I just streamed Netflix's new crime drama series — and I'm shocked how much I want to binge-watch the rest
Netflix's new crime drama 'The Waterfront' is basically a more grown-up spin on 'Dawson's Creek.'
It follows an extended cast of characters in a waterside town as their personal drama entangles with their somehow even more chaotic professional lives.
While its cast may be comprised of (mostly) adults, the melodrama feels just as soapy as the problems faced by Dawson and his pals in the iconic teen drama series. Only this time, there are more references to drug smuggling and high-stakes criminal activity than fretting over not getting asked to prom.
Considering 'The Waterfront' comes from Kevin Williamson, creator of 'Dawson's Creek' as well as 'The Vampire Diaries' and the 'Scream' movie franchise, it's not a huge surprise that its tone is more sudsy than serious.
And yet, despite things verging on cheesy on more than one occasion, after starting the series this week, I feel a strong compulsion to binge the rest right now.
If you're looking for a summer binge-watch, 'The Waterfront' might just be the perfect candidate, offering eight episodes stuffed with twists, betrayals, and 'shocking' revelations. It's a frothy throwback to a previous era of television, and I'm surprised how much that simple concept still appeals.
Inspired by true events, 'The Waterfront' is set in the fictional North Caroline beach town of Havenport, a location controlled by the Buckley family. This chaotic clang has a tight grip on everything from the local restaurants to the fishing industry that keeps Havenport ticking.
However, their empire is built on sand, and starts to crumble when patriarch Harlan (Holt McCallany) steps back from business after suffering a heart attack, and his reckless son Cane (Jake Weary) attempts to fill the void with some pretty disastrous results.
It soon becomes clear that when you swim in murky waters, you don't come out clean.
Thrown into the mix are the matriarchy of the family, Belle (Maria Bello), and daughter Bree (Melissa Benoist), a young mother struggling with addiction and battling over custody of her son. Let's just say, the Buckleys aren't exactly a picture of the perfect American family.
As the authorities start investigating a double homicide, which could implicate the Buckleys in a series of narcotic crimes, the family finds themselves scrambling to cover their tracks, but their interpersonal fighting threatens to sink everything they've built even before the cops can uncover their secrets.
It soon becomes clear that when you swim in murky waters, you don't come out clean.
After streaming the first couple of episodes of 'The Waterfront,' one thing is very clear: This show is basically a slick-looking soap opera.
It's stuffed with clunky dialogue exchanges, characters making decisions that in reality would lead them to ruin (but somehow work out), and a sense of escalation that sees the rabbit hole of chaos the Buckleys have dug only get bigger with each passing scene. It's certainly not awards-caliber drama.
Yet, it's just self-aware enough to remain highly watchable. It's the sort of disposable TV that dominated the pre-streaming era of television. You could easily imagine the season being stretched to 20+ episodes, with a whole load of additional sideplots added to bulk things out.
While the crime aspect is pretty prominent throughout — with Harlan and Cane's attempts to bring their unstable empire back under control taking the lion's share of the early screentime — the aspect that appealed to me most was actually Bree's attempts to connect with her estranged son, and her snarky snipe at her ex-husband. Benoist is a bit of a show stealer.
Based on what I've consumed so far, 'The Waterfront' isn't a crime drama series that is going to live long in the memory. Heck, after just two episodes, the earliest moments are becoming a bit hazy, but I still feel surprisingly compelled to keep watching and see where this ride concludes.
The show's combination of criminal dealings and relationship drama — in between drug dealings, Cane is trying to reconnect with a former flame — is a potent mix, and narrative wrinkles are dished out at a frequent enough clip that you can mostly gloss over the often hamfisted scripting and the times where the plot askews logic in favour of a big twist.
'The Waterfront' has arrived on Netflix at just the right time. Its beachside setting and its easy-watching nature feels fitting for the summer months.
It's a Netflix original series you can consume in a relatively short amount of time, mostly enjoy while it lasts, and then move on without any lingering thoughts. It's probably not going to be ranked in many best-of-the-year lists.
But that's not necessarily a deal-breaker. At least for me, I'm happy to make room in my streaming schedule for a show that offers intrigue, even if I can already tell it's not going to be a show that lives long in the memory.
At least in the moment, there's enough soapy substance to keep me invested, and I'm curious to see where the Buckleys end up by the final episode.
