10 Essential Crime Shows You Need To Watch Before You Die

Image via AMC Published Jul 17, 2026, 7:22 AM EDT Liam Gaughan is a film and TV writer at Collider. He has been writing film reviews and news coverage for ten years. Between relentlessly adding new titles to his watchlist and attending as many screenings as he can, Liam is always watching new movies and television shows. In addition to reviewing, writing, and commentating on both new and old releases, Liam has interviewed talent such as Mark Wahlberg, Jesse Plemons, Sam Mendes, Billy Eichner, Dylan O'Brien, Luke Wilson, and B.J. Novak. Liam aims to get his spec scripts produced and currently writes short films and stage plays. He lives in Allentown, PA. Sign in to your Collider account It should come as no surprise that many of the best shows of all-time are based on crime, as it's perhaps the most popular genre in the medium. Television emerged from pulp novels, radio broadcasts, and low-budget films that explored scandalous and controversial events within the present, and it makes sense that the prestige era would focus on refining these ideas into more focused stories. Television is often a reaction to great cinema, and many brilliant shows owe a significant debt of influence to classics within the crime genre, such as Francis Ford Coppola’s work on The Godfather trilogy and the many gangster epics of Martin Scorsese. Although there is enough great television to get a lifetime of recommendations, these shows stand out as being essential for anyone who considers themselves to be a fan of good storytelling. 10 '24' (2001–2014) Image via FOX 24 is one of the most exciting and experimental achievements in television history because it offered a new way of telling an immersive story. Each season consisted of 24 episodes and took place over the course of a single day, with each episode taking up an hour, and the story was told in real-time. 24 hit at the right time when fears of domestic terrorism were at an all-time high, and the show delved into relevant issues regarding foreign policy, political conspiracies, and the abuses of power carried out in the name of law enforcement. Kiefer Sutherland’s character Jack Bauer was unquestionably framed as a hero, but the show was willing to depict him as being morally ambiguous, making for an even more enticing experience. It’s a show that got several continuations and might continue into the future should Sutherland agree to reprise his role. 9 'Better Call Saul' (2015–2022) Image via AMC Better Call Saul is the greatest spinoff show of all time because it actually advanced and deepened the world that was created with Breaking Bad. Bob Odenkirk had been a standout in Breaking Bad with his performance as the sneaky, corrupt lawyer Saul Goodman, but Better Call Saul showed how his story began as the ambitious aspiring attorney Jimmy McGill, who was locked in a lifelong feud with his more successful older brother, Chuck (Michael McKean). Better Call Saul is just as immersive as Breaking Bad because it is both a prequel that explores Jimmy’s early life and a sequel that shows Saul’s escape from justice in the aftermath of the original series. Odenkirk delivers amazing work, but the standout performance in Better Call Saul is from Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler, one of the best characters in the modern television era. 8 'Mr. Robot' (2015–2019) Image via USA Network Mr. Robot is the most stylistically advanced show ever made because creator Sam Esmail based the series on his concepts for a film and drew from many cinematic classics to make a show that felt like the work of an auteur. Mr. Robot began as a show about hacking that earned praise from real hackers regarding its authenticity, but it turned into a harrowing character study about the activist leader Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek), who is haunted by the memories of his dead father (Christian Slater). Mr. Robot forces its audience to pay attention, but that detail is justified given the density of the material and how rewarding it ends up being. Although the terminology and worldbuilding are often quite complex, Mr. Robot is also a very emotionally open show that stuck the landing with one of the most beautiful endings of all time. 7 'The Shield' (2002–2008) Image via FX The Shield was a series that was ahead of its time because it subverted the lionization of law enforcement that had been inherent to television ever since the dawn of the procedural format. Set in modern-day Los Angeles, The Shield told the story of the corrupt Strike Team leader Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis), who abused his power for personal gain, while occasionally being used for good. The Shield offered a scathing look at institutional corruption that also asked deep questions about morality, as Vic was a character who could occasionally be sympathetic, despite his reprehensible behavior. Although Chiklis delivered an amazing performance that ranks among the greatest in television history, The Shield was well-known for drawing in acclaimed guest stars, with both Forest Whitaker and Glenn Close being among the Academy Award nominees who joined the cast in later seasons. 