Looking for a good new TV show to watch – or binge through – this long weekend? If you need some quality time with your couch and remote this weekend, we’ve got just the show for you, however you’re feeling…
Yip, if you’re staying home this Easter because, well, have we seen how much the price of fuel is?! You’re in luck – there’s LOTS of great TV to binge and unwind with and really recharge those batteries!
Whether you’re in the mood for a good cry, something comforting, something gritty and dark, something to turn your brain off – or something else entirely, we’ve got eight suggestions that hopefully will hit the spot just right!
You’re looking for: A Gritty, Realistic Medical Drama
We recommend: The Pitt (new season!)
Okay, look, let’s get this out of the way straight away: this show is not for the faint-hearted. The action all takes place within a Pittsburgh Emergency Department (hence the pun of The Pitt) and within the first 20 minutes of the first episode you’ve already seen a degloved (is there a worse word?) leg, close-ups of quite confronting scalpel action, someone with burns to 80% of their body and more. The first ep is probably the worst in terms of gore, so if you make it through that, you shooooould be okay? Although, be warned, they do like to just suddenly present you with something quite gross (or bizarre) without any warning.
It stars Noah Wylie and it’s basically like a grittier, more realistic version of ER (what a show!). The biggest difference though is this show happens in realtime. Each season (we’re currently into the second!) is one shift at the ED, with each episode making up one hour of the shift (the episodes are each named for the time of day, so 7am, 8am etc).
It’s won a slew of awards because it’s one heck of a good watch, and so far the second season is just as good.
Watch it on: NEON
You’re Looking For: A Female-Led Drama/Thriller With One HECK Of a Cast
We recommend: Imperfect Women
Like half of the country, it seems, I caught Covid again a few weeks ago and was looking for something to watch while I was cooped up in bed. I knew absolutely NOTHING about this show, but saw it come up on Apple TV – just the title, plus the three main actors: Elizabeth Moss, Kerry Washington and Kate Mara. This line-up!?!? I needed no further information – I was in.
It’s premise is a little tired: a bunch of women who seem to be living picture-perfect lives, but – gasp – beneath the surface lie dark, messy secrets.
We’re introduced to the three main women who are best friends, or, as the voiceover says, they share “a kinship from deep in our souls” (there’s plenty of cringy writing, unfortunately). But, almost immediately we find ourselves in an interrogation room (very reminiscent of Big Little Lies) because one of the women has been murdered… and it seems there’s a lot to learn about what has really been going on in the lives of these three women.
Yes, this show should be better considering how glossy and big budgeted it is – and the caliber of the cast – but honestly, I’m still enjoying it. No, it’s definitely no Big Little Lies, but it’s still some good escapist fun.
Watch it on: Apple TV
You’re Looking For: A Good Old Fashioned Love Story… With a Historical, Tragic Twist
We recommend: Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette
Okay, so, I was a bit of a weird child. When I was eight I checked out a book on Bob Geldolf (?!?!) from the library and then became obsessed with reading biographies about people (I obviously don’t need to explain to you that I wasn’t one of the cool kids at school). When I was about 10, my obsession with the Kennedy family began and… well, it never really ended – although it did have to take a serious back seat when the OJ Simpson car chase happened when I was 12.
But my Lordy, the Kennedy’s. THIS FAMILY. The stories! The tragedy! Their’s is truly a case of fact being stranger than fiction.
And so, I was excited to see that Ryan Murphy’s new subject for his next show was JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette (especially because I loved the show he did, The People. v. OJ Simpson, although I was also a little nervous because I really wasn’t a fan of his last mini series, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menedez Story)
Love Story does a beautiful job of telling the incredibly romantic – and fraught! – story of JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette. It beautifully throws you back into the 90s – the soundtrack, the fashion, the lack of mobile phones!! It’s this throw back to a time where you did get to have these beautifully romantic love stories – the meet cutes, the courting process that didn’t involve texting or Snapchatting. We also didn’t have access to celebrities in the way we do now – no one was pulling out their mobile phone and taking pictures of them eating dinner or on the street. There was this mystique – and no one had that same air of mystery or was as unobtainable as Carolyn and John.
