7 TV Shows to Look Forward to After ‘Game of Thrones’
Game of Thrones is over, and loyal fans of the show are already experiencing withdrawal symptoms. But good thing for fans of big ticket fantasy, science fiction and drama genres is that there are many fan-favourite shows returning to the screen after a hiatus in the coming months, and their timing couldn’t be more perfect. They are all set to cash in on the void left behind by the gigantic finale of GoT.
The show must go on! Here are our top picks for the upcoming season of online streaming that could make you feel like there is still a lot of good stuff to look forward to.
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1. Black Mirror (Netflix)
After the interactive thriller movie Bandersnatch, the science fiction anthology series, Black Mirror, is back with three new episodes for its 5th season. Going by the trailer released last week, guns, gaming, mobile phones and robots will continue to rule in scarily envisioned stories from dystopian future or alternative present. But creator Charlie Brooker seems to have also tried his hand at some new story-telling methods.
Reason to watch: Black Mirror explores modern society with regard to the unanticipated consequences of new technologies like no other show has managed to. This time the cast includes names like Miley Cyrus, Pom Klementieff (Mantis in Avengers), Anthony Mackie (Falcon from Avengers: Endgame), Topher Grace and Angourie Rice, among others. The makers have teased that the Miley episode could be a musical one.
Premiere date: 5 June
2. Big Little Lies Season 2 (HBO/Hotstar)
The seven-episode season 1 of Big Little Lies, a combination of murder, revenge and the beaches of Monterey, California, met with a positive response from critics.
The first season follows the story of three emotionally troubled women who become embroiled in a murder investigation.
Reason to watch: Initially planned as a mini series with 7 episodes, the show comes back to the screen after over two years of hiatus. Based on Liane Moriarty’s novel, the show boasts of eight wins at the Prime Emmy Awards 2018. Add to that the all-star primary cast, which includes Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon and Shailene Woodley. Icing on the cake: Meryl Streep joins the cast in the new season! There’s a whole lot of drama in this murder mystery to get behind.
Premiere date: 9 June
3. Dark Season 2 (Netflix)
This German sci-fi show caught international attention with it’s dark and complicated time travelling thrills. With a multitude of characters, shuffling between 2019, 1986 and 1953, season one, released back in December 2017, became a hit. Interestingly, season 2 will air on 21 June, the date on the show when Michael Kahnwald committed suicide, leaving a message for his son Jonas, which kicked off the entire series.
Reason to watch: Coming back after a one and a half year break, the 8-episode season 2 has a lot of unanswered questions to explore. Last we saw Jonas travelled into a post-apocalyptic wasteland and the date announcement trailer hinted that much of the action in the latest season will revolve around understanding exactly what happened to cause the hinted apocalypse of 2052, and if it can be stopped.
Do you remember every one of the thousands of mind bending moments in season 1? If not then its time to do a recap. If you haven’t watched it yet, you have less than a month to catch up.
Premiere date: 21 June
4. Stranger Things 3 (Netflix)
After an extended break of almost two years, its time to return to Hawkins, Indiana, and we couldn’t be more ready. Set in the 1980s, the science fiction show began with disappearance of a young boy amid supernatural events occurring around town, including the appearance of a girl with psychokinetic abilities.
Netflix released a swimming pool scene from the new season yesterday, hours after the last episode of GoT aired. Obviously, the streaming platform is hoping to cash in on the space, and not without reason. It already is a fan-favourite show and a perfect anti-dote to GoT. Now that winter is done with, summer is indeed coming as the new season’s tagline reads: One summer can change everything.
Reason to watch: Season 2 was neatly wrapped up in the end, but left a window open for stranger things to happen in season 3. The Mind Flayer hovering above the high school in the Upside Down was rather ominous. Eleven, Will and gang are growing up fast and that should add a new dimension to the storytelling. Its a good time to get into this show.
Premiere Date: 4 July
5. Sacred Games 2 (Netflix)
Based on a book of the same name by Vikram Chandra, our very own desi breakout show Sacred Games will soon be back with season 2. The crime thriller revolves around Sartaj Singh, a Mumbai cop and Ganesh Gaitonde, a criminal overlord. In the first season, Sartaj receives a call from Gaitonde, who tells him to save the city within 25 days.
Reason to watch: The second season will be directed by Anurag Kashyap and Neeraj Ghaywan (director of Masaan). The first teaser, released on 6 May, introduced new characters, played by Kalki Koechlin and Ranvir Shorey. Pankaj Tripathi is expected to play more of a role in this season as the mystery of mandala and Trivedi, who was found dead in the last episode of season 1, unfolds.
The first season got mostly positive reviews, and the thrills and twists are only likely to get intense as the new season further explores the links between organised crime, local politics and Indian espionage.
Premiere date: Netflix hinted at a 14 June release.
6. The Crown Season 3 (Netflix)
A historical drama series about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, The Crown is the second costliest TV show after GoT, with a spending of $10 million per episode for season 2. The viewership though was much lower than the HBO fantasy show, but interest in the series is only growing.
With two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe, the Netflix drama’s next season is one of the most awaited ones. The first look was released in December last year.
Reason to watch: Olivia Colman will be playing the slightly older version of Queen Elizabeth II for the 3rd and 4th seasons. Following Foy’s Emmy best actress win, expectations are high from Colman’s performance. Helena Bonham Carter and Tobias Menzies will portray Princess Margaret and Prince Philip respectively. A whole new cast, a whole new era (as we get to the 1970s), and an expectation of continued quality writing, makes this royal drama something to look forward to.
Premiere date: Late 2019
7. Westworld III (HBO/Hotstar)
The technologically advanced Wild-West-themed amusement park in Westworld is closest we can come to satiating our love for the fantasy/science fiction genre after GoT.
Even though the viewership for season 2 dropped slightly, compared to its first outing, it still stood at 10 million. Expectations were high from season 2, with an estimated budget of $100 million dollars for 10 episodes and Star Wars’ JJ Abrams as executive producer. HBO released the trailer of Westworld on the same day as Game of Thrones finale aired, which means that the channel plans to go all out for season 3.
Its surely not a replacement for GoT, but a strong contender to turn into the next pop culture phenomenon. HBO surely believes so, and it surely has the potential.
Reason to watch: Breaking Bad fame Aaron Paul joins the cast this season, and we see a completely different futuristic world outside of Westworld in the trailer. Paul’s character lands his eyes on Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) as he talks about finding “someone real” as Pink Floyd’s Brain Damage plays in the background.
Vincent Cassel (Ocean’s Twelve and Ocean’s Thirteen) and Lena Waithe have also joined the cast in key roles. This new world promises to create a whole new adventure for the viewers.
Premiere date: 2020
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