Emily Owens, M.D. Season 1

If you want a drama that takes its characters as seriously as its plot, Emily Owens, M.D. Season 1 is available on streaming right now. The 1-season run is exactly the right length for what it is doing. 27 viewers have already rated it on TMDB — the kind of consensus that does not happen by accident. Mamie Gummer's performance alone is worth the time investment. Put it on tonight and see for yourself.

There is a reason Emily Owens, M.D. Season 1 keeps coming up in conversation. Emily Owens, M.D. Season 1 takes its time building the world its characters inhabit, and the patience pays off. Emily Owens is now a first-year intern at Denver Memorial Hospital, where she'll have the chance to work with world-famous cardiologist Dr. Gina Beckett—and where, not-so-coincidentally, her med-school crush Will Rider is also an intern. Emily soon finds out her high school nemesis, the gorgeous, popular Cassandra Kopelson, is also just starting out at Denver Memorial, and it seems like they're rivals all over again—not only as surgical interns, but for Will's attention. Mamie Gummer and Justin Hartley lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was aired in 2012. The writing trusts the audience to sit with ambiguity rather than wrapping everything up in a tidy conclusion — it is the approach that separates good drama from great. It delivers reliably on what it promises, which is more than most of its competition manages.

Emily Owens, M.D. Season 1 is what you recommend to people who say they do not really watch much. If you have run out of similar titles to watch, this is a strong next pick. Short enough to finish in a weekend, substantial enough to feel satisfying. Mamie Gummer's work here is the kind that gets referenced in career retrospectives. It makes everything else feel thin by comparison.