After 15 weeks of nail-biting cases, heart-wrenching moments, and gnarly injuries, The Pitt Season 2 has come to a close. Across just 30 total episodes, the HBO Max hit has revitalized the medical procedural genre and turned its cast into A-list stars. Leading the charge is Dr. Robby actor Noah Wyle, who previously starred in shows like Falling Skies and the iconic medical drama ER. The Pitt earned the actor renewed attention, critical acclaim, and a great deal of awards, including an Emmy for his performance.

Season 2 pushed Robby to the brink, tracking his fraying mental and emotional state over the course of one hectic, deeply stressful Fourth of July shift. Wyle never wavered in his portrayal, giving an unflinching look at a man steadily losing his will to survive. It’s a blistering, incredible performance, but it can understandably leave viewers wrung out by the end of an episode, not to mention the entire season. Interestingly, though, Wyle gave a very different performance on another streaming show around the same time that The Pitt Season 1 was exploding in popularity, and it’s a wild thing to watch after Robby’s grueling day. Now that Season 2 has finished airing, Wyle fans should wind down with Prime Video’s Leverage: Redemption.

‘Leverage: Redemption’ Is the Ideal Escapist Show for Right Now

Serving as a revival of the fan-favorite TNT series Leverage, the series premiered on Amazon Freevee in 2021 and adopted its predecessor’s premise of a group of criminals using their very specific skills — grifting, hacking, thieving — to con horrible people and protect the little guy. It brought back original stars Gina Bellman, Christian Kane, and Beth Riesgraf, while Aldis Hodge returned in a recurring capacity. Wyle was one of two newcomers to the central team — along with Aleyse Shannon — and played Harry Wilson, a corporate lawyer seeking redemption for his years of assisting white-collar criminals.

Leverage: Redemption is a gift to the fans of the original series, exploring timely new cases while including plenty of callbacks to the TNT show. At the same time, it’s very accessible to newcomers. While the first episode especially assumes viewers are up-to-date on the main characters’ relationships from Leverage, it’s also easy to pick things up and come along for the ride without the deeper context. The chemistry between Sophie (Bellman), Eliot (Kane), Parker (Riesgraf), and Hardison (Hodge) is just as heartwarming and compelling as it was before, making the Leverage crew the very definition of found family.

Redemption is also the perfect show for this exact moment in time. Every day brings more headlines about injustices being perpetrated across the globe, yet there often isn’t any kind of positive resolution. Leverage: Redemption imagines a reality where good, honorable people take down corrupt politicians, unethical billionaires, and, in something of a thematic connection to The Pitt, broken healthcare systems. There’s nothing more satisfying than watching these characters go from targeting tech developers preying on people’s privacy to dismantling parasitic pyramid schemes. It does prove to be a concept that requires a significant suspension of disbelief, particularly when the overall tone verges into campy, but it’s an escapist blast all the same.

Noah Wyle’s ‘Leverage: Redemption’ Performance Shows a Different Side of the Dr. Robby Actor

If The Pitt is Wyle at the peak of his dramatic talents, Leverage: Redemption shows what he can do with over-the-top comedy. Prior to the start of the series, Harry is the very person the Leverage team would typically target, but his change of heart makes him eager to join them, even though he has no experience conning people whatsoever. This gives Wyle ample opportunity to explore his funny side as Harry bumbles his way through heists, assumes new personalities (including a brief, meta stint as a doctor), and fights to save the day with his newfound friends.

Wyle’s performance, coupled with Leverage: Redemption‘s overall optimistic tone, makes it the perfect palate cleanser after The Pitt‘s emotionally heavy season. Every character could arguably lead their own crime comedy, but when they’re all together, they fit seamlessly. The series moved to Prime Video for its third season, which aired in 2025 just after The Pitt Season 1 came to a close. The service is also home to the original Leverage, setting up a good, sustained binge.

Unfortunately, Leverage: Redemption was canceled after three seasons, and at the time of this writing, it seems unlikely that it will be revived. Still, the series packed in a lot within the time it got, serving up several thrilling, entertaining cons that restore viewers’ faith in humanity. One gets the impression that the world would truly be a better place if the Leverage team were real. For anyone looking for wholesome, silly fun and a different side to The Pitt‘s Dr. Robby, Leverage: Redemption is a must-watch.

