Skip to main content

Money Heist is still the best Netflix show to watch

Before Squid Game came along, Money Heist proved that fans in America would put up with subtitles for the right show. Money Heist began as a Spanish original series in 2017 before Netflix picked up the streaming rights later that year. From there, it didn’t take long for the show to find new fans around the world, and Netflix ordered additional episodes of the series before Money Heist came to a conclusion after its third season in December 2021.

Yet in the streaming era, nothing ever really ends, especially when a show has such a sizable audience. A spinoff series, Berlin, featuring Pedro Alonso’s title character, is coming to Netflix on December 29. As if you needed an excuse to revisit Money Heist, here are three reasons why it’s still one of the best Netflix shows to watch.

The show throws you right into the heists

Three people approaching a building stealthily with guns and armor in a scene from Money Heist season 5.
Tamara Arranz / Netflix / Netflix

One of the things that we appreciate the most about Money Heist is that it doesn’t make you wait around for the good parts. The show often throws the viewer right into the middle of an elaborate heist that was conceived by The Professor (Álvaro Morte), a criminal mastermind who doesn’t seem to believe in doing anything small.

The initial heist is so daring that the entire team has to take hostages and hold their positions for days even as the police surround them outside. It’s a high risk and high reward situation that makes the drama surrounding the heist so deliciously intense.

The relationship drama is compelling

Álvaro Morte and Itziar Ituño in Money Heist.
Netflix

You wouldn’t think that there would be much time for love in a show like Money Heist, but it’s pretty determined to have its thrilling heists punctuated with some good old-fashioned romance. That said, there’s nothing traditional about the relationship that develops between The Professor, nee Sergio Marquina, and Raquel Murillo (Itziar Ituño), an inspector for the National Police Corps in Spain who was in charge of stopping The Professor’s team.

When Raquel learns who Sergio really is, it doesn’t mark the end of their relationship – it’s only the beginning. Even the show’s breakout character, Tokyo (Úrsula Corberó), nee Silene Oliveira, has her romance with Rio (Miguel Herrán), nee Aníbal Cortés. Tokyo’s just not as trusting of other people, even her partners.

The stakes are always going up

The cast of Money Heist.
Netflix

It’s probably a good thing that Money Heist had a relatively short run on Netflix. Because this was a series that had to constantly raise the stakes through each season, which would have ultimately been unsustainable had it lasted any longer. The initial schemes of The Professor were bold, but his later plans seemingly threw caution to the wind and put the entire team into dangerous situations.

Of course, the fun of that is watching the team squirm out of trouble by the skin of their teeth. They may not always like each other, but this group needs each other. And that’s the message that the show sends while also staging some pretty impressive heists.

Watch Money Heist on Netflix.

Editors' Recommendations

Blair Marnell
Blair Marnell has been an entertainment journalist for over 15 years. His bylines have appeared in Wizard Magazine, Geek…
The 50 best shows on Netflix in May 2024
Benedict Cumberbatch and Ivan Morris Howe in Eric.

This week, Netflix is all about the Cumberbatches. Surely,it's not a coincidence that two shows starring Benedict Cumberbatch debuted in the same week. Eric is a Netflix original featuring Cumberbatch as a father who may be losing his mind after his son goes missing. Cumberbatch also stars in Patrick Melrose as a vulnerable man whose struggles with his personal demons may cost him his family.

In two weeks, Bridgerton season 3 will also reach its conclusion, but it's far from the only new programing in June. So check back every Friday morning as we update the best shows on Netflix soyou'll always have something new to watch on the weekend.

Read more
The 50 best movies on Netflix right now (June 2024)
Antonio Banderas in Security.

There are better times coming for Netflix this summer, but the first weekend of June is pretty quiet by streaming standards. Jennifer Lopez's sci-fi flick Atlas remains on top of the list of the most popular movies on Netflix. Even Madame Web is hanging around in the top five, while The Super Mario Bros. Movie is once again showing its dominance by climbing up the charts nearly seven months after arriving on Netflix.

This week's newcomers include Security, an action thriller starring Antonio Banderas that went largely unnoticed in 2017. But as we've seen many times before, Netflix subscribers flock to films that never hit it big in theaters. Our second new addition of the week is Butterfly in the Sky, a 2022 documentary about Reading Rainbow.

Read more
The best Netflix original series right now
The cast of Bodkin.

May 2024 was all about Bridgerton on Netflix, as the soapy romance series returned for the first half of its third season. But if Bridgerton was the only thing you watched on Netflix in May,then you missed out on Bodkin, a true crime comedy/parody that has a mystery of its own. Additionally, the true crime documentary Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal is still one of the most popular shows on Netflix.

The only other prominent series to debut in May was Tires, a new sitcom co-created by and starring Shane Gillis. But since that series doesn't really belong among the best Netflix original shows right now, we're leaving it out. Everything else, you can find below.

Read more