Netflix’s New Legal Drama Is an Addictive Series You Can Binge This Weekend


For fans of the legal genre, Netflix has specialized in offering short-run series that immerse viewers in the intensity of justice systems, such as The Lincoln Lawyer. Far from sticking to a single type of story, the streaming platform continues to release new titles, transporting audiences to courtrooms around the world. Now, not only are Asian lawyer shows dominating on the global screens, but the platform marks a milestone with the new series Habeas Corpus, Netflix’s first Brazilian legal-themed series.

Brazilian shows are gaining popularity among Netflix viewers. While the biggest hits of 2026 are action-thrillers and romantic melodramas, the latest production is all about legal proceedings. The Latin term “Habeas Corpus,” which gives the series its title, refers to a legal procedure allowing a person to challenge the lawfulness of their imprisonment. In other words, it offers a means to fight in court for those who have been unjustly convicted. Inez’s story begins with this concept, inspired by the Innocence Project Brasil, a real-life legal movement dedicated to detecting errors in judicial proceedings.

Habeas Corpus premiered on Netflix on September 23, 2026, and follows Inez, a successful criminal defense attorney who, after being shot in the courtroom, becomes a university professor and sets out to reopen a closed case involving a young man accused of murder. If the premise of challenging flawed legal procedures isn’t exciting enough, Habeas Corpus shares many elements with How to Get Away with Murder, making it a must-watch for fans of legal dramas.

Habeas Corpus Has the Same Addictive Style as How to Get Away With Murder

Cast of the series Habeas Corpus

Like For Life, Habeas Corpus addresses institutional corruption and the judicial system’s shortcomings. However, the series also bears a strong resemblance to How to Get Away with Murder in how Inez forms a group with some of the students from her seminar. Yet, rather than offering them the prestige of a job at a renowned firm, Inez aims to teach them the intricacies of justice while reviewing a criminal case. Intriguingly, the murder she seeks to reopen directly impacts the defense strategy of another case being handled by her former law firm, a case that also involves her ex-partner.



















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Squid Game shattered records on launch in 2021, becoming Netflix’s biggest-ever series debut. Hwang Dong-hyuk’s South Korean thriller centres on a desperate gambler named Seong Gi-hun. What is his player number?




✓ Correct! Gi-hun is Player 456 — the last number drawn. Kang Sae-byeok (the North Korean defector) is 067, Cho Sang-woo (the Stanford-educated finance crook) is 218, and the mysterious elderly Oh Il-nam is 001. Squid Game became Netflix’s first show to hit #1 in every country it launched in, amassing over 1.6 billion hours watched in its first month alone.

✗ Eliminated! The answer is 456. Gi-hun’s number is the very last of the 456 players. 067 is Sae-byeok the defector, 218 is Sang-woo the Stanford grad, and 001 is the mysterious old man Oh Il-nam whose identity becomes the series’ biggest reveal. Squid Game became Netflix’s most-watched launch ever, hitting #1 in 94 countries.

02

The Tim Burton-directed Addams Family spin-off set at Nevermore Academy became Netflix’s second-biggest English-language debut in 2022 and launched a TikTok dance craze. Which young actress plays the deadpan title character?




✓ Correct! Jenna Ortega — a Disney Channel graduate and indie-horror favourite (X, Scream VI) — took the role Christina Ricci made iconic in the 1990s films and made it entirely her own. Her now-famous cello-accompanied dance scene became an overnight TikTok phenomenon, and her performance earned Wednesday two Emmy nominations despite airing mid-season.

✗ Eliminated! The answer is Jenna Ortega. Millie Bobby Brown is Eleven on Stranger Things, Sadie Sink plays Max Mayfield (also Stranger Things), and Maya Hawke plays Robin. Ortega’s deadpan Wednesday Addams — and her viral cello-dance scene — turned the show into a global phenomenon in late 2022.

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In 2013, Netflix released a dark political thriller starring Kevin Spacey as a ruthless congressman breaking the fourth wall. It became the first major streaming original to land a Primetime Emmy nomination and effectively invented prestige streaming TV. Which show was it?




✓ Correct! House of Cards — adapted by Beau Willimon from the 1990 BBC series — became Netflix’s first prestige original and proved a streaming service could go toe-to-toe with HBO. Kevin Spacey’s Frank Underwood and his asides to camera defined early streaming TV. Orange Is the New Black followed months later in July 2013 and became Netflix’s longest-running original at the time.

✗ Eliminated! The answer is House of Cards (February 2013). Orange Is the New Black launched five months later (July 2013), Arrested Development’s Netflix revival came in May 2013, and Hemlock Grove was a horror effort the same spring. House of Cards was the flagship — the first streaming original to earn a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Drama Series.

04

Peter Morgan’s The Crown famously recast its entire ensemble every two seasons to age the royal family. After Claire Foy played Queen Elizabeth II in seasons 1-2, which Oscar-winning actress took the crown for seasons 3-4?




✓ Correct! Olivia Colman — fresh off her Best Actress Oscar for The Favourite — played the Queen across seasons 3 and 4, covering the late 1960s through the early Thatcher years. Imelda Staunton took over for seasons 5-6, Helena Bonham Carter played Princess Margaret in seasons 3-4, and Gillian Anderson stole the show as Margaret Thatcher in season 4.

✗ Eliminated! The answer is Olivia Colman. Imelda Staunton took over for the final two seasons (5-6). Helena Bonham Carter played the chain-smoking Princess Margaret during seasons 3-4 alongside Colman. Gillian Anderson delivered an Emmy-winning Margaret Thatcher in season 4. Colman anchored the show’s middle era fresh off her 2019 Oscar win.

