I’ve been analyzing television programming for more than 30 years. There was a time, not too long ago, when I could list every show on TV on any given night off the top of my head. Not today. This is the era of Peak TV+. In addition to broadcast television and ad-supported and premium cable, we now have several major streaming services – the first three, Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video (which have only been producing original content for about seven years), were joined three years ago by CBS All Access (soon to be rebranded Paramount+), and over the past year by Disney+, Apple TV+, HBO Max, and Peacock. There are also numerous smaller and more niche streaming services.
Being stuck at home during the past six months, I’ve been searching for new shows to binge. I still find something new to watch almost every time I start exploring Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime Video (mostly Netflix). There are a number of series that have been on for several years that I am only just now discovering. I recently finished binge watching three seasons of Money Heist, for example, which is one of Netflix’s most popular international series (and which debuted in 2017). For me, bingeing is watching two or three episodes in one sitting.
I periodically write analyses of my favorite shows, or series that I think might be flying under most people’s radar that I think are worth checking out. Some of the best of these include: Netflix’s Dead to Me, GLOW, The Kominsky Method, Mindhunter, Ozark, Space Force, and Marvel’s Jessica Jones, Daredevil, and The Punisher; Amazon Prime Video’s Bosch, The Boys, Fleabag, Goliath, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and Sneaky Pete; CBS All Access’s The Good Fight and Star Trek: Discovery, and Apple TV+’s The Morning Show.
I thought this time I’d recommend some hidden gems that even folks who have been streaming series for a while might not have discovered. I’m listing them alphabetically, and noting that if you like a specific program or genre, you might also like this show.
If you like procedural dramas and crime-solving geniuses:
Bordertown (Netflix): A gifted, eccentric, but socially awkward detective inspector from Helsinki, Finland, Kari Sorjonen, (played brilliantly by Ville Virtanen) takes a job leading the Serious Crimes Unit in a small town near the Russian border, so he can spend more time with his wife (Matleena Kuusniemi) and teenage daughter (Olivia Ainali). Of course, he doesn’t have any more time for his family, as he gets pulled into investigating one disturbing crime after another.
This stylish series is more serialized than U.S. procedural dramas – each crime is solved in two-or three-episode story arcs, making the show ideal for bingeing and more detailed than the typical “crime of the week,” which has to be resolved in one episode. Almost as much time is devoted to family dynamics as to the crime Kari’s team is focused on. It is also interesting to see how cultural differences impact the detectives’ approach to crime and criminals, which can be substantially more nuanced than in the United States.
The snowy Nordic landscape is beautifully shot, and becomes an integral part of the series. The show is also distinctive in its depiction of strong women in positions of authority (as a matter of course), who are not at all reliant on men, and who control their own sexuality.
Bordertown is Finland’s most popular TV show (the premiere was watched by one-fifth of the country’s population when it debuted there in 2016). Anu Sinisalo, Lenita Susi, and Ilkka Villi co-star, and all are excellent. Three seasons are available on Netflix. It is not clear whether there will be a fourth.
If you like supernatural mysteries, time travel paradoxes, and intricate puzzles:
Dark (Netflix): In the fictional German town of Winden, with a nuclear power station at its center, two children disappear in similar fashion 33 years apart. Secrets and hidden connections among four families and a time-travel conspiracy are slowly uncovered in this sci-fi thriller that spans four generations.
Netflix’s first original German series is compelling, twisty, and often mesmerizing. The background music is appropriately ominous. It starts out in 2019, but gradually expands to include several timelines – first 1986 and 1953, then 1920, and eventually 2052, and 1888 (the show explains why time travel is only possible in 33-year increments). It’s not always easy to follow who’s who as different characters and versions of characters at different ages and different realities interact with one another.
I often find time travel storylines annoying, because they typically follow one of two tracks. Either you can’t change the past because if you could, there would be no reason for you to go back and change it in the first place (and if you are able to change some detail, it inevitably leads to causing the event you wanted to prevent). Or, if you change the past, it simply creates an alternate timeline, rather than affecting the timeline you originated from. So I expected a familiar, unsatisfying ending, which would leave many of the complex web of mysteries unresolved. Yet the writers somehow managed to pull it all together into a conclusion that makes perfect sense and is close to perfect.
While debating the existence of God, and fate versus free will, one of the characters declares, “God is time, and time is not compassionate,” which describes this series as well as anything. As does the Albert Einstein quote that appears onscreen during the first episode: “The distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.”
