TV shows like this...
March 26, 2023 9:16 AM Subscribe
I recently watched the show Station Eleven. It's very ethereal and wandering while also being on point and extremely in focus at times.
It's one of those shows I can't even properly describe. Like, I can't really summarize it. It's so vast and open and also so on target I don't even know what to say. Or how to even talk about it.
Are there any other good shows like this out there?
Some of the Fanfare discussion about the show touches on similar media.
posted by zamboni at 9:28 AM on March 26, 2023
posted by zamboni at 9:28 AM on March 26, 2023
This is how I felt about The Leftovers, also an HBO show.
posted by skewed at 9:29 AM on March 26, 2023 [11 favorites]
posted by skewed at 9:29 AM on March 26, 2023 [11 favorites]
Yep, came in to say The Leftovers.
posted by supercres at 9:49 AM on March 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by supercres at 9:49 AM on March 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
The OA
posted by bluecore at 9:52 AM on March 26, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by bluecore at 9:52 AM on March 26, 2023 [6 favorites]
I had a similar vibe with Dispatches from Elsewhere.
But it could just be "high concept show I saw during the pandemic" vibe that I've lumped together with Severance as well.
posted by typetive at 11:07 AM on March 26, 2023
But it could just be "high concept show I saw during the pandemic" vibe that I've lumped together with Severance as well.
posted by typetive at 11:07 AM on March 26, 2023
The Last of Us had some similarities to Station Eleven, despite the zombie content a lot of the storytelling was focused on survival in the aftermath of a apocalyptic event. Also, if you enjoy reading Station Eleven the book is excellent.
posted by emd3737 at 12:42 PM on March 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by emd3737 at 12:42 PM on March 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
Station Eleven is amazing - such a unique show. Apparently the showrunner and writer of the source novel are going to pair up to adapt some of her other works - so maybe there will be more shows like this in the future?
posted by catcafe at 1:59 PM on March 26, 2023
posted by catcafe at 1:59 PM on March 26, 2023
Tales from the Loop had this feeling for me and I think about it often.
posted by JennyJupiter at 3:24 PM on March 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by JennyJupiter at 3:24 PM on March 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
Honestly I just checked this thread to see if Leftovers was mentioned, so i'll just go ahead and nth the heck out of it. But while it's less ethereal, another pointed, deeply satisfying full course meal from Chez Lindelof is Watchmen. Whether or not you've read the comic, it's, on many occasions, a staggeringly good piece of visual art.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 5:36 PM on March 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Cold Lurkey at 5:36 PM on March 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
Also came to say Leftovers as that was first show I thought of when I watched S11, but from a sci-fi standpoint I found Raised By Wolves to be in a similar category of ethereal, vast, ultra-ambitious, and kind of batshit in a great way.
posted by windbox at 7:05 PM on March 26, 2023
posted by windbox at 7:05 PM on March 26, 2023
Strongly recommending the OA (for its bonkers, sui generis worldbuilding where you can stop tragedy with the power of interpretive dance), as well as Sound of my Voice (a movie version of the same "flawed messiah" theme by the same authors).
Equally, Dispatches from Elsewhere was an addictive watch, with a central mystery quest, lots of red herrings, a lovely romance between a trans woman and shy man, and a great cast of character actors. And again, a movie version (The Institute, a documentary: because the ARG at the center of Dispatches was a real thing, sponsored by the mysterious Jejune Institute in San Francisco, ensnaring hundreds of delighted participants. I've never wished I could time travel back to SF more than that!)
But also:
Counterpart (an alternate time/universe opens a cold war between East and West Berlin, and you can travel to it via border checkpoints and meet your doppelgangers. Fantastic performance by JK Simmons, J. Jonah Jameson himself!)
Alice in Borderland (Japanese show about people who wake up in an Alice in Wonderland version of Tokyo and have to compete in violent and weird games to survive, based on card suits)
Archive 81 (directed by Benson and Moorhead of The Endless, Synchronic and Resolution fame) about an archivist invited to recover video diaries about this Manhattan building and ends up discovering up this Lovecraftian cult. Wonderfully eerie.
Moonhaven - It's basically Station 11...in Spaaace! A special area of the moon is home to a community of ex-earth people who are recreating a paradise based on nature worship and old fashioned pastoral values... until a murder disturbs the idyll and earth people come sniffing.
