Reset is a Chinese language time travel/mystery television show that premiered on Tencent Video in China in 2022. The show opened to fantastic critical and commercial reception and was based on the 2019 novel titled ‘The Beginning’ by author Qi Dao Jun.
The show follows student Li Shiqing and video game designer Xiao Heyun, who find themselves stuck in a never-ending time loop in which they die from an explosion on a moving bus. To avoid their tragic ending, Shiqing and Heyun take matters into their own hands and try to investigate the identity of the bomber on the bus.
Praised for its acting and grounded storytelling, each episode of the show dives deep into the lives of the other passengers on board to humanize them and explore the complex themes of cyberbullying, social responsibility, and victim-blaming culture.
Reset is available in multiple countries on Rakuten Viki, along with LINE TV in Taiwan, J2 in Hong Kong, and Netflix in the Republic of China, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei. For those who wish to see other TV shows like Reset, then make sure to read ahead.
1. Russian Doll
Russian Doll is an American dramedy produced by Netflix that focuses on Nadia Vulvokov, a software engineer who finds herself stuck in a time loop after dying on her 36th birthday. In the first season, Nadia keeps dying repeatedly and finds herself raised from the dead at the same moment in her party.
As she tries to investigate why she is stuck in such a time loop, she meets Alan, a man who committed suicide earlier that day and who is also stuck in the time loop with her.
The series tries to explore the themes of mortality, grieving, mental illness, and alcohol and drug abuse. Whereas the second season of the show explores generational trauma as Nadia and Alan confront their families’ past.
In the second season, Nadia is transported back to 1982, where she soon discovers that she is stuck inside the body of her mother, who is currently pregnant with her. Nadia finds herself compelled to change the course of her past by finding the gold Krugerrand her mother lost that same year.
On the other hand, Alan is transported back to East Berlin in the 1960s and finds himself trapped inside the body of her Ghanaian grandmother. Alan finds himself strongly concerned with the ethics of meddling with the past.
The crux of this series is the acceptance of our past and how we must acknowledge our trauma instead of running away from it. Russian Doll might seem extremely complex on paper, but the show does a great job of handling heavy subject matters in an inventive way that oscillates between funny, sad, and intriguing. In terms of style of storytelling, this show is the closest to Reset.
- Released in: 2019
- No. of seasons: 2
- IMDB Score: 7.7/10
- Cast: Natasha Lyonne, Charlie Barnett, Greta Lee, Annie Murphy, Chloe Sevigny, Elizabeth Ashley, Yul Vazquez, and Ritesh Rajan
- Created by: Natasha Lyonne, Leslye Headland, and Amy Poehler
- Streaming Platform: Netflix
2. The Lazarus Project
The Lazarus Project is a British science fiction television series that focuses on George, a man whose seemingly normal life is halted by a pandemic that leads to mass extinction. However, George wakes up one day only to find himself six months into his past, something that neither his girlfriend nor other people have noticed.
When this happens two times, George learns about the Lazarus Project, a group that is keeping humanity afloat by jumping the whole world back in time when mass extinction-level natural or human disasters threaten the earth.
George also learns that while other people forget about this jump into the past, George can remember because he is a ‘mutant.’ Soon, he joins the Lazarus Project, becomes one of their agents, and tries to find a way to save the world.
The entire show is told from the perspective of George, played by Pappa Essiedu, a skeptical yet eager man who is both parts a hero and a human. Audiences and critics alike have praised Essiedu for creating a flawed character that they can empathize with.
Throughout its one-season run, the show provides a grim view of humanity and explores various philosophical questions like- Should a person give their personal needs more importance over the good of humanity?
The Lazarus Project is highly recommended for people looking for an action-packed television show with great acting, strong suspenseful sequences, and phenomenal pacing. The second season of the show is expected to be released in the Autumn of 2023.
- Released in: 2022
- No. of seasons: 1
- IMDB Score: 7.2/10
- Cast: Paapa Essiedu, Anjli Mohindra, Rudi Dharmalingam, Charly Clive, Caroline Quentin, Tom Burke, Brian Gleeson, Vinette Robinson, and Alec Utgoff
- Created by: Joe Barton
- Streaming Platform: Now (Sky)
3. Dark
Dark is a German science fiction television series that follows the residents of the fictional town of Winden, Germany. Netflix’s first German-language original series, the series, ran for three seasons and received widespread acclaim for its complex narrative, acting soundtrack, and suspenseful atmosphere. The show is set in the aftermath of several children disappearing from a German town.
