With True Detective midway through Season 4, the following are shows to watch if you like your crime dramas similarly dark and mysterious.
True Detective is one of the most acclaimed shows of the last decade, with Seasons 1 and 3 receiving rave reviews (the less said about Season 2, the better), and Season 4 currently carrying a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
We concurred in the Dexerto review of True Detective: Night Country, awarding the season 5/5, and stating: “A story so dark shouldn’t be this much fun, but Night Country is a cracking whodunnit that will keep you guessing until the final few reels. It’s also the best True Detective since Season 1.”
So if you like True Detective, and want to watch more shows about unhappy police officers probing unpleasant crimes, the following are seven of the best…
Shows to watch like True Detective
True Detective usually has a pair of mismatched cops investigating a murder or mystery, so we’ve taken that into account when coming up with comparable shows.
But there frequently seems to be something mystical and maybe even supernatural underpinning proceedings, so that has also influenced our choices. Kicking off with one of television’s all-time greats:
Twin Peaks
The brainchild of David Lynch and Mark Frost, Twin Peaks premiered on ABC in 1990 to much acclaim, and just as much head-scratching thanks to its dense plotting, vast array of eccentric characters, bizarre visuals, and surreal twists and turns.
The central storyline concerns the murder of teenager Laura Palmer, with pie-loving, coffee-drinking FBI agent Dale Cooper sent to the titular town to investigate. A supernatural sup-plot takes hold as Cooper nears the truth; one that clearly inspired the more outlandish aspects of True Detective.
The Killing
The Killing started out on Danish television as Forbrydelsen, which literally translates as “The Crime.” Set in a freezing cold Copenhagen, the show follows Detective Inspector Sarah Lund’s efforts to solve a murder, with each episode covering a day in the investigation.
The US remake debuted on AMC in 2011, with Mireille Enos playing Seattle Detective Sarah Linden, and Joel Kinnaman the partner with whom she doesn’t get along. Seasons 1 and 2 revolved around a murder, though also told a larger story about what’s happening locally – both socially and politically – much like the new series of True Detective.
Top of the Lake
Top of the Lake is a New Zealand crime drama, but one that also explores similar themes to True Detective: Night Country. Acclaimed filmmaker Jane Campion co-created, co-wrote, and co-directed the series, which launched in 2013, and was followed by sequel series Top of the Lake: China Girl in 2017.
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Both seasons star Elizabeth Moss as Robin Griffin, a detective specialising in sexual assault, with her first investigation involving the disappearance of a pregnant 12-year-old in New Zealand. And the second story relocating to Sydney and revolving around the murder of an unidentified woman on Bondi Beach.
Fargo
A TV series inspired by a Coen brothers movie didn’t sound like a great idea at the time. Especially as the Coens weren’t involved. But creator Noah Hawley concocted something quite inspired with his Fargo; a show with the twisted DNA of the movie, but one that tells a shocking, hilarious, and horrific tale that’s all its own.
And he wasn’t done there, with Fargo now into its fifth season. Like True Detective, it’s an anthology show, with each series a new story with new characters. Though also like True Detective, there is some connective tissue between seasons, and specific themes return time-and-time again, so it feels like you are watching a continuation of the overarching Fago story rather than self-contained sequels.
The Outsider
Based on a psychological thriller by master of the macabre Stephen King, The Outsider is a 2018 detective drama where – much like True Detective – horror is hiding just beneath the surface. Meaning the show straddles multiple genres.
Set in Georgia, Ben Mendelsohn plays a detective investigating the murder of a boy, whose body is found covered in human bite marks. And The Outsider only gets more inexplicable from there, suggesting something supernatural might be afoot…
Sharp Objects
While the preceding shows on this list have all focussed on detectives, Sharp Objects changes the formula ever-so-slightly by making a crime reporter its protagonist. Though like the investigators across all four seasons of True Detective, Camille Preaker – played by Amy Adams – has personal demons that threaten to derail her efforts to solve the show’s central crime.
And here it’s the murder of two young girls in Camille’s hometown, a place that’s filled with secrets and lies. Based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Gone Girl scribe Gillian Flynn, the material is suitably dark and disturbing, while the final revelation is absolutely devastating.
Mare of Easttown
Season 1 of True Detective was movie star Matthew McConaughey’s first major TV role, while it saw Woody Harrelson retuning to the small-screen decades after Cheers. Seasons 2-4 have continued that approach to cast, featuring the high-profile likes of Rachel McAdams, Colin Farrell, Vince Vaughn, Mahershala Ali, and, currently, Jodie Foster.
Film stars clearly like top-lining their own crime drama, and Mare of Easttown snagged multiple Oscar-winner Kate Winslet, in the process giving the actress one of her most acclaimed roles to date. She plays a Philadelphia Detective investigating the murder of a teenage mother, though like True Detective: Night Country, the case is connected to something terrible in her past.