Fans are still buzzing after theParadiseSeason 1 finale answered some questions but left even more unanswered. The Sterling K. Brown-led thriller has been a big hit for Hulu and has already garnered aSeason 2 pickup. Production hasn’t begun on the new season yet, so there’s still plenty of time before new episodes arrive.
Whether fans wereshocked by theParadiseSeason 1 finaleor a bit annoyed by it, they can’t deny how captivating the idea for the show is. Without giving too much away, the initial premise of the show is that the President of the United States is found dead and the last person to see him alive, a Secret Service agent, is questioned about what happened. The race to find the President’s killer leads to so much more.
For anyone looking to fill the mystery-sized hole in their life, there are plenty of other series to turn to in the meantime. There are options across a number of streaming services to keep audiences captivated until the next season begins.
10’Manifest'
What if a flight took off, experienced turbulence for what seemed like a few minutes, and landed safely, only for the passengers to be told nearly six years had passed while they were in the air? That’s the premise ofManifest, which originally aired on NBC and then on Netflix, ending in 2023 after four seasons. The show follows the passengers and crew as they reenter society, with many of their families moving on without them.
A Global Mystery With the Right Amount of Intrigue
The cult show features some great performances, especially from Melissa Roxburgh and Josh Dallas. The science fiction elements align withParadise’sas people attempt to understand what happened following a global event. Not only did the incident on Montego Air Flight 828 affect the people on the plane, but it also affected the world. An added mystery to solve for the survivors is the emergence of strange visions occurring after the incident.
9’House of Cards'
House of Cards
A massive hit for Netflix when it first premiered,House of Cardsgarnered multiple Emmy and Golden Globe award nominations over its six-season run. Kevin Spacey plays Frank Underwood, a U.S. Congressman and House Majority Whip with grander ambitions, and Robin Wright plays his wife, Claire. Based on a British novel and TV series from the late 1980s and early 1990s,House of Cardsshines a dark and often illuminating light on politics in Washington, D.C.
A Political Thriller Shines a Dark Light on Washington, D.C.
The sharp dialogue and characters' conniving methods show how ruthless politics can be. While it may not be the most mysterious show, it does have a few burning open-ended plotlines that keep audiences hooked. The show had to deal with the public fallout of allegations against Spacey, and Wright admirably stepped in tolead the final seasons. The setting of Washington isn’t the only parallel toParadise, as Gerald McRaney, who plays President Bradford’s father, stars as a billionaire entrepreneur inHouse of Cards.
8’C.B. Strike'
C.B. Strike, orStrikeas it is known in the U.K., follows private investigator Cormoran Strike (Tom Burke) as he solves mysteries that others struggle with. He is joined by his secretary-turned-partner, Robin Ellacott (Holliday Grainger), as the two take on difficult cases throughout each of the series. The British series has aired six seasons, all based on books by Robert Galbraith, J.K. Rowling’s pseudonym. It’s unclear if any of the characters arebased on people from Rowling’s lifelike inHarry Potter, but they are a treat to watch.
From the Pen of J.K. Rowling to the Small Screen
While the entirety of the series has aired in the U.K., a few have aired on Cinemax in the U.S. The six seasons each follow a different book in the series. The charisma of the curmudgeonly Strike may be immensely lacking compared to that of Xavier Collins inParadise, but fans will appreciate how both of these security specialists work through their processes as the cases in front of them unfold.
14 Best Political Thrillers, Ranked
Political thrillers ooze paranoia and grief, but remain a staple of entertainment. From Munich to JFK, here are the ten best, ranked.
7The Madness
The Madness
Who is framing Colman Domingo for a murder he didn’t commit, and why are they doing it? That’s the premise ofThe Madness, a Netflix series from late 2024. The first season debuted in November and aired eight episodes. Domingo plays Muncie Daniels, a CNN correspondent who gets caught up in a murder plot in the Pocono Mountains. The twists and turns of the series involve not only his family but people well-connected in society.
A Whodunit Turned Into a Why-Frame-Me
Daniels is initially suspected of committing the murder, and he must use his investigative journalist instincts to clear the situation up andtrack down the real killer. As the show continues to unfurl, Domingo’s performance keeps you interested in just how high up the conspiracy goes. It’s a quick watch that fans can finish on a binge-heavy day, similar to how easily consuming Season 1 ofParadisegoes down. Plus, the mixture of mystery and politics is a captivating combo that both shows share.
6The Killing
The Killing
Originally airing on AMC,The Killingfinished its run with a fourth season on Netflix in 2014. Season 1 had one of the most memorable taglines over the past 15 years: Who Killed Rosie Larsen? The answer to that mystery is not a simple one to find for detectives Sarah Linden (Mireille Enos) and Stephen Holder (Joel Kinnaman). What unfurls is a twisting and turning narrative filled with many characters, including Rosie’s grieving parents, local politicians, and more.