With covert operations, high-stakes missions, and amazingly thrilling characters navigating worlds built on secrecy and deception, spy television has long been an entertaining genre to swim through. While there exist many flashy hits that have dominated the spotlight over the years, there are also others that have been horribly overshadowed, despite offering compelling storytelling, depth, and fascinating tension. Over the course of many years, these overlooked spy shows have only grown more captivating and far more impactful today, despite their lack of audience.

Shows in the spy genre like the 2007 series The Company, which explores decades of CIA operations during the Cold War, and Sleeper Cell, which chooses to focus more on moral complexity rather than spectacle, are somehow two forgotten gems in the realm of spy television. Compiled on this list are shows that may have slipped from memory for many viewers, but have also only grown better with time.

‘Archer’ (2009–2023)

This bold adult animated series is definitely an unconventional approach to the spy genre. Archer follows the narcissistic spy Sterling Archer (H. Jon Benjamin), who works at a dysfunctional private spy agency where Lana Kane (Aisha Tyler), his mother Malory Archer (Jessica Walter), Cheryl Tunt (Judy Greer), and Cyril Figgis (Chris Parnell) turn every operation into a contest of vanity, competence, and personal sabotage.

With an entertaining mesh of absurd humor and espionage, Archer delivers a uniquely toned watch that remains fresh across multiple seasons. It’s a distinct spy show that has only grown more appreciated by its niche fanbase over time. Archer‘s writing is dense enough that it has survived repeat viewing by audiences, and because of its retro-modern visual design that still looks terrific, it stands as an underrated gem that has aged quite nicely over the years.

‘Alias’ (2001–2006)

Image via ABC

Advertisement

Alias offers audiences its merger of genuine emotional strain and costume-change caper energy that is still a blast to watch today. The series centers around Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner), who begins as what seems to be a young operative in a black-ops organization, only for her to learn that SD-6 is not a legitimate branch of the CIA at all.

Alias has aged so well over time due to its early seasons being ruthlessly engineered entertainment. From the father-daughter material that still lands, to Garner remaining a star-level center of gravity, and the show’s puzzle-box plotting that now reads less as an overcomplication and more as an early template for serialized genre television on American broadcast networks, Alias wields an enduring appeal. It’s a series whose storytelling laid the groundwork for many modern spy shows, and its mix of action and emotion makes it a defining entry that continues to hold up quite well.

‘Sleeper Cell’ (2005–2006)

Image via Showtime

Advertisement

This series may have had a short run, but it’s a sleeper hit that delivers a grounded and intense look at undercover counterterrorism. Sleeper Cell focuses on FBI agent Darwyn Al-Sayeed (Michael Ealy), who is sent undercover into a jihadist sleeper cell led by Farik (Oded Fehr), whose charisma and discipline make the infiltration morally and psychologically unstable from the start.

With its exploration of the complexities of infiltration, Sleeper Cell offers audiences a rather realistic tone. The show’s realism gives it a lot of weight that still resonates with viewers quite well. Sleeper Cell is a powerful and often overlooked spy drama that has aged very nicely due to its avoidance of chest-thumping patriotism, instead favoring a raw and nuanced portrayal of counterterrorism. The series wields a seriousness that is now even more valued today because it refuses to present a cartoon view of terror or counterterror. Sleeper Cell may be largely overlooked due to its short run and its specificity to a particular historical moment, but it is still considered a compellingly grounded take on the spy genre that continues to impress.

‘Covert Affairs’ (2010–2014)

Image via USA Network

Advertisement

Covert Affairs is a spy thriller that blends emotional stakes with globe-trotting missions. The spy series follows young CIA agent Annie Walker (Piper Perabo), who is pushed into CIA field work far faster than expected because of her analytic instincts, language skills, and connection to a high-priority target.

Covert Affairs ages so well because it is actually a lot smarter than its packaging suggests. The series may initially begin as a sleek young-agent procedural, but it takes a gradual turn as it dives into a more serialized story about burned assets, confidence games, and the heavy price of Annie’s increasing willingness to improvise outside formal approval. Despite its writing quietly maturing across its run, Covert Affairs remains pretty underappreciated. While the show is mostly forgotten, it does stand as a spy series that hosts a mix of espionage and character-driven storytelling, which allows it to be just as enjoyable as it was over a decade ago.

‘Patriot’ (2015–2018)

Image via Prime Video

Advertisement

This uniquely offbeat approach to espionage with dark humor has definitely earned itself quite a cult following. Patriot focuses on non-official-cover intelligence officer, John Tavner (Michael Dorman), whose task sounds simple—stop Iranian nuclear funding by getting money from one place to another—but whose execution becomes a flood of false identities, bad improvisations, broken bones, and emotional collapse.

