Shows to Fall Into

A very effective way to escape reality: 37 TV shows

I have thirteen drafts sitting here of all things I thought I wanted to explore or start a conversation around. And yet, since early Friday morning, what I’ve really wanted is silence. To stay numb. To hide. To hit pause on the avalanche that life has decided to drop.

Now, “challenge” is a word I’m tempted to use, but it doesn’t come close. So let me be direct and give a context: I live in Tel Aviv. Since 4 a.m. last Friday, Iran has been firing missiles at us. Not metaphorical ones - actual ballistic missiles. It’s as bad as it sounds. I’ve lived through several rounds of different wars in the past four years (still surreal to type that sentence), but this one feels different. Heavier. Dangerous.

By this point, multiple rockets have fallen. Homes shattered. Hundreds injured. Twenty-four people gone, including children. Every night since Friday, I’ve been woken up - twice at least - by the siren, rushing to the shelter. And while I know the odds of a direct hit on my building are slim… the odds exist.

I’m writing this just to mark the moment. To name it. This newsletter is a semi-public diary, and no matter how much I try to rationalize (no panic, full trust in the defense system, a vaguely fatalistic take on life), this is what’s reality right now.

Of course, my coping mechanisms haven’t changed. I remain a professional escapist. Especially through stories. I’ve lost track once - not sure if something happened to me, or to a character from a book. Fiction does that. And I do series. Many series. This watchlist is kind of a long list of places to run out. I’ve got over 200 titles logged. No, I haven’t watched them all, but let’s just say a good half ot them.

Anyway. I already shared my obsession with heist stories once:

If you’re in need of a great story to disappear into - here’s the list. It already includes a mix of fresh titles and solid ones that you’ve might have missed. It starts with sharp, layered narratives (not always new releases), and gradually folds in some glossy, irresistible picks - because, let’s be honest, junk food often beats a Michelin plate when the world’s on fire.

1. Your Friends & Neighbors (Apple TV, 2025)

A group of adults talk about sex, cheat on each other, and somehow make even the robberies of emotional trust feel clinical. Aaron Eckhart (ex-Mad Men) plays a boring financial clerk with a sharp grasp of art history and a criminal mind that doesn’t need a gun, just a dinner party.

2. Bad Boy (Netflix, 2025)

A thirteen-year-old Dean Sheyman ends up in juvenile detention, where he forms the most important friendship with the scariest guy. Based on comedian Daniel Chen’s real story, it’s tough, raw, and even funny.

Similar but different and good: Adolescence (Netflix, 2025)

3. Defending Jacob (Apple TV, 2020)

What you’d do if it were your kid? A teenager is accused of murder in a quiet suburb, his parents go from courtroom to kitchen table trying to hold the family - and the story - together. It is damn tough, slow-burning, and leaves you wondering.

Similar but different and good: Presumed Innocent (Apple TV, 2024)

4. Alice & Jack (2023-24)

Alice and Jack keep finding their way back to each other - across years, cities, and a mess of emotional damage that never fully heals. It’s very tender and very brutal, all at once. I’ve rewatched it several times, especially when I’m deep in romantic anxiety.

Similar but different and good: One Day (Netflix, 2024), Normal People (BBC, 2020) and Lessons in Chemistry (Apple TV, 2023)

5. Étoile (Amazon Prime, 2025)

Ballet meets bureaucracy in Étoile, where ambition pirouettes through Paris and the backstage politics are as precise as the choreography. It’s stylish, oddly melancholic, and full of characters who’d rather destroy each other than miss their cue - and yes, I watched it all with terrible posture.

Similar but different and good: Mozart in the Jungle (Amazon Prime, 2014-18)

6. Rivals (Disney, 2024)

England in the 1980s, where glossy ambition and quiet desperation walk side by side in designer heels. Everyone’s scheming - media moguls, fading aristocrats, starlets with sharp elbows - but underneath it all, they’re just trying to be loved, and maybe stay relevant.

Similar but different and good: A Thousand Blows (Hulu, 2024) and MobLand (Paramount, 2025)

7. The Better Sister (Prime, 2025)

There are two sisters, one dead husband, and a lot of things they never dealt with. It’s quietly tense, and you’re never quite sure who to trust — let me know which sister you ended up siding with.

