HBO’s The Leftovers is one of those series fans couldn’t take their eyes off of whenever it aired, presenting bizarre incident after bizarre incident until the viewers hardly knew what to believe anymore. It’s hard to find a series that’s simultaneously so strange and so compelling, one that genuinely makes you think while you’re watching it.
Unfortunately, The Leftovers ended with its third season back in 2017, so fans haven’t gotten any new episodes following Kevin Garvey or the other survivors of the Departure. But even without new episodes of The Leftovers airing, there are other series fans can watch to get their fix. Here are 10 series to watch if you loved The Leftovers.
Watchmen
With Damon Lindelof at the helm, Watchmen is about as bizarre as The Leftovers was — though it does present more answers at the end of its first season than the former series did. Still, both have Lindelof’s signature writing style and story structure, slowly unraveling the plotlines and character arcs while presenting new questions with every answer given.
And Lindelof isn’t the only person The Leftovers and Watchmen have in common. If you enjoyed Regina King’s performance during the second and third seasons of The Leftovers, you’ll be truly excited to see her in the lead role during Watchmen.
The Path
Anyone who appreciated the Guilty Remnant storyline of The Leftovers should give Hulu’s The Path a shot. Unfortunately, the series was canceled last year, so it only has three seasons (another thing it shares with The Leftovers). But those three seasons are packed with questions about belief and perception, and they’ll appeal to anyone looking for something with the same overarching themes as HBO’s series.
Given that The Path follows a religious group that’s often labeled as a cult, it will also take fans back to the Guilty Remnant moments of The Leftovers. Seeing how far the characters will go to uphold their beliefs is truly fascinating, and it will have you binging episode after episode.
Lost
When it comes to Lindelof’s series, The Leftovers and Watchmen probably have more in common with one another than either of them has in common with Lost. That said, if you’ve already made your way through both of those, it couldn’t hurt to give this show a shot. Following the survivors of a plane crash as they wind up on a mysterious island with no way off, Lost nails the mystery element of The Leftovers — and it certainly has its share of bizarre moments as well.
The good thing about Lost is also that, if you do wind up enjoying it, you’ll have six seasons to watch. That’s sure to keep fans of The Leftovers occupied in its absence.
The OA
Those interested in the disappearance aspect of The Leftovers might want to see things from the other perspective and give The OA a watch. This Netflix series follows a woman who disappears, only to mysteriously return home seven years later. She’s suddenly no longer blind, but she won’t tell anyone what happened to her — leaving viewers to piece together how this all came to be.
Like The Leftovers, The OA is on the short side. With only two seasons, fans of the former series will find themselves flying through this one in no time.
The Returned
Similar to The OA, The Returned explores what happens when people who have disappeared return to their hometown without explanation. In this case, most residents of the town believed their loved ones had perished in an accident, only to have them reappear without any recollection of the event — and without having aged a day.
Bizarre occurrences and emotional drama make this series worth watching, and while it’s not entirely like The Leftovers, the mystery at its center bears a lot of similarities to it.
Westworld
The Leftovers fans looking to utilize their HBO subscriptions a bit more could give Westworld a try. While it’s not all that similar to The Leftovers in terms of plot, it does skirt the line of a similar genre: science-fiction. And even if the themes aren’t the same, both series do explore what it means to be human.
Besides, the concept of human beings building a theme park of robots who are beginning to think for themselves is truly fun. And there are just as many mysteries at the center of Westworld as there are throughout The Leftovers.
Black Mirror
If you have the stomach for it, Black Mirror is another great way for science-fiction fans to explore the strangest and darkest parts of humanity. The series is more episodic than The Leftovers, but each episode explores how technological advancement is affecting human beings — and not always for the better.
Much like The Leftovers, Black Mirror can be disturbing at times, and it’ll leave you thinking about what you’ve watched long after you’ve turned the television off.
Game Of Thrones
Game of Thrones is a far cry from The Leftovers, but hear me out: Both series are similar in terms of quality, and both are dramatic and suspenseful enough that it’s worth giving this one a shot — even if you’re not sure about jumping from loose sci-fi to full-on fantasy.
Game of Thrones gets more political than The Leftovers, and there’s less ambiguity about the chain of events. But the layered characters and the drama between them will appeal to anyone who enjoyed watching the cast of The Leftovers contend with one another.
Breaking Bad
Breaking Bad may not have the mysterious science-fiction component that many of the other series on this list can boast about, but it does have a dramatic plot that exposes the darkest parts of human nature — and if that’s not reminiscent of The Leftovers, what is? Following a high school chemistry teacher who pursues a life of making meth after being diagnosed with cancer, the series is both entertaining and suspenseful.
Fans of The Leftovers‘ Kevin Garvey will also probably fall for Breaking Bad‘s Walter White, as they’re both neurotic and morally grey protagonists you just can’t help but root for — even when you know they’re in the wrong.
Stranger Things
The Leftovers was successful in part because of its strange mysteries and in part because of its lovable cast of characters, and Netflix’s Stranger Things checks both of those boxes. Of course, the Netflix series is a bit more direct about what’s going on — but that doesn’t make the Upside Down seeping into the small town of Hawkins, Ind. any less interesting.
And while everything in Stranger Things seems to actually be happening, there’s plenty about the Upside Down and the strange monsters that come from it that’s currently left open. If you appreciated that The Leftovers never answered all of your questions, you’ll appreciate Stranger Things as well. (Plus, come on: What’s not to love about the ’80s?)