Patriot may not be as old as the other entries on this list, but over the years, since the show’s premiere, it has aged extremely well due to its originality—nothing else moves or sounds like it. From the ritual humiliation and the deadpan folk songs to the corporate camouflage, each small fix tends to often spiral into deeper moral consequences. Unfortunately, due to poor marketing, Patriot has gone mostly unnoticed and has never found its mainstream audience. The series is a uniquely layered and underappreciated espionage good time that has definitely earned its place on this list of finely aged gems.

‘Nikita’ (2010–2013)

Image via The CW

Advertisement

Nikita is an action drama that is perfect for any enthusiast of spy thrillers, as it gifts audiences a reimagined story of a rogue operative seeking revenge. The series centers on the rogue escapee of the secret agency Division, Nikita (Maggie Q), as she wars against the organization.

With a strong female lead and action sequences that give it a lasting appeal, Nikita has aged really well over the years since its release, with its much cleaner and tougher story than its CW branding suggests. The show remains a solid example of character-driven espionage that wields legible action and strong emotional continuity. Nikita may have been filed away by reviewers as an all-early-2010s CW action show under disposable teen TV, leading it to go pretty much forgotten by any mainstream audience, but it still delivers intriguing characters, strong action, and an enduring charm.

‘The Little Drummer Girl’ (2018)

Image via BBC One

Advertisement

This immersive thriller offers audiences a slow-burn espionage story rooted in psychological tension. The Little Drummer Girl focuses on a young actress, Charlie (Florence Pugh), whose gift for performance makes her irresistible to an Israeli intelligence operation targeting a Palestinian militant network.

The Little Drummer Girl is a finely aged series, thanks to its visually and emotionally rigorous narrative. The show’s control of rhythm and image gives it tactile seductiveness that audiences still appreciate, but its true strength comes from the series’ moral architecture. The Little Drummer Girl has found itself trapped as a forgotten gem because of its rather finite miniseries format, which often disappears in the vast and fast-paced world of streaming. It may not be the most acknowledged series of today, but it definitely stands as a beautifully aged spy thrill ride.

‘The Company’ (2007)

Image via TNT

Advertisement

The Company is an ambitious spy series that is constantly overlooked for the flashier hits in the genre. The TNT series follows three CIA operatives over the course of several years, tracing their careers from post–World War II Europe through the height of the Cold War.

The Company is a genuinely unique watch and remains so even now. It has aged so well over the years due to the easier granted acceptance of ambitious series. In the early 2000s, The Company came across as much too overstuffed to be truly entertaining. Today, even with a very minimal audience, the series is lauded as an underrated gem that offers audiences a historical scope as it delivers espionage elements through a broader lens than what is usually seen within the genre. The Company may not be the most watched spy series out there, but it’s a fantastically ambitious project that has aged quite nicely.

‘Spy’ (2011–2012)

Image via Sky 1

Advertisement

This British spy drama offers audiences a comedic twist to the espionage genre. The 2011 series, Spy, centers around a failed salesman and struggling father, Tim Elliott (Darren Boyd), who believes he’s applying for a dull office job and instead gets recruited into MI5 training.

With comedy that makes its entirety genuinely charming, Spy delivers a refreshing break from traditional spy shows. The series reimagines the spy world through a lighthearted lens as an unlikely agent navigates absurd missions. Spy ages so well because the series’ comedy is rooted in character rather than mere outrageous parody. It has been largely forgotten since British sitcoms tend to vanish with alarming speed without endless streaming circulation and word-of-mouth worship. Spy is a fantastic counterexample to the idea that spy television has to be serious to be any good, making it an extraordinary watch for modern TV, despite it going mostly unnoticed today.

Advertisement

Spy

Advertisement

Release Date

2011 – 2012-00-00

Network

Advertisement

Sky One

Directors

John Henderson

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Here’s a rundown of Us Weekly‘s top stories making headlines in celebrity news, sports and entertainment on April 22, 2026. Here are key takeaways:

• Vrabel-Russini photos: New photos published by Page Six appear to show New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel and former Athletic reporter Dianna Russini kissing at a New York City bar in March 2020. Vrabel, who announced he would miss the third day of the NFL Draft to attend counseling, said in a statement he was committed to being “the best husband, father and coach that I possibly can be.”

Thank You!

You have successfully subscribed.

