5 Best TV Shows To Watch After Zero Day

Netflix’s Zero Day is a political thriller TV series, and there are other TV shows of the same genre but in different styles that are a great companion to it. Netflix’s catalog of TV shows keeps expanding every week, and among its latest additions is Zero Day. Created by Eric Newman, Noah Oppenheim, and Michael Schmidt, Zero Day stars Robert De Niro as former President George Mullen, who was very popular during his run as President for being nonpartisan. Now, Mullen is dragged back into action after a massive cyberattack.

Said cyberattack leads to accidents nationwide and chaos everywhere, killing thousands of people. Mullen is then asked to help find the source of the deadly cyberattack, but this new mission leads him to discover a disturbing web of lies and conspiracies within the government. Zero Day brings together thriller and drama along with politics, all this with a star-studded cast. Zero Day joins the vast world of political thrillers, and there are some that make great companions to it for different reasons, even if they don’t deal with the exact same themes.

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5 Jack Ryan

Jack Ryan Was Released In 2018

John Krasinski as Jack Ryan covered in cuts and bruises in Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan season 3 episode 2. — John Krasinski as Jack Ryan in Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan season 3 episode 2

Jack Ryan is a political action thriller TV series based on Tom Clancy’s book characters. The show follows CIA analyst Jack Ryan (John Krasinski), who is thrown into field work after discovering various dubious bank transfers. These were carried by a rising Islamic extremist, and it’s up to Ryan to stop them. Jack Ryan lived on for a total of four seasons, coming to an end in June 2023, but a spinoff series and a sequel movie are currently in development.

The Jack Ryan media franchise is known as “Ryanverse” and covers novels, movies, video games, and TV shows.

Both Jack Ryan and Zero Day deal with massive threats and the discovery of internal corruption and dark secrets, though at different levels within the government and in different roles. Of course, Jack Ryan is a lot more action-driven than Zero Day, which is more leaned into drama and suspense.

4 Designated Survivor

Designated Survivor Was Released In 2016

Kiefer Sutherland as Thomas Kirkman standing in front of an American flag and behind a podium in Designated Survivor.

Designated Survivor is a political thriller drama TV series created by David Guggenheim and starring Kiefer Sutherland. Designated Survivor introduces Tom Kirkman (Sutherland), the designated survivor for the State of the Union address. On the night of the State of the Union, an explosion at the Capitol Building kills the president and everyone in the line of succession, with the only survivor being Kirkman, then Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. As a result, Kirkman becomes the new President of the United States of America.

Designated Survivor is closer to Zero Day in terms of tone, with a lot less action than other entries on this list.

What follows are the many challenges Kirkman faces as the new President, as well as the initial attack being just the tip of the iceberg of many more dangers and chaos, while Kirkman also struggles to balance his political aspirations with the challenge of being considered a legitimate President. Designated Survivor is closer to Zero Day in terms of tone, with a lot less action than other entries on this list.

3 The Diplomat

The Diplomat Was Released In 2023

The Diplomat is a political thriller TV show created by Debora Cahn. The Diplomat introduces the audience to Kate Wyler (Keri Russell), the newly appointed US ambassador to the UK. Now in this new position, Wyler has to do her best to stop a war after an attack, while forging strategic alliances and adjusting to her new role. In addition to that, Wyler is struggling in her personal life, with her marriage to fellow career diplomat and former US ambassador, Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell), deteriorating, while he tries to meddle in her work.

A composite image of Keri Russell looking on intensely in front of Russell looking distraught while sitting in a chair in The Diplomat

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Just like in Zero Day and Mullen’s mission, The Diplomat’s Wyler has to find the source of a conflict that can threaten something bigger and more catastrophic. The Diplomat is similar to Zero Day in tone and the type of threat their main characters have to face, uncover, and stop, though The Diplomat has some lighter moments from time to time.

2 Paradise

Paradise Was Released In 2025

Paradise is a political thriller TV series created by Dan Fogelman. Paradise centers on Agent Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown), a member of the United States Secret Service. Collins is close to the President, Cal Bradford (James Marsden), who trusts him like no other. One day, Collins finds Bradford dead in his office, and an investigation driven by corruption and concealing dark secrets is unleashed, and Collins and his family aren’t safe anymore. Paradise is very suspense and drama-driven, very much like Zero Day, though their stories are very different.

1 The Night Agent

The Night Agent Was Released In 2023

The Night Agent is an action thriller created by Shawn Ryan and based on the novel of the same name by Matthew Quick. The Night Agent follows Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso), an FBI agent working at the White House as a Night Action telephone operator. One night, the phone rings and Peter is thrown into a deadly conspiracy involving a mole at the highest levels of the United States government.

The threat coming from the depths of the government is similar between these shows.

While he searches for the traitor, Peter has to protect former tech CEO Rose Larkin (Luciane Buchanan) from the people who murdered some members of her family. The Night Agent leans a lot more into action than Zero Day, but the mystery and suspense, along with the threat coming from the depths of the government, are similar between these shows.