The show, rather refreshingly seems to focus more on Carolyn – a woman who was unfairly targeted by the media, who shied away from fame, but seemed to get it for all the wrong reasons. I really enjoyed the show, but, I also found it quite clunky at times (the dialogue isn’t particularly well-written) and, although they focussed on Carolyn, I didn’t think they got her quite right and I think she was a much stronger woman than how she was portrayed. Daryl Hannah – John’s ex-girlfriend – was also done dirty! My last complaint – and I could be the only one here – but I think they missed the beat with John too a little, particularly in the way the last episodes unfolds. There’s obviously no spoiler here in that Carolyn and her sister are killed alongside John in the plane he was piloting. That’s the bit I continue to find fascinating – but there’s no delving into on this show. JFK Jr was a very inexperienced pilot, yet, he still decided to take off at sunset, without an instructor, despite the fact he had very few hours experience flying in the dark. He’d only also just got his foot out of a cast after an injury. So, why did he take the risk?
Anyhoo, despite my misgivings, it’s still worth a watch!
Watch it on: Disney+
You’re Looking For: A Show That Might Surprise You? Like… How Could a Show About Oil Drilling Be In Any Way Interesting to Watch!?!
We recommend: Landman (new season!)
When I had Influenza B last year I was looking for an easy watch while I fought against a fever – when Landman was recommended I thought it sounded like my worst nightmare: a show set in Texas, primarily following a ‘landman’ – a guy who is essentially a fixer in the oil drilling business (oh, and he’s played by Billy Bob Thornton). My fever must have impeded my judgement, because next thing I was watching it. But I tell you what – this show is actually darned entertaining.
Billy Bob Thornton is actually mostly quite hilarious, and is joined by Ali Larter as his bonkers wife (oh, yes, a word of warning – this show seems to hate women? They are all quite cliched and terrible), John Hamm as the big boss of the oil company (which appears to be in a heap of trouble) who is married to Demi Moore.
The second season just came out and on our Instagram poll, Capsule readers voted Landman season 2 as the best show of 2026 so far. I’m going to be honest with you – it is good, but heck, in my opinion it takes the whole season to actually get there and finish on a note that makes me want to watch season three.
Watch it on: Amazon Prime
You’re looking for: Something to Follow in The Night Manager‘s Footsteps (Yes, it’s 10 years old and still one of the best miniseries ever made)
We recommend: The Night Manager Season 2 (Yes… 10 years later it’s here!)
Of all the shows I was looking forward to returning in 2026, The Night Manager was top of the list. If you’ve never watched the first season, it came out in 2016 and was perfection and you should definitely go watch it now. It followed Jonathan Pine, a former British soldier who is now the night manager of a luxury hotel in Egypt. He’s hired by an intelligence officer to infiltrate the inner circle of a secretive arms dealer without blowing his cover. It has an all-star cast with Tom Hiddleston playing Jonathan Pine, Hugh Laurie as the charasmatic baddie he’s trying to take down, plus Olivia Colman as the very pregnant intelligence officer assigned to Pine. A dream trio?
It won a slew of awards (including Golden Globes for all three actors above!) and has an outstanding 91% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average critical rating of 8.4/10.
Well, 10 years later, another final series it here and… it’s a mixed bag. Maybe it was my high expectations but I found the first few episodes quite, well, meh. Three episodes in I was about to give up (especially because I’d been looking forward to another Olivia Colman show and she was in it for all of a few minutes in the first episode), but then… the magic starts back up again and it is GOOD (spoiler alert: Olivia comes back).
Season two finds Pine now working the River House under a pseudonym, where he manages a surveillance unit called The Night Owls, that surveils top London hotels to gather intelligence on criminal activity. During one of those shifts, Pine spots someone from his past and begins a covert operation. It doesn’t have the same tension and sexiness of the Egyptian hotel and Pine leading quite so much of a double life – but, apparently this season gets VERY good, so this is going to be my show to finish (I’m only halfway in) this long weekend!
