What is it about a killer? Though lurid stories have long fascinated audiences, the massive popularity of true-crime stories and shows about murder make it clear that we remain transfixed by people who commit unthinkable crimes. That’s certainly the case with Netflix’s You, which emerged as one of the streamer’s most popular series across five seasons since 2018.
You stars Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg, a serial killer who also happens to be a hopeless romantic in New York City. His adventure has taken him overseas to London, but in You’s fifth and final season, he’s back in New York, where he’s trying to rehabilitate himself with a new wife and a new outlook on life. But how long can that last when he meets another woman who may just be his soulmate?
The reaction to Joe Goldberg has been strange—many have declared their obsession with him because he’s undeniably handsome (something that You plays up significantly), even though he’s a cold-blooded killer and psychopath to boot. That said, the fascination with Joe reflects a larger cultural obsession with serial killers. As You, one of the most outrageous serial killer shows in recent memory, is finally coming to an end, we’ve got suggestions for your next watch. Whether you’re looking for more shows that explore the mind of a killer, a bold psychological thriller, or a more comedic take on crime, these options should have something for every type of serial-killer-show viewer.
In the mind of a killer
Dexter
Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) is a forensic technician at the Miami PD leading a double life in this welcome twist on the police procedural. Dexter’s protagonist solves crimes, but he’s also a vigilante serial killer. Not dissimilar to Joe, Dexter has a strict moral code when it comes to his killings: he only targets the criminals of Miami’s seedy underbelly. Balancing his two different worlds isn’t easy, but it makes for hugely compelling television. Fan consensus is that the first four seasons are brilliant before a steady decline in quality, ending in what’s widely considered one of the worst series finales of all time. Still, Dexter is of Showtime’s most popular series ever, and it’s spawned two spin-off series (Dexter: Original Sin and Dexter: New Blood) with more on the way.
Available to stream on Netflix, Paramount+, and Fubo
Sweetpea
Ella Purnell’s star has skyrocketed thanks to roles in Yellowjackets and Fallout. But her best work comes in Sweetpea, a hidden gem on Starz. Purnell plays Rhiannon, a shy, unassuming woman. Even in her small English town, her identity is defined by others: her father, the family business, and her former school bully who is still part of her life. But one shocking action completely alters Rhiannon’s trajectory, when she [possible to hint at what she does without completely spoiling it?] and she slowly steps into her own in an unlikely and surprising fashion. Sweetpea is a darkly comic, slow-burning thriller about self-discovery, complete with manipulation and bloody murder.
Available to stream on Starz and Prime
Bates Motel
Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho made the entire world scared to get in the shower, but it also introduced a legendary villain in Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). Over 50 years later, Bates was brought back to life in A&E’s Bates Motel, a prequel to the film that follows Norman (Freddie Highmore) as a student while he and his mother, Norma (Vera Farmiga), open a motel. The longest-running scripted show in A&E history, Bates Motel examines the endlessly complicated (and often very creepy) relationship between mother and son, and how their influence over one another makes the events of Psycho feel fated. After all, a boy’s best friend is his mother.
Available to stream on Prime
Dark police procedurals
Mindhunter
Who knew research could be so interesting? Mindhunter, David Fincher’s 2017 foray into television, centers on a special FBI research project in which agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany) interview jailed serial killers in an attempt to learn their mindset and apply their thinking to solve long-gestating cases. It’s one of the most unsettling series of the streaming era, with a bracing look at some of America’s most dangerous murderers in the late 1970s and early 80s. It may have been cancelled far too soon, but the two seasons that do exist are some of the best television you can get.
Available to stream on Netflix
Broadchurch
A peaceful and dreamlike British seaside town is torn apart by the mysterious death of an 11-year-old boy and the ensuing media frenzy that follows. Detective Sergeant Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman) and Detective Inspector Alec Hardy (David Tennant) are on the case, and Broadchurch is equally interested in the dynamic between Miller and Hardy as it is in the townspeople.
Uniquely, all 3 seasons of Broadchurch focus on the same incident, tracing it from the discovery of the killer, to court and the aftermath. Broadchurch won 3 BAFTAs, and the cast is stacked with many of Britain’s biggest stars, including Jodie Whittaker, Jonathan Bailey, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Charlotte Rampling, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
Available to stream on Peacock
Luther
John Luther is a detective who knows how to get the job done. A dedicated cop working for the Serious Crime Unit, Luther has seen his fair share of horrifying scenes and shocking violence, which continue to haunt him. When he begins investigating killer Alice Morgan (Ruth Wilson), it seems like Luther will be changed forever. Throughout the series, Luther’s relationship with Morgan becomes increasingly dangerous as he seeks the evidence to put her away for good. Will Morgan always remain two steps ahead, or can he finally catch up to her?
Available to stream on Hulu, Britbox, and AMC+
Psychological thrillers
Sharp Objects
Reporter Camille Preaker (Amy Adams) struggles with alcoholism and was recently discharged from a psychiatric hospital, but is pulled into a new assignment when two young girls are killed in her hometown, Wind Gap, Missouri. Upon returning to the swampy, haunted town, she reunites with her overbearing and hugely critical mother, Adora (a magnificent Patricia Clarkson), and half-sister Amma (Eliza Scanlen). Based on the novel by Gillian Flynn (“Gone Girl”), the series is masterfully directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, crafting a visually sumptuous Southern Gothic thrill ride with an irresistible slow burn. And you’ll never see the big twist coming.
Available to stream on MAX
Servant
After the loss of their baby Jericho, Dorothy (Lauren Ambrose) and Sean Turner (Toby Kebbell) hire Leanne (Nell Tiger Free) to be their live-in nanny. That’s because Dorothy, deep in trauma, believes the reborn doll that’s replaced Jericho is their real, still living child. Leanne doesn’t hesitate to commit to her new role, and things begin to get increasingly bizarre from there. Servant is a marvel of production design—almost every episode over four seasons takes place entirely within the walls of the Turner townhouse, bringing the house to life in exciting and unpredictable ways. The performances are terrific across the board, with Ambrose delivering one of the finest screen performances of the last decade. Gloriously unsettling, disturbing, and full of twists and turns, Servant is a spectacular look at family and the inescapable weight of grief.
Available to stream on AppleTV+
A lighter side to murder
Dead to Me
Shows about murder don’t have to be all doom and gloom. Case in point: Dead to Me, starring Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini. Jen (Applegate) and Judy (Cardellini) become fast friends, bonding over recent losses in a grief support group. Things get endlessly more complicated from there, as the pair become bonded by something entirely different: covering up crime. Dead to Me isn’t averse to the tragedy of death or the serious implications of killing, but it’s also a heartening, easily bingeable story of female friendship.
Available to stream on Netflix
Bad Sisters
Okay, Bad Sisters is actually pretty dark. But it’s also very funny! Unfolding over multiple timelines, Bad Sisters takes place in Dublin, following the five Garvey sisters in the aftermath of a mysterious death. Everyone has a reason to hate John Paul (Claes Bang), the overbearing and abusive husband of one of the sisters, Grace Garvey (Anne-Marie Duff). When John Paul dies in suspicious and unexpected circumstances, the insurance company investigates the death, and a central mystery emerges: Did John Paul die, or did the Garveys conspire to kill him and cover it up? The show, created, produced by, and starring Sharon Horgan, is an excellent pitch-black comedy about the power of sisterhood and the ties that bind us. While Season 1 felt like a complete show, its second season proved there was plenty more life to explore in the Garvey family.
Available to stream on AppleTV+
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