6 'Boardwalk Empire' (2010–2014) Image via HBO Boardwalk Empire is both an epic crime saga and an outstanding period drama because it is set during the Prohibition era, where gangsters became Robin Hood-esque heroes among a galvanized public. The series stars Steve Buscemi as the Atlantic City treasurer Nucky Thompson, who has serious ties to the mafia that shape his decisions, and is hunted down by a ruthless FBI agent (Michael Shannon). Boardwalk Empire had one of the best rogues’ galleries of any HBO show, as the series was able to consistently pull in notable guest stars to play its villains. It is among the rare shows that are as informative as it is entertaining, as Boardwalk Empire captured the tension within one of the most divisive periods in American history, while also telling a classic story of greed, power, and ambition through the eyes of an anti-hero. Collider Exclusive · Action Hero Quiz Which Action Hero Would BeYour Perfect Partner? Rambo · James Bond · Indiana Jones · John McClane · Ethan Hunt Five legends. Five completely different ways of getting out alive — with style, with muscle, with charm, with luck, or with a plan so intricate it probably shouldn't work. Ten questions will reveal which action hero was built to have your back. 🎖️Rambo 🍸James Bond 🏺Indiana Jones 🔧John McClane 🎭Ethan Hunt FIND YOUR PARTNER → 01 You're dropped into a dangerous situation with no warning. What do you need most from a partner? The first few seconds tell you everything about who belongs beside you. ASomeone who already has three contingency plans running and is calmly working through all of them. BSomeone who reads the terrain instinctively and knows exactly how to use it against the enemy. CSomeone who keeps their nerve and their sense of humour when everything is falling apart. DSomeone who knows the history of wherever we are and what we're walking into. ESomeone with the right contact, the right cover identity, and the right exit already arranged. NEXT QUESTION → 02 You have to get somewhere dangerous, fast. How do you travel? How you get there is half the mission. AOn foot through terrain no one else would attempt — I move where vehicles can't follow. BOn a motorcycle, a cargo plane, or anything else that gets me there before I think too hard about it. CIn something that belongs to someone else — borrowed, stolen, or improvised under fire. DFirst class, with a cover identity and a gadget that does something I won't explain until it's needed. EBy whatever means are available — I've driven, flown, and once arrived by camel. The destination matters, not the method. NEXT QUESTION → 03 You're pinned down and outnumbered. What does your ideal partner do? This is when you find out what someone is really made of. ADisappears into the environment, flanks them silently, and ends it before I've reloaded. BCracks a one-liner, grabs a fire extinguisher or a chair, and improvises something that somehow works. CProduces a gadget specifically designed for this exact scenario and uses it with infuriating precision. DPulls out a whip, a pistol, and an archaeological insight that somehow gets us out alive. ENeutralises the threat with maximum efficiency and minimum words — they were already three moves ahead. NEXT QUESTION → 04 The mission is paused. You have one evening to decompress. What does your partner suggest? Who someone is when the pressure drops is who they actually are. AA bar with terrible lighting, cold beer, and absolutely no questions about feelings. BThe finest restaurant in the city, a bottle of something expensive, and a conversation that is equal parts brilliant and exhausting. CA local dig site, a museum after hours, or a long story about why that particular artefact matters to human civilisation. DPizza. Bad TV. Falling asleep halfway through a movie neither of you were watching anyway. EA debrief that turns into three hours of contingency planning that somehow becomes the most fun you've had all week. NEXT QUESTION → 05 How do you prefer your partner to communicate mid-mission? Good communication is the difference between partners and a liability. APrecise and minimal — tell me what I need to know and nothing else. Every word has a cost. BDeadpan and dry — keeping it light keeps me sharp, even when everything is on fire. CEnthusiastic and slightly chaotic — but always with useful information buried somewhere in the noise. DCalm and controlled through an earpiece, with a plan that covers every variable I haven't thought of yet. EBarely at all — silence is a language and they speak it fluently. NEXT QUESTION → 06 Your enemy is powerful, well-resourced, and has the upper hand. How should your partner approach them? The approach to the enemy defines the partnership. AInfiltrate their inner circle, learn everything, and dismantle them from inside out before they know we're there. BStudy the historical pattern — every villain of this type has a weakness written somewhere in the past. CGet them talking. The more they monologue, the more time I have to figure out how to beat them. DGo through them. Directly. With as much force as the terrain allows. EFind the one thing they haven't accounted for — there's always one thing — and make sure we're holding it. NEXT QUESTION → 07 Things go badly wrong and you're captured. What do you trust your partner to do? Who someone is when you need them most is the only thing that matters. ACome in alone, quietly, and get me out before anyone knows they were there. BHave already been working on the extraction since the moment I disappeared — the plan is already running. CCome in loud, come in fast, and worry about