Advertisement

• Bachelorette season 22 update: Disney unscripted TV chief Rob Mills told Variety and Deadline the network is taking it “one day at a time” on whether Taylor Frankie Paul‘s shelved Bachelorette season will air. ABC pulled the season in March after footage of a 2023 domestic violence incident involving Paul surfaced, though the Salt Lake City District Attorney’s Office has since declined to press additional charges.

• Summer House relationship drama: Cast member Jesse Solomon said on a podcast he’s unsure whether costars West Wilson and Amanda Batula will last as a couple, adding, “I don’t think he’s ready for a relationship.” The pair confirmed they were dating last month, surprising castmates including Amanda’s estranged husband, Kyle Cooke.

Edited by Samantha Benitz. Story produced with AI assistance

Taylor Frankie Paul is making a bold statement about the criticism regarding her social media usage in the aftermath of avoiding charges in a domestic violence incident with ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen.

Paul, whose viral popularity is the reason why she was tapped to star in Hulu’s “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” has left fans shocked by deactivating both her Instagram and TikTok accounts.

After being in the middle of a legal and media firestorm throughout the last few weeks, Taylor Frankie Paul’s luck has turned around for the better. However, despite being active on social media throughout all the drama (and after), it appears that now she is officially taking a step back.

Fans realized on Thursday, April 23, that Paul deactivated her Instagram and TikTok accounts.

A source close to the MomTok founder told PEOPLE that Paul’s decision to deactivate her accounts is not permanent.

“Taylor is taking a breather,” the insider told the outlet. “It’s been a lot the last couple months to consume and [she] will be back shortly to continue sharing her story. She’ll decide when the time is right to return to filming on ‘Secret Lives.’”

When an online user commented that she should focus on healing “off social media,” Paul defended her decision to continue to interact with and create content.

“That sounds like the reasonable answer, however I will be doing the opposite,” she wrote in reply.  “I’ll continue sharing on social media showing how ugly healing truly can be.”

“Making and editing videos is my way of processing just like people like to write into a journal.. this is my way and I choose to share it,” Paul continued. “Saying this with love, most people would need to get off and so understandable, I’m not most.”

Disney Addressed Future Of Paul’s ‘Bachelorette’ Season Airing

In an exclusive interview with Deadline, Disney’s reality television chief, Rob Mills, spoke about the possibility of Paul’s season of “The Bachelorette” airing at some point.

“The day all of that stuff happened, really our first sort of concern was really for Taylor and the family and everyone involved in that, it was really more on a human level,” he said.

“Now, we’re sort of taking it a day at a time,” Mills said, after “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star avoided domestic violence charges. “I think her season is a wonderful season, by ‘Bachelor’ standards. If it gets seen, I’m sure people will absolutely enjoy it.”

There have been rumors that if Paul’s “Bachelorette” season doesn’t air on ABC, as it has since its inception, it could possibly stream on Hulu instead. However, neither option has been confirmed.

After The Reality Star Escaped Domestic Violence Charges, Prosecutors Explained Why

The office of Salt Lake City district attorney Sim Gill released a statement confirming that no charges against Paul would be filed, citing a lack of evidence and the statute of limitations as the reasons.

“After reviewing reports and evidence submitted to the Draper Police Department and West Jordan Police Department, the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office has declined to file charges against Taylor Frankie Paul,” the statement read, per Deadline.

“The complainant in these cases reported several incidents – some of which occurred more than three years ago,” the statement said. “Any incidents of misdemeanor offenses which are alleged to have occurred more than two years ago are barred by the statute of limitations. Incidents which are alleged to have occurred within the statute of limitations have also been reviewed.”

The DA’s statement continued, “Several incidents that were submitted do not rise to the level of criminal offenses. The remaining incidents lack sufficient evidence to support filing criminal charges where the State must be able to prove such allegations beyond a reasonable doubt. Such incidents lack specificity as to when and what actually occurred or corroboration.”

The Door Is Open For Taylor Frankie Paul’s ‘Mormon Wives’ Return

Per The Hollywood Reporter, the “Mormon Wives” production team is letting Paul take the lead on when (and in what capacity) she wants to return to the show.

An inside source close to the reality star also revealed to the outlet that production continues to remain supportive of Paul, and is ready to film with her at her own pace “if and when she is ready.” 

Paul previously shut down claims from PEOPLE that the show would resume production without her, writing in the Instagram comments of the post, “Interesting, that’s not the call I got.”