5 good Netflix shows to watch on Leap Day 2020
We took a leap of faith creating this list of Netflix shows to watch on Leap Day, including You, Outlander and more!
Leap Day grants us an extra day to do a lot of things, including more time for binge-watching! And what better platform to do that on than Netflix, which practically invented the pastime, didn’t it? (Or at least made it more socially acceptable.)
But which shows to watch? We created this list because they conjured up “leap” sayings in our mind, which will make sense as you read on.
1. Glitch
The term “quantum leap” comes to mind with this show, because science weighs heavily into the plot, which involves people returning from the dead in a small Australian town.
It may sound like the premise of a zombie horror movie, and in a way it is. But it’s a TV series and these “zombies” return as the flesh-and-blood people they once were, not rotting corpses craving brains.
Why have they returned? What connects them? And why are they confined to certain boundaries and are unable to stray very far outside of town? (If they do, their eyes start to bleed, they writhe in agony and if they don’t turn around and get within the acceptable parameters, they vaporize into dust.)
As if that’s not enough, also complicating matters is that the resurrected don’t remember dying, and some are more newly deceased than others. That means some are returning to find their loved ones have either been dead for decades, have aged drastically or, for the younger ones, have moved on and now have new lives with new love interests.
Glitch is pretty much equal parts horror, sci-fi and mystery, and it’s really compelling. Even though the plot requires you to suspend disbelief and question the impossible, the characters are dynamic, sympathetic and you want to keep watching to see what happens to them next.
Plus, you want to figure out how they returned from all different times, how they’re connected and why they’re back.
2. Outlander
“Leap back in time” with this show based on Diana Gabaldon’s popular series of books. Season 1 starts when Claire Randall finds herself swept away from her second honeymoon with her husband, Frank, only to be transported to 1743 Scotland. It’s there that she meets a whole cast of characters, including the love of her life, Jamie Fraser. But are they destined to stay together for all time, or will Claire return to her own time –and her husband?
I tried to read the first book in the series once upon a time, but for whatever reason, I didn’t like it. I couldn’t get into it. Back when Starz announced they’d be creating a series, I could’ve cared less.
But once it was released I kept hearing about it and it became harder and harder to ignore all the hubbub. When Netflix got the first season, I gave it a try and was immediately hooked. Caitriona Balfe captivates as Claire Randall/Fraser. And Sam Heughan finally made me understand what all the Jamie Fraser fuss was about!
Outlander season 5 recently started on Starz. Currently, Netflix has seasons 1 through 3 available to stream.
3. Cheer
This Netflix original docuseries follows the Navarro College Bulldogs Cheer Team –and makes a perfect Leap Day show suggestion because (a) it’s bingeable and (b) cheering involves a lot of leaping, like for joy. Especially when their team wins. And not just the teams the cheerleaders support.
This particular cheer team needs a squad rooting them on. The Navarro College Bulldogs Cheer Team has an impressive winning history of its own. They’ve won 14 NCA National Championships, plus five Grand Nationals.
Now they’ve won over viewers’ hearts as we’ve gotten to watch how Coach Monica and the team prepare for a win at nationals. It’s taken us beyond the cliches, educated us on the history and evolution of cheerleading and pulled us into their quest for another win. Will all their hard work pay off?
As a review about the show in The Washington Post put it, “Cheer quickly and effortlessly becomes all-consuming for the viewer.”
Yes it does!
4. Prank Encounters
Prank Encounters is included in this Leap Day list because it’s a reminder to “look before you leap,” especially into any situation that seems sketch. That’s what happens on the show. Two poor, unsuspecting people face hair-raising circumstances in each of the eight episodes.
If you’re a fan of prank shows like Scare Tactics, but also gravitate towards series like Stranger Things or The X-Files, Prank Encounters will have you leaping out of your seat with laughter.
Speaking of Stranger Things, Gaten Matarazzo, a.k.a. “Dustin,” hosts Prank Encounters. He appears at the end of every episode to let the two people who are being pranked know what happened. However, in one episode he stars as himself to pull off the prank.
It’s super fun to watch how people react to scenes right out of a horror movie, such as a Bigfoot terrorizing an isolated stretch of a wooded road; a crazed doctor who kidnaps a missing woman and performs surgery to shape her into the image of his dead wife; and an American Horror Story: 1984-ish summer camp slasher scenario.
Also, each episode is less than 30 minutes long, which makes it super easy to leap from one to the next.
5. You
Don’t “leap to conclusions” while watching this uber-bingeable Netflix show. Just when you think you know where it’s headed, WHAM! It slams you in another direction.
Joe Goldberg seems like a mild-mannered bookstore owner who’s also a romantic when he first meets Guinevere Beck, who everyone just calls Beck. Who can blame Joe for being smitten with her? She’s gorgeous, witty and nice and Joe can’t stop fantasizing about a future they could have together –if it wasn’t for all the people in Beck’s life coming between them, that is.
In no time it becomes clear Joe’s interest in Beck goes beyond unhealthy. He’s full-on obsessed, which could remain creepy but harmless if not for the fact that his calm, unflappable exterior masks a violent monster.
Spoiler alert: Things don’t end well for Beck and Joe, which you’d think would be the end of the story. Nope. (Besides, what fun would that be?)
Joe heads to Los Angeles in season 2, where, try as he might to change and leave his old ways behind, he can’t. He’s more manipulative, conniving and creepy than ever. Plus, there’s the small problem that his past history can’t leave him alone.
You seasons 1 and 2 are currently streaming on Netflix. Work is already underway on season 3.
Have you watched any of these shows? “Leap to it” and leave a comment letting us know!