HBO’s mysterious six-part miniseries The Undoing recently wrapped its season finale on November 29, 2020. Written by David E. Kelley and directed by Susanne Bier, the series is adapted from the Jean Hanff Korelitz novel You Should Have Known.
Set in Manhattan’s high society, the series traces Grace Fraser (Nicole Kidman), a successful therapist who finds her husband Jonathan (Hugh Grant) at the center of a brutal murder accusation. Shocked by Jonathan’s potential transgressions, Grace’s psychological state begins to deteriorate as she tries to grapple with the escalating drama in her life. For more mysterious dramas of The Undoing‘s ilk, look no further.
10 Scandal (2012)
Shonda Rhimes’ Scandal is set in a similar high-societal environment as The Undoing, only instead of Manhattan, the story takes place in the affluent areas of Washington D.C. Kerry Washington stars as Olivia Pope, an ace fixer and former White House employee who deals with the shadiest politicians in town.
In addition to being a strong female lead, Pope runs a crisis management business that deals with riveting political intrigue. The series was named TV Program of the Year at the 2014 AFI Awards.
9 Revenge (2011)
Lasting four seasons and 90 episodes from 2011-2015, Revenge is a thrilling, female-centric mysterious drama in which a woman under the alias Emily Thorne (Emily VanCamp) dedicates her life to getting revenge against every person who wronged her in the past.
Born Amanda Clarke, Emily changed her name after her father’s good name was disgraced under false pretenses. Hellbent on restoring her family’s dignity, Emily does the most wicked and vile things as payback for those who brought her and her father down.
8 You (2018)
Intimacy, privacy, and the fine line between desire and obsession are just a few of the themes found in You, the mysterious romantic thriller series created by Sera Gamble and Greg Berlanti.
The series centers on Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley), a handsome charmer with a terrifying dark side. Upon meeting female strangers, Joe dives headlong into their lives by stalking their social media profiles and coyly using their personal information to manipulate them in perilous ways. With 20 episodes and counting, Season 3 of You is poised to hit Netflix sometime in 2021.
7 How To Get Away With Murder (2014)
The Oscar-winning Viola Davis made such an impression in her guest-appearance on Scandal that a spinoff show was tailor-made for her character Annalise Keating in How to Get Away With Murder.
With a total of six seasons and 90 episodes, the show follows the brilliant law professor Keating as she schools a class of top law students by using a real-life contemporary murder case. However, the deeper they delve into the case, the more peril they are personally put into. Davis won a Primetime Emmy and two SAG awards for her performance.
6 Law & Order: SVU (1999)
One of the biggest critiques about The Undoing is that it essentially played out as one long, overdrawn 6-hour Law & Order: SVU episode. As such, the longest-running crime series on this list must be included.
With over 500 episodes aired since the show’s inception in 1999, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is simply the preeminent crime drama on American television. With barbarous crimes featured every week that make the one in The Undoing look tame, the legal drama has won every major TV award under the sun during its 22-season run.
5 Pretty Little Liars (2010)
As the teenage combination of The Undoing and Big Little Lies, Pretty Little Liars is the perfect show to watch for a fan of HBO’s latest. Set in the fictional town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania, the series centers on four besties who receive mysterious messages a year after their de facto leader disappears.
Worse yet, each letter the girls receive threatens to expose a crippling secret they harbor deep down. When their best friend’s corpse turns up, the girls scramble to figure out who is responsible for sending the letters and disrupting their lives.
4 Mosaic (2018)
Another compelling murder mystery produced by HBO includes Steven Soderbergh’s Mosaic, the nine-part miniseries about the cryptic killing of Olivia Lake (Sharon Stone), a famed children’s book writer.
With acting performances on par with The Undoing, the wicked whodunit set in frigid Park City, Utah offers a Rashomon-like shift in perspectives to show the same pivotal event from various viewpoints. The series began as an interactive application and ends with Soderbergh’s deft directorial touch.
3 Little Fires Everywhere (2020)
Based on the Celest Ng novel of the same name, Hulu’s original series Little Fires Everywhere teams Kerry Washington (Scandal) and Reese Witherspoon (Big Little Lies) in an engrossing tale of dangerously crossed paths.
Much like Grace in The Undoing, Elena Richardson (Witherspoon) is an elegant beacon of high-society opulence. When the mysterious stranger from the wrong side of the tracks, Mia Warren (Washington), suddenly enters her life, things drastically and dangerously alter in a hurry. The show has garnered five Primetime Emmy nods in its inaugural season.
2 Sharp Objects (2018)
For another finely acted mysterious drama produced by HBO, tune into Marti Noxon’s 2018 miniseries Sharp Objects. The series earned star Patricia Clarkson a Golden Globe win for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role.
Amy Adams stars in the show as Camille Preaker, a psychologically tormented reporter assigned to return to her small hometown to chronicle the murder of two pre-adolescent girls. Upon her return, old wounds are opened and her inner demons are summoned as Camille grapples with her traumatic past.
1 Big Little Lies (2017)
Given how the same writer David E. Kelley is responsible for both The Undoing and Big Little Lies, the latter is the number one show to watch for anyone who enjoyed the former. Moreover, both series feature central performances by the great Nicole Kidman.
Based on the Liane Moriarty bestseller, Big Little Lies follows a band of rich women in Monterey, California who find their lives upended following the mysterious murder of one of their abusive husbands. The tale of close friendship and domestic abuse won four Golden Globes and eight Primetime Emmy Awards. The show is currently ranked #219 on IMBD’s TV Top 250.
