Sometimes it feels good to be bad. The 20 best crime shows streaming right now

Sometimes it feels good to be bad.

The 20 best crime shows streaming right now

Sometimes it feels good to be bad.

By Tanya Melendez

Published on August 1, 2025 10:00AM EDT

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Tony Soprano, Elizabeth Jennings and Hannibal Lecter: three of the most ruthless characters in TV history. Credit:

Anthony Neste/Getty; Craig Blankenhorn/FX Networks/courtesy Everett Collection;  Michael Muller/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Crime always pays for viewers of a truly great crime show. Thankfully, the genre comes in all shapes and sizes, from all around the world. Case in point: Alicia Silverstone making her way to Ireland's countryside, only to discover dark and diabolical secrets, on the new *Irish Blood*, premiering on Acorn TV on August 11.

That show would fit right in alongside fellow Irish imports *Bad Sisters* and *Obituary*. Look a little further and you'll find great crime dramas everywhere from 19th-century Chinatown to the Cold War to, yes, Gotham City itself.

* *has combed through multiple streaming platforms, narrowing down the best crime shows that make being bad look so good. Whether you want dark dramas, black comedies, or cat-and-mouse thrillers, you'll find what you want here. Catch 'em if you can!

Barry (2018–2023)

Bill Hader plays against type in 'Barry' as a hitman who's killed a lot (like, a LOT) of people. HBO

The darkest of dark comedies is still a comedy, and the tragic tale of Barry Berkman (Bill Hader) walks that line carefully. The half-hour episodes (praise!) center around the depressed hitman who wants to trade the murder business for show business, even while his manipulative handler (Stephen Root) refuses to let him go. Over the course of four seasons, however, Barry's wants come at the expense of almost everyone he touches, from his acting teacher Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler) to his girlfriend Sally Reed (Sarah Goldberg) to a literal karate kid.

Where to watch *Barry*: HBO Max

**EW grade:** B+ (read the review)

**Cast: **Bill Hader, Henry Winkler, Sarah Goldberg, Stephen Root, Anthony Carrigan

*The Penguin *(2024)

There's no motivation quite like constant disrespect from the entire criminal establishment.

Macall Polay/HBO

It can sometimes feel like we've reached our limit with gritty reimaginings and origin stories of comic book characters, but then something as good as *The Penguin* makes us realize, in true Cady Heron fashion, the limit does not exist.

Colin Farrell buries himself under a truly amazing amount of prosthetics to portray Oz Cobb's evolution into the populist crime boss, who vacillates between entitlement, vulnerability, and violence. Cristin Milioti is revelatory as Sofia Falcone, just released from Arkham and out for revenge. When Sofia and Oz clash, this crime drama shines right through the grit.

Where to watch *The Penguin*: HBO Max

**EW grade:** B (read the review)

**Cast: **Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz, Carmen Ejogo, Theo Rossi, Clancy Brown

The Sopranos (1999–2007)

James Gandolfini's role as Tony Soprano will forever remain one of TV's most iconic performances.

Anthony Neste/Getty

The best crime drama streaming has it all: feuding mob families, backstabbing, feds, snitches, violence, fantastic needle drops, and multiple conversations about ziti. What made *The Sopranos* special is that it gave audiences what they never even knew they wanted. Anchored by all-timer performances from James Gandolfini and Edie Falco, the story of a mob boss whose panic attacks send him into therapy set a new standard for antiheroes — and television as a medium.

*The Sopranos *landed at No. 2 on EW's Greatest 100 Movies, TV Shows and More, writing: "David Chase took a baseball bat to the knees of the term 'family drama'... whose nuanced characters were riddled with conflict and, of course, bullets."

Where to watch *The Sopranos*: HBO Max

**EW grade:** A (read the review)

**Cast: **James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Lorraine Bracco, Tony Sirico, Jamie-Lynn Sigler

Warrior (2019–2023)

Bruce Lee's "Warrior" dream became a reality, decades later.

David Bloomer/CINEMAX

Bruce Lee left behind a creative trove when he died in 1973, including a treatment for a television show about Ah Sahm, "a Chinese martial-arts prodigy wandering the West." Luckily, his daughter Shannon connected with Justin Lin to bring the series to life. Here, Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji) lands in 1870s San Francisco at the height of the Tong Wars of Chinatown, becoming a hatchet man for one of the crime families (and yes, "hatchet man" is exactly what it sounds like). The martial arts choreography, supporting cast, and world-building all make for a knockout time.

