Taylor Sheridan's 40-Part Crime Thriller Masterpiece Is Officially Netflix's Best New Binge

Published Oct 7, 2026, 6:15 PM EDT Greg is a Lead TV Writer & Critic at Screen Rant with expertise in new streaming releases. He's published over 3000 articles at SR, including weekly recommendation guides and dozens of reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. He previously worked in Development at ABC Television & Lawrence Bender Productions. Greg majored in Film Production at Chapman University's Dodge College. Greg also has years of broadcast TV production experience at major networks such as NBC, TNT, and ESPN. He currently lives in Greater Boston. Taylor Sheridan's 40-part crime thriller masterpiece is officially Netflix's best new series to binge this week. After premiering back in 2021, this gripping crime drama is finally available to stream on Netflix for the first time ever as of Monday, October 5, 2026. Since then, the fan-favorite Sheridan series has instantly become a global streaming hit, ranking #6 worldwide and #4 in the U.S. on Netflix's viewership charts at the time of writing. With a robust ensemble cast including Jeremy Renner and Kyle Chandler, this is one crime series not to be missed. Taylor Sheridan's Mayor of Kingstown is officially ready to binge-watch on Netflix this week and is one of our top picks for the best new shows to stream on Netflix. The series follows Jeremy Renner's Mike McLusky, who is known around the fictional Michigan prison town of Kingstown as the unofficial mayor of its underground crime world. Mike takes the reins from his brother, Mitch, played by Chandler, and must quickly learn how to keep the peace between rival gangs and opposing forces within a dangerous local federal prison. Mayor Of Kingstown's 40 Episodes Are Now Streaming On Netflix Mayor of Kingstown is a fantastic new crime thriller worth binge-watching now on Netflix. While the series is still available to stream on Paramount+, it has never been accessible to Netflix subscribers until now, which is part of a licensed deal to ideally raise viewership and hype for the upcoming fifth and final season. Just like Sheridan's other series, Mayor of Kingstown is full of memorable characters, high tension, and disputes over power. That said, Sheridan only wrote every episode of the first season before handing it over to Dave Erickson in season 2, who serves as the current showrunner. Mayor of Kingstown is everything viewers could want in a gritty crime thriller. The series examines the delicate balance of power between both sides of the law in a town that feels ready to implode at any given moment. Almost every scene is naturally captivating, with little to no fluff to distract from the daily threats and problems Mike and his associates face. The series was co-created by Hugh Dillon, who also portrays Mike's most loyal right-hand man, Ian Ferguson, a corrupt cop not afraid to get his hands dirty. Mayor of Kingstown also features strong performances by Tobi Bamtefa as Bunny, the head of a local gang, and Taylor Handley, Mike's police detective little brother. Mayor Of Kingstown Gets Better With Every Season Jeremy Parsons / Paramount+ Even though Mayor of Kingstown season 1 was the only one created with Sheridan's direct involvement, the series has only gotten better according to critics. Season 1 received a brutal Rotten Tomatoes score of just 31% (compared to its 86% audience score) and improved to a perfect 100% RT score in its fourth season. This franchise-high reception essentially necessitated a fifth season, which will only include eight episodes, two fewer than each of the first four seasons. As one of Sheridan's longest-running series of all time, Mayor of Kingstown will look to bow out on its own terms when its fifth season drops sometime in late 2026 or early 2027. Mayor of Kingstown is a crime series that pulls no punches and does not hold back with its myriad portrayals of violence and corruption. There is a consistent sense of dread that runs through the entire series as things get from bad to worse in a hopelessly vicious cycle, which speaks to the general sense of the town itself as a sinking ship on the verge of complete lawlessness. It's this very concept that makes Mayor of Kingstown so easy to binge, as the fragile power dynamics teeter on the edge of oblivion and chaos. Renner is also commanding and fascinating to follow as the flawed but good-natured Mike, who has a dark past of his own. If you enjoy family crime thrillers like MobLand or gritty realistic crime dramas like The Wire, add Mayor of Kingstown to the top of your Netflix watchlist this week as it surges on viewership charts around the world.