Megan Cablk

Like most people over the last few months, I have been watching a lot of content. I have scrolled endlessly through all of the platforms available to me (and since our family got rid of our cable network, we now have many platforms) and seen a large portion of the TV shows, movies, documentaries, and comedy sketches available to me. Here are three TV shows that I think are incredibly underrated and deserved to be watched by everyone: 

Hunters: Amazon Prime (Warnings: violence, language, some sexual themes) 

I don’t like to play favorites, but Hunters is my favorite TV show ever. This show consumed me. It’s dark, gritty, fast-paced, and heartfelt, and I have yet to find a TV show that I have been able to tear through so quickly. 

Hunters follows a young Jewish boy named Jonah (played by Logan Lerman from the horrible Percy Jackson movies — but don’t worry, he redeems himself) in 1977 New York City. After witnessing the murder of his grandmother in her own house, he unravels his grandmother’s dark past in the Holocaust, and discovers a band of Nazi hunters operating under his nose, of which his grandmother was a member. Inspired by true events revolving Operation Paperclip (but, keep in mind, an entirely fictitious TV show), Jonah dives into this world led by the leader of the group and pseudo-father figure, Meyer (Al Pacino), but does not know who to trust. 

There is not much more I can say without giving away the intricacies of the show, but there are twists and turns that I couldn’t even imagine, and I tend to pride myself on my ability to predict the outcomes of shows or books. From the first episode, the creators play on themes of morality, blurring the edges of what is good and bad, exploring if revenge is a sin in and of itself. This show will hurt both your head and your heart, but it is absolutely worth the pain. 

Some of the reviews of this show lean towards the negative side because many think the show is going to be a historically accurate retelling of Operation Paperclip and other stories of the first generation of Holocaust survivors, but it is important to rememeber that this is not the case and the show can be appreciated as its own, near-history, work of art. The show is definitely gory and bloody, and depicts many illegal activities performed by average citizens, so it is not for the faint of heart or for those looking for a history lesson.

Derry Girls: Netflix (Warnings: language)

If you couldn’t tell from my favorite show above, I tend to lean towards darker, more action-packed TV shows and movies; the second-hand embarrassment and sometimes unrealistic depiction of real life that comes from comedies or “coming of age” type shows does not really appeal to me. So, I had low expectations of Derry Girls going in, as it fits both of these stereotypes that I tend to avoid, but I found myself really enjoying this show.

Derry Girls follows five high school students through Northern Ireland in the 1990s, in the midst of the conflicts in Northern Ireland. Fighting both external division with the conflicts and the internal division of growing up, the friends try to navigate a slew of exaggerated teen experiences like finding jobs, going on class trips, and attending their first school dance.

This show is dotted with what is best described as GenZ humor that separates itself from typical comedies, and I frequently found myself actually thinking the jokes are funny, which is rare for me. But, the humor is not isolating; my journalism advisor has also watched the show and he enjoys it thoroughly. Even as the characters frequently poke fun at each other, there are plenty of heartfelt moments weaved through that shows you how much the friends really care about each other. 

Don’t F*** With Cats: Netflix  (Warnings: violence, language)

Coming back around to the darker side of my watching habits, Don’t F*** With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer, is a Netflix docuseries that explores the world of Internet sleuths and their relationship with real-life crime fighting. 

After the posting of a shocking online video, a group of Internet sleuths came together to try to figure out who is responsible for posting the video. When the group becomes convinced that the video-maker is also responsible for an unsolved murder, the group fights with authorities to prove the legitimacy of their claims to get this murderer off the streets.

Much like Hunters, this documentary is not for the faint of heart, but it is worth it if you are interested in shows like Criminal Minds or other fake/true crime shows. The documentary is very well produced and researched, using interesting graphics and other visual techniques to show how the virtual and real world are colliding throughout this investigation. For documentary skeptics, the docuseries evokes similar feelings to a long episode of Criminal Minds or another show like it, and it is sometimes very difficult to conceptualize that this bizarre story actually happened in real life.