Every year, a new television show arrives and becomes an instant smash hit , earning media buzz, awards, and enough viewers to extend them into a second season. It seems that this year is taking this idea to the next level with new shows premiering that feature one central theme- mystery and drama.

This once untouched territory has become top-tier real estate for most primetime channels. This craving from the public for mystery ,drama, and the deeper, darker side of television began with American Horror Story which premiered on FX in 2011, but didn’t entirely catch the public and media’s eye until well into their third and fourth seasons.

As AHS got the ball rolling, it’s core audience starting looking for other similar shows. This past summer, Netflix became a forefront of their own and released Stranger Things, a seemingly awkward and eerie show that became a hit almost overnight and led to binge-watching throughout the United States in the matter of days after it’s release. Interestingly enough, television isn’t the only media form presenting this craze, Hollywood and Indie Films have taken up the idea too!. In the past year, Hollywood brought us The Girl on the Train, Nerve, The Curse of Sleeping Beauty, and Hail! Cesar.

With most media forms noticing this sudden popularity and craving for mysteries and all things dark and gloomy, most studios ran to the screenwriters to see what they could cook up and it seems like they were very successful. 2017 seems to be the year of the mystery and the year for the dark and dangerous for TV and here is why.

1. 1. Stranger Things 2

Returning for their second season, you will follow Dustin, Eleven, Mike, and Lucas on their journey. According to a credible source, this season follows the story a year after Will returns from the upside down. With that incredible teaser trailer release during the superbowl it is confirmed that this season will be released on Halloween avaliable for binging on Netflix.

1. 2. Riverdale

Based on characters from the Archie Comics, we follow a red-headed Archie Andrews and his friends in their small town of Riverdale. Riverdale appears to be a quaint quite town but when a tragic accident - the death of one of the star football players - tensions begin to rise amongst the towns residents. As the mystery of his death unfolds, more secrets are revealed and it’s obvious that there's a lot more to Riverdale than a typical suburban, middle class town. After it’s premiere on the “dark is beautiful” television channel 'The CW',  it appears this show has a promising future.

1. 3. Series of Unfortunate Events

This series, released in early February and created by Mark Hudis follows the lives of the Baudelaire Orphans; Violet, Klaus and Sunny, as they try and find a forever home and properly mourn the death of their parents. Following the storyline of a children’s book series of the same name, written by Lemony Snicket and narrated through the writer's words we start to see that this show has many twists and turns which makes it a must watch on Netflix.

1. 4. 13 Reasons Why

Based on a novel written by Jay Asher and executive produced by Selena Gomez. 13 Reasons Why is set to be released on Netflix March 31. Set for a 13 episode season, we are introduced to Clay Jensen, and discover the mysterious cassette tapes recorded by his Crush, Hannah Baker. Soon, Jensen discovers that these thirteen tapes correspond to her thirteen reasons for committing suicide. This dark and dreary series will bring to life teenage angst and a view of what’s it’s truly like to grow up in the 21 century.

1. 5. Ironfist

Netflix has created yet another "super" show for us to binge. The new show follows the story of Iron Fist, a superhero trying to get back on his feet and take over the "family business" after being out of the public eye for 15 years - and presumed dead. Throughout the series we will uncover his backstory and his sketchy past as he rediscovers his roots. Following the Timeline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this shows is perfect for a early spring binge-a-thon March 17.

1. 6. Big Little Lies

A mini-crime series on HBO brought to screen by David E. Kelley and based on the novel "Big Little Lies," will star Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley and Nicole Kidman as first-grade mothers. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover, these seemingly perfect suburban mothers have a lot of skeletons in their closets which inevitably to lead to a gruesome murder.

1. 7. Taboo

Released Jan. 7  on two networks, FX and BBC One, this seemingly "America Horror Story" copycat is actually just the opposite. In Taboo, we follow an adventurer starting his own shipping business back in the 1800s. Starring Chip and Tom Hardy, we see that this adventurer has tons of enemies and him escaping his enemies and staring this shipping company is only part of the drama. Not to mention, the extremely dark-toned characters and overall artistically gloomy look.

1. 8. Beyond

Released by Freeform on Jan. 2 , this show goes above and 'beyond' in the mystery department. "Beyond" follows the life of Holden Matthews, a teen who after suffering a 12 year coma wakes up to a whole new world of abilities. There are many questions to answer for Holden such as what made him go into a coma in the first place, and what this new world of ability has in store. His abilities only scratch the surface of what lies ahead in this series.

1. 9. The OA

Starting in their second season this year, the OA follows the mysterious reappearance of a missing person, Prarie Johnson, who has been missing for seven years. She now can see despite her being blind when she went missing and now calls herself “The OA”. There are many unanswered questions in this series which makes it equally interesting and enjoyable to watch. Johnson’s newfound powers place this show in more of a supernatural mystery series but still, the darkness of this show makes this show commonly compared to Stranger Things, another series supported on the Netflix Original Platform.

1. 10. Hunted

Considered “The Most Elaborate Game of Hide & Seek” by their home network CBS, this Reality TV series is definitely going to be a gamechanger. In this show, we follow these 9 groups of two in a “Amazing Race” type of setting where each group must attempt to go completely under the radar in this technological fully developed world. Their competition is advanced investigators which will try and use state of the art technology to track these groups down. If they are successful, they win a $250,000 grand prize. This show may not be all mystery but manly, you want to understand and learn how hard it is to be stealthy and how hard it is to not be noticed in our digital age that we live in.