5 miniseries that prove masterpieces don’t need more than 8 Episodes

Most series on streaming platforms typically follow a ten-episode arc per season, with each episode released weekly. However, this is a list of 5 miniseries that engage the audience in 8 or fewer episodes.

The 10-episode strategy is considered appropriate as the show gets enough time to run long enough for some word-of-mouth and social media promotion and remain a part of the discourse, discussion among fans, forming a concrete fan base. However, several examples suggest that if the show is good enough, it can do the magic even in 8 or fewer episodes.

The 2025 Netflix Miniseries Adolescence stands out for tackling a sensitive issue outstandingly and wrapping the show in just 4 episodes, still bagging the most viewed position on the platform. Several Harlan Coben adaptations, such as Fool Me Once, which has 8 episodes, still have a huge fanbase. Untamed is another great example of a story completing a full circle in just 6 episodes and still able to gain traction for the way the story unfolds against the backdrop of majestic and equally eerie mountains.

Here are 5 miniseries that prove that masterpieces don't need more than 8 episodes to prove their worth.

Here are 5 miniseries with 8 or fewer episodes that are masterpieces when it comes to storytelling

1) Adolescence (2025)

5 miniseries with 8 or fewer episodes (Image Via Netflix)

The first among the 5 miniseries with fewer than 8 episodes is the recent Netflix release, Adolescence. The show has four episodes with a running time of 51 to 65 minutes. Each episode is filmed in a continuous, single take, a bold choice that heightens immersion and emotional tension.

The show is essentially a crime drama where the convict is a 14 year old teenage boy. It earned over 96 million views in its first three weeks.

2) When They See Us (2019)

When They See Us (2019) is another Netflix drama that fictionalizes a true story of the Central Park Five, when five black and Latino teenagers were wrongfully incarcerated for the 1989 brutal assault of a white jogger in the park.

The four-part series follows their arrests, the manipulative police interrogations that coerced false confessions, the racially charged trials fueled by media frenzy, and the devastating impact prison and public stigma had on their families and futures.

3) Untamed (2025)

As mentioned, this is another Netflix crime drama set against the vast, untamed wilderness of Yosemite National Park. The gripping drama starts with two random climbers on the difficult mountain when they see a girl's body falling from the wild peak, and tangled up in their ropes. This leads to the investigation when Special Agent Kyle Turner takes up the case.

Over six episodes, the narrative weaves together human tragedy, family secrets, and the tension between nature and the law. Initially planned as a miniseries, the show has now been renewed for a second season, per Variety.

4) Chernobyl (2019)

Chernobyl, released in 2019, is a 5-episode series on HBO depicting the harrowing 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The miniseries is tight with urgency in every moment and creates a claustrophobic impact on the viewers, depicting the true story of the leak of a poisonous gas, which led to many deaths in the entire neighbourhood. It's an impactful drama worth mentioning in this list of 5 miniseries that are masterpieces.

5) Fool Me Once (2024)

Fool Me Once is an 8-episode British crime thriller based on Harlan Coben’s novel. It opens with Maya Stern witnessing her dead husband alive on a nanny cam. She eventually digs deeper into the truth and finds out about her husband's powerful family, the Burketts, uncovering deep, buried secrets. This makes the show worth mentioning among the 5 miniseries list.

Coben's novel adaptations are a great example when it comes to storytelling with a limited number of episodes. Several of Coben's novels have been adapted to miniseries such as Stay Close, The Innocent, and The Woods, among others.