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Ryan Murphy is back, baby! His latest show, The Watcher, has debuted, and is yet another huge success for the producer. While the psychological thriller hasn’t won over critics, Netflix viewers are eating it up. The series has occupied the #1 spot on the streamer’s list of trending shows since its debut weekend – beating Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (another one of Murphy’s projects).
The series, which stars Bobby Cannavale, Naomi Watts, and Jennifer Coolidge, is a fictionalized account of a true story that follows a married couple, Dean and Nora Brannock, who just moved into their dream house in Westfield, New Jersey with their two children. They immediately begin to receive letters from a stalker named The Watcher and discover the oddities of their neighbors, who all take their preservation society a bit too seriously.
The show features a few major scares as the mystery unfolds and the seedy underbelly of the city is revealed, however, it mostly adopts the tone of a psychological drama – just done “Murphy style.” Continue reading for seven shows you need to watch after you finish binging The Watcher.
'American Horror Story'
Now, this one is a given. If you like one Ryan Murphy project, you’ll like most of them. He has a signature tone and writing style. The perfect follow-up to The Watcher is American Horror Story, especially the first season which takes place in a haunted home. Both projects are loosely based on true stories, feature inappropriate teenage relationships, and will leave you uneasy.
'The Patient'
Led by Steve Carell and Domhnall Gleeson, this FX on Hulu series unleashes a new fear, but still in the form of a dangerous human being. Instead of being terrorized by an unknown stalker, Carell’s Alan Strauss finds himself kidnapped and held hostage by his former psychology patient.
'Safe'
What did you like most about Ryan Murphy’s dark series? Was it the lengths the patriarch was willing to go to protect his family? If so, then check out the British television series Safe. Over eight episodes, this drama series follows Michael H. Hall as Briton Tom Delaney, a grieving widow and father of two, who takes matters in his own hands after his 16-year-old daughter goes missing.
'The House'
The title pretty much gives this one away, eh? The House takes place in a house! Just like The Watcher! However, the two make a great pair, beyond this obvious similarity. The stop-motion Netflix series is an anthology of three different stories, created by three artists, that explore its subject’s relationship with the same house. All three stories are totally creepy and introduce quite a-few strange characters while also delivering vital takeaways about wealth, obsession, and companionship. This one will leave you thinking.
'The Shrink Next Door'
This Apple TV+ miniseries offers a stunning cast of Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Kathryn Hahn, and Casey Wilson and follows a well-off man who strikes up an unhealthy and codependent relationship with his therapist. Much like The Watcher, these characters have something to hide.
'The Politician'
Here’s the second and last Ryan Murphy series on the list. The Politician adopts a similar aesthetic to The Watcher as it centers on a bright and poppy upper-class family and the secrets that eat at them, which are revealed alongside an unfolding mystery. There’s death, waspy fashion inspiration, and families who seemingly loves each other, even if they don’t really like each other.
'The Sinner'
Last is The Sinner, which is an anthological police drama that centers around a new crime every season. Led by Bill Pullman as detective Harry Ambrose, the show brings forth suspenseful crimes and nail-biting drama – however, it could benefit from Ms. Coolidge’s effortless comedic relief because it tends to savor its dark moments.
