‘The OA’ (2016-2019)
Co-created by the indie filmmakers Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij — best-known for the arty science-fiction movies “Sound of My Voice” and “The East” — “The OA” is a supernatural mystery saga, in which Marling plays a woman who returns from a seven-year disappearance, claiming to be a trans-dimensional traveler on a mission of salvation. The series has been divisive. Our critic called the first season, “a beautifully painted eggshell” with “a hollow center.” But there’s a reason its fiercely devoted fanbase was angered when Netflix cancelled “The OA” after two seasons (out of a planned five). Few shows are as effective at getting viewers to look deeper at their own reality. – The NY Times
‘Fauda’ (2015-Present)
This intense thriller was co-created by its lead actor, Lior Raz, who plays an IDF agent drawn out of retirement by the prospect of taking down a terrorist he thought he’d already killed. That one mission leads to unexpected complications and further side operations, some of them involving the hero’s going undercover with his adversaries. The matter-of-fact scenarios in “Fauda” are an attempt to reflect the tricky politics and daily sacrifices of crimefighting in Israel. – The NY Times
‘Tiger King’ (2020)
There’s a reason seemingly everybody on the internet started talking about this docu-series within a few days of its debut. Co-directed by Rebecca Chaiklin and Eric Goode, the seven-part “Tiger King” is ostensibly about the strange subculture of folks who keep and display big cats: sometimes for crassly commercial private zoos, and sometimes for ostensibly more humane nature reserves. An unusual number of these people seem to have disturbing personal histories, involving criminal syndicates, unsolved murders and sex cults — all of which get touched on in this fascinating and often shocking story of eccentric, self-made American entrepreneurs. – The NY Times
‘Unbelievable’ (2019)
In the true crime drama “Unbelievable,” Toni Collette and Merritt Wever play Colorado police detectives who defy their bosses’ prejudices and piece together a pattern within seemingly unrelated rape cases. Kaitlyn Dever plays a teenager from nearby Washington, who is pressured by the authorities to recant her own report of being raped. The Oscar-nominated screenwriter Susannah Grant and the novelists Ayelet Waldman and Michael Chabon are on the series’s creative team, which uses these gripping, infuriating intertwined stories to shine a light on how gender biases affect the way sex-crimes are handled. – The NY Times
‘Stranger Things’ (2016-Present)
The first season of the retro science-fiction series “Stranger Things” arrived with little hype and quickly became a word-of-mouth sensation: Viewers were enchanted by its pastiche of John Carpenter, Steven Spielberg, Stephen King and John Hughes — all scored to ’80s pop. This story of geeky Indiana teenagers fighting off an invasion of extra-dimensional creatures from “the Upside-Down” has the look and feel of a big summer blockbuster from 30 years ago — “a tasty trip back to that decade and the art of eeriness,” our critic noted, but “without excess.” – The NY Times
‘Russian Doll’ (2019)
The most obvious point of comparison for this oddball science-fiction dramedy is the movie “Groundhog Day,” since “Russian Doll” is also about a character who must relive the same day, over and over. Here, the trapped person is a sad-sack software engineer named Nadia (played by Natasha Lyonne, who also created the show with Leslye Headland and Amy Poehler); on the night of her 36th birthday, Nadia keeps dying and rebooting — like a video game character. – The NY Times
‘When They See Us’ (2019)
As a producer and director, Ava DuVernay has tackled the Civil Rights Movement, in her Oscar-nominated film “Selma,” and racial bias in the American criminal justice system, in her Emmy-winning documentary “13TH.” Now, in her four-part mini-series “When They See Us,” she dramatizes the story of the Central Park Five, who were convicted of raping and almost killing a jogger in New York City in 1989, then exonerated in 2002. – The NY Times
‘The Good Place’ (2016-2020)
It’s difficult to describe this fantastical metaphysical sitcom without spoiling its surprises. It’s ostensibly about a selfish young woman named Eleanor (Kristen Bell), who with a handful of other iffy humans lands in a cockeyed version of the afterlife, managed by the cheerful kook Michael (Ted Danson) and his humanoid supercomputer Janet (D’Arcy Carden). The creator Michael Schur keeps viewers guessing; but even without the crazy plot-twists, the show provides food for thought. – The NY Times
‘Love Is Blind’ (2020)
Singles try to find a match and fall in love — without ever seeing each other face-to-face, as emotional connection attempts to conquer physical attraction. – Google
‘The Umbrella Academy’ (2019-Present)
The Umbrella Academy is an American superhero web television series based on the comic book series of the same name published by Dark Horse Comics. Created for Netflix by Steve Blackman and developed by Jeremy Slater, it revolves around a dysfunctional family of adopted sibling superheroes who reunite to solve the mystery of their father’s death and the threat of an impending apocalypse. – Wikipedia
‘Marvel’s The Defenders’ (2017)
Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Luke Cage team up to protect New York City. – Rotten Tomatoes
‘Lucifer’ (2016-Present)
When the devil tires of life in Hell, he materializes in the City of Angels, where he aids the LAPD in rounding up and punishing evildoers in this TV-adaptation of the comic book. – Rotten Tomatoes
‘YOU’ (2018-Present)
A tech-savvy young man utilizes modern-day resources to lure a woman into falling in love with him. – Rotten Tomatoes
