Netflix is practically a treasure trove of hidden gems, with many original series you probably never knew existed. Even high-concept sci-fi thrillers have gone unnoticed on the streaming service, and if you’re scrolling endlessly through options, looking for your next binge-watch, there’s one show that deserves more attention for its ambitious time travel premise.
Bodies is an 8-episode sleeper hit that combines fun sci-fi elements from Quantum Leap with the mystery-solving of Sherlock Holmes. What begins as a straightforward murder investigation takes a sudden left turn, expanding across multiple timelines in the past and the future. Released in 2023 with only a little of the typical fanfare given to the streamer’s biggest franchises, the series quietly delivered one of the smartest genre mysteries in recent years. Considering the talent involved, with actors like Stephen Graham (Adolescence) alongside Kyle Soller (Andor), there’s no reason Bodies should’ve been overlooked.
‘Bodies’ Reinvents The Whodunit Genre Through Time Travel
You may think you know what to expect from a murder mystery, but Bodies flips the script by incorporating time travel. After the same unidentified corpse shows up in London on four separate occasions across time in 1890, 1941, 2023, and 2053, a detective investigates the baffling case. Its experimental blend of genres feels surprisingly natural.
As each investigator looks for clues, the series feels like a classic whodunit in the style of Sherlock, but every new revelation presents more questions than answers. It’s a puzzle-box narrative that will keep you guessing until the final episode. Like Quantum Leap, the story jumps all over different historical eras, revealing that events in one timeline can cause ripple effects, and the result is a series that finds a perfect balance between sci-fi and mystery.
Unlike some shows that stretch out their mysteries across multiple seasons, Bodies manages to tell a full, self-contained story in just 8 episodes with no filler. That’s a key reason why it feels so effective. It wastes no time getting to the case, introducing characters, presenting potential suspects, and presenting its own take on time travel.
In each timeline, new characters are introduced with their own personal struggles and fresh perspectives on the mind-bending case, but instead of feeling like four separate stories, the performances make it feel like a singular, cohesive mystery. It’s no surprise that Graham is especially compelling, while Soller elevates the series with an emotional weight.
Although there’s no shortage of time travel shows, many of them prioritize sci-fi elements without telling an original compelling story, but Bodies manages to do both. Whodunits are strongest when you can put together the clues yourself, and yet still feel shocked by the outcome. That’s exactly what you can expect from this hidden gem— the twists are smart, but never incomprehensible. The series lets you connect the dots throughout each episode, making every revelation feel earned. If it slipped through your radar when it came out on Netflix, now is the perfect time to binge one of the streamer’s most underrated shows.
- Release Date
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2023 – 2023-00-00
- Showrunner
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Paul Tomalin
- Directors
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Marco Kreuzpainter, Haolu Wang
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
