When it comes to Good vs Bad, you’ve got Slayers, Superheroes, spies, space-rejects and blind lawyers vs demons, vampires, corrupt governmental organisations and just generally evil people. These shows have depth, humour, darkness and are great for binge-watching – do yourself a favour and watch them all!
1) Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and Angel)
First, watch the TV shows, then cry a little that they’re over and read the comics. ‘One slayer in all the world’, with her gang of trusty humans vs the demons, vampires, monsters, themselves and other humans – everything about Buffy is everything a TV show should be – good villains, excellent characters that you cling to and hate to miss, easy watching and brilliant writing. Whedon created strong, independent and complex female characters, not only through Buffy, but through Willow, Tara, Faith, Cordelia, and Angel only continues this trend.
Romance is treated realistically, showing the good and the bad, not prioritising relationships over storyline, and being one of the first TV shows to incorporate a complicated gay relationship. The 90’s / early 2000’s fashion is also strangely nostalgic, and the level of puns and wit in the show adds to what would usually come off as cheesy, but instead is hilarious and gives comic relief to dark, troubling and downright sad storylines. You’ll binge this, trust me.
Not only that, but it’s got a hell of a theme tune.
If you haven’t watched it already, you need to, and watch Angel if only for the fact that a few of characters from Buffy are developed further than anyone would have expected, and the comic series is great. Also Angel turns into a sort of in-joke.
2) Firefly
Set in 2517 after a brutal civil war, Firefly follows the crew and inhabitants of Serenity, a small Firefly spaceship making a living on the fringes of space-society. Whedon called the crew “nine people looking into the blackness of space and seeing nine different things”.
The series is short and sweet with Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk and Adam Baldwin. After the first hour-and-a-half episode of exposition (it’s not hard but stick with it, I promise it’s worth it), the characters start growing on you, the storyline picks up and space gets even cooler. There are only 14 episodes and a movie (‘Serenity‘) in total, so definitely achievable!
3) Agent Carter
Underrated? I think so. Needs to be watched by everybody? Definitely. Not only does Agent Carter build on Iron Man, Agents of Shield, Captain America and The Avengers in general (including Black Widow!), but develops a character we needed to see more of in a fantastic, believable and empowering way.
This show is gripping and has a different energy to it that may be because it’s set in the 40’s, or maybe just because Hayley Atwell is amazing (see the Agent Carter vs Agents of Shield dubsmash wars, for example).
4) Daredevil
A lot darker and more violent than the usual Marvel, Daredevil focuses on Matt Murdock: a blind new lawyer who fights crime by night. The show develops its enemy characters really well, and – though it gets pretty violent – has a great story arc and is a lot more complicated than just good vs bad.
5) Heroes: Reborn
A terrorist attack in Odessa, Texas has left ‘Evos’ (‘evolved’ humans with genetic superpowers) not only in the limelight, but as the focus of a widespread initiative fueled by transnational company ‘Renatus’ to wipe out Evos and use their powers to their own advantages.
A gradually unfolding arc, and a little cheesy in the writing department at times, but overall a good time-travelling, earth-saving and super-powers-gone-crazy storyline. I didn’t watch the original ‘Heroes’, but the re-vamp seems to be okay so far – and it’s got Peter Pan from ‘Once Upon a Time’ in it!
(GIFs courtesy of giphy.com, feature image from sciencefiction.com)