3 Prime Video Shows You Should Watch This Weekend (August 15

I’m always on the hunt for my next TV obsession—the type of show that you start watching over the weekend and, before you know it, you’ve binged the entire thing.

If that applies to you too, I’m happy to share my findings. These are three great Amazon Prime Video series that are bound to keep you glued to the screen.

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Good Boy

Good Boy is a South Korean series with a slightly absurd but fun premise: a group of Olympic athletes are recruited into the police to tackle major crimes. The idea is that these people all have talents unique to their sports (like fencing, shooting, and boxing) that, when put together, make them a force to be reckoned with. Their reasons for joining the police are also varied—for example, Ji Han-na (Kim So-hyun) wants to follow in her father’s footsteps, while Kim Jong-hyeon (Lee Sang-yi) used to date Han-na and wants to reconnect.

The ensemble cast does a top job at bringing their characters to life and balancing the show’s dramatic and comedic tones. Park Bo-gum is charming as boxer Yoon Dong-ju, Heo Sung-tae (who you may recognize from Squid Game) has a strong presence as team leader Ko Man-sik, and Oh Jung-se is brilliant as questionable customs officer Min Ju-yeong. While the series does feel a little too long at 16 episodes, the actors and action keep you invested.

Speaking of action, that’s one of Good Boy‘s standout features. It’s fast-paced and cinematic. Sure, it might sometimes be unrealistic and silly, like when discus thrower Shin Jae-hong (Tae Won-seok) destroys a speeding car with a manhole cover, but that’s part of the enjoyment. Suspend your disbelief, enable the English subtitles (always preferable over a dub for live action, in my opinion), and have a good time.

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Boundless

Continuing with the theme of Prime Video’s decent foreign-language productions comes Boundless, a Spanish limited series that tells the tale of the three-year voyage that began in 1519 and marked the first circumnavigation of Earth. The show’s two protagonists are the Portuguese Ferdinand Magellan (Rodrigo Santoro) and the Spanish Juan Sebastián Elcano (Álvaro Morte), the real-life explorers.

My knowledge of this slice of history is rusty, so I can’t comment on how accurate the portrayal of the events is, but I do know the show itself is thrilling, with great character dynamics and beautiful backdrops. As you might imagine, the journey is fraught with danger—it’s no spoiler to say that many of the men who set out from Spain don’t make it back alive—but also excitement.

Amusingly, the show’s director, Simon West, is also responsible for Rick Astley’s video for Never Gonna Give You Up. Though it’s more likely that his experience directing action movies like Con Air and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider stood him in good stead for Boundless.

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The Fall

In The Fall, Gillian Anderson plays Stella Gibson, a senior officer for the London police who is seconded to Belfast to review a murder investigation that the local force is struggling to solve. It soon becomes clear that this is the work of a serial killer. But this isn’t a whodunit for the viewer because we immediately learn that Paul Spector is behind the killings—a supposedly normal family man, creepily played by Jamie Dornan.

What follows is a game of cat and mouse, with the tension slowly and masterfully building through each episode. It’s all stylishly shot, too (even though it perhaps isn’t a glowing advertisement for Northern Ireland, what with all the crime). Anderson is excellent as the smart and icy lead, but so are the supporting cast; it’s always nice to see Colin Morgan on screen, who got his start in BBC’s Merlin.

The Fall lasted three seasons and I think the first is the best, as is often the case with these dark crime dramas. That’s not to say the rest isn’t worth watching, because it definitely is, just that it doesn’t quite maintain that initial intrigue. Regardless, the first season ends on a cliffhanger anyway, so you almost have no choice but to see it through.

These shows will take up a decent chunk of time, but if you’re finished with the binge and want some more entertainment, don’t forget that Prime Video has plenty of great movies too.