I’d like to say Dark is a masterpiece and the best science fiction series ever. I’d like to say it’s what Lost could have been if its writers had figured out a satisfying payoff for any of its many mysteries. I’d like to say it’s the most meticulously well-crafted series I’ve ever seen. But I think I need to watch the whole thing again to make sure I really think that. It is thrilling (and rare) to watch a television series that achieves its lofty ambitions.
The large cast, which includes, Louis Hoffman, Lisa Vicari, Maja Schone, Jordas Triebel, Oliver Masucci, Mark Waschke, Sebastian Rudolf, and Dean Lennard Liebrenz, are all spot on for their respective roles. There are three seasons.
If you like Japanese and British crime dramas:
Giri/Haji (Netflix): British TV crime thriller first broadcast on BBC Two in the UK in 2019. Family duty sends a Tokyo detective (Takehiro Hira) to London to look for his supposedly deceased mob-assassin brother (Yosuke Kubozuka) as a yakuza war threatens to break out in Tokyo.
The dialogue switches between English and subtitled Japanese, so if you’re the type that can’t watch television without multi-tasking, this may not be for you. But don’t let that chase you away from this original and underrated series. This is one of those hidden gems that often slips onto Netflix without fanfare. It joined the streamer’s lineup in January, and I knew nothing about it until I was recently exploring Netflix looking for something new to binge while stuck at home during the pandemic.
Giri/Haji, which means Duty/Shame, melds together several different genres and subplots – Japanese gangsters, British cop procedural, family drama, gay teen coming of age, revenge saga, even an all-female road trip – into a surprisingly cohesive whole (as it cross-pollinates two very different cultures). There are moments of violence and moments of silliness. At eight episodes, the story is crisp and concise, with no need for the type of filler you often see in broadcast cop or detective series, which typically run 17-22 episodes per season. The final installment has a mind-blowing sequence that comes out of nowhere.
It was canceled after one season, but the ending wrapped things up perfectly. Kelly Macdonald, Will Sharpe, Sophia Brown, Charles Creed-Miles, Justin Long, and Aoi Okuyama co-star.
If you like kick-ass women in action spy series:
Hanna (Amazon Prime Video): Based on the 2011 film of the same name. The first season introduces us to 15-year-old Hanna (Esme Creed-Miles), who has been raised in the forest by her ex-spy “father” (Joel Kinnaman), who trained her to be a hunter and killer, as well as an expert in hand-to-hand combat.
Hanna was part of a secret government experiment to create genetically superior group of female super assassins. He rescued her when she was a baby (after the CIA killed her mother), and they went into hiding. Now discovered, they must evade the relentless pursuit of off-the-book CIA agents (one of whom is played by Mirielle Enos, who teamed with Kinnaman in AMC’s The Killing).
Season 2 revs up the stakes and emotional content as Hanna and her one-time pursuer, now an apparent ally, try to free Hanna’s new friend Clara (Yasmin Monet Prince) from the secret boarding school known as The Meadows, which is designed to mold young women into amoral killing machines. Dermot Mulrooney plays the new head of the unit, who will do anything to keep the operation secret. Mirielle Enos shines in the role of Hanna’s former adversary and new mother figure/protector, as she plays a complex cat and mouse game with her former (current?) employer.
Part thriller, part coming-of-age drama, Creed-Miles and Enos give performances that elevate this beyond what could have been just another cliched action series. It’s been renewed for a third season.
If you like period dramas mixed with sex and violence:
Harlots (Hulu): Don’t let the title throw you. It’s not filled with as much gratuitous sex that the title might indicate (although sex is definitely on the menu). Samantha Morton portrays a brothel owner trying to secure a better future for her two daughters (Jessica Brown Findlay, Eloise Smyth) in 18th century London. When her business is attacked by a ruthless rival madam (Lesley Manville), it sets off a war over the sex trade.
This is a story of how every class of woman navigates and tries to survive and thrive in a world where wealth and social standing mean everything, one in five women works in the sex trade, and good fortune or disaster is just a deception away. The show has a number of sex scenes (although not as much nudity as you might think – they wore so many layers of clothing back then), most of it not for pleasure, but for power or to gain some advantage.
What in lesser hands could have easily been Dynasty-style high camp, instead becomes a gritty look at the realities of 18th century life without regard for 21st century sensibilities. Harlots isn’t for everyone, but if you like this sort of thing, this is top of the line.
The series is created, brilliantly written, and directed by women, and it shows. The point of view is refreshingly from the female gaze. All three seasons are entertaining, gritty, and insightful. Angela Griffin, Aiden Cheng, Pippa Bennett-Warner, and Daniel Sapiani co-star.