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The Duffer Brothers’ 1980s nostalgia juggernaut sees Eleven and the gang battle inter-dimensional horrors from a portal beneath the town’s Hawkins National Laboratory. In which fictional US town and state is the series set?




✓ Correct! Hawkins, Indiana — a fictional Midwestern small town that became one of TV’s most iconic settings. The Duffer Brothers chose Indiana for its unassuming, ordinary-America vibe, making the supernatural chaos feel more jarring. Derry is Stephen King’s It setting, Hill Valley is from Back to the Future, and Twin Peaks is David Lynch’s famous town.

✗ Eliminated! The answer is Hawkins, Indiana. Derry, Maine is the fictional town from Stephen King’s It. Hill Valley is Marty McFly’s home in Back to the Future. Twin Peaks, Washington is David Lynch’s famous fictional town. Hawkins is The Duffer Brothers’ deliberately ordinary Midwestern setting — the flat, unassuming backdrop that makes Vecna’s horrors hit harder.

06

Netflix’s Regency romance juggernaut — based on Julia Quinn’s novels and famous for its colour-blind casting, string-quartet pop covers, and narrated gossip column — is produced by which prolific showrunner’s production banner?




✓ Correct! Shonda Rhimes — the creator of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal — produces Bridgerton through her Shondaland banner as the first major fruit of her massive 2017 Netflix deal. Chris Van Dusen created the show, but Shondaland’s signature ensemble-romance DNA is all over it. Julian Fellowes did Downton Abbey, Ryan Murphy did Monster/Dahmer, and Jenji Kohan did Orange Is the New Black.

✗ Eliminated! The answer is Shonda Rhimes (Shondaland). Ryan Murphy produces true-crime anthologies like Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. Julian Fellowes is the Downton Abbey/Gilded Age creator — a different period drama entirely. Jenji Kohan is behind Orange Is the New Black and Weeds. Bridgerton was the first big payoff of Rhimes’ nine-figure Netflix deal.

07

La Casa de Papel (Money Heist) became a global phenomenon on Netflix after a modest Spanish TV debut — partly thanks to its gang’s instantly recognisable red jumpsuits paired with a mask of which famous figure?




✓ Correct! The Salvador Dalí mask — with its upturned moustache — became the show’s defining visual alongside the red jumpsuits, a nod to Spanish artistic rebellion and surrealist individuality. It inspired protest iconography worldwide, from Lebanon to France. The original Antena 3 version underperformed; Netflix acquired it in 2017, re-edited it, and turned it into a global sensation.

✗ Eliminated! The answer is Salvador Dalí. Guy Fawkes is the V for Vendetta mask that Anonymous adopted. Che Guevara is a common revolutionary image but not the heist crew’s mask. Picasso is a frequent wrong answer given he’s the more globally-known Spanish artist — but the Dalí mask, with its iconic moustache, is the one fused forever with Money Heist’s red jumpsuits.

08

Netflix’s 2020 limited series about a Cold War-era chess prodigy named Beth Harmon caused a global surge in chess-set sales and was one of the streamer’s most-watched shows that year. Who played Beth?




✓ Correct! Anya Taylor-Joy — already a cult favourite from The Witch and Emma — broke out globally as Beth Harmon, winning the Golden Globe for Best Actress. The Queen’s Gambit pulled 62 million households in its first 28 days and caused such a chess-boom that Chess.com and retailers ran out of sets. It also made Walter Tevis’s 1983 novel a surprise bestseller almost 40 years later.

✗ Eliminated! The answer is Anya Taylor-Joy. Florence Pugh (Midsommar, Oppenheimer), Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird), and Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People, Where the Crawdads Sing) are all frequent competitors in similar roles. Taylor-Joy’s Beth Harmon earned her a Golden Globe, a SAG Award, and turned Walter Tevis’s 1983 novel into a sudden bestseller.

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While Inez is far from being the commanding figure that Annalise Keating was in How to Get Away with Murder, having spiraled down following the trauma she suffered in the courtroom, both share the trait of being relentless, deeply flawed, and morally ambiguous lawyers. In Inez’s case, what is interesting is how she views her quest for justice as a form of redemption, a desperate desire to expose the flaws of the very judicial system she once gleefully exploited.

Even so, the highlight is the dynamic between Inez and her students, some of whom, driven by the ambition to succeed in the field and surpass family expectations, push ethical boundaries, especially Marina, a young woman with mysterious motives. By interweaving the lives of the study group members, Inez’s past, and the investigation into Jonathan’s case, Habeas Corpus keeps viewers hooked with unexpected twists. At the same time, it addresses the very structure of the law, how it is distorted, and the oppression inflicted by those in power.

Marjorie Estiano as Inez and Any Gabrielly as Marina in the series Habeas Corpus
Marjorie Estiano as Inez and Any Gabrielly as Marina in the series Habeas Corpus

While Habeas Corpus retains the emotional weight characteristic of Brazilian productions, devoting time to both romantic drama and deep-seated family conflicts, the series manages to strike a balance so that it never feels heavy-handed. Instead, it provides just the right amount of depth to foster sympathy for the characters’ struggles while maintaining tension across its eight episodes.

Habeas Corpus‘ straightforward approach makes it easy to watch since, rather than focusing on the specific nuances of the Brazilian judicial system, the series focuses on the courage required to confront those capable of manipulating entire institutions while inviting reflection on universal themes such as trauma, regret, forgiveness, and social class inequalities. While it may not be groundbreaking or revolutionize the legal drama genre, Habeas Corpus is an enjoyable watch for fans of lawyer shows, with a fitting ending that wraps up the story but leaves enough room to continue it in a future case.



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