Three overlooked Apple TV shows worth watching this weekend (April 17-19)

      Apple TV+ has discreetly created one of the more intriguing libraries among popular streaming services. Nestled among the trendy dramas and widely discussed shows are several genuinely outstanding series that remain largely overlooked.

      Let’s change that this weekend. Whether you’re seeking a thriller that distorts your sense of reality or something that will linger in your mind with just sound, there's something here for you. Here are three underrated Apple TV+ series that deserve your attention.

      We also have guides for the best new movies to stream, the best films on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best free movies, and the best films on Amazon Prime Video.

      **Counterpart (2017)**

      Starz

      Howard Silk has dedicated 30 years to a mundane, unremarkable position at a Berlin-based UN agency, handling documents and exchanging coded messages that he doesn’t comprehend. One day, he learns the shocking truth: there is a crossing under the building that leads to a parallel Earth, which diverged from ours in 1987 and has since taken a very different path. To complicate matters, his counterpart from that other universe, also named Howard Silk, is completely unlike him. They share the same appearance and backstory but are fundamentally different individuals.

      J.K. Simmons portrays both versions with such remarkable distinction that you never lose track of which Howard you are observing. It stands out as one of the finest dual performances I’ve seen in recent television. The series embeds its parallel universe premise within the thick atmosphere of Cold War espionage, complete with Berlin’s backstreets, dead drops, sleeper agents, and the constant paranoia of never truly knowing whose allegiance lies where.

      You can watch Counterpart on Apple TV.

      **Calls (2021)**

      IMDB

      This underrated Apple TV series presents no visuals. Instead, it consists of a series of phone calls between strangers, accompanied by abstract, evolving patterns of light and sound, as something catastrophic and inexplicable starts to disrupt their world. Each of the nine short episodes immerses you in a different conversation, many of which are chilling in the subtlest manner.

      The cast is impressive: Pedro Pascal, Aubrey Plaza, Lily Collins, Rosario Dawson, and others—all of whom remain unseen. You only hear their voices, which is precisely the intention. Directed by Fede Álvarez, the mind behind Don’t Breathe, the show demonstrates that what your imagination conjures is always more frightening than what any visual can portray.

      You can watch Calls on Apple TV.

      **Shining Girls (2022)**

      Apple TV

      Kirby Mazrachi is an archivist at the Chicago Sun-Times attempting to piece her life back together after enduring a violent assault. The challenge is that her reality continues to shift around her. She returns home to find she now has a dog instead of a cat. She learns she is married to a man she can only recall as a co-worker. Her work desk keeps changing locations. Kirby is the only one who notices these discrepancies.

      Elisabeth Moss delivers a powerful performance, skillfully balancing Kirby’s confidence and anxiety through each transformation of her reality. Jamie Bell is subtly menacing as the antagonist. The show employs time travel not merely as a plot device but as a means to illustrate how one person’s violence can create ripples, trapping victims in an unstable reality. The pacing is slow to begin and intentionally disorienting, which serves the narrative’s purpose.

      You can watch Shining Girls on Apple TV.