The 9 Best Crime Thriller Shows Ever Made

Image via MovieStillsDB Published Sep 20, 2026, 9:00 PM EDT Faith Roswell is a Senior Writer on Screen Rant's Classic TV team. Since earning her degree in Creative Writing over a decade ago, Faith has written articles on film and TV from a variety of different angles. Faith now combines her knowledge of psychology with her love of monster movies to give more insight into what makes the best ones. You may have read her Screen Rant lists and features covering horror, sci-fi, and fantasy, or read her Amazon Top 10 book, "Movie Monsters of the Deep." Faith has had an extensive career as a writer, appearing on BBC live radio, researching true crime for Rotten Mango podcast, and writing for publications including Mental Floss, Atlas Obscura, and The Daily Jaws before beginning here at Screen Rant. Sign in to your ScreenRant account The crime thriller genre is one of the most popular and versatile in TV, ranging from slow-burn shows with horrifying twists to high-octane series full of action and stunts. The genre combines the clever detective work and procedural aspects of a perfect crime TV show with the suspense and action of a great thriller, creating a blend that has evolved to become a genre all of its own. Now, most lists of the best TV shows of all time contain plenty of crime thrillers, which is hardly surprising given the potential for standout acting, iconic characters, and unforgettable scenes. While tension and surprise are essential elements of a crime thriller, the best ever made offer viewers something new and unexpected. This can be an especially good portrayal of a real person, a legendary TV twist that nobody saw coming, or a plot that is so well-written that there are no loose ends left by the end of the story. This extra detail can often come to define the show, turning it into a legend in its own genre, and sometimes a vital piece of TV history. Narcos Narcos is one of the best true-crime series on Netflix, following the reign of Pablo Escobar (Wagner Moura) from his beginnings manufacturing cocaine to the carnage left after his death. While there are some composite characters and other originals created for the show, many of the characters in Narcos are based on real people, which highlights the acting skills of the cast. Moura's portrayal of the legendary drug kingpin has been highly praised, but another highlight is the post-Game of Thrones but pre-Mandalorian Pedro Pascal as the DEA agent Javier Peña, who played a key role in taking down Escobar. Peña worked as a consultant on Narcos on the condition that the drug lord would be portrayed accurately rather than glorified. The series can be binged in a few days, with its spinoff, Narcos: Mexico, being just as good as the original, but there is more to Narcos than simply being bingeworthy. It is no easy task to condense decades into hours, but Narcos' pacing is perfect. Each season tells a cinematic story with a beginning, middle, and end, with absolutely no filler, allowing the story to move forward at breakneck speed but without sacrificing character development. Ozark Image courtesy of MovieStillsDb Some crime thrillers focus so much on creating shock factor that they forget the value of the quieter moments of tension, in which you can practically see the characters' minds racing. Ozark does not, and the show's signature dark aesthetic and masterful character writing set it apart from other crime thrillers. Centering on a married couple laundering money for the Mexican cartel, Ozark has elements of a family drama but quickly escalates into gang wars and extreme violence that has resulted in the show being likened to a darker version of Breaking Bad. Ozark's four seasons are perfect from start to finish, and part of this is due to its unusual blend of worlds, with the corporate life of Marty Byrde clashing with the corruption of the Cartel. Unlike many other crime thrillers that feature an unknowing family as part of the plot, Ozark stands out yet again for the way in which the entire family get drawn into the crime business. This results in us watching the rise of one of TV's most formidable crime families, from the cold and sanitized beginning to its brutal and shocking end. Hannibal Image via MovieStillsDB Few violent TV shows can be described as "beautiful," and yet every episode of Hannibal requires the viewer to see horror as art. From the show's signature death tableaux to the perfectly-designed meals that we are aware more often than not contain bits of people, Hannibal challenges our perception of beauty through its aesthetic. After Anthony Hopkins' career-defining portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, one of the greatest thriller movies of the past 50 years, recasting the character and making a TV show was a risky decision, but Hannibal was an unexpected masterpiece. The series took some major creative risks, updating some of the characters for the modern age, like Freddie Lounds, who became a ghoulish true crime blogger instead of a tabloid journalist, but these paid off, giving the show an identity all its own. The show followed a "case of the week" format, introducing more artistically-inclined serial killers than could be imagined or realistic. That said, this lack of realism doesn't matter in context, as Hannibal's visuals and character arcs are perfect, making the series' cancelation after season three even more tragic. Mindhunter Based on the real-life FBI experiment that involved interviewing serial killers in prison in an attempt to prevent future crimes by understanding their psychology, Mindhunter is unlike any other TV crime thriller ever made. The results of the interviews have been central to movies like The Silence of the Lambs, but the experiment itself had not been realistically televised until Mindhunter. This may be because the crimes had already happened and the FBI agents involved made mistakes, but this contributed to the show's success, proving that a flawless crime thriller does not always need onscreen violence and a perfect detective. Mindhunter is the smartest crime show of the 21st century for the way it presents the FBI agents as flawed characters discovering a branch of psychology that had previously been unknown, while true-crime fans are more likely to spot the clues. This flips the narrative upside down, as viewers are usually left to marvel