Last week, I started watching a new show on HBO Max called The Flight Attendant and I was instantly hooked! If you haven’t heard, it’s a dramedy show based on the novel of the same name by Chris Bohjalian. It stars Kaley Cuoco as Cassie Bowden, a flight attendant who has a whirlwind night with a man she met on an international flight, only to black out and subsequently wake up to him murdered in his hotel room the next morning. From there, we follow along as she tries to piece together what happened that night. The show also stars Michiel Huisman, Zosia Mamet, Rosie Perez, and Nolan Gerard Funk.
This show is so much fun! I love a good mystery. I’m also really intrigued by shows about women committing crimes or who are conventionally “unlikeable” and imperfect. And of course dark humor ties it together well.
By the way, I love a mini-series with just 1 season. It’s so refreshing: Take the time to tell a good story and then be done with it. I wish more shows would follow suit (and movies, since many book to film adaptations would work so much better as a 10-part series).
After watching the show I was reminded of some similar shows that I really like, so I put them together in a list of recommendations. So here are some shows to watch if you’re looking for more like The Flight Attendant!
1. Dead to Me
Dead to Me is about 2 women (played by Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini) who meet at a grief group counseling session and become friends, while a dark secret brews between them.
This show is the most similar to The Flight Attendant in that both shows feature women struggling with personal issues, whose lives take a big turn after traumatic events. Also similar to  The Flight Attendant, Dead to Me turns into a mystery with shocking revelations. And of course there’s humor along the way.
2. Good Girls
Good Girls is a dramedy about 3 desperate women (played by Christina Hendricks, Retta, and Mae Whitman) who decide to rob a grocery store to get money for their families. But of course this subsequently leads them down a dark path of crime and murder.
The situations these ladies get themselves into are so wild and are usually the result of trying to fix things or take control in some way…but they usually just end up making things worse. That reminds me so much of The Flight Attendant, as Cassie screws up A LOT on that show.
3. Fleabag
Fleabag (starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge) is a bit hard to describe but it’s about a woman coming to terms with her issues on sex, family, and tragedy. The way I describe it doesn’t sound interesting or funny at all but it’s so intriguing to watch the plot unfold. It’s not a mystery or crime show like the others, but I included it on this list because it has similar vibes. Imperfect women using sex (and alcohol in The Flight Attendant) to fill a void in their lives instead of dealing with their personal issues.
I love the quirkiness of both shows as well. For example, on The Flight Attendant, there are moments when she goes into her subconscious and finds herself talking to the man who was murdered. Or on Fleabag, we don’t ever get to know the main character’s name on the show and she often breaks the 4th wall to talk right to the camera. Fleabag is an excellent show and I highly recommend it, as Phoebe is fantastic in it.
Have you seen The Flight Attendant or any of these other shows? What other crime dramedy shows starring women would you recommend?
