When Life Gives You Tangerines and 4 Other Best TV Series of 2025 So Far
Prepare your watchlists.
The first half of 2025 saw many sequels of popular series. The second season of Ben Stiller's Severance was released on Apple TV+, and the third season of Mike White's The White Lotus dropped on Max.
Meanwhile, a new project is poised to compete for the title of 2025's breakout series: the psychological thriller Adolescence by Stephen Graham and Phil Barantini, filmed in one take.
Here are our picks of the best series of 2025 that are already available to watch.
1. Adolescence, 2025
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 99%
British teenager Jamie Miller has been accused of murdering a classmate. Parents, social services, and the police are trying to figure out what really happened.
In each episode of Adolescence, viewers learn more shocking truths about Jamie's school, his family, and his relationship with the deceased girl.
The four-part thriller, directed by Phil Barantini and written by Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne, amazes with its form and content. Most importantly, Adolescence creates a colossal immersive effect – it is literally impossible to tear yourself away from the series.
2. When Life Gives You Tangerines, 2025
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100%
Ae-sun spent her childhood in poverty. She helped her stepfather raise her younger siblings and was cared for only by Gwan-sik, a boy who had been in love with her since she was ten.
When they grew up, Ae-sun and Gwan-sik began dating and tried to escape Jeju for Busan, the place where Ae-sun desperately wanted to live.
However, the adult world turned out to be cruel. Their bags were stolen, so Gwan-sik's mother had to send them back home. Disappointment awaited the lovers in Jeju as well. After their escape, Gwan-sik was suspended from his training, and Ae-sun was expelled from school.
The girl's dreams of college and a career as a poet were shattered. The only path left was to get married and become a mother.
3. Severance Season 2, 2022-...
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 95%
Three years later, Apple TV+ is back with Severance – a paranoid thriller about the cult of corporate life from director Ben Stiller and screenwriters Dan Erickson and Mark Friedman.
The plot revolves around employees of the mysterious corporation Lumon Industries whose consciousness has been divided into "personal" and "work." We meet the innies and outies versions of the same people, who know nothing about each other's lives.
4. The Pitt, 2025-...
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 95%
One of the most popular series of the past few months has been the medical drama The Pitt. Each episode is one hour long and depicts a work shift. Over the course of 15 episodes, viewers have plenty of time to worry alongside the doctors and get attached to the emergency room staff.
Dr. Robinavitch runs the department with Dr. Collins. He must cope with daily work chaos and maintain communication with interns and burnt-out employees while not letting thoughts of his tragic past take over. It will be a long and hard day.
5. The White Lotus Season 3, 2021-...
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%
Relaxing massages, endless cocktails at the bar, meditation, noisy parties, and a corpse. The third season unfolds according to a familiar formula: first, viewers are shown a tragedy, then its backstory.
A new group of tourists checks into the Thai branch of the White Lotus hotel chain. They are rich, spoiled, arrogant, and selfish. However, some of them do not fit into the usual stereotypes.
In the third installment of Mike White's anthology series, Buddhist temples coexist with parties, and the desire to find oneself is constantly interrupted by a craving for experimentation.