If you're itching for a Netflix show you can tear through in just a few evenings, or a single weekend, then 'The Waterfront' should fit the bill nicely. It's not going to leave the enduring legacy of some of Kevin Williamson's previous work, but it's pretty watchable, even if you can excuse some hokey dialogue.
Meanwhile, if you're looking for more streaming options, check out our guide to everything added to Netflix in June 2025, which includes plenty of bingeable shows and original movies.
Watch "The Waterfront" on Netflix now
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
‘Arcane,' returning from a 3-year hiatus, leads early Best Animated Program Emmy odds
The second and final season of Arcane is poised to shake up the 2025 Emmys. There are 38 submissions this year in the Best Animated Program category, which means there will again be five nominees. Leading the pack, per the Gold Derby odds, is Arcane. More from GoldDerby The 10 most Lynchian items at the David Lynch auction - and how much they sold for Best Drama Writing Emmy predictions: 'The Pitt' takes a risk by submitting 3 episodes 'Jaws' at 50: How Spielberg's movie changes 'horrified' wife of novel writer Peter Benchley Netflix's steampunk action-adventure show came on strong for its first season at the 2022 Emmys, winning Best Animated Program and three trophies for Best Individual Achievement in Animation. Three years later, it's back for Season 2, and there's no reason to think Television Academy members won't be just as enamored this time around. Arcane wrapped up major plot points in the series finale, "The Dirt Under Your Nails," in which destinies clashed in the lead-up to an all-out war. This is the episode that has been submitted for Emmy consideration. READ: The one show best positioned to beat Arcane in our odds is The Simpsons. The longest-running American scripted primetime series ever wrapped up its 36th season in May with its 790th episode. To date, The Simpsons has won 37 Emmys from 102 nominations, including 12 trophies for Best Animated Program. The comedy about the denizens of Springfield most recently prevailed in 2023 for "Treehouse of Horror XXXIII," but was beaten last year by Blue Eye Samurai, which is not currently in the running. This time around, the season premiere, "Bart's Birthday," is being entered for Emmy consideration, which serves a meta take on the show's eventual series finale. Love, Death + Robots has a near-perfect track record at the Emmys, winning 13 of its 15 nominations through the years. It won Best Short Form Animated Program for each of its first three seasons in 2019, 2021, and 2022, but is now competing against the big dogs up in the main Best Animated Program race. (There is no short form animation category this year, possibly due to a dearth of eligible submissions.) Season 4 of the anthology series streamed all 10 episodes on May 15, right at the tail end of the eligibility period. The third episode, "Spider Rose," has been submitted, and focuses on a grieving woman hellbent on revenge at the end of the galaxy. In fourth place is Bob's Burgers, a 13-time nominee in this category and two-time winner (2014 and 2017). Season 15 was split into two parts, with the first part airing at the end of 2024 and the second part airing now and through the summer. The eighth episode, "They Slug Horses, Don't They?," is being put forward for Emmy consideration, in which Tina and Louise get into an argument that escalates across several increasingly graphic "apology" cards. Invincible comes in fifth place for a nomination. Emmy voters will be judging the sixth episode of Season 3, "All I Can Say Is I'm Sorry," where a powerful new figure challenges Markus "Mark" Grayson/Invincible (voiced by Steven Yeun), and helps him to explore the concept of right vs. wrong. The superhero series streams on Prime Video, and received its first Emmy nomination last year for Sterling K. Brown for voicing Angstrom Levy. Gold Derby's Emmy odds are based on the combined forecasts of more than 4,100 people (and counting), including experts we've polled from major media outlets, editors who cover awards year-round for this website, and the mass of users who make up our biggest predictions bloc. Track the Emmy predictions by exploring all of our charts and graphs, and sound off in our TV forum. PREDICTED NOMINEES 1. Arcane — 19/10 2. The Simpsons — 71/20 3. Love, Death + Robots — 5/1 4. Bob's Burgers — 8/1 5. Invincible — 13/1 POTENTIAL SPOILERS 6. Big Mouth — 25/1 7. #1 Happy Family USA — 85/1 8. What If...? — 95/1 9. Harley Quinn — 100/1 10. Family Guy — 100/1 LONGSHOTS 11. Devil May Cry — 100/1 12. Batman: Caped Crusader — 100/1 13. Futurama — 100/1 14. Secret Level — 100/1 15. Star Trek: Lower Decks — 100/1 SIGN UP for Gold Derby's free newsletter with latest predictions Best of GoldDerby Everything to know about 'The Pitt' Season 2 Adam Brody, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, and the best of our Emmy Comedy Actor interviews Kristen Bell, Tina Fey, Bridget Everett, and the best of our Emmy Comedy Actress interviews Click here to read the full article.
