10 Best Crime TV Shows (Since Breaking Bad)

True Detective season two was a mess. It was boring, confusing, forgettable. There were odd casting choices and bland twists. Season three was a marked improvement, with a towering performance from Mahershala Ali and some of the best aging makeup you’ll ever see - but still, it wasn’t amazing.

True Detective makes it on this list by sheer merit of its debut season, without a doubt one of the single runs of TV in recent memory. When it came out, it was simply spellbinding. It had the kind of mystery that has viewers theorising, swapping possible solutions online. It had a great setting, unbeatable tension, amazing setpieces.

Most importantly, it had Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey as the leads. The real life pals went all in for their starring turns as troubled cops getting themselves deep into an ever evolving case. The show played brilliantly with timelines, and was suspenseful in its utter unpredictability.

The sophomore season remains one of TV’s great letdowns, but that doesn’t cloud the incredible quality of the first case (as well as the third, which is very much worth watching).