When the families of the missing children find out about a wormhole in the cave system beneath a local nuclear plant, they travel back in time to the 1920s, 1950s, and 1980s to unravel the conspiracy that spans several generations and that is linked to the mystery surrounding the missing children along with the history of the town and its citizens.
Considered by several publications like the Vulture, BBC, and Buzzfeed as the most notable show of the last decade, Dark is often compared with such hit TV series like- Twin Peaks and Stranger Things.
The show is praised for being a cinematic triumph of the sci-fi thriller genre by being creepy, terrifying, and mysterious at the same time. It is also praised for the complexity of its narrative and for successfully attempting to resolve the character arcs of several of its characters.
- Released in: 2017
- No. of seasons: 3
- IMDB Score: 8.7/10
- Cast: Louis Hofmann, Andreas Pietschman, Dietrich Hollinderbaumer, Ella Lee, Maja Schone, Lena Urzendowsky, Angela Winkler, Florian Panzner, Lisa Vicari, Anne Ratte-Polle, Nina Kronjager, and Barbara Nusse
- Created by: Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese
- Streaming Platform: Netflix
4. Blue Birthday
Blue Birthday is a South Korean romantic thriller web series. It follows Oh Ha-Rin, a woman who still yearns for her first love and closest friend Ji Seo Jun.
Ten years ago, both Oh Ha-Rin and Ji Seo Jun had strong romantic feelings for each other, but when Oh Ha-Rin tries to come clean about her feelings on her 18th birthday, she finds that Ji Seo Jun took his own life. She later discovers a suicide note in which he also confesses his feelings for her.
Now, in the present day, as Oh Ha-Rin reminisces about her past while looking through his belongings, she comes across eight photos that Ji Seo Jun had kept hidden away.
Overcome with feelings, when Oh Ha-Rin starts to burn these images, she finds herself back in high school at the exact moment when these photos were taken. Realizing the opportunity in front of him, Oh Ha-Rin tries to find out why her first love chose to die in an attempt to save him.
Soon, her investigation into his death reveals that Ji Seo Jun might not have killed himself after all. Upon release, the series became an instant hit in China, Japan, and America.
- Released in 2021
- No. of seasons: 1
- IMDB Score: 9.5/10
- Cast: Kim Ye-rim, Yang Hong-seok, Lee Sang-jun, and Kim Gyeol-yu
- Created by: Naver Corporation
- Streaming Platform: Rakuten Viki
5. 365: Repeat the Year
365: Repeat the Year is a South Korean television series that revolves around ten people who are given the opportunity to go back one year into their lives only to find that mysterious things start to take place when their fates are changed in the process.
These ten individuals soon realize that although the offer to reset their lives for a better future is enticing, it has several serious repercussions that will threaten their future.
- Released in: 2020
- No. of seasons: 1
- IMDB Score: 9.3/10
- Cast: Lee Joon-hyuk, Nam Ji-Hyun, Kim Ji-soo, Yang Dong-geun, Lee Si-a, Yoon Joo-sang, Im Ha-ryong, Jung Min-sung, Ahn Seung-gyun, and Lee Yoo-mi
- Created by: Kim Sung-mo
- Streaming Platforms: Rakuten Viki and Prime Video
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6. Triage
Triage is a Thai-language medical drama that focuses on third-year emergency resident Tin, who has to deal with a number of different patients daily. However, Tin’s life is totally transformed when a university student’s car is overturned, and he is rushed to the emergency room.
After Tin fails to save the university student’s life and goes to sleep, he wakes up to find himself stuck in a time loop that starts on the day of the university student’s accident. Tin must find a way to save the student’s life in order to leave the loop. Aside from being a thrilling medical drama with loads of suspense, fans of the show have also praised the chemistry between the characters.
- Released in: 2022
- No. of seasons: 1
- IMDB Score: 8.1/10
- Cast: Tae Darvid Kreepolrerk, Tee Thanapon Jarujitranon, Tonnam Piamchon, Damrongsunthornchai, and Aom Punyawee Jungcharoen
- Created by: Chookiat Sakveerakul and Thanamas Thalerngsuk
- Streaming Platform: YouTube
7. Tunnel
Tunnel is a South Korean drama series set in the 1980s. It follows Detective Park Gwang-Ho, who is trying to catch a notorious serial killer. When one fortunate day, he corners the serial killer and goes through a tunnel, and he comes across the other side in the year 2017.