Watch it on: Amazon Prime
You’re looking for: Something Trashy That The Whole World is Talking About
We recommend: The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives (new season!)
I’ve never had any interest in watching a single episode of The Real Housewives of anywhere and only made it through one season of Love Island but holy heck, something about this reality show has a hold on me.
It’s a bunch of – as the title would suggest – Mormon women living in Utah, who are ‘mum influencers’. They got famous after they started a #MomTok group on Tiktok and then even more famous when one of them – Taylor Frankie Paul – revealed that she and her husband had split, and leading up to the split, they’d been ‘soft-swinging’ with other Mormon couples.
For me, the show started as something trashy I could watch to try to switch off my busy mind – it felt like true escapism because these women’s lives bear zero resemblance to anything I am familiar with (perhaps ironic for a reality TV show?).
But the show has got darker – a lot darker – which is a wild thought considering the very first episode starts with the police being called over an assault between Taylor Frankie Paul and her then-boyfriend. With the context of everything we know now, the show is a hard watch. Like any reality TV show of today, there are so many questions and blurred lines around how much of this is real and how much is scripted? And, how much are these women being manipulated to make a show with a truly unbelievable amount of drama?
Watch it on: Disney+
You’re Looking For: A Well Made Crime Documentary That’s Probably Going to Stop You From Sleeping…
We recommend: Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart
If you’re looking for a well made documentary – this one is faultless. It currently holds an insane 100% – perfect – score on Rotten Tomatoes. But it’s also about one of the worst stories imaginable.
It follows the horrifying story of Elizabeth Smart who was kidnapped from her home in Utah in the middle of the night in 2002, when she was just 14 years old. Amazingly, Elizabeth made it home – but it would take a nightmare nine months to bring her home.
This doco perfectly covers the story – which was one of, if not the most, widely covered missing person cases in American history. The story is told by all involved – including Elizabeth herself, and her younger sister who was in the bedroom with her the night she was abducted and eventually the key to unlocking the case. It features indepth interviews with her parents and uncles – all of whom were under suspicion after her disappearance.
Elizabeth’s honesty and openness about what happened is incredible – as well as her outlook on life and her drive to make the world an easier place to navigate for all those who have ever been sexually abused or assaulted. If you can make it through the horrifying accounts of what happened to her during the months she was taken, and the anguish her parents felt – it’s worth it for the end when Elizabeth talks about her life today and what her outlook on life now is.
Watch it on: Netflix
You’re Looking For: A Raunchy Romantic Period Drama
We recommend: Bridgerton (new season!)
Look, full disclosure, watching the above trailer is the most minutes I have spent watching Bridgerton so I have no idea what the hype is about this show, but, people froth it. Including Capsule co-founder Kelly who calls it her “go-to millennial comfort watch.” She says: “I’ve read all of the books and I love the heaving-bosom Regency escapism about the series. Also, it’s sexy. Hehe.
“I also absolutely love how creator Shonda Rhimes and her team have interpreted Julia Quinn’s original material, doing away with the time period’s lack of diversity and embracing open casting, imaging a Recency era where there were more colours than plain old white and interpreting relationships with a modern, relatable bent.” (You can read her hot takes about season four here, because yes there are FOUR already).
Watch it on: Netflix
You’re Looking For: An Edge-Of-Your-Seat Thriller That’s Kinda Silly (Preferably One With IDRIS ALBA In It?)
We recommend: Hijack (new season!)
Okay, if you watched the first season of Hijack, you won’t need much convincing here to give this one a go. In season one we met Idris Alba playing Sam Nelson, an expert negotiator whose skills suddenly come in handy BIG TIME when the plane he is travelling on from Dubai to London, is hijacked. Like The Pitt, this show happens in real time, with the story told in seven episodes across seven hours. It’s a slick, fast paced show – yes, you sometimes have to leave logical thinking behind you to really get into it – but it’s a fun (but stressful) watch.
A word of warning – this show LOVES a cliffhanger at the end of each episode, so any thoughts you have of, “oh, I’ll just watch one episode tonight” might quickly go out the window.
