The 10 Best Crime TV Shows Where Every Episode Gets Darker

At the heart of the appeal of so many great crime shows is a sense of macabre intrigue, a morbid curiosity that invites viewers to revel in the dark depravity of human behavior. It doesn’t matter whether the series focuses on complicated and compromised detectives investigating a deranged serial killer or an ordinary man’s descent into the corruption, violence, and power of the drug trade, the wicked immersion in human evil is compelling to say the least.

Ranging from monumental smash hits of network television to streaming sensations, novel adaptations, and even underrated cult classics, these crime TV series all excel at delivering stories that grow increasingly dark with each passing episode. Striking a balance between entertainment value, thematic depth, and confronting bleakness, these shows stand not only among crime television’s best titles, but among its most addictive and impressionable as well.

10

‘Sharp Objects’ (2018)

Image via HBO

One of HBO’s most criminally underrated series in the past decade, Sharp Objects combines a gruesome murder mystery with nuanced and piercing character drama while capturing a mesmerizing atmosphere of Southern Gothic eeriness. Based on Gillian Flynn’s novel, it unfolds as a crime reporter, still recovering from her own issues of abuse and addiction, travels to her hometown to investigate the murder of two young girls. As she wrestles with the increasingly disturbing crime, she must also confront re-emerging demons from her childhood.

Powered by Amy Adams’s outstanding lead performance, Sharp Objects never loses grasp of its dramatic might even as the intricacies of the case and the intensifying family conflict continuously deliver shocking twists and turns. With a final scene that is sure to leave all who view it in a state of petrified dissonance, Sharp Objects grows darker and bolder as each episode pries deeper into Camille’s traumatic past and how it clashes with the violent atrocity she is investigating.

9

‘The Wire’ (2002–2008)

Image via HBO Max

Given that The Wire starts as a brutally realistic descent into the Baltimore drug trade, it is difficult to say the series truly grows darker throughout its five-season run. However, it undeniably becomes increasingly hopeless and depressing as it drastically expands its scope to analyze the systemic issues in a vast range of societal institutions that plague the city, ranging from corruption in the police force to the shifting, self-interested priorities of city hall, and even to the ineffectiveness of the public school system.

While enrapturing, its tone is undeniably bleak, especially as it combines its all-encompassing scale and its penchant for authenticity with profoundly human characters. Seasons 4 and 5 do become particularly confronting as well, with the series expanding to explore the lives of school kids embroiled in the drug war and the career-minded immorality of journalism that reduces reporting crime in the city to an entertainment spectacle. As a whole, The Wire is one of TV’s most astonishing masterpieces and a quintessential viewing experience, but its relentless tonal intensity and cold realism do make it challenging to watch.

8

‘The Shield’ (2002–2008)

Image via FX

While it was underrated when it was airing, The Shield has come to be celebrated as one of the most absorbing and intense series of the 2000s. Produced by FX, it revolves around the Strike Team, a police unit operating in a crime-riddled region of L.A. under the command of Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis), who encourages the use of illegal and brutal methods to enforce the law while finding ways to profit from street crime.

Its first episode is renowned for its jaw-dropping ending that reveals the immorality and corruption of the Strike Team in no uncertain terms. The series only grows darker and more harrowing from there, delving into every detail of the main characters’ complex psyches of moral bankruptcy and self-justification while touching on their own personal dilemmas that range from familial dysfunction to issues with sexuality. Impressively, The Shield is at its darkest in its final season as the characters face dire consequences for their crimes, with its sense of real-world recompense painting a morbid portrait of justice in modern society as reputations and public image play a more significant role than punishing those who have done wrong.

7

‘Bates Motel’ (2013–2017)

Image via A&E

As is the case with any spin-off of an all-time classic, Bates Motel is an intriguing combination of original ideas and respect for the original story, in this case, Alfred Hitchcock’s genre-defining classic, Psycho. Serving as a prequel, the five-season series follows Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) and his mother, Norma (Vera Farmiga), in their murderous escapades as they manage the Bates Motel.

While earlier seasons feel misguided, viewing Norman and Norma as anti-heroes to a certain extent, the series does begin to indulge in its dark and twisted allure in time. It is no coincidence that as the series grows more depraved, it also becomes more transfixing and wickedly delightful. By Season 5, Bates Motel has bridged the gap between its lackluster opening and the events of Psycho to be one of the most psychologically twisted yet grotesquely absorbing treats of crime television as well as a hard-hitting highlight of small-screen horror.

6

‘True Detective’ (2014–Present)

Image via HBO

While its exceptional first season is a clear standout of the anthology series, each installment of True Detective runs with a similar formula as they start vague and eerie before delving deeper into both the gruesome details of the crimes and the complexity of the detectives investigating them. Whereas many mystery shows start with a sinister inexplicability only to grow more comfortable and simpler as major clues are revealed, True Detective excels at only growing darker and more disturbing as new details of the crimes emerge.

