“Killing Eve” returns for its second season on April 7. The show will air on both BBC America and AMC. If you need to catch up, you can stream the first season of the show on Hulu.
But for those who can’t wait for the upcoming premiere, perhaps you’re in need of a few shows to tide you over on the most popular streaming service.
The Netflix recommendations below bear resemblance to the writing style of Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who adapted “Killing Eve” for television and wrote half the episodes, including the premiere and finale episodes of Season 1.
A recent New York Times profile of Waller-Bridge highlighted her ability to craft narratives that remain “one step ahead of her audience.” Apparently, Waller-Bridge has an “annoying habit” of whispering what’s about to happen next during movies because she can sense the story formula. “Ms. Waller-Bridge constructs her own stories to be ‘Phoebe-proof,’” as Amanda Hess wrote in the Times, quoting Waller-Bridge’s friend for the term. “Which makes them ‘most-people-proof.’”
Waller-Bridge created one of the shows featured in the list below and has an acting role in another. The others share creative similarities with Waller-Bridge’s work.
Although Waller-Bridge did not return to be the head writer for the second season of “Killing Eve,” the show still has her creative DNA and the following recommendations should help satiate your interest for the unique style.
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Streamline makes recommendations for streaming shows and movies. Every Saturday, Streamline highlights the best shows to watch online, with a focus on Netflix.
“Crashing”
Premise: A group of 20-somethings live for cheap as the caretakers of a former hospital in London. A budding romance involving an engaged man warps the group dynamics and characters struggle to conceal repressed secrets.
“Killing Eve” Comp: Phoebe Waller-Bridge created this show. You can find her off-kilter style of comedy coupled with surprisingly narrative arcs in both shows, even if this has more of a sitcom vibe.
Sum-up: “Crashing” has the familiar beats of the many shows that focus on young people hanging out and occasionally coupling off, but brings a unique weirdness to the genre. The characters can be truly awful to each other, but the show then puts these characters through the ringer, subjecting characters to painful pratfalls that are funny and serve to make the monsters more endearing.
Heads-up: As Waller-Bridge’s first show (and one she conceived many years ago), “Crashing” comes nowhere close to the ambitions of “Killing Eve” or her other show, “Fleabag.” This has a much more mindless sensibility.
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“Mindhunter”
Premise: FBI agents in the 1970s travel the United States to interview various killers for the purpose of studying their psyches. Through the conversations, the younger agent begins to empathize more and more with the supposed villains.
“Killing Eve” Comp: The love-hate dynamic between the central “Killing Eve” characters has a parallel here. Much like Sandra Oh’s Eve Polastri, Jonathan Groff’s Holden Ford character in “Mindhunter” finds that he shares frightening similarities with the “bad guys.”
Sum-up: David Fincher directed four out of the first season’s 10 episodes, giving this a cinematic mastery. American culture seems to have a fascination with killers right now, with the rise of true-crime docuseries and splashy upcoming movies about serial killers, so the nuanced portrayal of the topic in “Mindhunter” should be welcomed.
Heads-up: The plot moves a bit slow and episodes can have little going on besides dramatic talking. While “Killing Eve” mixes action and comedy with the drama, this doesn’t have the same lightness.
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“Maniac”
Premise: Two troubled people live in a New York City exaggeratedly ravished by capitalism. Through an experimental drug trial that causes vivid dreams, the two create a bond in their shared fantasies.
“Killing Eve” Comp: This mines fantastical plots with a similar comedic style of dark outrageousness. If you enjoy the clever silliness of “Killing Eve,” then this should work for you too.
Sum-up: Last year, I named this the best Netflix show of 2018. Writer Patrick Somerville let his imagination run wild in this project, with an elaborate mix of strange characters, unique settings and inventive sight gags all coming together for a narrative that’s somehow still coherent. And true A-listers ― Sally Field, Jonah Hill, Emma Stone and Justin Theroux ― star in this.
Heads-up: “Maniac” didn’t have a critical consensus. Although I don’t share this opinion, other critics felt the narrative jumped around too much and that the series ran long as a whole. The creative choices also might be too weird for a mass audience, compared to the more subtle oddity of “Killing Eve.”
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“American Vandal”
Premise: Contemporary high school students try to solve an outlandish mystery: who drew rudimentary dicks on faculty cars. Through deep investigative work, the teen gumshoes get closer and closer to finding the culprit.
“Killing Eve” Comp: Much like “Killing Eve,” this centers around a crack team of investigators who are as comical as they are competent. A dick drawer certainly doesn’t measure up to the evil of a cold-blooded assassin, but the show still tries to present the stakes as life and death.
Sum-up: Netflix canceled “American Vandal” last year, and that’s a shame. Despite being a show ostensibly about dick jokes, the authentic portrayal of teen characters coupled with the mystery-narrative elevated this to a truly great (and hilarious) show.
Heads-up: Although the second season is still very good, only the first season rose to must-watch status. Hopefully that won’t have a parallel with the upcoming Phoebe Waller-Bridge-less second season of “Killing Eve.”
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“Broadchurch”
Premise: A duo of investigators works a murder case in the small British coastal town of Broadchurch. Given the tightknit community, the murder rips apart the neighborhood dynamics. Accusatory fingers point between friends and family.
“Killing Eve” Comp: Waller-Bridge plays a role in this, but the investigation aspect has the most similarity. At least one of the shows on this list should be for those looking for a storyline focused on the pursuit of a killer.
Sum-up: Recent Academy Award winner Olivia Colman anchors this along with two actors who have played Doctor Who: David Tennant and Jodie Whittaker. All three bring an acting gravitas that heightens a rather formulaic British crime drama to a project with some nuance.
Heads-up: If you’re a fan of British crime shows, you may figure out the surprising killer pretty quickly in Season 1. Although I didn’t solve the mystery myself while watching, in retrospect, the narrative follows a construction that uses setup in the first episode to have narrative payoff at the ultimate reveal. So it may not be the most “Phoebe-proof” whodunit to solve.
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