25 Underrated Shows Worth Binge-Watching on Amazon Prime Video Canada
Updated: Apr. 22, 2020
From modern-day westerns to cutting-edge science fiction, these overlooked shows are worth adding to your quarantine watch list.
Bosch
Meet your new favourite detective: Harry Bosch, a 20-year veteran of the LAPD. When he’s not listening to jazz records at his swanky pad in the hills, he’s out on the streets doing good old-fashioned police work. (His tendency to sometimes bend the law is tempered by his personal motto: “Everybody matters, or nobody matters.”) Each season of the show explores a brand-new case, whether it’s Bosch trying to take down a serial killer of children or investigating the murder of a controversial physicist. There are six seasons of Bosch to enjoy on Amazon Prime Video, and what better time to dive in?
Catastrophe
The aptly-named Catastrophe tells the story of Sharon Morris (Sharon Horgan), an Irish teacher living in London who embarks on a week-long fling with Rob Norris (Rob Delaney), an American ad exec in town on a business trip. When Sharon discovers she’s pregnant, Rob decides to move to London to be with her, and the two give their relationship a chance—much to the disapproval of their friends and families. What begins as an update of Knocked Up, however, quickly turns into one of Amazon Prime Video’s most heartfelt comedies, serving up profound insights on love, marriage and aging.
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Comrade Detective
Comrade Detective features one heck of a weird premise: a popular ’80s buddy cop show from Romania—commissioned by the Soviet Communist Party, of course—is rediscovered, and American TV producers choose Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt to dub the voices of the two lead actors in English. A hilarious send-up of Cold War-era politics with an impressive cast of voices (Daniel Craig, Kim Basinger and Debra Winger, to name a few), Comrade Detective is one of Amazon Prime Video’s brightest hidden gems.
The Expanse
Two hundred years in the future, the human race has divided its population between Earth, Mars, and a cluster of asteroids near Jupiter called the Belt. The three factions, however, are constantly fighting with one another. The Expanse follows the case of a missing woman who brings a world-weary detective (Thomas Jane) and a rogue ship captain (Steven Strait) together to expose a massive conspiracy that threatens the existence of humanity.
Forever
The comfortable but predictable married life of June (Maya Rudolph) and Oscar (Fred Armisen) is turned upside down when the two decide to take a ski trip and Oscar is killed in an accident. When June passes away one year later—from choking on a macadamia nut, of all things—the two reunite in the afterlife, but can they survive the same routines for eternity? Forever is a poignant comedy about love, commitment and missed opportunities.
Good Girls Revolt
Set in the late ’60s, Good Girls Revolt follows the personal and professional lives of three women—Patti (Genevieve Angelson), Jane (Anna Camp) and Cindy (Erin Darke), working as researchers at the (fictional) News of the Week magazine. Despite being as talented as their male counterparts, the heroines quickly find they’ll have to go the extra mile to be taken seriously. With wit and humour, Good Girls Revolt shines a light on what has and hasn’t changed for women in the workplace.
Good Omens
Based on the book by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, Good Omens follows a finicky angel (Michael Sheen) and a hard-living demon (David Tennant) who join forces to stop the end of the world. The odd couple’s mission: to find the Antichrist—an 11-year-old boy who’s unaware of his real identity. Jon Hamm, Miranda Richardson and Nick Offerman also star in this six-episode serial, which is narrated by Frances McDormand.
Homecoming
Based on the podcast of the same name by Eli Horowitz and Micah Bloomberg, Homecoming follows Heidi Bergman (Julia Roberts), a counsellor helping soldiers transition back into civilian life at an experimental wellness centre in Florida. After Heidi leaves her job and moves back to her hometown, a visit from a Department of Defense investigator (Shea Whigham) leads her to believe that the support centre may have had a sinister side. This mind-bending, edge-of-your-seat thriller is perfect binging material.
Informer
After being arrested for drug possession, Raza Shar (Nabhaan Rizwan), a second-generation Pakistani from East London, is coerced by two counterterrorism officers (Paddy Considine and Bel Powley) into working for them as an undercover informant. His mission? Infiltrate London’s underworld and retrieve information about an upcoming terrorist attack in the Netherlands. Boasting superb performances and more narrative twists than you can count, Informer is a gripping portrait of our current world’s political and racial tensions.
Justified
After killing a fugitive in a “quick-draw” shooting, Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) is reassigned from Miami to Lexington, Kentucky—a jurisdiction that just so happens to include his hometown of Harlan County. Raylan’s dedication to the job earns him many enemies—criminals and colleagues alike. Impeccably written and perfectly cast, Justified is a 21st-century take on the classic western.
Lore
Think it has to be Halloween to watch something scary? Think again. Based on the popular podcast of the same name, this horror anthology combines artful recreations, documentary footage and creepy narration to retell history’s most frightening urban legends, from body snatchers to vampires. Robert Patrick and Colm Feore co-star.
Lorena
On June 23, 1993, Lorena Bobbitt was sexually assaulted by her husband, John. After he had gone to sleep, she grabbed a knife from the kitchen, severed John’s “member,” left the apartment in her car and tossed the evidence into a field. Needless to say, the case gained instant notoriety. Aided by revealing courtroom footage and new interviews with the former couple, Lorena examines the international fallout from the case and questions commonly-held views on domestic violence.