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Charlie from 'Love Island USA' on Hannah and Pepe: 'How can I watch that?'
"Love Island USA" Season 7's Charlie Georgiou says the women were too loyal to Huda to vote her out of the villa, calling himself an "easy target." Charlie Georgiou is still reeling from being dumped by his fellow "Love Island USA" cast members. "It's savage; it's brutal," he tells USA TODAY. Since his villa roommates voted to oust him over the controversial Huda Mustafa and Taylor Williams, Charlie has been in a Fiji hotel room watching Netflix — and also catching up on the dozen Season 7 episodes in which the actor/model appeared. But the season's first male bombshell isn't eager to follow the most recent episodes, in which the woman he'd hit it off with, Hannah Fields, is happily moving on with Pepe Garcia-Gonzalez a day after uncontrollably sobbing over Charlie's departure. "When I was watching the episode of my departure, I saw that the next day, obviously they sent Pepe and Hannah and all the new couples on dates. And I was like, 'I can't watch that, man.' How can I watch that?" Charlie says. "Any human being wouldn't want to watch someone that they've just been establishing connections with go off and get to have this intimate experience with someone else." He adds, "Yeah, I don't want to watch the (newer) episodes. It's not a nice feeling. ... I'm just a bit worried I'll see something that makes me feel a bit (bad)." Charlie says he was the 'easy target'; the women 'weren't about to dump' Huda In Episode 12, viewers for the first time had their say in who couples up. When Hannah was paired with Pepe, Charlie was left on the chopping block alongside Taylor and Huda. Chelley, Cierra and Amaya's votes sealed Charlie's fate. This "disappointed" Charlie, who'd thought he had formed better friendships with the women. "Amaya, I always looked out for her. She cried in front of me. Me and Hannah looked after her and made her feel better, and she confided in us and we consoled her," Charlie says. "So for her to be the final executor of my time there ... the irony of it. I was like, 'No way, man, I can't believe it's you that's done it." As for Cierra, her vote to dump Charlie "let me down because ... we went in this game together. We went into the villa together. We'd have one-on-one conversations and check in on each other. He'd hoped he would sway his fellow islanders by giving his "last-ditch effort" pitch that he and Hannah had just found a new lease on their budding love. "And even that wasn't enough," Charlie says. "So I think I was always going to be the easy target." The women's loyalty to each other was the nail in the coffin, Charlie believes. "I just feel like the girls weren't about to dump (Huda)," he says. "They're not going to dump their girlfriend that they're upstairs with. They're watching her cry. They're not going to do that. They're going to go for me."
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
Estate that appeared in 'Zero Day' with Robert De Niro lists at $15 million
An estate that served as a location in Netflix miniseries "Zero Day," which featured Robert De Niro, is listed for sale at $15 million, according to the listing. Known as Rabbit Hill in Briarcliff Manor village, the more than 13,000-square-foot home is on 22 acres with Hudson River views, the listing said. The property, next to Sleepy Hollow Country Club, is within the town of Mount Pleasant, New York. In the miniseries, which aired in February 2025, De Niro portrayed a former U.S. president who is brought on to lead a commission to probe a cyber attack. Designed by architect Mott B. Schmidt for banker William S. Lambie, the home at 842 Sleepy Hollow Road was completed in 1929 and restored in 2016. It sold in 2016 for $9 million. David Turner of Compass has the listing. Stately features abound at Rabbit Hill in Briar Cliff Manor The fenced and gated property starts with a quarter-mile driveway that winds through oak trees and a naturalized landscape. A fountain is in the front-entrance courtyard. The property has sweeping lawns, perennial gardens and quiet woodlands, the listing said. Famous movie houses: Home from cult classic 'Dazed and Confused' is now for sale at $950K "Rabbit Hill is an extremely rare offering and opportunity of a historic house and property in superb condition and just 30 miles from Midtown Manhattan," the listing said. The four-level house has a stair hallway that "reveals a curved floating staircase over a herringbone brick floor," the listing said. The second level has six en-suite bedrooms, an additional guest room with private bath, and an office with full bathroom. The sunken family room includes three garden exposures through divided-light windows. There is a newly renovated kitchen. The property includes a 100-foot terrace, a large pool house and a 50-foot pool, which all face south and west toward the Hudson River and the Palisades. There is also a tennis court.