Where to watch *Warrior*: HBO Max

**Cast: **Andrew Koji, Jason Tobin, Olivia Cheng, Dianne Doan, Kieran Bew

*Animal Kingdom *(2016–2022)

TNT's 'Animal Kingdom' is inspired by a real-life crime family.

Doug Hyun/TNT/courtesy Everett Collection

America loves a ruthless crime mom, and few are as ruthless as Janine "Smurf" Cody (Ellen Barkin, going full Ma Barker-meets-Oedipus-complex) in this TNT drama. Her four boys (Scott Speedman, Shawn Hatosy, Ben Robson, Jake Weary) are a pile of toxic masculinity and mommy issues, surfing and doing heists in Oceanside, California. New to the clan is grandson J (Finn Cole), the high-schooler who moves in with the family his mother tried to keep him from — for good reason. Recently boosted by a Netflix drop, *Animal Kingdom* is getting new, well-deserved attention as a criminally addictive binge.

Where to watch *Animal Kingdom*: Netflix

**Cast: **Ellen Barkin, Scott Speedman, Shawn Hatosy, Ben Robson, Jake Weary

Is 'Animal Kingdom' based on a true story? Meet the real-life crime family that inspired the hit show

David Chase worried James Gandolfini wasn't 'threatening enough' for 'The Sopranos'

*Money Heist *(2017–2021)

The Spanish-language thriller is one of Netflix's most underrated original series.

Netflix/Antena 3/Courtes Everett Collection

A good heist requires an audacious goal, a crew with complementary skills, and a mastermind with the vision to put everything together. A great heist *show*, on the other hand, has all of those things plus a whole lot of complications along the way. That's the "gripping, complex, and endlessly entertaining" plot of Netflix's Spanish-language hit, with the Professor (Álvaro Morte) assembling a collection of criminals to steal many, many Euros from the Spanish Royal Mint.

Where to watch *Money Heist*: Netflix

**Cast: **Álvaro Morte, Úrsula Corberó, Itziar Ituño, Pedro Alonso

Ozark (2017–2022)

Now the story of a wealthy family who lost everything, and the one dad who had no choice but to keep them all together.

Steve Dietl/Netflix

You know how it goes… one minute you and your business partner are happily money laundering for a Mexican drug cartel, the next minute your partner skims millions and the cartel wants everyone dead. In this scenario, only the craftiest survive, and over *Ozark*'s four seasons, Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) and his wife Wendy (Laura Linney) prove themselves to be very crafty indeed. A host of criminals fill out the titular lakes region, but the standout is Ruth Langmore (a multi-Emmy-winning Julia Garner), who steals every scene as the young woman determined to make crime pay.

Where to watch *Ozark*: Netflix

**EW grade: **N/A (read the review)

**Cast: **Jason Bateman, Laura Linney, Julia Garner, Lisa Emery, Sofia Hublitz, Felix Solis, Janet McTeer

The Americans (2013–2018)

Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell star in 'The Americans' as Married Russian KGB officers.

Eric Liebowitz/FX/courtesy Everett Collection

Spy work is often portrayed as glamorous — all tuxedos and smooth dead-drops. Not so in this award-winning drama. Married Russian KGB officers Elizabeth (Keri Russell) and Philip Jennings (Matthew Rhys) live the daily emotional and physical grind of their subterfuge as they pretend to be an average American family, complete with two kids and a small business.

In reality, they run multiple, overlapping missions ranging from the emotionally despicable (poor Martha!) to the murderously brutal (if you need to know how to fit a body into a suitcase, this is the show for you). There are also wigs. Many, many wigs.

Where to watch *The Americans*: Hulu

**EW grade: **N/A (read the review)

**Cast: **Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Noah Emmerich, Holly Taylor, Costa Ronin, Margo Martindale

Fargo (2014–present)

FX's hit anthology series is an extension of the Coen Brothers' acclaimed film of the same name.

FX/Matthias Clamer

Noah Hawley's anthology begins each episode with the same dryly ironic declaration that opened its big-screen namesake. In short, "it's all true." What proceeds, inexorably, is a pulpy concoction of greed, murder, misguided ambition, and dumb luck (good and bad). *Fargo *has an absurdist streak a mile wide and a sense of cosmic comeuppance that suggests the strings are being pulled by a mischievous trickster-god with a mean streak.

From small-town suburbanites and small-town cops to big-city mobsters and loquaciously philosophical hitmen, everyone here exists in a self-contained world where morality, control, and chance are grappling for the upper hand.

