While sometimes a friend will recommend a TV show with a boring or awkward first season and swear it gets better later on, that’s not the most ideal scenario. While we might sit through a sitcom or drama and wait for more interesting characters, funnier jokes, and entertaining storylines, thrillers should be exciting right away. A thriller needs a well-developed protagonist and a clear villain, threat, or conflict. We should be able to figure out its tone right away, too.
These TV thriller shows have opening scenes that reveal enough about the major characters and plot to make you want to watch every episode right away. In some cases, you’ll watch a few minutes and know you’ve just found your new favorite show. Is there anything better than that?
‘The Better Sister’ (2025)
While the Prime Video thriller The Better Sister didn’t get as much attention as it should have when it came out in May 2025, the opening scene is perfect. Chloe Banks (Jessica Biel) leaves a fancy party and finds her husband, Adam (Corey Stoll), dead in their elegant home. It’s hard not to want to know who killed him and why.
The Better Sister is a fascinating story about Chloe’s tricky relationship with her sister Nicky Macintosh (Elizabeth Banks), which adds some nuance. Although viewers will be hooked immediately because of Adam’s mysterious death, it’s even more compelling to find out why Chloe and Nicky don’t get along and learn more about their similarities and differences.
‘Wayward’ (2025)
The opening scene of Wayward sets up the bleak and emotional story about a boarding school, the many secrets that are hidden there, and two smart and rebellious best friends. Mae Martin created the series, wrote the first episode, co-wrote the finale, and stars as Alex, who moves to the small town where Tall Pines Academy is located. The series begins with a student escaping from Tall Pines in 2003. You hear the eerie owner Evelyn Wade’s (Toni Collette) voice as she performs what we will learn later is a strange ritual:
“You’re lying on your back, crying out for your mother. She is standing and facing the wall. She has her back to you.”
As the student goes underwater, we want to know if he’s going to die, why he left, and what’s going to happen next. Then, we meet Abbie (Sydney Topliffe) and Leila (Alyvia Alyn Lind), charming rebels who have found community in each other but don’t fit in with anyone else. When the guidance counselor, Wyatt Turner (Patrick J. Adams), suggests that Leila enroll at Tall Pines, we’re reminded of the first scene, and know this isn’t a place where anyone should spend any time. And who is Evelyn? What does she really want? The next seven episodes provide all the answers and tell a beautiful tale about belonging and coming-of-age.
‘We Were Liars’ (2025)
If your friends and family have seen the Prime Video thriller We Were Liars, which is adapted from the young adult novel by E. Lockhart, they’ve likely mentioned the big twist at the end of Season 1. As soon as you watch the first 10 minutes, you’ll want to see the rest, and you will be deeply invested until the final scene.
Rather than introducing Cady Sinclair (Emily Alyn Lind) in the present day, we first meet her at a terrifying and pivotal moment in her life: when she’s lying on the beach and possibly close to death. She explains:
“Something terrible happened last summer. I have no memory of what or who hurt me.”
After Cady hints at her traumatic situation (and the fact that her family won’t share the truth with her), we’re thrown into the past and see a picture of a somewhat happy teenager in the midst of an unhealthy, rich family dynamic. In a sea of stories about people with money who treat each other horribly, We Were Liars is as entertaining as it is clever.
‘Black Rabbit’ (2025)
The talented Jude Law starred in the Netflix thriller miniseries Black Rabbit alongside Jason Bateman, and viewers will be hooked by the alarming and fast-paced first 10 minutes. After walking through a busy restaurant kitchen, Jake Friedken (Law) gives a speech to a big crowd, explaining:
“This is the kind of party Black Rabbit was built for. When we set out to create this place, we never wanted it to be just a restaurant. We wanted to build a home for our family, friends, our people… A place where the night could go anywhere. That was the dream…”
While that might not be enough to make someone want to binge-watch an entire season of TV, what comes next does the trick. When thieves wearing masks enter the restaurant, we can tell this isn’t an ordinary story. Bateman is great as Jake’s brother, Vince. Black Rabbit is a grim tale about family, crime, big plans, money, and substance abuse.
‘The Hunting Wives’ (2025-)
Anyone who hasn’t yet checked out The Hunting Wives has likely heard that the Netflix thriller is steamy and surprising, and the first 10 minutes definitely prove that to be true. After a girl runs through the woods with the sound of gunshots in the background, the main character, Sophie O’Neil (Brittany Snow), is introduced. She’s just moved to Maple Brook, Texas, with her son and husband Graham (Evan Jonigkeit), and after attending a work party at Margo Banks’s (Malin Akerman) mansion, Sophie and Margo have an interesting conversation in the bathroom.
This first scene brings up enough big questions to make anyone want to stay put and watch the entire season in one go. Who is in the forest? Who was chasing them? What is Sophie’s trauma, and what is Margo concealing? The Hunting Wives was a hit, and it’s hard not to basically inhale the show. Netflix renewed it for Season 2, and hopefully, the new season is as good as the first.
‘His and Hers’ (2026)
The Netflix miniseries His & Hers can be binged in one weekend, or even one evening. These six episodes follow Jack (Jon Bernthal) and Anna (Tessa Thompson), who were once married and are both attempting to find out who killed a woman in their small town of Dahlonega, Georgia. The show opens with a dead body lying on a car before showing the title card, which is definitely effective.
After that, Anna comes home, breathing hard and seeming anxious, which suggests that she could be connected to the murder. Then, we learn a bit about Anna and Jack’s personal and professional lives. After Jack happily plays with a young child, he goes to the crime scene with his partner, and Anna arrives at a TV station, hoping to go back to her broadcast journalism job. Although the crime remains a big question mark, Jack and Anna’s interesting relationship draws us in the most.
‘Scarpetta’ (2026-)
Like His & Hers, Scarpetta also begins with a disturbing image: a dead body lying on the ground near train tracks. The Prime Video thriller then paints a portrait of Dr. Kay Scarpetta in the present and in the past. In the present, Kay (Nicole Kidman) is woken up by a phone call letting her know about a recent murder. Then, in the past timeline, we see Kay (played by Rosy McEwan) working on a murder case and smoking while driving. As soon as it becomes clear that these cases are tied together, it’s impossible not to be as invested as readers of Patricia Cornwell’s book series have been for several decades.
Season 2 of Scarpetta will hopefully be as memorable and surprising as this opening scene. While most good thrillers that start with a murder make viewers want to learn more about the suspects and, of course, the killer, Scarpetta has a special main character. The story also explores how Kay’s career has altered her as a person, which is an engaging idea to reflect on.
‘Cross’ (2024-)
Let’s go back to the beginning and watch how Aldis Hodge’s Prime Video crime thriller’s protagonist’s story starts. As Alex Cross, his wife, Maria (Chaunteé Schuler Irving), and their friends enjoy a meal at a restaurant, they hear gunshots, and before he even realizes what’s truly happening, he’s staring at Maria’s dead body.
How can someone move on from a moment like that? How can viewers not want to learn who killed his wife, why, and how this affects Cross? His pain is evident from this brief scene, setting up a two-season (and counting) thriller about love, evil, wealth, family, and friendship. When Cross returns for Season 3, these themes will likely be explored again, with another villain (or more than one).
Is your favorite TV thriller with a great opening scene on the list? What show hooked you quickly? Let us know in the comments!
