10 Upcoming TV Shows That Won't Be An Easy Watch
Jonathan Nolan's new sci-fi show is about to give you a massive headache.
The debate about whether the Golden Age of TV is over or not continues to rage on, but there's little denying that there's never been a greater volume of quality TV a mere click away at any moment.
Small screen entertainment offers up an embarrassment of riches these days, such that nobody can possibly keep up with every appealing show they hear about.
And while TV is often viewed as a frothy, escapist medium we can passively "consume" after a tough day at work, there are certainly those shows that dare to be anything but.
These 10 upcoming series, then, all seem primed to be challenging, difficult, and potentially uneasy sits, whether due to their subject matter, the mind-melting level of ambition, or the simple stress of waiting to see how the showrunners maybe (probably?) screw up adapting a beloved IP.
When you sit down to watch these shows, it's reasonable to expect stress, anxiety, confusion, or all of the above, because as entertaining as they might seem from the outset, they're going to offer up more cerebral, challenging, and even baffling viewing than you're probably expecting...
10. The Last Of Us
Now, it's looking very likely that HBO's The Last of Us series will easily be the greatest live-action video game adaptation to date - a low bar, admittedly - but that doesn't mean it's going to be an easy sit.
The trailers released to date certainly seem to suggest that the show will faithfully retain the grimly dread-infused atmosphere of the video game, but for fans of said game, the real dread will come with knowing what's in store for survivors Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) further down the road.
Getting attached to these interpretations of these characters, while being aware of the horrors awaiting them - especially Joel - is sure to make The Last of Us a queasy, depressing sit, no matter the brutal violence and grotesquely mutated humans (aka Clickers) we're also sure to see plenty of.
It'll be interesting to see how many seasons the plot of the two games is stretched across, but given how oppressively bleak The Last of Us Part II especially turned out to be, it'll be bittersweet getting invested in Joel and Ellie's journey all over again.
The Last of Us premieres sometime in 2023.