Cover Keri Russell returns as beleaguered American ambassador Kate Wyler in season four of Netflix’s prestige political drama ‘The Diplomat’ (Photo: Netflix)
Keri Russell returns as beleaguered American ambassador Kate Wyler in season four of Netflix’s prestige political drama ‘The Diplomat’ (Photo: Netflix)
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From Netflix’s ‘The Diplomat’ season four to Mike Flanagan’s reimagining of ‘Carrie’ on Prime Video, these are the new and returning TV shows worth adding to your streaming watchlist
Looking for must-watch TV shows streaming right now? A varied line-up of new releases and returning favourites across Netflix, Prime Video and HBO Max is now streaming, from political power plays to supernatural horror, superhero mysteries and sweeping literary drama.
Netflix’s The Diplomat returns for a fourth season, with Keri Russell navigating the personal and political fallout of life at the highest levels of American diplomacy. On Prime Video, filmmaker Mike Flanagan takes on Stephen King’s Carrie with a contemporary take on teenage cruelty and telekinetic terror. Meanwhile, DC’s Lanterns trades conventional superhero spectacle for a grounded detective story, while East of Eden adapts John Steinbeck’s classic novel into a seven-episode drama led by Florence Pugh.
Whether you’re after a tense political thriller, a chilling horror series or a character-driven drama, these are four shows to put on your streaming watchlist.
In case you missed it: Political thrillers like ‘The Diplomat’: 7 series led by formidable women
‘The Diplomat’ season four (2026)
Above Incisive dialogue and a combustible cast keep Netflix’s ‘The Diplomat’ firing, even four seasons in
Watch on: Netflix
Netflix’s acclaimed political drama The Diplomat has returned for season four and remains as sharp as ever. Created by Debora Cahn, who also serves as showrunner and executive producer, the series continues to balance high-stakes diplomacy with the messy business of marriage, delivering another tightly paced season led by Keri Russell as Kate Wyler and Rufus Sewell as her husband, Hal. Their chemistry crackles, even as their personal and political loyalties become increasingly difficult to disentangle.
Allison Janney, who joined the series as Vice President Grace Penn in season two before becoming a series regular in season four, is a formidable presence once again. Her performance earned her the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2026. Meanwhile, Bradley Whitford is compelling as the insecure first gentleman Todd Penn, whose position within the White House adds another layer to the drama.
Returning cast members Ali Ahn, Ato Essandoh, Rory Kinnear and Nana Mensah round out an ensemble whose characters have ambitions and allegiances of their own. Rather than serving merely as supporting players in Kate and Hal’s story, they help give the series its richly textured geopolitical backdrop.
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‘Carrie’ (2026)
Above Mike Flanagan updates Stephen King’s ‘Carrie’ for Prime Video, with Summer H Howell as the telekinetic teen at its heart
Watch on: Prime Video
Mike Flanagan, the man behind Netflix horror hits such as The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass and The Fall of the House of Usher, moves beyond the streamer where he has set up shop for years. Carrie, his first series with Prime Video, which has signed him to an exclusive multi-year television deal, is the latest screen version of Stephen King’s debut novel.
Instead of retreading Brian De Palma’s seminal 1976 film starring Sissy Spacek, Flanagan reimagines the familiar tale of the telekinetic outcast for a generation navigating viral bullying, social media scrutiny and school shooting drills. Played by Summer H Howell, Carrie White is more than just an isolated, tormented teenager. Flanagan’s version gives her a sweetness and vulnerability that make the cruelty directed at her all the more unsettling, while Samantha Sloyan lends added complexity to the role of her controlling mother, Margaret. The series also introduces series-original character Emaline, an astral-projecting agent of pure chaos, hinting at connections to the wider King universe.
This isn’t Flanagan’s first time breathing life into King’s work. He adapted Gerald’s Game for Netflix and brought Doctor Sleep and The Life of Chuck to the big screen. Despite initial reservations about another Carrie remake, King eventually gave Flanagan’s take his blessing and joined the series as an executive producer.
See more: The most exciting TV shows to watch on Prime Video Q4 of 2026, from ‘Carrie’ to ‘Blade Runner 2099’
‘Lanterns’ (2026)
Above DC’s ‘Lanterns’, available to stream on HBO Max, sets aside superhero spectacle for a ‘True Detective’-style mystery, following Kyle Chandler’s Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart as two Green Lanterns forced to work together
Watch on: HBO Max
Following the arrival of a new Superman and Supergirl in James Gunn’s revamped DC Universe, Lanterns takes the franchise in a decidedly different direction. Created by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof and Tom King, the HBO Max series trades conventional superhero spectacle for a grounded, True Detective-style mystery, marking a stark departure from the poorly received 2011 Green Lantern film starring Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively.
The series reworks familiar Green Lantern mythology around a prickly partnership between the veteran Lantern Hal Jordan, played by Kyle Chandler, and his successor-in-training, John Stewart, played by Aaron Pierre. Cynical and cantankerous, Hal is a far cry from the infallible mentor John expects, while the latter’s rigid sense of duty leaves little room for his trainer’s unorthodox methods.
Both men are dealing with their respective past traumas, which makes their fraught relationship as much a psychological study as a superhero origin story. When they finally see eye to eye, their gradual shift from mutual frustration to hard-won trust gives the show its emotional core, anchoring its cosmic scale in a recognisably human struggle.
See more: Kyle Chandler movies and TV shows: 7 roles that prove he was born to play Hal Jordan in ‘Lanterns’
‘East of Eden’ (2026)
Above Zoe Kazan adapts John Steinbeck’s ‘East of Eden’ for Netflix as a limited series, with Florence Pugh as Cathy Ames
Watch on: Netflix
Netflix’s adaptation of John Steinbeck’s epic 1952 novel East of Eden brings a fresh perspective to a literary classic, with Florence Pugh leading the seven-episode limited series as Cathy Ames. This version, from writer and co-showrunner Zoe Kazan—the granddaughter of Elia Kazan, who directed the acclaimed 1955 film starring James Dean—takes advantage of the longer format to explore the novel’s sprawling family saga and its questions about good, evil and free will.
Unlike the film, which focused largely on the final third of the novel and the conflict between Cal and Aaron Trask, the series puts Pugh’s Cathy front and centre, giving the fiercely independent and morally complex character more room to breathe. Often read as a retelling of the biblical story of Cain and Abel and a study on nature versus nurture, Steinbeck’s novel examines how family histories and the concept of “timshel”—or personal choice—shape the next generation.
In Zoe Kazan’s adaptation, Cathy, whose actions drive a wedge between Adam Trask, played by Christopher Abbott, and his brother Charles, played by Mike Faist, feels more flesh-and-blood than an embodiment of wickedness. By tracing the experiences and choices behind her destructive behaviour, the series invites viewers to reconsider a character often defined by her malice without necessarily excusing her actions.
Whether you prefer the political manoeuvring of The Diplomat, the horror of Carrie, the detective-led superhero mystery of Lanterns or the family tensions of East of Eden, these four series offer very different reasons to settle in for a night of television. With a returning season, two adaptations of celebrated novels and a reworked Green Lantern story across Netflix, Prime Video and HBO Max, your weekend viewing is covered.
Maggie Adan is a content writer, editor, and strategist with extensive experience across print, digital, and social media publishing. Formerly editor-in-chief at K-Zone Philippines, Summit Books and Content Lab, she has written lifestyle stories covering everything from entertainment and travel to beauty and wellness. A storyteller at heart with a keen editorial eye and a passion for narrative, she contributes to various publications and helps brands create and curate content for their social media platforms.
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