The Big Ones
The One is the latest dating-centric sci-fi drama that looks at the idea of true love and what would happen if an app could tell you with precision whether you’ve met the one. If you’ve finished this and are looking for something similar, we’ve combed through the archives and saved you the hassle with our top 10 picks for alternate viewing. To keep things simple for skim-readers we’ve added what similarities these have. Of course for all the shows we’ve reviewed, we’ve also added a handy link so you can check out our full thoughts on that series and see if it’s something you want to invest your time with. So without further ado, we present 10 TV shows that should whet the appetite when you’ve finished streaming The One.
Love Alarm
Similarities – Love/ Dating App
At first glance, Love Alarm is a formulaic, by-the-numbers romance, one that adopts all the usual tropes of this genre under the guise of its interesting dating app premise. At the heart of all this drama is an interesting dating app called Love Alarm, which notifies you when someone nearby loves you. With Korea all but gripped in the sensation of receiving these little notifications, at the centre of this is Kim Jojo, a girl indifferent to the entire dating phenomenon. Happy with her boyfriend Il-Sik, when new boy Sun-Oh arrives at school and the two hit it off, what ensues is a messy melodrama as Sun-Oh and Jojo grow closer together. Complicating matters are Jojo’s jealous cousin Gul-Mi and Sun-Oh’s best friend Hye-Yeong, the latter happening to have a serious crush on Jojo. We’re in proper love triangle territory here, but this romance has just enough edge to keep you watching through. The second season is a bit of a disappointment but the first is undoubtedly a fun ride. You can read our thoughts on Love Alarm in our full season reviews here!
Years & Years
Similarities – Cautionary Tale
Years & Years is one of the more frightening family dramas to come out of 2019. Set in the near-future, Russel T. Davies returns to the small screen for a stand-alone mini-series that paints a concerning future for Britain. The set-up is simple, and spans multiple years as we follow a seemingly normal British family as their life is turned upside down by cataclysmic events happening in the world. From far-right extremists rising up and the threat of nuclear war, Years & Years does a wonderful job showcasing a chilling alt-future in our ever-digitalized world. It perfectly captures political and topical issues in a way that never feels preachy or overly condescending, delivering one heck of a rollercoaster ride along the way. You can read our thoughts on Years & Years in our full season review here!
Black Mirror
Similarities – Sci-Fi & Dangers Of Technology
Black Mirror is still the go-to for most people looking for a dark slice of sci-fi. While the later episodes do wane in quality, there’s no denying that some of the early episodes are absolutely fantastic. In its simplest form, this dark cautionary tale about technology comes straight from the mind of Charlie Brooker. From VR games gone wrong to the bizarre satirical world of political personalities, Black Mirror remains one of the best modern-day Twilight Zone replacements. With an uneasy dread clinging to a lot of the episodes and plenty of social commentary to boot, this one’s a solid choice and one you should absolutely check out if you haven’t already. You can read our thoughts on Black Mirror in our full season review here!
Biohackers
Similarities – Romantic Drama & Sci-Fi
Biohackers is a show that also looks at a breakthrough piece of tech, this time in the medical field. While the science is a bit iffy, there’s no question that the popularity of this show may see a second season green-lit in the foreseeable future. The story itself begins with a teasing prologue involving a bio-attack on a train. It’s a pacey, intriguing opener but one that takes a good 5 episodes to actually catch up to in real-time. Instead, most of the season revolves around a University campus fronted by the brilliant Dr Tanja Lorenz. She plans to perfect her secret research and create a solution to heal thousands of people. At the centre of this lies new girl Mia, who arrives on campus and immediately makes a name for herself. Catching the eyes of both Lorenz and her assistant Jasper, Mia manages to talk her way into becoming Lorenz’s assistant for the upcoming clinical trials. The first season has enough intriguing sci-fi concepts to keep you watching and fans of The One should enjoy this. You can read our thoughts on Biohackers in our full season review here!
