MW What's worth streaming on Netflix, Max, Hulu and more in February 2025 - and which subscriptions to pause or stop

By Mike Murphy

'The White Lotus,' 'Yellowjackets' and 'Invincible' are back for new seasons, while Robert De Niro stars in Netflix's 'Zero Day'

As Valentine's Day looms, it's time to make some streaming decisions - which to commit to, and which to dump.

There are plenty of promising shows premiering in February - like "The White Lotus" on Max, "Zero Hour" on Netflix and "Yellowjackets" on Paramount+, for starters - but they're scattered around enough that there's no single, must-have streaming service, making it a bit more difficult to decide how to prioritize your spending. But with a bit of strategic churning - that is, adding and dropping services month to month - it's actually manageable to keep your streaming budget below $50 this month. Keep in mind that a billing cycle starts when you sign up, not necessarily at the beginning of the month.

Each month, this column offers tips on how to maximize your streaming and your budget - rating the major services as "play," "pause" or "stop," similar to investment analysts' traditional ratings of buy, hold and sell - and picks the best shows to help you make your monthly decisions.

Here's a look at what's coming to the various streaming services in February 2025, and what's really worth the monthly subscription fee:

Max ($9.99 a month with ads, $16.99 with no ads, or $20.99 'Ultimate' with no ads)

The Emmy-winning satirical drama "The White Lotus" (Feb. 16) returns for its third season, set this time at an exclusive resort in Thailand, in another clash of cultures between overprivileged tourists and locals. The stellar cast this season includes Leslie Bibb, Carrie Coon, Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Michelle Monaghan, Natasha Rothwell and Parker Posey. In a recent interview, creator Mike White said this season's storyline came to him in a literal fever dream, and while the plot is still under wraps, White promised it'll be more action-packed and even darker than ever before - which is saying something. It's a wickedly funny, sharply written show, and should be one of the TV highlights of the year.

"Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" (Feb. 16) is another welcome returnee, as the satirical news show is back for another season with, undoubtedly, a lot to say about the new Trump administration. There's not a lot else though, aside from a handful of docuseries: "The Takedown: American Aryans" (Feb. 6), about a sting operation targeting Texas white supremacists; "We Beat the Dream Team" (Feb. 18), about a team of college all-stars who did seemingly the impossible during a 1992 pre-Olympic scrimmage; and "Eyes on the Prize III: We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Resist" (Feb. 25), an anthology about those continuing to work for equality and social justice.

On the movie side, Max has "Waitress: The Musical" (Feb. 14), starring Sarah Bareilles, as the Broadway hit about a small-town waitress and expert pie-maker who escapes an abusive marriage gets brought back to the big screen (while the original 2007 movie with Keri Russell hits Max on Feb. 1); "We Live in Time" (Feb. 7) the streaming debut of the 2024 romantic dramedy starring Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield; and "Elevation" (Feb. 21), a post-apocalyptic survival thriller starring Anthony Mackie and Morena Baccarin where monsters eat anyone who strays below 8,000 feet.

The Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) service also has the Puppy Bowl on Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 9), a full slate of NBA and NHL games, Unrivaled 3-on-3 women's basketball, and the U.S. women's soccer team in the She Believes Cup (Feb. 20-26).

There are also new episodes every week of "The Pitt," the engrossing (and at times gross-out) hospital drama from "ER" veterans John Wells and Noah Wylie, and the (very) adult animated supervillain series "Harley Quinn."

Heart this show: Valentine's Day is coming up, so take the opportunity to binge the three-season British rom-com "Starstruck," about a single woman in London who hooks up a rando who happens to be a famous actor, and the ensuing relationship challenges that spring from that. It's utterly charming, at times bittersweet, with some of the most swoon-worthy banter of any show in recent years. With short seasons and 20-minute episodes, it's a quick, breezy binge if you want to stay in for the weekend.

Play, pause or stop? Play. "The White Lotus" is a must-watch, "The Pitt" will keep you hooked, and you can vent along with John Oliver every week. And there's plenty more in the HBO library.

Netflix ($7.99 a month for standard with ads, $17.99 standard with no ads, $24.99 premium with no ads)

If you hadn't heard, Netflix raised prices in January by anywhere from $1 to $2.50, depending on your plan. It was the first increase to the standard, ad-free plan in three years, and while annoying, it was widely expected.

