6 Binge-Worthy Shows You Need to Watch

Looking for some mindless TV to fill up your time? Well then you’ve come to the right place! Everyone loves a great show that sucks you in and completely transports you to another world. With the overwhelming amount of options on major streaming services, it can be difficult to weed out the hits from the trash. If you’re on a hunt for your next obsession, here’s a great binge-worthy list to guide you down your next adventure! 

One of the best teen dramas out right now, Outer Banks is an absolute must-watch. If you haven’t already seen season one, then boy are you in for a treat! And if you have, season 2 picks up right where we left off, and is even steamier. This show offers a plethora of plot lines, from love triangles, to an ever-evolving treasure hunt, to tensions between economic classes residing on the same island. You can’t help but root for John B and Sarah to live happily ever after and find the gold they’ve sacrificed everything for. Oh, and did I mention that the cast is absolutely stunning? Not only are my favorite characters, John B, Pope, JJ, Sarah Cameron, and Kie uber talented, but they’re great eye candy too. Personally, I finished an entire season in under 24 hours- I challenge you to beat my record!

Inspired by a real-life NFL success story, All American shares the true, hard facts of life through mesmerizing plot lines and juicy drama. The story of a sensational football player transitioning from the street life of Compton to the luxury of Beverly Hills shines a light on the racial and socio-economic disparities so prevalent in our country. Though All American is centered around the life of Spencer James as a rising football talent, it explores the struggles of self-discovery, teenage love, and all the angst that comes with youth. It teaches important lessons of love, loss, and the importance of family through gripping storylines full of characters that absolutely pull at your heart strings. With 3 seasons at your disposal, you’ll fall in love with All American’s cast and be sucked into their world of football. 

An absolute smash hit in multiple countries, Love Island is the definition of mindless television. However, just because it's mindless doesn’t mean it isn’t one of the most entertaining shows I’ve ever seen! An interactive matchmaking reality show, Love Island takes single bachelors and bachelorettes in their 20s and throws them together in stunning villas in various locations. Here, they are meant to pair up with each other every week. If you’re unlucky, and can’t find your weekly match, you run the risk of being booted from the villa. New cast members are thrown in periodically, and as you can imagine, the drama is impeccable. As if the show couldn’t get any better, the viewers have a hand in running the show from their couches through live voting. If you’re looking for your next steamy reality show, you’ve arrived at the right place!

Gossip Girl could quite possibly hold the title of my favorite show of all time. I’ve rewatched all six seasons of this drama upwards of seven times. Following the lives of prominent, wealthy Upper East Side teenagers, Gossip Girl offers the average viewer a peek into the lives of New York City’s elite. The storyline is centered around five main characters: Blair Waldorf, a devious privileged drama queen, Serena Vanderwoodsen, a beautiful trouble-struck socialite, Nate Archibald, a sincere flirtatious heartthrob, Chuck Bass, a semi-villainous pompous teen, and Dan Humphrey, an outcast who just wants so desperately to be on the inside. Gossip Girl proves to be one of the most timeless and cultivating TV series of all time. Filled with sex, love, heartache, scandal, arrests, tragedies, and triumphs, you can’t help but envy all that is the luxury life of Manhattan’s most wealthy. 

Dark, mysterious, yet eerily realistic, HBO’s Euphoria is one of the most captivating series I’ve ever seen. Finding a show that accurately depicts the struggles of teenage angst is hard to come by in Hollywood. Euphoria shines light on teens in crisis and their attempts to navigate the overwhelming, screwed up world that they face everyday. Zendaya plays a fragile 17-year-old girl struggling to overcome her hard drug addiction while also navigating the obstacles of teenage life. You can’t help but feel the pain of those around her when she falls victim to addiction time and time again, and you can’t help but hope she can somehow turn it around. The show is filled with twists, turns, and plot lines I didn’t know could be shown on national television. Though centered around the prevalence of drugs and several teen’s issues surrounding them, much of the plot is driven by chaotic, abusive, and painful love stories. If you’re looking for something raw, real, and absolutely fascinating drama, I urge you to watch Euphoria. 

Designated Survivor differs from many of the other shows on this list due to its political nature. While it may appear to appeal to a more mature audience, Designated Survivor combines politics, drama, fear, and love into a captivating plotline. After a bomb wipes out the entirety of the United States government, inexperienced US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Tom Kirkman is left in charge of the United States government during a time of collective terror and worry. US politics can be just as drama-filled as the most theatrical high school, but the stakes are so much higher. Sit on the edge of your seat as you watch Tom Kirkman screw up, rise to the occasion, and find his voice in a world of unchartered territory. Never before have I been so invested in a political drama, but this show changed the game, and I encourage you to give it a chance. 

Written by: Alexandra Cooperman