Season two has just dropped, with one episode coming out each week on Apple TV (there’s four up now, so maybe set aside four hours to watch it in one?!?!). This time around the action is happening on a train… but, just who exactly has hijacked the train and why? This series has so many twists and turns that by episode four you’ll already have changed your mind about who the hijacker really is, several times. But – much like the first season, there are plot holes a’plenty in this show, so just don’t go thinking too deeply about it, okay?
Watch it on: Apple TV
You’re Looking For: A Really Good Crime Drama… (that’s probably going to make you cry)
We recommend: Task
If you loved the Mare of Easttown (that FAB show where Kate Winslet is a small-town detective investigating a murder – if you haven’t seen it, forget this list and go watch it!), this one will be up your alley, because the same folks are behind it.
It’s another short crime/drama series that is brilliant (although VERY stressful at times and I also cried for about 20 minutes after watching the finale, so be warned). Mark Ruffalo is the main character (and is surely going to win every award next award season), but there are so many great actors and the characters are all so well-formed and complex (although many are incredibly frustrating, infuriating or just plain unlikeable).
Mark Ruffalo plays an FBI agent who is heading up a task force in the working class suburbs of Philadelphia, investigating a string of violent robberies in the area. Who is behind them? What is their motivation? This show will have you on the edge of your seat (and if you’re anything like me, you’ll also be hiding behind your pillow for segments and then sobbing at the end)
Watch it on: Neon
You’re looking for: Something Light and Romantic – Preferably Very Funny and Preferably Featuring ADAM BRODY
We recommend: Nobody Wants This
God, remember the first season of this (NO? You haven’t even seen it?! Okay, you’re in for a treat – start there! It includes one of the best first kiss scenes in television history).
The premise of the show is that a romance develops between two opposites: Noah is a Rabbi, potentially about to become head rabbi, coming out of a relationship with his long-term girlfriend whom everybody loved. Joanne is a very forthright podcaster, who is trying to sign the deal of her lifetime for the podcast hosted by her and her sister, which is all about them discussing being the “slutty single sisters” and their dating exploits in LA.
One night at a party, Noah and Joanne meet and pretty immediately fall for each other, despite being from very different worlds – and the very real issue that due to his high-profile job, Noah can only marry someone who is Jewish, which Joanne very much isn’t. The show is based on the life of writer/creator Erin Foster, who converted to Judaism for her real-life husband.
In Nobody Wants This, the pair grapple with their ‘are we only going to be friends?’ energy for a while, until there is The Big Kiss. But… what happens next? Can they overcome the divide between them?
Late last year the highly anticipated second series of the show came out and it too is extremely funny (although, tbh not as good as the first season because it really just covers the whole same premise right over again).
Watch it on: Netflix
You’re Looking For: A Twisty Murder/crime Mystery Show..That You Might Already Know a Lot About (or at least think you do?)
We recommend: The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox
I vaguely remember following along with the case of Meredith Kercher – a young British woman who was savagely murdered in the flat she shared with three other girls, in a little town in Italy where she was studying abroad. But, sadly, not many of us will remember Meredith’s name, because although the murder made headline news around the world, it was due to the media circus around the young woman who was charged with her murder (alongside two others): Amanda Knox.
Amanda Knox worked as executive producer on this show, to tell the story of what happened that night in Puglia and how it came to be that she was wrongfully convicted and incarcerated for the crime.
Watch it on: Disney +
You’re Looking For: Something Cozy & Comforting… Starring Midlife A-list Stars
We recommend: The Four Seasons
As we’ve covered off in Capsule a fair bit of late, we are big fans of the rise of more TV shows, movies – even influencers – who are in mid-life. While yes, I’ll still watch Twilight if it’s on TV, it’s so much more fun to see women – and men – who are closer to my age being depicted (even better if they are played by someone close to my age).
The Four Seasons brings together an all-star cast, who are refreshingly, not all 20-something. They’re in a slightly different life-stage to me (they’re in their mid-50s with college aged kids, while I’m in my early 40s with young kids), but it’s so nice to see the different dynamics, challenges and joys of being 50 plus.
