5 Sophomore Shows With First Seasons You May Have Missed

The following are TV shows with great first seasons which you probably have not given a chance to. These shows are fresh and most likely will have more seasons and the popularity they deserve. They are not ranked by their greatness (since all of them are great and impactful in different ways).

 

1. UnReal

The fierceness and realness of this Bachelor-type reality show-based series remain with its ongoing second season. UnReal puts its claws up as it depicts the extremes of what it takes to produce a good reality show out of not-so-innocent lives involved in Everlasting (the show’s version of The Bachelor/Bachelorette). Leads Rachel (Shiri Appleby) and her boss, Quinn (Constance Zimmer) would go for terrific yet tactful ways to squeeze out the drama from young ladies who aspire to become the wife of a single wealthy and famous bachelor featured on the season.

Because roaring TV ratings are being talked about here, producer Rachel Goldberg (labeled a ‘manipulative bitch’) has to work with her charm and style, which aren’t necessarily adorable but effective, and incorporate them in twisting the stories in front of the camera. Quinn, her mentor and the show’s executive producer, is quite the one who has lived enough years to do those manipulative bitch deeds to get her to her position. Both are powerful girls doing their insane jobs while managing their equally-insane relationships with complicated men in their lives. The show basically reflects the realities behind reality shows that are not so pretty but are viciously realistic.

Its second series is currently more than halfway through its season with its stilettos on the track on Lifetime.

 

2. Mr. Robot

This pleasingly dark USA TV series is one daring and haunting tech show focusing on a mentally unhealthy hacker, Elliot (Rami Malek), and his secret desire to change the ugly systems that run the world we live in. Elliot is working in a cybersecurity company while also being our vigilante hero in the series. The dark and powerful forces he is surrounded with and the vulnerable people he would like to help are the things that push Elliot to join and run FSociety, a group of hackers who want to take a monstrous multi-million company down.

The show is very enticing and relatable because of its very clear guidance to the viewers of Elliot’s journey of wanting to do something that could actually change the bad things bad people do that people usually do not see. With intelligent storytelling and strong character developments (especially Elliot’s), creator Sam Esmail truly did a good job for giving us an emotionally-striking hacker drama that made waves last year.

The second season of Mr. Robot premiered 13th of July on USA.

 

3. Lucifer

Based on the DC comic book with the same title, Fox’s Lucifer comes with an unexpectedly sexy taste of the ‘devil escapes to the city’ story. Tom Ellis does a marvellous performance playing Lucifer Morningstar, “who is bored and unhappy as the Lord of Hell and resigns his throne and abandons his kingdom for the beauty of Los Angeles, where he gets his kicks helping the LAPD punish criminals”.

He is the literal devil who involves himself in a love-hate relationship with a beautiful cop mom, Chloe. Lucifer helps Chloe in solving a crime per episode while dealing with things in his own mysterious and supernatural ways (because duh, he’s Lucifer and he’s got powers!). The show’s brilliance comes with a humor and sexiness that blends well with the dark vibe the spine of the plot has. This one’s a mix of crime drama, romantic comedy and sci-fi—smartly blended. The show is fun yet it still has to develop itself.

Watch Lucifer before it returns on September 19!

 

4. Sense8

Sense8 is a Netflix original series created by The Wachowskis (directors of The Matrix series and Cloud Atlas) and Babylon 5’s brain, J. Michael Straczynski. It follows the lives of eight Sensates¸ individuals with different stories and life conditions scattered around the world who have the ability to share senses with each other. Originality and creativity comes best with this series, keeping you gripping the edges of your seat especially in the last three episodes where everything about this stunning sci-fi concept gets clear to the viewers.

The show has a cop from Chicago with a disturbed childhood, an Icelandic DJ with a dark past, a Korean businesswoman with great martial arts skills, a public vehicle driver from Nairobi struggling in life with his sick mother, an Indian chemist hesitating about the man she’s about to marry, a German criminal, a Mexican actor who is secretly gay and a transgender hacker living in San Francisco. Suddenly, they find themselves linked to each other, making them take over each other’s senses, minds and bodies. Each one of them possess something incredible that is very helpful to the team (called a cluster). They need to understand what is going on with them and what they can do before an evil corporation that aims to hunt them down reaches them.

The show is genius and so entertainingly good that it gives viewers the movie experience with every single episode. It comes back this winter on Netflix.

 

5. Quantico

Quantico serves you all the action-packed, car-exploding, gadget-operating thrills you would want to find in a TV series. The drama runs with FBI trainees at the FBI Academy located in Quantico, Virginia. FBI recruit Alex Parrish, portrayed by Bollywood superstar Priyanka Chopra, appears to be the prime suspect of a controversial terrorist attack on Grand Central Terminal in New York City. This series entertains with slices of mystery that invite the viewers to actually look closer in to the story. Flashbacks of Alex in her training years are one of the bones of this show and they work. This intriguing terror drama left viewers hooked on the characterizations and plot thickening twists it wonderfully offered.

Quantico will return on its original place in ABC this September 25.

Did you miss one of these shows? That’s bad. Did you, perhaps, miss all of these shows? That’s way worse! These TV masterpieces will prove how great TV sometimes is unheard of.

PS. If you have watched these shows, you’re instantly cool! (And we can be friends!)