the collateral damage later — I'd do the same for them. DUse every resource, every contact, and bend every rule until I'm out — they don't leave people behind. ECharm their way in somehow, bluff through the hard part, and still manage to look good doing it. NEXT QUESTION → 08 What does your ideal partner bring to the table that you couldn't replace? A great partner fills the gap you didn't know you had. ATechnology that shouldn't exist yet and the training to use it under any conditions. BSurvival instinct so refined it borders on supernatural — and the scars to prove it's been tested. CKnowledge of history, language, and culture that makes them invaluable in places where force is useless. DThe ability to walk into any room in the world and immediately become the most trusted person in it. EStubbornness that refuses to accept a situation is hopeless — and the improvisational skill to back it up. NEXT QUESTION → 09 Every partnership has a cost. Which of these can you live with? No one comes without baggage. The question is whether you can carry it together. AA partner who never fully switches off — always watching exits, always calculating threats, even at dinner. BA partner who gets the job done brilliantly but has the emotional availability of a locked filing cabinet. CA partner who makes everything ten times more complicated than it needs to be — but who always comes through. DA partner who gets personally attached to every relic, ruin, and artefact we encounter, which slows everything down. EA partner who was not built for this and knows it — but shows up anyway, every time, without being asked. NEXT QUESTION → 10 It's the final moment. Everything is on the line. What do you need from your partner right now? The last question is the most honest one. AOne line. Absolutely dry. Delivered like the world isn't ending. Then we move. BNothing said at all — just a look that means we both already know what has to happen. CA plan I don't fully understand that somehow accounts for everything, delivered in thirty seconds flat. DA piece of historical context that reframes the entire situation and tells us exactly what to do next. ESomeone who steps forward instead of back — because that's who they've always been. REVEAL MY PARTNER → Your Partner Has Been Assigned Your Perfect Partner Is…Your answers have pointed to one action hero above all others. This is the person built to have your back — for better or considerably, spectacularly worse. RamboYour partner doesn't talk much, doesn't need to, and will have assessed every threat in your immediate environment before you've finished your first sentence. John Rambo is not a man of plans or politics — he is a force of nature shaped by survival, loyalty, and a capacity for endurance that goes beyond anything training can produce. He will not leave you behind. He has never left anyone behind who deserved to come home. What you get with Rambo is the most capable, most quietly ferocious partner imaginable — one who has been through things that would have broken anyone else, and who chose to keep going anyway. You'll never need to ask if he has your back. You'll just know. James BondYour partner will arrive perfectly dressed, perfectly briefed, and with a cover story so convincing it'll take you a moment to remember what's actually true. James Bond is the most professionally dangerous person in any room he enters — and the most disarmingly charming, which is the point. He operates in a world of layers, where nothing is what it appears and every advantage is used without apology. You'll never be bored. You'll occasionally be furious. But when it matters — when the mission is genuinely on the line and the margin for error has collapsed to nothing — Bond is exactly the partner you want. He has survived things that have no business being survivable. He does it with style. That is not nothing. Indiana JonesYour partner will know the history, the language, the cultural context, and exactly why the thing everyone else is ignoring is actually the most important thing in the room. Indiana Jones is brilliant, reckless, and occasionally impossible — but he is also one of the most resourceful, most genuinely knowledgeable partners you could find yourself beside. He approaches every situation with a scholar's eye and a brawler's instinct, which is an unusual combination and a remarkably effective one. He hates snakes and gets personally attached to objects of historical significance, both of which will slow you down at least once. It doesn't matter. What Indy brings is irreplaceable — and the adventures you'll have together will be the kind people write books about. Assuming you survive them. John McClaneYour partner was not supposed to be here. He does not have the right equipment, the right information, or anything approaching the right odds. He has a sarcastic remark and an absolute refusal to accept that the situation is as bad as it looks. John McClane is the greatest accidental hero in the history of action cinema — a man whose superpower is stubbornness, whose contingency plan is improvisation, and whose capacity to absorb punishment and keep moving would be alarming if it weren't so useful. He will complain the entire time. He will make it significantly more chaotic than it needed to be. And he will absolutely, unconditionally, without question come through when it counts. Yippee-ki-yay. Ethan HuntYour partner has already run seventeen scenarios by the time you've finished reading the briefing, and the plan he's settled on involves at least two things that should be physically impossible. Ethan Hunt operates at the absolute edge of human capability — technically, physically, and intellectually — and he brings the same relentless precision to protecting his partners that he brings to dismantling organisations that shouldn't exist. He is not easy to know and he will never fully tell you everything. But he will carry the weight of the mission so completely, so absolutely, that your job is simply to trust him — and the remarkable thing is that trusting him always turns out to be the right call. The mission will be impossible. He will complete it anyway. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 5 'The Americans' (2013–2018) Image via FX The Americans is the greatest spy show ever made because it doesn’t take the traditional route to exploring espionage and secret agents. Set during the height of the Cold War in the 1980s, The Americans is about the KGB agents Philip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth Jennings (Keri Russell), who go undercover in the United States to pose as an average American couple so that they can intercept information and send it back to the KGB. The Americans offers a fascinating portrayal of the evolution of a marriage because the relationship between Philip and Elizabeth is one that began out of obligation, but steadily transformed into something legitimate. It’s a thrilling series from start to finish that capitalized on a real relationship between its stars (as Russell and Rhys fell in love and married during the making), and ended with a completely satisfying conclusion in the finale “-START-.” 4 'Twin Peaks' (1990–2017) Image via ABC Twin Peaks is responsible for creating modern television because David Lynch crafted the first true “watercooler” show that heightened expectations on a weekly basis because audiences were tuned in to the serialized story. Twin Peaks is so ambitious that its amazing what Lynch was able to do with just two seasons back in the early '90s; it was simultaneously an insight into grief, an exploration of the secrets within an idealized American small town, a subversion of what broadcast television had become, and a surrealist journey into the existential battle between good and evil that has been waged since the beginning of time. Lynch returned to Twin Peaks in 2017 with a third season produced for the Showtime channel that somehow got richer and more complex, and became the perfect swan song for one of the most brilliant creatives of all-time. 3 'The Sopranos' (1999–2007) Image via HBO The Sopranos has earned its status as “The Godfather of television,” and not just because it is another mob epic about an American family. The Sopranos is a character study about a psychopathic, yet sensitive anti-hero whose faults are the result of decades of restrained emotions and familial baggage. It’s both a dark study in what the American dream really is and a more grounded look at what being part of the criminal lifestyle really is. The Sopranos features the single greatest performance in television history from the late great James Gandolfini, who became so synonymous with the role of Tony Soprano that it would be impossible to imagine anyone else in the part. Nonetheless, the entire show was filled with tremendous acting, with Michael Imperioli’s role as Christopher Moltisanti being particularly important as an inverse to his ulcer Tony. 2 'The Wire' (2002–2008) Image via HBO Max The Wire was an underground sensation among television fans that was never a massive ratings success or awards contender, but steadily began to earn more traction as the word spread about its brilliance. The Wire was created by David Simon, a former journalist who spent over a decade writing for the crime beat in Baltimore, who based the series on his own experiences and drew attention to real issues within American communities. The Wire is an all-encompassing crime epic that explores the perspectives of those within every level of infrastructure, and raises important points about the existential issues that are baked into the country. While it’s a very complex show that requires a significant amount of attention from viewers, the journey of its five brilliant seasons aren’t to be missed by anyone who wants to be both informed and entertained. 1 'Breaking Bad' (2008–2013) Image via AMC Breaking Bad deserves to be considered as a modern work of Shakespeare because it has five seasons that correspond to the five acts of one of the great tragedies by “The Bard.” Although there have been many modern shows that have attempted to tell the story of an unredeemable anti-hero, Breaking Bad was a novelty because it showed how the mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher Walter White (Bryan Cranston) transformed into the ruthless drug kingpin known as “Heisenberg.” It’s a miracle that Breaking Bad achieved a level of consistency that was impossible to replicate, as showrunner Vince Gilligan showed the importance of planning out stories in advance. Breaking Bad is an operatic tragedy, but it's also a consistently thrilling drama with terrific performances, dark humor, and constant twists and turns that kept viewers guessing until the end of its run. Breaking Bad Release Date 2008 - 2013-00-00 Network AMC Showrunner Vince Gilligan