One reason for the price hike is that big names don't come cheap. And there are plenty of big names attached to Netflix $(NFLX)$ productions in February, perhaps none bigger than Robert De Niro, making his streaming TV debut in the six-episode political thriller "Zero Day" (Feb. 20). The two-time Oscar winner plays a former president who's brought out of retirement to lead a commission to hunt down at all costs those responsible for a devastating cyberattack, while dark secrets run rampant. The stacked cast includes Jesse Plemmons, Lizzy Caplan, Connie Britton, Joan Allen, Dan Stevens, Matthew Modine and Angela Bassett. This should be worth a watch.

Speaking of big names, Kate Hudson stars in "Running Point" (Feb. 27), a comedy series from Mindy Kaling, Ike Barinholtz and Elaine Ko about a woman who takes over the family business - a pro basketball team in L.A. - while proving to her skeptical brothers, the board and the sports world that she's up to the job. It sounds a lot like the real-life story of Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, who just so happens to be an executive producer. There's also "Kinda Pregnant" (Feb. 5), a raunchy rom-com movie starring Amy Schumer as a single woman who really wants to be a mom and goes out wearing a fake baby bump, only to meet her dream guy (Will Forte). Hilarity presumably ensues.

Netflix also has the five-episode finale of "Cobra Kai" (Feb. 13), technically Part 3 of Season 6, with the ultimate championship showdown; "Apple Cider Vinegar" (Feb. 6), an Australian drama about two women (Kaitlyn Dever and Alycia Debnam-Carey) who mislead the world by pushing home remedies to cure deadly diseases; the Nordic noir mystery "The Åre Murders" (Feb. 6); Season 4 of the small-town drama "Sweet Magnolias" (Feb. 6); Season 8 of the reality dating show "Love Is Blind" (Feb. 14); "Court of Gold" (Feb. 18), a docuseries about the 2024 Paris Olympic men's basketball tournament; and Season 3 of the behind-the-scenes golf docuseries "Full Swing" (Feb. 25).

Netflix is also adding all six seasons of the classic NBC college sitcom "A Different World" (Feb. 7), Season 3 of the cult-favorite Syfy dramedy "Resident Alien" (Feb. 13), and Seasons 5 and 6 of the cop sitcom "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" (Feb. 26). However, for some obscure contractual reason, the first two seasons of "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" are leaving on Feb. 25, while Seasons 7 and 8 are still unavailable. All six seasons of "The Mindy Project" will also depart Feb. 28.

Hidden gem? Check out "Asura," a Japanese family drama series from acclaimed director Hirokazu Kore-eda that quietly dropped in January but is getting outstanding reviews. It's next in my queue.

Play, pause or stop? Play. On sheer volume, Netflix seems a bit lighter than in recent months, but it's still at the top of its game.

Apple TV+ ($9.99 a month)

It's all about continuing series for Apple $(AAPL)$ in February, with a light lineup of premieres but new episodes every week of the puzzle-box workplace mystery series "Severance," the underrated videogame-company comedy "Mythic Quest" and the thriller series "Prime Target."

As far as new stuff, there's "Love You to Death" (Feb. 5), a Spanish-language rom-com series about a man who reconnects with a free-spirited, pregnant old friend after he's diagnosed with cancer; "The Gorge" (Feb. 14), a thriller movie starring Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy as opposing operatives guarding opposite sides of a mysterious gorge; the soccer documentary "Onside: Major League Soccer" (Feb. 21); Season 2 of the amnesia thriller "Surface" (Feb. 21), starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw; and "Berlin ER" (Feb. 26), a German hospital drama series.

Play, pause or stop? Play. For "Severance" and "Mythic Quest" alone. Though you could also catch up with recent shows like "Silo," "Shrinking" and "Pachinko."

Hulu ($9.99 a month with ads, or $18.99 with no ads)

Brawling is the common theme of Hulu's two biggest February releases. "A Thousand Blows" (Feb. 21) is the latest period crime drama from Stephen Knight ("Peaky Blinders"), starring Malachi Kirby and Francis Lovehall as best friends from Jamaica who get caught up in the bare-knuckles boxing scene of 1880s London, with Erin Doherty playing the menacing boss of an all-female gang looking to rule the East End. It looks like bloody good fun.