If you like mobster comedy-drama and quirky small towns:
Lilyhammer (Netflix): Steven Van Zandt (The Sopranos) stars in Netflix’s first original scripted series (debuting on the streamer in 2012) as a New York mob underboss, Frank “The Fixer” Tagliano, who is given a new identity after testifying against the Mafia head who ordered a hit on him. He asks to be relocated to Lillehammer, Norway, which he fell in love with while watching the 1994 Winter Olympics, and where he believe no one will look for him. In his new life, he is a Norwegian-American immigrant known as Giovanni “Johnny” Henriksen.
As he tries to settle in to this very peaceful, rules-conscious, town, Johnny uses his mob talents to deal with bullies, bad guys, and bureaucrats alike. He purchases a bar and simultaneously befriends and corrupts several of the town’s locals, a colorful and quirky cast of characters who come to his aid when the mob tracks him down. It’s not easy to successfully combine comedy and violence, but it is done expertly here. The show is also notable for the way it deals with immigration and racism. The dialogue switches back and forth between subtitled Norwegian and English (which Johnny apparently understands, but can’t speak).
When this debuted in Norway, it was watched by one-fifth of the country’s population. Since Lilyhammer premiered well before Netflix was a major streaming force, it never received the accolades it deserves in this country. But you can enjoy bingeing all three eight-episode seasons. The large cast includes, Trond Fausa Aurvag, Marian Saastad, Steinar Sagen, and Fridtjov Saheim.
If you like crime families and stylish gangster dramas:
Peaky Blinders (Netflix): After World War I, returning soldiers, revolutionaries, and criminal gangs are struggling to survive in a 1919 Britain rocked by economic upheaval and shifting social mores. Returning war hero, Thomas Shelby (Cillian Murphy) is the young, charismatic, cunning, and ambitious leader of one of the more powerful gangs of the time, the Peaky Blinders, which he runs with his family.
The series is stylish, suspenseful, moody, beautifully shot, and often violent. At first you might have some difficulty understanding some characters’ thick British accents, and the first few episodes are a bit slow as many of the main characters are introduced. But if you stick with it, it ramps up and keeps going full blast.
The Peaky Blinders are different from most pop-culture-type mobsters we tend to see on TV and in the movies in the U.S., and it’s interesting to see how they react when forced to clash with a New York mafioso (played by Adrian Brody). It has an excellent ensemble cast led by Helen McCrory, Paul Anderson, and Joe Cole, and perhaps the coolest theme song of all time. A barely recognizable Tom Hardy has a great turn as a Jewish gang leader who is Thomas Shelby’s sometime ally and sometime adversary.
There are currently five six-episode seasons, which are perfect for bingeing. They are planning for seven seasons, although no date for its return has been announced.
If you like neo-noir revenge fantasies:
Reprisal (Hulu): The always good Abigail Spencer (Timeless, Rectify) is compelling as a woman who was left for dead by her ruthless brother and his gang after discovering he committed a brutal crime. She recovers, changes her identity, and re-emerges seven years later seeking revenge. She recruits her own crew and sets about on her task of going after everyone who betrayed her.
Smart and taut, this relentless femme fatale goes on her dark mission getting out of one jam after another until the final showdown. The series is pulpy, soapy, chaotic, and visually engaging. And the soundtrack rocks. It’s more style than substance, but it’s a fun escape from reality. Most of the interesting characters are women – with a couple of key exceptions, most of the men are interchangeable, beer-drinking gearheads. The story could have been told in six episodes, instead of stretching it out to 10, but it’s still a fun ride.
Ron Pearlman has a meaty role as a menacing mob boss. Co-stars include, Mena Massoud, Madison Davenport, Rodrigo Santoro, Rhys Wakefield, David Dastmalchian, Craig Tate, and Lea DeLaura. It was canceled after one season, but this should have been a limited series anyway. Her mission completed, a new season would have been an entirely different show.
If you’d like a darker version of Groundhog Day:
Russian Doll (Netflix): Star, Natasha Lyonne created this comedy-drama with Amy Poehler. She is stuck in her own “Groundhog Day” loop, as she repeatedly attends her own 36th birthday party in New York City, dies at the end of the night, and re-awakens on the same day unharmed as though nothing had happened.
No matter how many times she goes through slight variations of the same events and tries to alter the ultimate outcome, she reaches the same end by a variety of means (getting hit by a car, falling down a flight of stairs, etc.). When she gets stuck in an elevator about to fall to her umpteenth death, one guy in the car (Charlie Barnett) is not panicking. It turns out he is going through the same thing. They team up to try and figure out what is going on and how to stop it (and how they might be connected) – but each time, they only have one day to figure it out before the cycle begins again.