Similar but different and good: Apples Never Fall (Peacock, 2024) and The Last Thing He Told Me (Apple TV, 2023)

8. Night Therapy (Kan, 2024)

I love shows about shrinks, and Night Therapy fits perfectly - a burned-out single father who can’t find time to work during the day, so he starts seeing patients at night. Everyone who shows up feels just as off-schedule and off-balance as he is, which somehow makes the sessions feel more honest.

Similar but different and good: The Shrink Next Door (Apple TV, 2021)

9. The Buccaneers (Apple TV, 2023-)

Imagine a group of loud, rich American girls crash into 1870s England and politely ruin everything. It’s all corsets, secrets, and social climbing - but underneath, it’s a quietly furious take on how women are taught to perform power instead of hold it. Obviously, love it.

Similar but different and good: My Lady Jane (Amazon Prime, 2024)

10. Say Nothing (Hulu, 2024)

How much do you know about the IRA? Or Ireland during The Troubles? I knew nothing. Say Nothing follows the Price sisters as they climb the ranks of the IRA, caught between loyalty, violence, and the quiet unraveling of their own beliefs. At its center is the disappearance of Jean McConville - a mystery that haunts everyone it touches, across decades.

Similar but different and good: Good Girl Revolt (Amazon Prime, 2015-16)

11. Modern Love (Amazon Prime, 2019-2021)

Modern Love is based on the New York Times column, and like the essays, it’s hit or miss - but when it lands, it really stays with you. Some stories are sweet, some are quietly sad, and a few sneak up on you with something that actually feels true.

12. A Gentleman in Moscow (Paramount, 2024)

Count Rostov is sentenced to house arrest in a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin, watching history shift from the window seat. These days I see Moscow only on screen - but let’s be honest, this isn’t really Moscow, it’s the Metropol in all its faded, curated glory. It’s slow, elegant, and quietly heartbreaking in the way long solitude tends to be.

13. High Potential (Hulu, 2024)

High Potential is about a single mom who cleans crime scenes and casually solves murders on the side - which totally makes sense, since she’s smarter than everyone in the room. It’s light, a little ridiculous, and somehow still manages to be genuinely charming.

Similar but different and good: The Residence (Netflix, 2025) and Pokerface (Peacock, 2023-)

14. Hacks (HBO Max, 2021-)

Two women - one an aging stand-up legend, the other a cancelled twenty-something writer - get thrown together, and neither is thrilled about it. But they need each other more than either of them can admit - professionally, emotionally, and definitely financially. Hacks is sharp, bitter, and unexpectedly tender, like they’re building something real out of punchlines and pride.

Similar but different and good: The Studio (Apple TV, 2025)

15. Sirens (Netflix, 2025)

It starts with a worried sister visiting an island and ends with a power game that feels part cult, part corporate retreat. There’s a magnetic billionaire, a mysterious “healing” program, and enough manipulation to make you second-guess every hug. It’s glossy, unsettling, and just unhinged enough to keep you watching.

16. Kaleidoscope (Netflix, 2023)

Kaleidoscope fits right into my favorite aisle: heist stories with big plans, messy crews, and just enough betrayal to keep things interesting. You can watch the episodes in any order - a fun gimmick - but mostly it’s Giancarlo Esposito holding the whole thing together with pure charisma.

17. The Gentlemen (Netflix, 2024-26)

Guy Ritchie is my soft spot, so The Gentlemen didn’t need to work that hard - but it does. Fast cuts, criminal real estate deals, execute style, and men in excellent coats pretending they’re smarter than they are - and the dialogues? That’s where the real joy is. Stylish, ridiculous, and exactly as fun as it should be.

Similar but different and good: The Catch (ABC, 2016-2017)

18. Dear Edward (Apple TV, 2023)

It’s based on a great book by Ann Napolitano, which I’ve read and can recommend too. And yes, it starts with a tragedy, but it’s really about what comes after. A boy survives, everyone else doesn’t, and the show carefully traces how grief turns strangers into something like family. Quiet, tender, and sometimes a little too careful - but it takes you in, slowly.

These two I’m planning to watch next: Prime Target (Apple TV, 2025) and Thee Women (Starz, 2024-25). And I think that’s all I have to say for now.

Stay strong and believe in a bright future ahead! We will talk soon!

Yours,

Miri