Murder Mysteries Set in Rainy Seattle
Similar to how the true motivations behind the murder mystery inParadiseare hard to comprehend,The Killingfocused its entire first season on answering that tagline. Linden and Holder stop at nothing to find the answer to this and other mysteries in the subsequent seasons. The lighting choices that portray bleakness throughout the series make this show more captivating, and the cliffhanger episodes draw in the biggest of mystery audiences.
5The Night Of
The Night Of
Being in the wrong place at the wrong time can set someone’s life on a strange path. That’s the premise ofThe Night Of,a limited series that aired on HBO in 2016. Fresh off his breakthrough roles inNightcrawlerandRogue One, Riz Ahmed stars as a Pakistani-American accused of murdering a young white girl in New York City. The show’s cast is superb, featuring John Turturro as his defense attorney, Bill Camp as the detective leading the case, and Michael Kenneth Williams as a fellow inmate at Rikers Island.
Riz Ahmed Is at His Best
At its core, the show is about a mystery and a case that needs to be solved. However, the underlying themes are racism, Islamophobia, and how the penal system can affect those in it. The main character feels trapped, similar toParadise. While one is in prison, the other is in a city in the mountains. But both yearn for the outside and the truth to be told. The show won Ahmed a Primetime Emmy forsome of his best workand showcased how good Turturro can be in serious roles.
The Night Of: Why the Limited Series Deserves a Continuation
In addition to all the eagerness from the audience, there are multiple reasons why this show needs a season 2.
It’s nearly impossible to write a list of mysteries without including one of the greatest detectives of all time.Sherlock, the long-running series starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, was a critical smash during its run on BBC. Fans love their portrayals of the oft-utilized characters, and each installment of the show depicts a classic tale from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s canon.
A Modern Take on Classic Mysteries
Created byDoctor Whoshowrunner Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, the show’s present-day setting brought the mysteries into a new light. Andrew Scott portrayed a menacing Jim Moriarty throughout the series' run, matching wits with Cumberbatch.Paradisefans will enjoy watching Cumberbatch slyly unpack clues while keeping the big picture in mind, a la how Collins never minimizes the gravity of each decision he makes.
3Dark Winds
Dark Winds
A psychological thriller set on a Navajo reservation in the 1970s,Dark Windsis a gritty entry forParadisefans to check out. The series followsthree members of the Navajo Tribal Policeas they deal with what they think are unrelated crimes and incidents on the reservation. They prove to be more than that, and while investigating them, they learn more about their past as a tribe.
A Dark, Gritty Series for ‘Paradise’ Fans
The show has been lauded for star Zahn McClarnon’s performance as Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn. The setting and nature of the violent crimes they have to solve make this show unique to watch. The show has been renewed for a fourth season, so now is the perfect time to catch up.
2Severance
Arguably the hottest show on television right now,Severanceis mystery storytelling at its finest. Nobody knows exactly what is going on as, in each episode, the fans and characters are in the dark.Severancefollows a group of workers who have decided to be severed, meaning they underwent a medical procedure to split their brain, creating two personas of themselves. Their inner or “innie” persona is someone who works at Lumon Industries, doing mysterious work on a lower floor of an office building and never being told what their work amounts to. Their outer persona or “outie” is an everyday person who walks around the world. The key to the severing is that the two versions of themselves have no intel on what the other is doing.
Huge Stakes for Innies and Outies
The cast of Adam Scott, Zach Cherry, Britt Lower, John Turturro, and Patricia Arquette havebrought this wild mysteryto life. Created by Dan Erickson and executive produced and primarily directed by Ben Stiller, the show keeps fans guessing and trying to remember which version of the truth each character’s personas knows. Following along with the characters and trying to remember who is telling the truth and what each person knows will surely speak toParadisefans.
Lostmay have premiered over 20 years ago, but it is still prevalent today. It changed the game with its mind-bending storytelling and a wide array of characters trying to figure out one giant mystery and individual mysteries together. The show begins with a plane crash on a mysterious island and the surviving members of the wreck trying to sort out where they are. The island turns out to be much more than it looks, and the group not only has to survive what is on the island but what is happening among their group.
Mind-Bending Mysteries on an Island
Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse’s masterpiece has become one of the most influential series of its time and pushed the envelope for ambiguous storytelling. It also has one of the most divisive endings in recent history. It is clear thatParadiseandLosthave some similarities,with events leading to power struggles and problems that are thought to be just out of the reach of human possibilities, but at the heart of both is the human need to survive.