It’s a comedy-drama, with the biggest names being Tina Fey and Steve Carrell. Essentially, there’s three couples who regularly go on holidays all together. But, part way through the first episode – and their springtime getaway to celebrate one of the couples’ 25th wedding anniversary – one of the husbands drops a bombshell on two of the men: he’s planning on leaving his wife. What impact will this have on the six friends – on their friendships, as well as their own marriages?
It’s a great little series that does take a surprising dark turn every now and then – be warned!
Watch it on: Netflix
You’re looking for: A Psychological Thriller – Made Right Here in NZ
We recommend: The Ridge
This twisty thriller is a joint production between New Zealand’s Great Southern Studios and Scotland’s Sinner Films for BBC Scotland and Sky New Zealand Originals. It centres on Mia, who is living in Scotland and has had problems battling addiction. She accepts a wedding invitation from her estranged sister in NZ, but on arrival here, she learns that her sister is dead.
On arrival Mia learns her sister is dead. While grappling with grief and an attraction to her late sister’s Fiancé she leans of tensions between environmentalists and the first people in the rugged mountain community.
Full disclosure – I’ve only got up to episode two so far, but so far, it’s pretty watchable!
Watch it on: NEON
You’re looking for: A Show That Focusses on Crazy Rich People, Who Are All Deeply Unhappy and F***d Up
We recommend: Your Friends & Neighbours
Coop – played by Jon Hamm – is a New York hedge fund manager who is used to living an uber privileged life, full of country club visits, golfing, high end whiskeys and cigars. He has two kids in high school and lives on his own after his wife of many years had an affair with his best friend. So, his best friend (who happens to be a famous ex-basketball player) now lives in his old (ridiculously OTT) house with his wife and kids.
But early into the first episode, Coop gets another kick in the teeth when his company takes issue with his conduct and gives him the boot. His restraint of trade means he can’t get another job for two years – not that anyone else wants to hire him.
So, what does Coop do? He decides to turn to petty crime, ripping off his friends and neighbours, taking their ludicrously expensive watches and jewelry, he knows they likely won’t even miss.
I did like this show – it’s slick and well made – but I wouldn’t say I absolutely loved it. It stars Jon Hamm – who is very Jon Hamm in it – Amanda Peet (an absolute joy) and Olivia Munn. I found everyone – absolutely everyone – in this show extremely unlikable, but I also think that was likely the point. Jon Hamm’s character is completely maddening, but I kept on watching. Mainly because the show veers from what I thought it was in the synopsis (basically a rich white dude turning to petty crime) into a full murder mystery (to the point that in one episode I thought we were back in the Apple’s big show of 2024, Presumed Innocent).
It’s fun enough though – and there’s a second series arriving this month (which looks to be even better!).
Watch it on: Apple TV
You’re looking for: Something Powerful & Intense and… You Could Kinda Do With a Good Cry.
We recommend: Dying For Sex
In the friendship group I’m in that I most heavy rely on for recommendations of what to watch, we have a shorthand for when a movie or TV show is truly devastating: it’s ‘neck tears’. I can’t remember which movie – we saw in the actual cinema no less – left us crying so hard we had tears rolling down our NECKS, but it means that now, we have a yardstick for how sad a movie/show is.
I was warned that Dying for Sex is neck-tears-level devastating. Which is the case – but it’s also an incredible watch.
It loosely follows the real-life experiences of Molly Kochan. After being diagnosed with terminal cancer, she decides to leave her unhappy marriage of 10 years and go in search of something she’s never experienced before: an orgasm.
You know from the words ‘terminal’ exactly where this thing is headed, but it’s truly a beautifully made and powerful watch. It stars the INCREDIBLE Michelle Williams, Jenny Slate and Sissy Spacek.
If you feel like a good cry this weekend, this one’s your best bet.