Inventive, clever, and thought provoking. The dialogue is fast-paced and witty, and provides several different and insightful views of pre-pandemic life in New York City. A rare gem. It’s been renewed for a second season, but no date has been announced.
If you like little-known (at least to White folks), inspiring stories about
successful American entrepreneurs:
Self Made (Netflix): Four-part limited series about Sarah Breedlove, aka Madam C.J. Walker (Octavia Spencer), who started out as a washerwoman, built a haircare empire by tapping into an underserved demographic (black women) in 1908, and became America’s first self-made Black female millionaire.
Notable for telling an African-American success story without the tired trope of the “white savior,” Self-Made is propelled by crisp storytelling – which covers many aspects of racial and gender inequities of the late 1800s/early 1900s, including colorism (the relative privilege afforded light-skinned African-Americans compared to those with darker skin), which becomes one of the show’s central themes.
Octavia Spencer is her typically powerful presence as the first of six siblings to be born free (in 1867), who rose to prominence through ingenuity and sheer will. Few are as good at simultaneously displaying strength and vulnerability. Carmen Eiogo gives a strong performance as her one-time (lighter-skinned) hero, who gives her an opportunity in her own hair-care business, and eventually becomes her biggest adversary. Tiffany Haddish is excellent as her daughter Lelia, who famed poet Langston Hughes called “The Joy Goddess of Harlem,” for her role in providing a safe space for queer artists during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. Blair Underwood plays C.J. Walker’s husband, who supports her efforts until he doesn’t.
The “inspired by” tag gives writers license to alter historical accuracy for dramatic effect, which is all too common in so-called biographies. And a number of historians have complained about these inaccuracies, particularly elevating colorism to a main plot point, despite the fact that C.J. Walker and her real-life business rival (fictionalized for this series) had skin tones that were negligibly different. Some historians were put off that Self Made seemed to be painting light-skinned Black privilege as the enemy, rather than the real evil, white supremacy. That said, the series is entertaining, enjoyable, and, at four episodes, perfect for bingeing.
If you like discovering different communities and traditions:
Unorthodox (Netflix): Four-part German-American miniseries, inspired by Deborah Feldman's 2012 autobiography, Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots. The first Netflix series to be primarily in Yiddish.
Shiri Haas gives a riveting and poignant performance as Esty, a 19-year-old Hasidic Jewish woman in Brooklyn, who flees to Berlin, where her estranged mother lives, to escape from an arranged marriage. She starts living a more secular life outside the sheltered environment in which she was raised. She’s falls in with a group of free-thinking musicians – until her husband (Amit Rahav) and his thuggish cousin (Jeff Wilbusch), by order of their rabbi, travel to Berlin looking for her.
The story plays out like a spy thriller in parts, as Esty tries to fit into a modern world with which she is largely unfamiliar, while avoiding discovery. Flashbacks show what her life was like in the Hasidic community before she decided to run away – including her passion for music in a community where women are not allowed to sing in public. The dialogue shifts between Yiddish, English, and German.
You seldom, if ever, see the ultra-orthodox Jewish community portrayed on television with any sensitivity or authenticity, but they manage to pull it off here, while still making Esty’s decision to escape from this world that she finds so suffocating seem perfectly reasonable. Don’t let the subject matter put you off. The series is a remarkable achievement and well worth your binge time. There are no plans for a sequel.
If you likes Hallmark movies:
Virgin River (Netflix): Romance drama based on the best-selling Robyn Carr novels. After a personal tragedy, a midwife and nurse practitioner (Alexandra Breckinridge) from Los Angeles. seeks a fresh start. She answers an ad to work for a doctor in the small remote California town of Virgin River, where almost everything is within walking distance and everyone knows everyone else’s business.
Once there, she butts heads with the town’s egotistical, but good-hearted doctor (Tim Matheson), starts a relationship with the owner of the town’s central watering hole local pub, a former marine who suffers from PTSD (Martin Henderson), and continually wonders whether she made the right choice to leave the big city for small-town life, which is increasingly more complicated than she expected. Just about every major character has some kind of secret. Then there’s this side story about a local illegal pot farm run by some dangerous characters.
The drama is leisurely, the cast has good chemistry, and the series has charm without too much of the cheesiness of a typical Hallmark movie. Annette O’Toole plays the busy-body town mayor. Colin Lawrence, Jenny Cooper, and Lauren Hammersley co-star. It’s been renewed for a second season.
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