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The Man in the High Castle
The Man in the High Castle boasts one the best premises in recent memory: a scenario in which the U.S. lost the Second World War, and now Germany and Japan occupy different sides of the country. After her sister is killed by the Japanese, Juliana Crain (Alexa Davalos) is sucked into the secret world of the American Resistance, which is now being investigated by Josh Smith (Rufus Sewell) of the Third Reich. A mysterious film depicting an alternate reality where the U.S. won the war, however, may be the key to toppling the totalitarian regimes.
The Night Manager
Haunted by the death of a lover he couldn’t save, former British soldier Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston) now works as a night manager at a luxury hotel in Zermatt, Switzerland. One night, he crosses paths with the mysterious Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie), who’s later revealed to be a dangerous arms dealer. With the help of a determined intelligence officer (Olivia Colman), Pine infiltrates Roper’s inner circle. The Night Manager is everything an espionage tale should be—intelligent, complex, dark and sexy—and is utterly absorbing from first episode to last.
One Mississippi
One Mississippi is a dark comedy starring Tig Notaro which follows the comedian as she returns to her hometown after the sudden death of her mother. A survivor of breast cancer herself, Tig struggles to cope with the loss—all the while dealing with a clingy girlfriend and a dysfunctional family. Cancer, death and grief may not sound like subjects to poke fun at, but this isn’t your average sitcom. In the world of One Mississippi, misery loves comedy.
Patriot
In order to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, highly-skilled intelligence officer John Tavner (Michael Dorman) must go undercover in his most challenging role yet: a mid-level employee at a Milwaukee industrial piping firm. The job is ordinary enough to provide sufficient cover for John, but can he complete his mission before being sniffed out by his co-workers? Patriot skewers foreign policy and bureaucratic incompetence with its own brand of peculiar humour.
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Red Oaks
In the summer of 1985, 20-year-old college student David Meyers (Craig Roberts) takes a job as a tennis instructor at Red Oaks, a Jewish country club in New Jersey. As he’s trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life, David finds himself drawn into the misadventures of his parents, co-workers, guests, and the club’s boss, Doug Getty (Paul Reiser). Red Oaks is Ferris Bueller’s Day Off meets The Graduate.
The Romanoffs
Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner returns with an anthology series about people who believe they’re the modern-day descendants of the Romanov family, who ruled Russia for 300 years until the line met its bloody end at the hands of the Bolsheviks. Each episode of The Romanoffs is set in a different city, follows different characters and features its own all-star cast, including Isabelle Huppert, Diane Lane and Aaron Eckhart.
Sneaky Pete
After serving three years in prison, con man Marius Josipovic (Giovanni Ribisi) finds himself on the run from ruthless gangster Vince Lonigan (Bryan Cranston), to whom he owes $100,000. Marius decides to take cover by assuming the identity of his prison cellmate, Pete, who has revealed information about his long lost grandparents and their financial bond business. He meets and moves in with Pete’s estranged family, who believe him to be Pete—but how long can the con artist keep up the con?
Tales from the Loop
Tales from the Loop is unlike anything on Amazon Prime Video—or any streaming service, for that matter. Based on a book of paintings by Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag, each episode tells its own hour-long story, focusing on the residents of the town of Mersa, Ohio, and how they discover and interact with “the Loop”: a machine underneath the town that holds the key to the mysteries of the universe. To explain the premise any further would be to spoil the fun—and many emotional payoffs.
This Is Football
According to a 2018 Nielsen survey of major markets across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, an estimated 40 per cent of the world’s population claim to be fans of soccer, making it by far the most popular sport on Earth. This Is Football, a six-part docuseries, follows the experiences of fans from places as varied as Delhi, Rwanda and England, and manages to transcend the clichés often found in sports documentaries.
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The Tick
Mild-mannered office temp Arthur Everest (Griffin Newman) is haunted by the murder of his father at the hands of The Terror, an infamous baddie whom local authorities believe to be dead. Arthur sets out to hunt him down, but instead runs into the Tick (Peter Serafinowicz): a fun-loving, wisecracking superhero who would give Deadpool a run for his money. Based on the comics by Ben Edlund, The Tick is a hilarious sendup of superhero tropes, and the perfect comedic antidote for our current quarantine reality.
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Tin Star
In this modern-day western, a former London detective, Jim Worth (Tim Roth), becomes the police chief of a small town in the Canadian Rockies. Relocating with his family, Worth is forced to deal not only with his own personal demons, but also a powerful new foe in the form of a sinister oil conglomerate. Unknown to the oil firm and the residents, Jim happens to be hiding a dangerous alter ego—one who’s willing to do exceptionally cruel things in order to protect his town.
Undone
After surviving a near-fatal car crash, Alma (Rosa Salazar), a troubled 28-year-old living in San Antonio, Texas, discovers she has gained the power to travel through time. As she ventures from one fantastical landscape to another, Alma realizes that her newfound gift might be the key to saving her father Jacob (Bob Odenkirk), who mysteriously died in a car accident years earlier. Employing a technique called “rotoscoping,” where animators trace over live-action footage, Undone is unlike any animated show you’ve ever seen.
ZeroZeroZero
If you enjoyed 2015’s Sicario, you’ll love this new crime series, which offers an even grittier glimpse of the global drug trade. Based on the book by bestselling author Robert Saviano, ZeroZeroZero follows a large shipment of cocaine from its origins in Mexico to its final distribution in southern Italy. Brokering the deal are Emma (Andrea Riseborough) and Chris Lynwood (Dane DeHaan), siblings who run a prestigious shipping company in New Orleans. In the world of ZeroZeroZero, being fed to the pigs—literally—isn’t personal, it’s just business.
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