Where to watch *Fargo*: Hulu

**EW grade: **N/A (read the review)

**Cast: **Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman, Bokeem Woodbine, Ewan McGregor, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Chris Rock, Allison Tolman

Obituary (2023–present)

Siobhán Cullen stars in this little known Irish black comedy.

Hulu/Courtesy Everett Collection

This pitch-black Irish comedy centers on Elvira Clancy, a depressive, small-town obituary writer whose newspaper has recently reduced her to freelancing. Now paid by the obit, Elvira figures the only way to meet her financial demands is to ensure a steady supply of dead Kilraven residents who need to be properly eulogized.

The more she kills those she thinks deserve it, the more she enjoys her new, deadline-driven side hustle. Siobhán Cullen, ahem, kills it as a budding serial killer, especially the way her gleeful narration contrasts against the flat affect she shows the rest of her unsuspecting town.

Where to watch *Obituary*: Hulu

**Cast: **Siobhán Cullen, Ronan Raftery, Michael Smiley, David Ganly, Noni Stapleton

Amazon Prime Video

Hannibal (2013–2015)

Mads Mikkelsen steps into the role of Hannibal Lector, previously played by Anthony Hopkins in 'The Silence of the Lambs'.

Brooke Palmer/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

No one on television does beautiful more beautifully than Bryan Fuller (*Pushing Daisies, American Gods*). So when Fuller took on the Hanniverse, the results were *delicious*. In this iteration, Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) is already in full *Top Chef* cannibal mode, even while he advises the FBI. He's also fascinated by the gifted, troubled agent Will Graham (Hugh Dancy), in whom he may have found a kindred spirit.

This operatic, expressionist drama is an absolute feast for the eyes, giving fashion aficionados a new North Star and inspiring a cookbook of Lecter's most delectable dishes. It's a meal best savored.

Where to watch *Hannibal*: Amazon Prime

**EW grade:** A- (read the review)

**Cast: **Mads Mikkelsen, Hugh Dancy, Caroline Dhavernas, Laurence Fishburne, Gillian Anderson, Raúl Esparza

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2024–present)

Donald Glover and Maya Erskine star in 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith', based on the 2005 movie starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

David Lee/Prime Video

When Michael (Donald Glover) and Alana (Maya Erskine) sign up to work for the mysterious Company, they don't realize they have also signed up for "till death do us part." The newlywed newlyspies meet on their first day as John and Jane Smith, and spend the season stumbling through missions while getting to know their better halves.

Adventure of the week spycraft, an amazing wardrobe, and guest stars like Paul Dano, Sarah Paulson, Parker Posey, and Michaela Coel all add up to what EW's review argues "is the (very) rare reboot that both evolves and honors the original."

Where to watch *Mr. & Mrs. Smith*: Amazon Prime

**EW grade:** A- (read the review)

**Cast: **Donald Glover, Maya Erskine, Paul Dano, Parker Posey, Wagner Moura

Apple TV+

Bad Sisters (2022–2024)

Crime drama and family drama go hand in hand in 'Bad Sisters'. Natalie Seery/Apple TV +

The five sisters in Sharon Horgan's dark Irish comedy may be bad, but the dead man at the center of season 1's potboiler is far worse. Horgan told EW in 2022 that adapting the Belgian series *Clan* landed right in her sweet (and sour) spot: "It felt like the kind of thing I love to do, which is to cross the dark with the light."

The show effortlessly balances sisterly squabbles, domestic horrors, and murderous hijinks. By the end, you'll wish *you'd* been the one to kill the dastardly John Paul yourself. The show somehow complicates things even further in its equally diabolical second season.

Where to watch *Bad Sisters*: Apple TV+

**Cast: **Sharon Horgan, Anne-Marie Duff, Eve Hewson, Eva Birthistle, Sarah Greene, Claes Bang, Daryl McCormack, Michael Smiley, Fiona Shaw

Dope Thief (2025)

Brian Tyree Henry and Wagner Moura star in 'Dope Thief'.

We stan a Robin Hood tale, but as Ray (Brian Tyree Henry) and Manny (Wagner Moura) rob drug dealers in Philadelphia, you start to realize they're less Omar Little and more bumbling best friends who are in way over their heads. When a job goes very, very badly, the pair end up on the run from the DEA (Marin Ireland) and a mysterious villain who wants the money they stole returned, lest he murder everyone they love. Equally bad is the growing feeling that at some point, one of these besties may have to betray the other to survive.