On the other fist is Season 4 of the comedy "Shorsey" (Feb. 26), the filthy yet charming "Letterkenny" spinoff about rough-and-tumble hockey players in a blue-collar Ontario town. The new season promises some changes, with newly retired Shorsey (Jared Keeso) adapting to life after hockey as the rest of the boys tear up the town during the offseason.

Hulu also has a handful of true-crime docuseries, including "Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke" (Feb. 27), a new season of "The Kardashians" (Feb. 11), and "Sly Lives! The Burden of Black Genius" (Feb. 13), the latest music documentary from Questlove ("Summer of Soul"), about Sly and the Family Stone.

There are also new episodes every week of the eye-rollingly melodramatic yet propulsive political thriller "Paradise" and a full slate of fresh ABC and Fox shows.

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January 31, 2025 08:16 ET (13:16 GMT)

MW What's worth streaming on Netflix, Max, Hulu -2-

Heart this show: It's as much a family dramedy as it is a rom-com, but there's enough rom in the four seasons of "Casual" to make it a Valentine's fit. Michaela Watkins plays a newly divorced woman who moves herself and her teenage daughter (Tara Lynne Barr) into the spacious bachelor pad owned by her co-dependent, single brother (Tommy Dewey), and the show follows the three of them - each operating with different levels of dysfunction - navigating the dating world, with all of its highs, lows and cringe moments. It's a fantastic series, cynical yet warm, complicated but relatable, that's always willing to shake up its status quo and dive into something new. Other good V-Day options include the caustic but hilarious anti-rom-com "You're the Worst" and the one-season-and-done "High Fidelity" reboot, which was canceled before reaching its full potential.

Play, pause or stop? Pause and think it over. The list of new shows is short, but "Paradise," "Shorsey" and "A Thousand Blows" and a deep library should make a subscription worthy of consideration.

Paramount+ ($7.99 a month with ads, $12.99 a month with Showtime and no ads)

"Yellowjackets" (Feb. 14), the two-timeline psychological thriller about a group of teenage plane-crash survivors and the consequences facing their adult selves, returns for its third season. The girls have survived their first winter but are getting hungrier (uh oh), while in the adult timeline, everyone's paranoid and freaking out after the shocking death in last season's finale. Hilary Swank and Joel McHale join the cast, alongside Melanie Lynskey, Christina Ricci, Tawny Cypress and Elijah Wood. After a bonkers, foot-on-the-accelerator first season, Season 2 slowed the pace but was disappointing as it veered into the nonsensical. Here's hoping Season 3 can get back on track and ramp up the craziness again.

Meanwhile, Taylor Sheridan's "Yellowstone" prequel "1923" (Feb. 23) is back for its second season, with the Duttons (Helen Mirren, Harrison Ford and Brandon Sklenar) still fighting for their ranch - which, if you watch "Yellowstone," you know how that ends. Paramount $(PARA)$ also has Season 2 of the YA supernatural drama "School Spirits" (Jan. 30); the Grammy Awards, hosted by Trevor Noah (Feb. 2); and new seasons of CBS shows like "Tracker," "The Equalizer" (both Feb. 16) and "Survivor" (Feb. 26), along with live sports including college basketball, golf, UEFA Champions League soccer and England's Carabao Cup. In January, Paramount also added last year's hit movie "Gladiator II," which was not particularly good but at least it looked like Denzel Washington was having fun.

Mission debrief: Add "The Agency," which concluded its first season in January, to the list of very watchable, smart spy series that have dropped in recent months. Much like Apple's "Slow Horses," "The Agency" - which is based on the French series "Le Bureau" - trusts its viewers to pay attention and keep up with its complicated plotlines with minimal hand-holding. And while it would have been nice to see the lead character of Martian (Michael Fassbender) be a bit less capable and more relatable (turns out he's a brilliant analyst as well as a Jason Bourne-caliber field agent, has a hot girlfriend, drives a cool motorcycle and generally looks like Michael Fassbender), his silent, almost entirely internalized struggle to keep it together while his world crumbles around him is spellbinding. It's a slow burn that pays off at the end, leading to a devastating conclusion and a nice setup for another season.

Heart this show: The Australian import "Colin From Accounts" is one of the most charming rom-coms in years, starring real-life couple Patrick Brammall and Harriet Dyer as a couple figuring out their budding relationship after initially bonding over an injured dog. That relationship is more complicated and grounded in reality than most on TV, and it faces numerous hurdles, but the show manages to stay laugh-out-loud funny while also being refreshingly honest. And at just two eight-episode seasons, it leaves you wanting more.

