants.

This narrative maintains the offensive stereotype that to be accepted, one must fit beauty standards. It encourages young people to pursue unhealthy methods of weight loss in order to fit in. The show attempts to subvert racial stereotypes by portraying characters of color satirically. However, to audiences, this commentary comes across as racist and reinforces rather than subverts these stereotypes. USA Today wrote that Insatiable “traffics in racial stereotypes, flirts with homophobia and transphobia, and is just genuinely bad and boring TV.”

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Riverdale

The first few seasons of Riverdale seemed promising. It is loosely based on the Archie comics, but only maintains the characters and some relationships. In season one, we follow Archie, Betty, Jughead, and Veronica as they attempt to explain the mysterious death of one of their classmates.

The characters become entangled in various romantic relationships with plot twists and drama along the way. While this premise seems like it has potential, the strong foundation of the first season was destroyed by the third season. The writing of the show became incredibly cringeworthy and a veritable internet meme. Much like Grey’s Anatomy, the actors were spontaneously forced to sing in 'musical episodes'. Unfortunately, none of the actors in Riverdale had vocal training, therefore the lead singer quickly became the auto-tune. As the show went on, it prioritized style over substance. It threw in messy plots, unexplainable loopholes, and unnecessary resurrections. Riverdale is an example of how weak writing can lead to a cinematic train wreck.

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Emily in Paris

Somehow able to create four seasons and counting, Emily in Paris is the culturally insensitive show that no one ever needed. It follows an American marketing executive named Emily who is hired to bring an international perspective to a Parisian marketing firm. The story is chock-full of cliches and fails to bring a respectful portrayal of French culture.

The main character is idolized, ignorant, and sets a poor example for American tourists. Emily in Paris creates a caricature of French people. “It was worse than cliché, it felt like it was Americans mocking French people,” said one French woman for an NBC article.

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13 Reasons Why

13 Reasons Why follows the aftermath of teenage Hannah Baker’s death. Prior to taking her life, she recorded tapes explaining why she did it and calling out certain people. When people in the show feel remorse and wish they had treated Hannah better, it unfortunately demonstrates that her actions served a purpose in changing these people.

This is an extremely damaging message that should not be perpetuated, especially to an impressionable teenage audience. The show portrayed suicide as a vengeful act, rather than the simply deeply tragic event that it is. It spread harmful misinformation about the cause of suicide and failed to contain information that adequately discouraged it or showed useful resources. What started as a warning against bullying morphed into a derivative drama that used tragedy to get more views. The creators of 13 Reasons Why sacrificed a powerful cautionary tale for a romanticized, cheapened narrative that would spread on social media and gain traction.

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Haters Back Off

It’s no surprise that Colleen Ballinger’s TV show was unsuccessful. The influencer has been the center of numerous controversies, and ridiculed for her disingenuous ‘ukulele apology video’. Haters Back Off follows the life of fictional influencer Miranda Sings, who is also played by Colleen Ballinger.

The show, while targeted for a children’s audience, implies a relationship between the teenage lead and her uncle. This storyline is offensive, inappropriate, and indicative of the show’s overall quality. The writing is cringeworthy at best and seems to prioritize shock value over comedy.

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Conclusion

All of these TV shows demonstrate one important lesson: don't prioritize style over substance. With a few tweaks to storylines and scripts, some of these shows could have been successful. While Netflix is an industry powerhouse, there’s no denying that some of their content can be significantly improved.