Season 1 is perhaps the greatest example of this television has ever seen, a moody Southern Gothic slow-burn thriller that sees an occult killing expand into a web of corruption, power, and sexual depravity revolving around major figures in the Louisiana region. Ensuing seasons, while not quite as potent, are similarly adept at opening on an isolated crime that becomes tied to a wider conspiracy. Through not only the nature of the criminal actions, but the way in which the stories unfold as well, True Detective is brilliant at ensuring its unfurling mysteries grow increasingly darker with each episode.

5

‘The Fall’ (2013–2016)

Image via BBC

Taking a completely original approach to a familiar crime premise, The Fall revolves around a police officer’s hunt for a serial killer in Northern Ireland. However, while Superintendent Gibson’s (Gillian Anderson) meticulous and often obsessive investigation of the case is a core focus of the series, so too are the experiences and plotting of the murderer, with Jamie Dornan co-starring as Paul Spector, a man launching violent attacks on professional women in Belfast while hiding under the guise of a harmless and ordinary family man.

The series’ unique approach imbues it with a piercing, energized air of dread and intrigue from the outset. Seeing how Spector plans and executes his killings only imbues Gibson’s investigation with a greater sense of urgency, and the series masters the art of extracting tension even when the audience knows far more about what is going on than the characters. By Season 3, The Fall is firing on all cylinders as a relentlessly suspenseful and viciously dark crime series powered by two outstanding lead performances.

4

‘We Own This City’ (2022)

Image via HBO

Co-created by David Simon—the co-creator of the aforementioned The Wire—We Own This City is a sprawling and intricately layered descent into true crime as it examines the corrupt practices of the Baltimore Police Department’s Gun Trace Task Force. Based on Justin Fenton’s nonfiction book, the six-part miniseries is framed as an FBI investigation into the unit’s illegal activities, with Sgt. Wayne Jenkins’s (Jon Bernthal) history with the squad as both a recruit and a commander being the major focus.

Its intense time-jumping narrative style does make it difficult to grasp on first viewing, but We Own This City excels as one of the most incisive and essential crime series of the past decade. Not only does it address the integral issue of police corruption with incredible depth and detail, but it also analyses America’s failed campaign in the War on Drugs, how trust between the public and integral social institutions has been dismantled, as well as the cultural issues that make combating police malpractice so difficult. With each episode broadening the story’s scope while deepening the examination of its core issues, We Own This City only grows bleaker and more damning as it goes on.

3

‘Ozark’ (2017–2022)

Image via Netflix

One of the most noteworthy television successes in Netflix’s brief history so far, Ozark toes a delicate line between ferocious crime drama and enthralling thrills throughout its gripping four-season run. A huge reason why the series works so well and maintains such a propulsive sense of momentum is its ability to constantly up the stakes while delving into darker and more unnerving threats surrounding the Byrde family.

It follows financial advisor Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) as a poor business decision from a partner lands him in debt to a Mexican drug cartel. When he conceives a plan to smuggle drugs into the country through the Missouri Ozarks and use local businesses to launder money, he and his family are sent to the region to oversee the criminal operation. Between clashing with local crooks, evading the clutches of law enforcement, and answering to the cartel, Ozark sees the Byrdes thrust on a relentlessly suspenseful and increasingly sinister journey of violent crime where any misstep could bring about a swift demise for the entire family.

2

‘Hannibal’ (2013–2015)

Image via NBC

An astonishing feat of network television that was not appreciated enough when it was on the air, Hannibal broke new ground for free-to-air censorship with its ultra-stylized gore, violently twisty storytelling, and its pervasive air of darkness and dread. Based on characters created by Thomas Harris, the NBC series unfolds as Will Graham (Hugh Dancy), an FBI profiler with a unique ability to empathize with serial killers, works with the bureau’s Behavioral Science Unit on an active case. Due to concerns for Graham’s well-being, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) is assigned to monitor him.

In addition to its exceptional performances, gorgeous though gruesome production, and its creative dare, Hannibal soars through the complex evolution of the relationship between Graham and Lecter. By the third and final season, the series’ murder mystery component is playing second fiddle to its intimate focus on the depraved nuances and animosity of the two men’s bond. Growing darker in both a thematic sense and in terms of its creative fervor for explicit gore, Hannibal starts off deliciously depraved and only intensifies from there.

1

‘Breaking Bad’ (2008–2013)

Image via AMC

One of the most famous arcs in television history, Walter White’s (Bryan Cranston) morbid descent from being a suburban family man and high school teacher to becoming a ruthless, cruel, and brutal crime lord makes for arguably the best story the small-screen has ever seen. It also makes for one of the darkest, with Breaking Bad’s tone drifting from thrilling entertainment to bleak and confronting character drama over the course of its five-season run.

While there are noteworthy milestones in Walter’s journey of corruption and amorality—from watching Jane (Kristin Ritter) overdose to actively poisoning a child to manipulate Jesse (Aaron Paul)—the series as a whole tracks his gradual decline in a linear fashion. Complimented by an abundance of volatile twists, plenty of passages of unbearable suspense, consistently magnificent performances from all involved, and Vince Gilligan’s uncompromised vision for the series, Breaking Bad excels as one of the greatest and darkest shows television has ever seen.