underrated HBO – If HBO Max’s weekend recommendations feel repetitive, these three underrated series—The Knick, Scavengers Reign, and My Brilliant Friend—bring very different kinds of binge-worthy intensity, backed by standout ratings.
The weekend’s scrolling doesn’t have to end in the same loop of already-suggested titles. On HBO Max, three shows are quietly sitting in plain sight with the kind of ratings that usually trigger a flood of hype—yet they never quite got the mainstream buzz.
If you’re in the mood for something that feels like a detour with a payoff, start here: one brutal early-20th-century medical saga, one strange and gorgeous adult animated sci-fi survival story, and an Italian coming-of-age epic that stretches across decades.
The Knick (2014) is the kind of show that doesn’t flinch when it shows you medicine before it became “comfortable.” Set in a fictionalized version of Manhattan’s Knickerbocker Hospital in 1900. it follows Dr. John Thackery—played by Clive Owen—who’s brilliant and also drug addicted. Surgeries are graphic, lighting is dim, and the series doesn’t soften the brutality of early medicine.
Andre Holland brings equal force as Dr. Algernon Edwards, a Black surgeon fighting for basic respect in a hospital that barely tolerates him. The show’s period authenticity wasn’t left to vibes, either. Its medical accuracy came from Dr. Stanley Burns, a real historian who advised on set to keep every procedure true to the period.
Originally a Cinemax show, The Knick quietly slid onto HBO Max and still flies under the radar despite stellar reviews. It carries an IMDB rating of 8.4/10 and a Rotten Tomatoes score of 92%. You can watch The Knick on HBO Max.
If The Knick is about survival through human skill. Scavengers Reign (2023) is about survival through understanding a world that doesn’t care if you’re ready. It’s an adult animated sci-fi series that follows the surviving crew of a wrecked spaceship stranded on a strange. beautiful. and dangerous planet.
The show’s aliens and plants feel built from real thought—every creature and ecosystem detail treated as more than just visuals. The animation style draws heavy comparisons to Moebius, and it earns every one of those comparisons. The monsters also land differently than you might expect: they aren’t painted as evil. They’re just trying to survive, the same way humans are.
Scavengers Reign won an Emmy for background design. It still got canceled after one season, which the show’s fans clearly don’t agree with—because the world felt far from finished. It has an IMDB rating of 8.6/10 and a Rotten Tomatoes score of 100%. You can watch Scavengers Reign on HBO Max.
Then there’s My Brilliant Friend (2018-2024), a very different kind of binge—quiet, intense, and stretched across a lifetime. Based on Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels. the Italian-language series follows two friends. Elena and Lila. with their bond spanning 60 years against the backdrop of a poor Naples neighborhood.
What makes the show stick isn’t constant fireworks. Instead. it 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 want something slow-paced that still grips, this is the kind of weekend watch that keeps pulling you forward.
Ratings back up the consistency: every season holds at least a 90 on Metacritic, which is described as almost unheard of for a four season run. My Brilliant Friend has an IMDB rating of 8.6/10 and a Rotten Tomatoes score of 98%. You can watch My Brilliant Friend on HBO Max.
Across these three picks, the common thread is easy to miss—each one is built with serious craft, and each one delivers a binge experience that doesn’t resemble the mainstream TV churn. If HBO Max’s weekend queue has started feeling predictable, this is your chance to break the pattern.
HBO Max The Knick Scavengers Reign My Brilliant Friend underrated TV series animated sci-fi medical drama Italian drama binge watching Rotten Tomatoes 100 Clive Owen Andre Holland
HBO Max keeps recommending the same stuff for me so this better be actually different lol.
The Knick sounds like it’s just medicine stuff from like 1800s but with gore. I mean, I kinda wanna try it if it’s really that highly rated. 8.4 on IMDB?? I’m skeptical but maybe.
My Brilliant Friend is the one I heard about YEARS ago, but I thought it was like a movie? So now it’s a binge show on HBO Max?? Also “Italian coming-of-age epic across decades” sounds like a lot… do I really have to commit to all that?
Scavengers Reign is adult sci-fi animated survival right, but is it like Star Wars vibes or more like The Walking Dead? The article says it’s “gorgeous” which is usually code for slow. Still I might watch because I’m tired of the algorithm feeding me the same three shows every weekend.