At the same time, he finds out that the serial killer is still at large and has resumed killing people once again. Because of the thirty-year leap, Detective Kwang-Ho finds himself out of his element and unable to keep up with the changes in society and technology. However, when he joins hands with a young police detective and a criminal psychology professor, he sees a slight sliver of hope in bringing the serial killer to justice.
- Released in: 2017
- No. of seasons: 1
- IMDB Score: 8.3/10
- Cast: Choi Jin-hyuk, Yoon Hyun-min, Lee Yoo-young, Jo Hee-bong, Kim Byung-chui, Kang Ki-young, Lee Si-a, Yang Joo-ho, and Cha Hak-Yeon
- Created by Choi Jin-hee and Studio Dragon
- Streaming Platform: Netflix and Rakuten Viki
8. Someday or One Day
Someday or One Day is a Taiwanese thriller drama series that follows 27-year-old Huang Yu Xuan, whose boyfriend has been missing for two years and is legally presumed dead. On her birthday, she wishes to see him and soon afterward is hit by a car.
However, when she wakes up, she learns that she is in the year 1998 and is trapped in the body of her a high school student named Chen Yan Ru. She soon realizes that the accident that led her to the hospital was not an accident after all. Throughout the series, Huang Yu Xuan tries to uncover the mystery of her boyfriend’s disappearance and why Chen Yan Ru was hospitalized in the first place.
- Released in: 2019
- No. of seasons: 1
- IMDB Score: 8.6/10
- Cast: Greg Han, Ko Chia-yen, Patrick Shih, Alien Huang, Yu-Lin Yen, Joanne Tseng, Dewii Chien, Prince Chiu, Yen Yi-wen, and Chang Han
- Created by: Chien Chi-Feng and Lin Hsin-Hui
- Streaming Platform: Rakuten Viki
9. 12 Monkeys
12 Monkeys is an American television series adapted from the 1995 film of the same name. Set in 2043, 12 Monkeys follows a scavenger names James Cole, who is recruited to travel back in the year 2015 in order to stop the ‘Army of the 12 Monkeys’ from releasing a deadly virus, which resulted in a plague that led to the death of seven billion humans.
When Cole goes back in time, he enlists the help of Dr. Cassandra Railly, a virologist. Hesitant to join Cole at first, Railly agrees to help him after listing to a future recording of herself.
As Cole and Railly try to uncover the identities of the Army of the 12 Monkeys, they come across Jennifer Goines, a math genius whose father Cole has been tasked to kill. 12 Monkeys has received consistent critical reception, especially for its cinematography and set design.
- Released in: 2015
- of seasons: 4
- IMDB Score: 7/10
- Cast: Aaron Stanford, Amanda Schull, Kirk Acevedo, Noah Bean, Todd Stashwick, Emily Hampshire, and Barbara Sukowa
- Created by: Terry Matalas and Travis Fickett
- Streaming Platform: Hulu Plus
10. The Umbrella Academy
The Umbrella Academy is an American web series based on the comic book series of the same name by the lead vocalist and co-founder of the band ‘My Chemical Romance,’ Gerard Way. The series follows the seven children adopted by Sir Reginald Hargreeves who are turned into a superhero team known as ‘The Umbrella Academy.’
In the first season, the estranged siblings who have all grown up are reunited after their father’s death. However, one of their siblings, who has been missing since he was 15, returns from the future only to reveal that a global apocalypse is upon them, and they must work together to stop it.
In the next season, the siblings get stuck in the early 1960s when they realize that JFK not being assassinated in 1963 acts as a catalyst for a nuclear war. Therefore, the siblings must work together to stop this new apocalypse from happening.
In the following season, the siblings realize that their actions in the past have created a new timeline where they have been replaced by ‘The Sparrow Academy,’ and this has led to a paradox that could destroy the universe.
- Released in: 2019
- of seasons: 3
- IMDB Score: 9/10
- Cast: Elliot Page, Tom Hopper, David Castaneda, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan, Aidan Gallagher, Mary J. Blige, Cameron Britton, Ritu Arya, Kate Walsh. And Colm Feore
- Created by: Steve Blackman
- Streaming Platform: Netflix
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