Since Netflix advanced right into a mega depot of countless content material (in a good method), there’s been fixed chatter about exhibits being “bingeworthy.”

Netflix arguably pioneered this idea, dropping total seasons of a present without delay, negating the necessity to watch for weekly episodes. You may order UberEats, lie in your pajamas all day and eat Home of Playing cards in a pile of your personal filth to your coronary heart’s content material.

However I used to be by no means a binger. Not likely. I’ve at all times been extra of a “one episode an evening man.”

The truth is, way back to I can bear in mind, solely one Netflix TV present compelled me to take a seat bug-eyed on the sofa with the posture of an exhausted baboon, streaming a whole season’s value of content material in a single sitting.

That present was The Sinner.

A homicide thriller present with a twist, The Sinner is top-notch tv. In contrast to most crime exhibits, which have detectives trawling via clues in an try to search out out who the assassin is, The Sinner exhibits you — in its very first episode, in broad daylight — precisely who the assassin is. The Sinner is much less of a “whodunit” and extra of a “whydunit.” 

The thriller lies in uncovering motives. What initially seems to be a mindless, motiveless act of violence slowly unravels into one thing way more complicated. 

In season 1, Jessica Biel stars as Cora, a mom who brutally stabs a stranger to demise on a seashore whereas her husband watches. The detective on the case is Harry Ambrose, ably performed by Invoice Pullman in a efficiency that someway conforms to detective tropes whereas subverting them. (Hear Pullman discuss in regards to the position to CNET’s I am So Obsessed podcast). He is a bizarre unit, our Harry, with some fascinating kinks. Who’s the actual sinner, eh detective?

Why is The Sinner essentially the most bingeable present on Netflix? It is arduous to pin down a single concrete reply. The performances, notably by Biel and Pullman, are unique and measured. The well-crafted areas this thriller takes place in really feel darkish, compelling and suitably creepy. The present’s motifs and aesthetics additionally do numerous heavy lifting – a music, performed endlessly all through, will hang-out you in your goals.

Nevertheless it’s the present’s construction, the well-crafted storytelling, that actually retains you hooked. Twists and turns are completely drip-fed and by no means really feel unearned. This, mixed with the highly effective central thriller – why would a seemingly regular, well-adjusted girl brutally homicide a stranger – makes it close to unattainable to cease watching. Higher nonetheless, the solutions, after they arrive, really feel greater than passable. The Sinner is not going to disappoint you. It’ll depart you feeling on edge, just a little dirty, however greater than content material. 

Subsequent seasons of The Sinner by no means fairly hit the identical heights. Its second run was stable, however I would not advocate the present past that. However The Sinner’s first season, as a standalone, is nearly as good because it will get. In case you’re in search of a homicide thriller to maintain your darkish impulses and drag you kicking and screaming from begin to end, look no additional. Simply be warned: I began this present at 7 p.m. on a Sunday evening. I completed it at 3 a.m. the next morning. 

Be sure to plan your viewing successfully. As a result of when you begin watching this present, it’s virtually unattainable to cease.