Outer Range - A mysterious hole opens on the ranch land of a cowboy family, setting up mysteries and family rivalries. It's basically Yellowstone meets Lost (I didn't watch Yellowstone, but Outer Range is the closest I've come to watching a western themed show). Similarly Night Sky (a couple of old codgers live in the countryside, except in the back of their shed is a passage to outer space). Both shows have stellar actors like Brolin, Spacek, etc
Tales from the Loop - Charming and poetic retrofuturistic stories where people live like it's the 1950s and 60s, except they have giant mechas. It is sweet and evocative, and surprisingly good considering it's inspired from a series of paintings showing giant robots in pastoral settings.
The Lost Room - Very short series but fascinating universe to get lost into: An abandoned motel has been magically transformed, in such a way that its rooms and the objects in them have magical properties: One room oscillates in an alternate dimension, a comb stops time, a key transports you in space, and people obsessively collect, acquire and steal these objects to acquire their powers. A man loses a loved one to the room and goes on a quest to find them again, fighting these collectors.
Two more:
The Peripheral: A suprisingly good adaptation of William Gibson's novel about game players connecting through time and space, in alternate history Southern US and London UK. Great cast, fabulous visuals.
Dark: German show, the mother of all universes to get lost in. It's got time travel through caves, family histories of longing and regret, esoteric cults, very German towns, great music, fantastic cast and the most labyrinthine plot (but in a good way). Watch it in German with subtitles if you can stand it, it's viel besser!
There. That should get you started. Enjoy.....
posted by Bigbootay. Tay! Tay! Blam! Aargh... at 8:02 PM on March 26, 2023 [4 favorites]
Equally, Dispatches from Elsewhere was an addictive watch, with a central mystery quest, lots of red herrings, a lovely romance between a trans woman and shy man, and a great cast of character actors. And again, a movie version (The Institute, a documentary: because the ARG at the center of Dispatches was a real thing, sponsored by the mysterious Jejune Institute in San Francisco, ensnaring hundreds of delighted participants. I've never wished I could time travel back to SF more than that!)
But also:
Counterpart (an alternate time/universe opens a cold war between East and West Berlin, and you can travel to it via border checkpoints and meet your doppelgangers. Fantastic performance by JK Simmons, J. Jonah Jameson himself!)
Alice in Borderland (Japanese show about people who wake up in an Alice in Wonderland version of Tokyo and have to compete in violent and weird games to survive, based on card suits)
Archive 81 (directed by Benson and Moorhead of The Endless, Synchronic and Resolution fame) about an archivist invited to recover video diaries about this Manhattan building and ends up discovering up this Lovecraftian cult. Wonderfully eerie.
Moonhaven - It's basically Station 11...in Spaaace! A special area of the moon is home to a community of ex-earth people who are recreating a paradise based on nature worship and old fashioned pastoral values... until a murder disturbs the idyll and earth people come sniffing.
Outer Range - A mysterious hole opens on the ranch land of a cowboy family, setting up mysteries and family rivalries. It's basically Yellowstone meets Lost (I didn't watch Yellowstone, but Outer Range is the closest I've come to watching a western themed show). Similarly Night Sky (a couple of old codgers live in the countryside, except in the back of their shed is a passage to outer space). Both shows have stellar actors like Brolin, Spacek, etc
Tales from the Loop - Charming and poetic retrofuturistic stories where people live like it's the 1950s and 60s, except they have giant mechas. It is sweet and evocative, and surprisingly good considering it's inspired from a series of paintings showing giant robots in pastoral settings.
The Lost Room - Very short series but fascinating universe to get lost into: An abandoned motel has been magically transformed, in such a way that its rooms and the objects in them have magical properties: One room oscillates in an alternate dimension, a comb stops time, a key transports you in space, and people obsessively collect, acquire and steal these objects to acquire their powers. A man loses a loved one to the room and goes on a quest to find them again, fighting these collectors.
Two more:
The Peripheral: A suprisingly good adaptation of William Gibson's novel about game players connecting through time and space, in alternate history Southern US and London UK. Great cast, fabulous visuals.
Dark: German show, the mother of all universes to get lost in. It's got time travel through caves, family histories of longing and regret, esoteric cults, very German towns, great music, fantastic cast and the most labyrinthine plot (but in a good way). Watch it in German with subtitles if you can stand it, it's viel besser!
There. That should get you started. Enjoy.....
posted by Bigbootay. Tay! Tay! Blam! Aargh... at 8:02 PM on March 26, 2023 [4 favorites]
I know this is not what you asked for but just in case it is of interest, Emily st John Mandel, who wrote the novel, has a few novels which have a similar quality. I really loved the glass hotel. There are some references to recurring characters also.
posted by jojobobo at 2:58 PM on March 27, 2023
posted by jojobobo at 2:58 PM on March 27, 2023
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Johnny Assay at 9:23 AM on March 26, 2023 [5 favorites]