Osmosis
Similarities – Sci-Fi & Dating
Set in the near-future metropolis of Paris, Osmosis is an interesting, thought provoking series revolving around finding love in our increasingly digitalised world. The series itself revolves around a revolutionary new technology being developed by a company called Osmosis. Through an implant and a handy AI assistant, this piece of tech takes the guesswork out of love and let’s you see your soul mate in your mind’s eye. This controversial new breakthrough ultimately splits public opinion, resulting in plenty of ensuing tensions for the episodes ahead. With the background for the main plot established, the main story sees brother and sister, Paul and Esther, fronting the company and taking on 12 candidates to test the implant before it’s released to the general public. As the board work to remove Paul from his position and Esther conducts her own secret agenda with her Mum, the story branches in two, with an equal focus on the test candidates and the ones in charge. With numerous subplots intricately woven throughout the overarching story, Osmosis serves 8 episodes of drama that ask some pretty big questions. The consistent pacing and twists along the way certainly make this a sci-fi trip worth taking. You can read our thoughts on Osmosis in our full season review here!
Upload
Similarities – Being In Control Of Your Destiny
Selfish Nathan is our protagonist here, and we begin with him dying inside in his self-driving car. After, he finds his consciousness uploaded to Lakeview, courtesy of his overbearing and unfulfilling partner Ingrid. With her holding all the cards to his future destiny, Nathan is forced to try and acclimatize to this new existence while being guided by his “angel” Nora, who oversees his upload and progress in the digitalized after-life. While there is comedy here, it’s subtly placed rather than in-your-face. Some of the jokes don’t always land but the ones that do – like the recurring joke about Nathan’s misplaced hair in the first episode – make up for any shortfalls. This is a decent show with a unique premise well worth checking out. You can read our thoughts on Upload in our full season review here!
Soulmates
Similarities – Dating Apps & True Love
AMC’s Soulmates is essentially the American version of The One. It’s a show that takes place 15 years from now, where a company called Soul Connex has developed a test that can determine who the person is you’re meant to love with 100% accuracy. People who take the test can either learn who their soulmate is or receive a response saying their “soulmate hasn’t been tested yet.” Across the season, these different episodes explore various couples and ask big questions around whether love is destiny or actually a choice. To be honest, there is some pretty bad camera work at times here and some episodes are definitely more interesting than others. Despite that though, this show is certainly similar to The One and should please fans of that series.
The Feed
Similarities – Social Media & Hacking
In our ever-digitalised world, The Feed is a frightening concept and shares a lot of similarities with Black Mirror’s “The Entire History Of You”. Here, we arrive at a time in our future where everyone is connected to The Feed, a device that allows all thoughts, feelings, emotions and senses to be shared with one another, all through a handy implant which connects to a worldwide Cloud. At the centre of this near-future world is the dysfunctional Hatfield family. When they learn of a hack within the infrastructure of The Feed, this family reluctantly team up together to try and get to the bottom of what’s happened. The characters inhabiting this world may not be quite as endearing as one may expect, but the story is rife with tension and thought provoking questions surrounding the danger of our ever-digitalised world. As we become more and more engrossed in social media and our online personas, The Feed is a humbling shockwave back to reality and a cautionary tale well worth checking out. You can read our thoughts on The Feed in our full season review here!
Humans
Similarities – Androids
While the idea of androids becoming sentient is nothing new in the world of science fiction, Channel 4’s series Humans takes that concept, adds some thematically sound, though provocative questions and a diverse range of characters to produce a surprisingly compelling series. Running for three seasons, Humans is a well written thriller that asks some big questions around what it would actually be like to live alongside robots. When those same androids then gain sentience, would we be able to handle it? With an evolving plot over time, Humans is both far-reaching and surprisingly grounded, delivering a decent slice of sci-fi. You can read our thoughts on Humans in our full season reviews here!
Brave New World
Similarities – Sci-fi & Drugs
Based on the 1932 novel of the same name, Brave New World is a brave re-imagining of that book which will inevitably divide the fan-base between those who like and those who loathe this series. If you fall into the former then you’re sure to have a good time. The story takes place in a near-future dystopia known as New London. This city operates on a basic hierarchical level of command with the Director and Alphas in control while the Epsilon workers and Gamma serve those above. All of this operates flawlessly thanks to a constant stream of emotion-inhibiting pills called Soma. When an upper-Alpha member known as Bernard is called to a crime scene, he immediately starts to question everything around him. The series merges some interesting ideas alongside a compelling enough 9 episode first season. There’s something endearing about this world that keeps you watching through some of the slower moments, making it well worth sticking it out for the long haul. You can read our thoughts on Brave New World in our full season review here! So there we have it, our 10 TV show alternatives to watch when you’re finished with The One on Netflix. What do you think of our picks? Do you agree? Are there any notable omissions? Let us know in the comments below!
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