Slowly but surely, Apple TV (previously Apple TV+) found its footing. The streaming service, which at launch we called “odd, angsty, and horny as hell,” has evolved into a diverse library of dramas, documentaries, and comedies. Now its library is so packed that we’ve declared it “the new HBO.”
Curious but don’t know where to get started? Are you a seasoned vet but still have a hard time keeping up on what’s new on the platform? Either way, these are WIRED’s picks for the best shows on the service right now. (Also, here are our picks for the best movies on Apple TV.) When you’re done, head over to our guides to the best shows on Netflix, best movies on Hulu, and best movies on Amazon Prime, because you can never have too much television.
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Hijack
There’s this face Idris Elba does. He’s been perfecting it since he was Stringer Bell on The Wire. It’s the look of total calm even when he’s talking about the most harrowing thing you can imagine. (He gives a few hints of it in the video above.) That face gets a full workout in Hijack in which he plays a corporate negotiator, Sam Nelson, who finds himself too frequently having to negotiate his way out of a incredibly intense situation. In the show’s first season, Sam finds himself needing to settle things with a group of hijackers who have taken over the flight he’s boarded to get home to his family. For the second season, he finds himself at the center of a hostage situation on an underground train full of hostages. Expect even more twists than there were on the first trip.
Down Cemetery Road
Do you like Emma Thompson? Slow Horses? Conspiracies? Well, this show has all three. For one, it’s executive produced by the same team that made Slow Horses—which, if you keep reading, you’ll know is one of our favorite shows. It also, yes, stars Thompson. But ultimately it’s about what happens when a woman (played by Ruth Wilson) hires a private investigator (Thompson) to look into a mysterious explosion in a small Oxford, England, suburb. This is where the big conspiracy comes in. Revealing any more about this adaptation of Mick Herron’s novel would spoil the fun, but if you like the parts, the sum is well worth it.
Pluribus
Watch the trailer and you may think Pluribus is a zombie show. Or some kind of sunny apocalypse fable. Perhaps a commentary on AI-curated sameness. It’s sci-fi, yes, but also a deeply thought-out character drama. But honestly, the less you know going in, the better. Everyone has different takes on what the latest show from Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan means, but that’s also kind of the point. What viewers take away from it depends on the baggage they bring to it. Ultimately, though, it questions what would happen if the entire world did suddenly live in harmony. That, dear reader, is the kind of question that keeps us up at night.
The Morning Show
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