Television series
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon
Daryl Dixon trades Georgia for France in this surprisingly effective spinoff. He washes ashore and entangles himself with a child at the centre of a religious movement, while dodging an autocratic faction rising in Paris. It's a straightforward survival drama that benefits enormously from being somewhere new, with fresh stakes and a lean, propulsive energy the main show often lacked.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you like your post-apocalyptic horror slow-burned around a lone wanderer, with the zombies as weather rather than the whole point, and a stubborn streak of road-movie melancholy.
Skip it if you came for the crowded ensemble tension of the original, since this one leans on one man's solitude and long quiet stretches that can feel thin.
What it asks of you: Each instalment runs about 68 minutes across three seasons and 19 episodes, a long, unhurried arc that stays grim and patient, so commit before you start.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Better Call Saul2015
A spinoff that transcends its source material by committing entirely to character and consequence. Like Daryl Dixon, it finds surprising depth in a familiar universe by changing the lens and trusting the audience to follow.
But It's slower and quieter than The Walking Dead, with long stretches of talk and moral ambiguity. If you want constant action, you'll find it frustrating.
The Last of Us2023
Post-apocalyptic storytelling that prioritises relationship over spectacle. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey create something genuinely moving, and the show proves the genre still has stories worth telling beyond zombie mechanics.
But The first episode is deliberately bleak and difficult to watch. It's asking you to invest in pain before hope appears.
Severance2022
A genre mystery with the same lean efficiency Daryl Dixon achieves. It's high-concept but grounded in character, and every episode leaves you wanting the next one. Adam Scott carries it with quiet intensity.
But It's deliberately strange and withholding about its own rules. Some viewers find the pacing glacial and the answers harder to find than the questions.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Vigil2021
Both are survival stories about small groups of people in isolated, hostile environments learning to trust each other. Both deploy loneliness as a weapon and find strength in unexpected bonds.
A Scottish police procedural that becomes something far stranger—a locked-room mystery on a nuclear submarine. Suranne Jones is excellent, and the claustrophobia is suffocating. It proves genre conventions can still surprise you.
But The twist in the final episode divides audiences sharply. Some feel it rewrites the story unfairly; others find it brilliant. You'll either love or resent it.
More like this (8)
Yellowstone2018
A survival story about holding onto home and family against overwhelming odds. Kevin Costner's taciturn protagonist uses silence the way Daryl does—as a weapon and a refuge. Addictively watchable.
But It becomes increasingly melodramatic and soap-operatic as it goes. The later seasons prioritise spectacle over the character work that made it special.
The Leftovers2014
A show that takes a high-concept premise and uses it to explore grief, faith, and survival with devastating intelligence. Carrie Coon's performance alone is worth your time; the writing is even better.
But It's profoundly sad and occasionally nihilistic. Some episodes are almost unbearably heavy, and closure is earned rather than handed over.
Killing Eve2018
A thriller about two people locked in a dance of pursuit, with black comedy and genuine tension. Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh create something magnetic—impossible to look away from.
But It peaks early and struggles to maintain momentum. The final season in particular feels like it's lost sight of what made it work.
Slow Horses2022
A spy drama that moves with purpose, built around Gary Oldman's weary intelligence. It trusts its audience and rewards attention. Smart, funny, and genuinely exciting.
But If you need clean plot resolution, the British intelligence-service setting means things stay murky. Some find the dry humour alienating.
Hell on Wheels2011
A frontier drama about rough men trying to build something in hostile territory. It has the same gritty, propulsive energy as Daryl Dixon and genuine chemistry between its leads.
But The first season is uneven while it finds its footing. Some plot threads feel abandoned, and the historical setting limits the scope of storytelling.
Godless2017
A Western miniseries with economy and style. It moves fast, looks beautiful, and Jeff Daniels is magnificent. A complete story, perfectly told, in six hours.
But It's brief and somewhat straightforward. If you're looking for labyrinthine plotting, you won't find it here.
La Bête Humaine1938
Both centre on men shaped by violence who find themselves in France grappling with their own nature. Both understand that landscape and environment are characters themselves—that place can define fate.
Renoir's masterpiece about men and desire and violence on the French railways. It's beautiful, hypnotic, and deeply strange—a window into a completely different world that still feels urgent. Essential cinema.
But It's 1938 and moves at its own pace. If you need narrative momentum or contemporary sensibility, this will test your patience.
The Peripheral2022
Both are about displacement and disorientation—characters torn from everything familiar, learning to survive in hostile territory they don't understand. Both ultimately argue that purpose comes from human connection, not from the world around you.
A science fiction show about connection across impossible distance, centred on two women finding purpose in a fractured world. It's visually inventive, genuinely smart, and Chloë Grace Moretz gives a career-best performance.
But The plot spans timelines and gets conceptually dense. If you're not willing to pay close attention, you'll lose the thread.
People
Cast
Writing
- David ZabelCreator
Production
- Angela KangExecutive Producer
- David ZabelExecutive Producer
- Scott M. GimpleExecutive Producer