8 Great Crime Shows Overshadowed by 'Breaking Bad'

Image via Showtime Published Jul 19, 2026, 5:26 AM EDT Ryan Heffernan is a Senior Writer at Collider. Storytelling has been one of his interests since an early age, with his appreciation for film and television becoming a particular interest of his during his teenage years. This passion saw Ryan graduate from the University of Canberra in 2020 with an Honours Degree in Film Production. In the years since, he has found freelance work as a videographer and editor in the Canberra region while also becoming entrenched in the city's film-making community. In addition to cinema and writing, Ryan's other major interest is sport, with him having a particular love for Australian Rules football, Formula 1, and cricket. He also has casual interests in reading, gaming, and history. Sign in to your Collider account In the late 2000s and early 2010s, there were few series capable of matching the critical acclaim and immense pop-culture impact of Breaking Bad. Even today, 13 years after its finale, the hit AMC series remains a dominant force of television drama, with its story of Walter White’s (Bryan Cranston) gradual evolution from a meek suburban science teacher to one of the most powerful and morally corrupt players in the drug trade being heralded by many as the greatest the medium has ever seen. Needless to say, Breaking Bad cast a pretty big shadow, one that many excellent and underrated crime series were unable to emerge from. These eight series are just some of the brilliant shows that fell victim to Breaking Bad’s five-season reign of ceaseless perfection. They range from concentrated thrillers that implement a similar concept to Breaking Bad to savage period dramas that explore the origins of organized crime in America. 8 'Ozark' (2017–2022) Image via Netflix Breaking Bad’s all-consuming allure didn’t only impact the many series that shared its run from 2008 to 2013 but also cast a shadow over crime television in the years following its finale. Ozark is a prime example of this. Even though the Netflix original series enjoyed strong viewership numbers and widespread critical acclaim throughout its four-season tenure, it struggled to escape comparisons to Breaking Bad given the similarities in premise, tone, and story. Following financial advisor Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) as he and his family are thrust into a service for a Mexican cartel in the Missouri Ozarks after his business partner’s money laundering scheme goes wrong, the series thrives at extracting tension through its exploration of an ordinary suburban family becoming entangled in the savage brutality of international crime. Filled with sequences of intense suspense and a litany of memorable characters, Ozark mimicked Breaking Bad’s energized style, perhaps to its own detriment at times. Still, the Netflix series delivers four pulsating seasons of crime drama that all lovers of Breaking Bad would be wise to check out if they haven’t already. 7 'Sneaky Pete' (2015–2019) Image via Prime Video Released just two years after Breaking Bad’s finale, while also featuring Bryan Cranston in an on-screen role and as a co-creator, Sneaky Pete was always going to draw comparisons to AMC’s hit crime series. Its emphasis on twisty storytelling style and occasional flourishes of dark comic punch only fueled the comparisons for many lovers of crime television, even though Sneaky Pete runs with a distinctly different premise. It stars Giovanni Ribisi as Marius, a con man recently released from prison who assumes the identity of his former cellmate in order to avoid the wrath of a vicious gangster he once robbed. The situation only grows more frenetic when Marius connects with Pete’s estranged family, who, after such a long period of time, don’t suspect him of being anyone other than their long-lost loved one. While Sneaky Pete struggled to find its audience, its three-season run is still an exciting treat of high-minded criminal deceit that is perfect for those who love a macabre, high-octane thriller. 6 'The Killing' (2007–2012) Image via DR1 Through the late 2000s and early 2010s, when television audiences were enraptured by Breaking Bad, there was also a booming interest in Nordic noir, bleak crime mystery stories stemming from Scandinavia that conjure suspense with simmering slow-burn tension, dark meditations on humanity, and glum atmospheric dread. The Killing is still, in the eyes of many, the best show to emerge from this European subgenre, with Season 1 being particularly exceptional as it follows a detective’s investigation into the murder of a teenage girl who has several links to a mayoral candidate’s campaign. While its sense of crime thrills was completely different from Breaking Bad’s frenetic and momentous pulsation, The Killing was no less overshadowed by the AMC series’ dominant command of the genre in the era. It did, however, become a landmark hit in Britain and other parts of the world, thus playing a vital role in establishing international interest in Nordic noir mystery and, to a wider extent, ushering in a fascination with foreign-language crime series in mainstream Western pop-culture circles. 