Play, pause or stop? Pause. It's toeing the line of having not quite enough to justify a subscription, yet probably enough to watch.

Peacock ($7.99 a month with ads, or $13.99 with no ads)

Peacock's making a big rom-com splash with the original movie "Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy" (Feb. 13), as Renée Zellweger returns to the beloved role, with Bridget - now widowed with two young children - venturing back into the dating world. She's surrounded by an all-star cast, including Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Isla Fisher, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jim Broadbent and Theo Woodall. The two previous "Bridget Jones" sequels saw diminishing returns, so keep expectations low.

There are also new episodes of the addictive reality-competition show "The Traitors," the finale of "Love Island All Stars" (Feb. 19), and the trashy-sounding documentary "Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy" (Feb. 25), in addition to new episodes of network shows like "The Voice" (Feb. 4), the legal spinoff "Suits LA" (Feb. 24) and the Tom Hanks-narrated nature docuseries "The Americas" (Feb. 24).

Comcast's $(CMCSA)$ Peacock also has college basketball, English Premier League soccer, winter sports, Six Nations rugby and women soccer's She Believes Cup (Feb. 20-26).

Live, from New York: "Saturday Night Live" is celebrating its 50th anniversary in February, and Peacock is going all-out to commemorate the iconic late-night show with "SNL50: The Homecoming Concert" (Feb. 14), live from Radio City Music Hall, featuring three hours of music from everyone from the B-52s to Eddie Vedder to the Backstreet Boys to Lady Gaga to Bad Bunny, as well as the live, primetime special "SNL50: The Anniversary Special" (Feb. 16, which is, ironically, a Sunday). That's in addition to January's outstanding four-part behind-the-scenes docuseries "SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night" - including one standout installment on how the classic "More Cowbell" sketch was made - and the insightful documentary "Ladies & Gentlemen...50 Years of SNL Music," directed by Questlove, which starts with a jaw-dropping six-minute mashup mix of SNL's musical acts over the years.

Play, pause or stop? Stop. "The Traitors" is reliably mindless fun, and the "SNL" documentaries are great, but there's not a lot worth paying extra for.

Amazon's Prime Video ($14.99 a month with ads, $8.99 without Prime membership, both +$2.99 to avoid ads)

The hyper-violent animated series "Invincible" (Feb. 6) returns for its third season, with Mark (Steven Yeun) changing into a new blue suit as the story takes an even darker path for the budding superhero. While Season 2 was annoyingly split into two months-apart batches of four episodes each, Season 3 will drop its first three episodes at once, then one a week until its conclusion in March.

Amazon $(AMZN)$ also has "Clean Slate" (Feb. 6), a new comedy series from producer Norman Lear, starring George Wallace as an old-school Alabama man who is reunited with his estranged trans daughter (Laverne Cox); "50,000 First Dates: A True Love Story" (Feb. 11), a two-part docuseries about a woman with amnesia and forgets her fiancé, like a real-life version of the movie "50 First Dates"; Season 3 of the action series "Reacher" (Feb. 20), as mountain of a man Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) runs into an even more imposing villain, 7-foot-2 Paulie (played by Dutch bodybuilder Olivier Richters) as he tries to take down another criminal conspiracy; and the Biblical miniseries "House of David" (Feb. 27). Veteran comedian George Lopez will also have what he says is his final standup special, "Muy Católico" (Feb. 18).

Play, pause or stop? Stop. "Invincible" and "Reacher" have their die-hard fans, but it may be more economical to wait a month or so and binge the new seasons then. They'll keep.

Disney+ ($9.99 a month with ads, $15.99 with no ads)

It's a pretty slow month for Disney $(DIS)$, which has Season 2 of Marvel's animated "Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur" (Feb. 7); "The Lion King at the Hollywood Bowl" (Feb. 7), a concert film recorded last May; "Harlem Ice" (Feb. 12), a docuseries about a girls figure-skating team from Harlem; and "Win or Lose" (Feb. 19), a Pixar series about the intertwined lives of eight characters as they prepare for a championship softball game.

And after premiering in late January, the animated "Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" will drop two eps a week until its finale Feb. 19.

Play, pause or stop? Stop. It's a slow month, save up for when there's more from Marvel or "Star Wars."

Need more? Catch up on previous months' picks at What's Worth Streaming.

-Mike Murphy

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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