From “Lost” to “Westworld,” these TV shows had the best first season

When it comes to television, there are so many shows that started with banger first seasons. While a handful of programs have gone on to have many great subsequent seasons, others have never been able to live up to the standards set by their first outing. In a recent Ask Reddit post, one TV fan posed the question, “What TV show had the best first season?”

“What show had such a great first season that it immediately got you hooked into the show, and it didn’t require you to have to watch another season before you finally got into it?” u/phantom_avenger asked on the r/popculturechat subreddit. They kicked off the discussion by naming a fan-favorite Netflix show, Sex Education.

Most of the discussion centered on shows that started strong but took a major dive after Season 1. However, some mentioned programs that continued to be good despite never outperforming the first season. See if you agree with these answers by TV fans…

1. Sex Education

“Although the quality of the show dropped as it progressed, the Netflix series, Sex Education, had a stellar first season where I would go as far as to call it a masterpiece! It got everything right, from the way it wrote its characters to the plot and the themes it explored.

It had the potential to become one of the greatest coming-of-age high school shows of all time, but none of the other seasons after the first could live up to what the first season gave the audience.” —u/phantom_avenger

2. Heroes

“Heroes is the poster child for this. Season 1 was a cultural event. ‘Save the cheerleader, save the world.’ Derailed by the writers’ strike. They tried to pick back up with the characters, and that was a huge mistake. I didn’t even [make] it through Season 2,” —u/zestfullybe

3. Westworld

“Westworld Season 1 was amazing, but then they had to ruin it.” —u/vrwriter78

4. Killing Eve

“Series 1 was genius, but set up a lot of threads that [Phoebe Waller-Bridge] admitted she didn’t have a plan to resolve.

Series 2 was stylish and a lot of fun, but the plot began to unravel.

Everything from Series 3 on was a complete mess because they didn’t know how to end it, and the people involved by that point were, frankly, not talented enough to write their way out of it.” —u/llama_del_reyy

5. True Detective

“Season 1 is something I will never forget for my entire life. There aren’t words to describe how amazing that season is. Truly talented writers, actors, directors, and producers. Probably some of the best talent I have ever seen.” —u/throw_blanket04

6. Dexter

“Dexter had one of my all-time favorite season 1s. It had some good seasons that followed — namely Season 4 with John Lithgow — but it never lived up to Season 1 IMO again. And was downright bad by the end of the series.” —u/d_hamm08

7. How To Get Away With Murder

“I remember watching Season 1 in one day/night, it got me extremely hooked. I feel HTGAWM didn’t have that much of a fall off, though, I loved every season.” —u/LuukeC

8. Stranger Things

“I often think about how it could’ve been regarded as one of the best mini series of all time if they’d just left it that way.” —u/Rindsay515

9. Lost

“Best pilot episode of all time, hands down. It was an hour of non-stop ‘Holy sh*t, WTF is that a polar bear??’ The entire first season was must-see TV, and if you missed an episode, you were f*cked. I still remember the emotional crisis I had when my VCR didn’t record an episode.

I feel like this was the last ‘water cooler show.’ Everyone watched it because cable dramas weren’t huge yet, and streaming wasn’t a thing.” —u/StrangerKatchoo

10. Yellowjackets

“I watched the first season, and I loved it. I was a teenager in NJ during that time period, and it was like going back in a (really messed up) time capsule, lol. SUCH a great and wicked little show.

I was about to start watching the second season, and I actually read a post here about how it went sideways, so that’s it. I just watched Season 1, and I’m out. On its own, it’s a perfect show about teenagers who have a traumatic experience and then, because they can’t share any of it, become really messed-up adults. And I’m OK with that! I’ll leave it where it is.” —u/Message_10

11. The O.C.

“Season 1 was twenty-seven episodes. We didn’t know how lucky we were,” —u/missesthecrux

“I keep telling myself this whenever someone (rightly) points out that it went downhill after S1 because they had gone through all their plotlines.” —u/TheGermanCurl

12. Ted Lasso

“Ted Lasso’s first season was fantastic.” —u/dontbother1994

“I was so impressed, I showed it to all my friends.” —u/Lazy-Boysenberry8615

13. Legion

“I enjoyed the first season, and it was definitely a unique take on a superhero comic, but I never felt the need to finish the show.” —u/The_Duke_of_Gloom

14. The Umbrella Academy

“1st season was absolute peak. 2nd season was also awesome. Admittedly, I gave the show a lot of leeway in season 3, waiting to see where it goes, and then season 4 ended the show with a big wet fart.” —u/Laugh_at_Warren

15. Riverdale

“This came out when I was in high school, and it was so amazing. It could’ve been so good if they didn’t completely f*** it up.” —u/Novae224

The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s newsletter here.