Three underrated HBO Max shows worth your weekend
Looking for something different to watch on HBO Max this weekend? These three underrated shows represent some of the best television on the platform that never got the mainstream buzz they deserved.
From a gritty period medical drama to a breathtaking sci-fi animated series to an Italian coming-of-age story, each one offers a completely different kind of binge.
The Knick (2014-2015)
Genre: Medical Drama | IMDb: 8.4/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
Clive Owen plays Dr. John Thackery, a brilliant but drug-addicted surgeon working at the Knickerbocker Hospital in 1900. The surgeries are graphic, the lighting is grim and unflinching, and the show never softens the brutality of early medicine. Andre Edwards is equally compelling as a Black surgeon fighting for respect in a hospital that barely tolerates him.
The show’s medical accuracy came from Dr. Stanley Burns, an actual historian who advised on-set to keep every detail period-correct. Originally a Cinemax show, it quietly moved to HBO Max and still flies under the radar despite stellar reviews.
Scavengers Reign (2023)
Genre: Sci-Fi, Animation | IMDb: 8.6/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
This adult animated sci-fi series follows the surviving crew of a wrecked spaceship stranded on a strange, beautiful, and dangerous planet. Every alien creature and plant feels like someone actually thought through how an ecosystem works—not just what looks cool.
The animation draws heavy comparisons to Moebius, and it earns every one of them. It won an Emmy for background design and still got canceled after one season, which feels criminal considering how much world was left to explore.
My Brilliant Friend (2018-2024)
Genre: Coming of Age, Drama | IMDb: 8.6/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
Based on Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels, this Italian-language series follows two friends, Elena and Lila, whose bond stretches across 60 years against the backdrop of a poor Naples neighborhood. Every season holds at least a 90 on Metacritic—nearly unheard of for a four-season run.
The show leans into long silences and small gestures instead of big dramatic speeches, letting two extraordinary young actresses carry entire emotional arcs through expression alone. If you need something slow-paced that’s also absorbing, this is the kind of show you can binge over a weekend.