5 'Good Girls' (2018–2021) Image via NBC Not dissimilar to Ozark, Good Girls marketed itself as being something of a reinterpretation of Breaking Bad with its style and storytelling, with promotional material almost reducing it to a female-led knockoff when it has so much more to offer. The NBC series follows three suburban mothers in Michigan experiencing financial hardship who decide to conduct a heist on a local grocery store in a bid to get some quick cash. While the robbery is successful, the three women soon find themselves embroiled in a series of gangland operations, debt issues, and family crises when they learn the store was a front for a counterfeit money-laundering scheme. Its focus on ordinary people being dragged into the chaos of the criminal underworld through financial desperation certainly ties Good Girls to Breaking Bad, but the series finds its own identity through its use of comedy and the outstanding lead performances of Christina Hendricks, Retta, and Mae Whitman. While its four-season run isn’t immune to a few clunks and inconsistencies, it excels as a fun and fast-paced crime caper, and it’s a shame it was promoted for its unique quirks and tone as much as for its similarities to Breaking Bad. 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 4 'Weeds' (2005–2012) Image via Showtime Predating Breaking Bad by three years, Weeds is perhaps the most unfortunate of all the series that the hit AMC show overshadowed, especially since it has been overlooked by many due to its striking similarity to Breaking Bad’s premise. Mary-Louise Parker stars as Nancy Botwin, a recently widowed single mother to two boys, who seizes the opportunity to set up a lucrative business by dealing marijuana to local clients. However, she soon realizes that her newfound income also brings with it its own series of problems, many of which are amplified when her family members become entangled in her booming drug empire. While Weeds’ first few seasons thrived as a sharp satire of suburban lifestyles as well as a high-energy crime series, its longevity wasn’t helped by the fact that it began to lose its focus and precision around the time AMC launched Breaking Bad. Still, despite its occasionally disjointed and unwieldy narrative swings, Weeds enjoyed a lively eight-season run before coming to an end in 2012. 3 'Your Honor' (2020–2023) Image via Showtime Like the aforementioned Sneaky Pete, Your Honor ultimately fell victim to unflattering comparisons to Breaking Bad that were ignited by its ambitions as a crime thriller and its featuring of Bryan Cranston in a starring role. While it explores the other side of law and order, its general evolution is somewhat similar to Breaking Bad, with Cranston starring as a well-respected judge in New Orleans who is forced to make increasingly corruptible and unpleasant decisions when his teenage son kills the son of a mob kingpin in a hit-and-run incident. Its spin on the story idea of a good and principled man being pulled deeper into criminal amorality as he strives to protect his family is certainly intriguing and, unsurprisingly, brilliantly acted, but its evolution leaves something to be desired. Whereas Breaking Bad was sharp, focused, and ceaselessly intense, many viewers criticized Your Honor for being overly contrived and implausible. The series still has some shining lights that are worth enjoying, but it is also a stark example that, even up to 10 years on from its finale, Breaking Bad continues to influence and impact audience perceptions of crime television. 2 'Snowfall' (2017–2023) Image via FX Another dramatic and viscerally intense descent into the world of the drug trade, it is easy to see why Snowfall garnered comparisons to Breaking Bad, especially with its major protagonist, Damson Idris’ Franklin Saint, being presented as something of a sympathetic anti-hero who grows increasingly immoral. However, the FX series features a number of qualities that differentiate it from Breaking Bad, namely its true historical setting during the first crack cocaine epidemic in 1980s Los Angeles and its interest in the role the CIA played in the spike in drug addiction. The gripping six-season series unfolds as Saint’s budding drug operation begins to grow. Additionally, it also follows undercover CIA agent Teddy McDonald (Carter Hudson) in his work to stifle growing communist sentiments in Nicaragua, Mexican luchador-turned-cartel enforcer Gustavo “El Oso” Zapata (Sergio Peris-Mencheta), and Lucia Villaneuva (Emily Rios), the heiress to a powerful drug cartel. Snowfall’s scope is impressive, and the gradual interconnection of the major characters makes for thrilling viewing. However, hindered by FX’s smaller audience demographic and some faults in its later seasons, the crime series has struggled to break out as anything more than a spiritual follow-up to Breaking Bad and its sense of manic intensity regarding drug crime. 1 'Boardwalk Empire' (2010–2014) Image via HBO There is no denying that Boardwalk Empire was a definitive hit of crime television in its own right, but the sprawling historical crime odyssey paled in comparison to the buzz and pop-culture momentum Breaking Bad generated with its relentless suspense and Walter White’s strong character arc. It could also be said that Boardwalk Empire suffered in the shadow of some of HBO’s past crime classics as well, with the enduring reputation of series like The Sopranos and The Wire hanging heavy over it throughout its five-season run. However, it remains a stunning feat of television drama that is propelled by its ravishing production value, litany of impeccable performances, and its enthralling descent into the uneasy intersection of political status and booming gangland influence in Prohibition-era America. While many can acknowledge its strong period allure and its bold narrative choices, Boardwalk Empire’s slow-burn pacing simply didn’t resonate with early 2010s audiences to the same degree as Breaking Bad’s frenetic momentum. Even on reflection, it remains trapped in Breaking Bad’s monumental shadow, even if it is one of the more dazzling and dramatic series HBO has released since 2010.