at the detective work featured. David Fincher's distinctive visual style makes Mindhunter instantly recognizable, and the show's acting is some of the best on TV, with Cameron Britton's portrayal of the terrifying Ed Kemper winning him a Primetime Emmy Award. The Wire Image via MovieStillsDB Making a high-quality detective TV show is not always easy, but making one that will stand the test of time in a sea of other police procedurals is a seemingly impossible task. However, The Wire is unmatched as a crime series for the way it explores crime as a concept. Many thrillers follow a "good guy vs bad guy" narrative, but The Wire goes deeper. Through the eyes of the season's central characters, Baltimore is treated almost as a living thing, with the show exploring the root cause of crime rather than just its effects. The Wire starts small, looking into Baltimore's drug trade, before widening its scope to provide an insight that few other shows explore in such detail, presenting the system as the villain rather than a specific person. Even when we think we know what is coming next, The Wire provides shocks along the way, introducing iconic characters like Omar Little and D'Angelo Barksdale, whose fates come to define the show, which is often compared to a modern Greek tragedy, and described as one of the best TV shows ever made. The Shield Despite featuring one of TV's greatest antihero characters, The Shield is often forgotten, airing on cable at the same time as The Sopranos and The Wire, which were dominating the conversation. While The Shield spent much of its time following a police procedural format, describing it in this way this does not do justice to the show's writing, action, and character development, which hinted at the ambition of the series from the very first episode. Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) shoots a fellow cop dead and covers it up, with the action and corruption growing in every direction from that moment. Fans of the actors in The Shield may recognize many in Sons of Anarchy, including Walton Goggins, CCH Pounder, Kenny Johnson, Jay Carnes, and Katey Sagal. The show rewrote the rules of the crime thriller genre, replacing step-by-step procedural elements with chaos and corruption in virtually every capacity, from the police to politics, and The Shield explores the intersection of both. As Mackey grows desperate, the action and violence escalates into a truly harrowing finale that nobody could have seen coming, and has never yet been equaled. The series attracted prestige actors like Glenn Close and Forest Whitaker, and impressed both audiences and critics on Rotten Tomatoes, who gave it 90% and 96% respectively. Money Heist Credit: MovieStillsDB Aside from the distinctive red jumpsuits, Salvador Dalí masks, and characters named after cities, Money Heist is instantly unforgettable for its complex plot that involves an ambitious mission, not to rob a bank, but to rob the entire Royal Mint of Spain. With each member of Money Heist's central team being recruited for a criminal specialty, and masterminded by a character known only as The Professor who appears to have thought of every possible thing that could go right and wrong, the only thing he has not taken into account is human nature. Money Heist is a Netflix crime thriller that redefined streaming, being an international show that attracted a much wider audience than it originally had when it first arrived on the streaming platform, and gaining enough attention through Netflix that it is now a franchise. The series' character-driven story is timeless and exists alongside one of the most genius heists ever made for TV, without either plotline overshadowing the other. After the original ending, the follow-up seasons were just as good as the first, and Money Heist has a 94% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. ​​​​​​ Reacher Image via MovieStillsDB Reacher might be one of the more recent shows on this list, but the TV adaptation of Lee Child's bestselling Jack Reacher novel series has become an instant triumph thanks to its faithfulness to the source material and Alan Ritchson's career-defining role as the titular ex-military drifter who keeps finding himself in trouble. The series has captured the spirit of the books while also taking into account the necessary adjustments involved in adapting it, with each of Reacher's four seasons being better than the last, with excellent supporting characters and inventive fight scenes. It is a testament to the skill of the show's writers that a somewhat repetitive concept has been turned into a series that is not only full of twists for new viewers, but can even offer fans of the books some surprises. Knowing which details to keep and what to change can make or break an adaptation, and Reacher has perfectly reflected the tone of the books while translating the internal monologues into sharp dialogue and very quotable one-liners. With 30 books in the series, Reacher looks likely to continue indefinitely, remaining TV's best crime thriller in years. Breaking Bad Breaking Bad started more slowly than many remember, but built over time into the mesmerizing downfall of its main character, making the show and many of its actors into legends. The journey of a mild-mannered chemistry teacher who builds a drug empire to pay for his cancer treatment is exciting enough, but the acting performances are some of the best on TV. Breaking Bad redefined the way we see Bryan Cranston, previously best known for playing dorky dad Hal in Malcolm in the Middle, and became such a cultural phenomenon that it is even referenced in other TV shows. The five seasons of Breaking Bad Season Year Rotten Tomatoes critics' rating Rotten Tomatoes audience rating 1 2008 86% 95% 2 2009 97% 96% 3 2010 100% 97% 4 2011 100% 98% 5 2012 97% 98% Breaking Bad's best scenes are masterclasses in acting, and while the series is sometimes hard to watch, you cannot look away. Still, the factor that takes Breaking Bad from perfect to legendary is the amount of hidden detail that only becomes clear on a rewatch. The logo appears on multiple surfaces, episode titles only make sense in hindsight ("Seven Thirty-Seven", "Down", "Over", "ABQ,") and the series references The X-Files, where Gilligan first met Cranston. Breaking Bad's critics and audiences have given the show 96% and 97% positive Rotten Tomatoes ratings.