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Over the years, the thriller genre has provided an admirable number of the greatest TV shows in history. These are series all about sustained suspense, sky-high stakes, and races against time that keep the audience in a constant state of nail-biting anticipation. As such, it should be no surprise that such a naturally engaging genre has provided several TV shows that one can’t help but watch from the edge of one’s seat.
It’s one thing for a show to be great, however, and a whole other thing for it to be so legitimately perfect that it’s fully deserving of being called a 10/10. From animated masterpieces like Blue Eye Samurai to live-action classics like Breaking Bad, the most flawless thriller shows in the history of television are proof that even a genre as ambitious as this one is capable of achieving true perfection.
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‘Blue Eye Samurai’ (2023–Present)
Inspired by the works of Akira Kurosawa and iconic characters like Zatoichi and the Man with No Name, Netflix’s Blue Eye Samurai is set in 17th-century Edo-period Japan, following a swordswoman who disguises herself as a man to hunt down the four white men illegally residing in the country. It’s one of the best samurai TV shows of all time and proof that animation deserves far more respect among fans of thriller television.
Blending highly cinematic animation with relentless pacing that makes it feel like an unapologetic roller coaster ride, this revenge thriller contains zero filler. It’s nothing but non-stop suspense and action, with a perfect balance between story and combat set pieces. Voiced by Maya Erskine, Mizu is an absolutely fascinating protagonist whose journey provides the fuel that makes Blue Eye Samurai such a perfect animated show for adults.
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‘Mindhunter’ (2017–2019)
Created by Joe Penhall and executive-produced by Charlize Theron and David Fincher, Netflix’s Mindhunter is an adaptation of the true-crime book Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit by John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker. In it, two FBI agents from the late 1970s revolutionize criminology by interviewing incarcerated killers to understand their psychology and make it easier to catch active murderers.
It’s one of the most gripping detective shows of all time, the sort where every episode feels like a puzzle for both the characters and the audience to solve as quickly as possible. Though its cancellation after only two seasons remains one of the most tragic events in the streaming giant’s history, Mindhunter nonetheless continues to shine through its masterfully slow-burning narrative, its perfectly written dialogue, and its occasionally horrifying performances.
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‘Narcos’ (2015–2017)
As if any more proof were needed that Netflix has reigned supreme when it comes to thriller TV shows from the past few years, there’s also Narcos, a crime drama chronicling the rise and spread of cocaine drug cartels across the world, as well as the conflicting efforts of law enforcement to meet them head-on. All in all, it’s far and away one of the grittiest crime shows of all time and a perfect masterpiece from start to finish.
It’s not just Wagner Moura‘s powerhouse performance as Pablo Escobar, though that has definitely helped to keep the show timeless almost a decade after its conclusion. Rather, it’s the way Narcos blends real-world crime history with high-octane fictional elements, constantly pitting its marvelously written antiheroes against its terrifying antagonists. Both as a docudrama and as a visceral action thriller, it works equally well.
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‘Adolescence’ (2025)
Netflix has also produced some exceptional crime thriller miniseries throughout the last few years, which definitely includes the award-winning Adolescence. It follows the harrowing legal fallout for a family of four after the 13-year-old son is arrested for the murder of a female classmate. The series is only four episodes long, but its emotional and thought-provoking effects last for quite a few days after the credits roll on the series finale.
Indeed, it’s one of the most perfect Netflix miniseries to date, led by Stephen Graham (who co-created the series with Jack Thorne) at the top of his acting game and a revelatory tour-de-force performance by rising star Owen Cooper. Every episode is shot in a single continuous take, which completely removes the usual comfort of traditional editing and leaves the audience absolutely no room to breathe as they inevitably keep clicking “next episode.”
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‘Death Note’ (2006–2007)
Based on Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata‘s manga series of the same name, Death Note is one of the most groundbreaking anime shows of the 21st century, certainly one of those essential shows that should be on all anime fans’ bucket lists. It follows Light Yagami, a high school genius, who finds a supernatural notebook that kills anyone whose name is written in it and decides to use it to purge criminals.
It’s one of the most intelligent and perfectly paced cat-and-mouse thrillers that the small screen has ever seen, the ultimate supernatural chess match for people who love anime television — and even for those who have never seen any other anime show before. Perfectly animated and perfectly written from beginning to end, it’s such an airtight story that even the most seemingly mundane of actions are imbued with the utmost suspense and tension.
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‘Dark’ (2017–2020)
Netflix’s first-ever attempt at making a German-language series came in the form of Dark, a science fantasy mystery thriller unlike any other. It’s set in a small German town, where the search for a young missing child uncovers hidden secrets and a multi-generational time-travel conspiracy connecting four local families. Everything that ensues makes for what’s arguably the greatest time travel and parallel universe sci-fi show the world has ever seen.
At the very least, Dark is one of the best thriller shows since 1990. It was so meticulously planned out from the very beginning that there aren’t any plot holes or significant contrivances, a true rarity for a genre like this. An absolute masterclass in tight plotting, foreshadowing, and dealing with themes like determinism and paradoxes, it’s such an intricately layered (and intellectually challenging) genre show that it’s surprising just how deeply human it feels as well.
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‘Chernobyl’ (2019)
Back in April 1986, a catastrophic nuclear accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Soviet Ukraine released massive amounts of radiation across Europe. This is the subject of Chernobyl, the kind of show that proves why there’s a strong argument to be made in favor of HBO being the undisputed masters of the miniseries format. Seven years after its airing, it’s still the second-highest-rated miniseries of all time on IMDb.
Chernobyl pulls absolutely no punches in depicting the harrowing tragedy of not only the actual aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster, but also of all the systemic deceit and bureaucratic cover-ups that surrounded the event before and after it occurred. Thanks to its top-tier performances, elite production values, and some of the most insightful writing that any docudrama from the small screen has ever seen, it’s one of those thriller miniseries whose every episode is perfect.
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‘Breaking Bad’ (2008–2013)
Could there ever be any question? When talking about the greatest crime shows, thriller shows, or drama shows in the history of television, what series could possibly come out on top if not the one that’s most often hailed as the greatest TV show of all time? It is, of course, Breaking Bad, one of those drama shows that have aged like fine wine. At the beginning, its ratings were pretty modest, and it nearly faced cancellation. However, after the series became available on Netflix ahead of Season 4’s airing, it quickly turned into the hugely bingeable phenomenon that it’s still remembered as today.
Breaking Bad is to television what The Godfather is to cinema: A crime drama of such tremendous quality that even those who don’t love it understand why it’s so hyper-acclaimed. The performances are perfect, the writing is perfect, the visuals are perfect, the pacing is perfect; absolutely everything that makes up Breaking Bad is a masterclass. As far as its thriller elements go, rarely has history seen any TV series this effectively suspenseful or exciting.
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Diego Pineda Pacheco
Almontather Rassoul