Watch it on: Disney+
You’re looking for: A Good Gritty Brit Crime/Detective Series… Set in a Grey Looking Scotland
We recommend: Department Q
I was a bit ho-hum about watching this series, and now – I’m halfway through and am considering not sleeping tonight to power through the rest of the series. It’s fantastic.
The first episode has a great little twist in it, so I’m loathe to tell you too much about it in case I ruin the ‘oh, whoa!’ moment for you.
But, it follows a top-rated and very grumpy detective, Carl Morck (played by the brilliant Matthew Goode) who is finally back on the job after a shooting, which badly wounded him, left his colleague (and best friend) paralysed, and a young police officer dead. It just so happens that the Scottish Government has recently decided to improve poor detection rates, with a bit of good old PR, and do a push to look into – and hopefully solve – a few old, high profile cold cases. Who better for the job than grumpy Morck?
If you’re into classic Brit crimes, honestly this one is well with a watch. At times it also gave me vibes of Slow Horses – although, it’s perhaps bit darker and certainly less comedic. Highly recommended!!
Watch it on: Netflix
You’re looking for: Something That Has That Old-School Comedy-Drama Feel to it… Like Desperate Housewives, or How to Get Away with Murder
We recommend: Grosse Point Garden Society
Right off the bat this show gave me those vibes of Desperate Housewives or How to Get Away With Murder (likely because of all the shots of quite glamorous young people furiously digging graves in the moonlight?). It’s a quirky little comedy/drama mystery which centers on a seemingly perfect suburban community.
As is always the case with these things, nothing is quite what it seems on the surface, because a scandalous murder takes place which somehow forces the fancy garden club members to hide a body in their well-manicured backyards.
It stars AnnaSophia Robb and is a fun little show – it’s an easy watch if you’re not looking for anything too taxing this weekend.
Watch it on: TVNZ+
You’re looking for: A Dark Comedy… Something That’s Kind of Fun & Crazy, with Some Mystique and Preferably an A list Cast
We recommend: Sirens
I decided to give this show a go purely based on the cast – it has the heavy hitters of Julianne Moore, Meghann Fahy (she of White Lotus, The Bold Type and The Perfect Couple fame) and Kevin Bacon.
It’s… kind of batshit? But very watchable.
Sirens – which is based off a play – first introduces us to Meghann’s character Devon, as she is dealing with the aftermath of a hellish night that saw her in jail, and the reality of returning to her house where she is the sole caretaker of her father who suffers from dementia.
We then see her take off – rageful – in search of her younger sister, Simone, who we soon find on a beautiful little island where she appears to have become some sort of Stepford Wife, playing second fiddle to a very unusual, rich and powerful seeming woman, Michaela (played by Julianne Moore). Just what the heck is going on at this mansion?
From there, as it always does, things soon dissolve into chaos as the layers of the onion are slowly peeled back and we learn more about the pasts of these three women. To add to the fun, Kevin Bacon is in the mix as Michaela’s husband – plus Felix Solis (he was terrifying Navarro in Ozark?) who is the surprisingly hilarious head of security at Michaela’s home.
I’m not going to say anything more about this show, because I don’t want to spoil it for you, but it’s definitely a fun weekend watch.
Watch it on: Netflix
You’re looking for: A Whodunnit That’s a Bit Dark, But Not Tooooo Dark
We recommend: The Better Sister
If you’re looking for a crime/mystery drama that’s not toooooo dark, this is my pick. It veers into comedy at times (how can you have Elizabeth Banks in a show without this happening?) but it also reminds me of a Gillian Flynn kind-of story.
It follows a high profile media executive, Chloe (played by Jessica Biel, who is actually pretty darn great in this), who has a picturesque life living with her husband Adam and her son Ethan – living between their chic Manhattan apartment and their country house. But then Adam is murdered and we learn a few things: Ethan is actually Chloe’s step-son and his mother is none other than Chloe’s sister, Nicky (Elizabeth Banks) whom is estranged from her family. But now, as Ethan’s surviving parent, Nicky is back on the scene. And we have no idea who killed Adam – really, it could be anyone?
I found this show surprisingly good – would definitely recommend it for a weekend watch!
Watch it on: Prime Video