Where to watch *Dope Thief*: Apple TV+

**Cast: **Brian Tyree Henry, Wagner Moura, Marin Ireland, Amir Arison, Nesta Cooper, Kate Mulgrew

Paramount+

*Billions *(2016–2023)

Before there was 'Succession', there was 'Billions'. Mark Seliger/SHOWTIME

If you squint a little, the Showtime drama *Billions* is a bit of David vs. Goliath, only Goliath is a hedge fund manager and David is kind of a dick. Paul Giamatti stars as Charles "Chuck" Rhoades, Jr., a U.S. attorney intent on bringing down Bobby "Axe" Axelrod (Damian Lewis). In the middle is Wendy Rhodes (Maggie Siff), Chuck's wife and Axe's most important employee.

Over seven seasons, fortunes change hands half a dozen times, scene-stealers abound, and there's always some new way to make money. Some of them are even legal.

Where to watch *Billions*: Paramount+

**Cast: **Paul Giamatti, Damian Lewis, Maggie Siff, David Costabile, Dola Rashad, Daniel K. Isaac

MobLand (2025–present)

Tom Hardy continues his mean streak as Harry Da Souza in 'MobLand'.

Luke Varley/Paramount+

Harry Da Souza (Tom Hardy at his growly, exasperated best) is a fixer for London crime boss Conrad Harrigan (Pierce Brosnan), his ruthless wife Maeve (a scenery-chomping Helen Mirren), and a collection of other Harrigans with various degrees of criminal know-how. (For example, Grandson Eddie's only skills are consuming Maeve-supplied cocaine and making things worse.)

When a war erupts between the Harrigans and the rival Stevenson crime family, Harry spends his days rushing from crisis to crisis, all while trying to keep his own wife and daughter out of the line of fire.

Where to watch *MobLand*: Paramount+

**Cast: **Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren, Paddy Considine, Joanne Froggatt, Anson Boon

**Related content: **Tom Hardy secretly entered a fighting contest and destroyed all his matches

Day of the Jackal (2024–present)

Eddie Redmayne plays an international assassin in 'The Day of the Jackal'.

Marcell Piti/Carnival Film & Television Limited

The best cat-and-mouse thrillers involve characters who might have been friends if circumstances were different. In this case, we have the titular international assassin (Eddie Redmayne) and Bianca (Lashana Lynch), the MI6 agent chasing him. The pair could've bonded over their mutual love of guns and clever getaway plans.

Alas, they're meant for a less collegial relationship — at least once the Jackal deals with reneging clients, skin-of-his-teeth escapes, disguises worthy of Industrial Light and Magic, and a kinda complicated in-law situation. This contemporary take on a twice-adapted novel — the 1973 classic and 1997 not-classic — is a worthy retread.

Where to watch *The Day of the Jackal*: Peacock

**Cast: **Eddie Redmayne, Lashana Lynch, Eleanor Matsuura, Chukwudi Iwuji, Úrsula Corberó

**Related content:** Eddie Redmayne says *Day of the Jackal* scripts 'discombobulated' him: 'It threw me off course'

*Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist *(2024)

'Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist' is based on the true story of Gordon "Chicken Man" Williams (Kevin Hart).

Parrish Lewis/PEACOCK

October 26, 1970, featured two historically important events. There was Muhammad Ali's comeback fight, his first after losing his boxing license in 1967. The second was a robbery at the after-fight party hosted by wily hustler Gordon "Chicken Man" Williams (Kevin Hart). Unfortunately, members of the Black mafia at the party (including Samuel L. Jackson and Taraji P. Henson) don't take well to being robbed at gunpoint.

Unlike the real fight that ended after only three rounds, this based-on-a-true-crime-podcast bit of prestige pulp goes the distance, as Chicken Man has to clear his name before he gets permanently knocked out.

Where to watch *Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist*: Peacock

**Cast: **Kevin Hart, Don Cheadle, Samuel L. Jackson, Taraji P. Henson, Terrence Howard

**Related content: ***Fight Night* showrunner 'felt a duty' to tell the wild true story: 'They're all after the American dream'

Kingpin (2025)

Clifton Powell in Tubi's hidden gem, 'Kingpin'.

As any lover of crime shows and the entire Roy family can tell you, if a big-time baddie dies without a firm succession plan in place, war is inevitable. *Kingpin* starts with the murder of a Memphis drug lord — and by the end of the first episode, the war has already begun. Carles (Clifton Powell) and Yeti (Jamal Woolard) are at the center of this gritty, five-part series about shifting loyalties and the scramble for control over a drug empire. One of the best things about streamers like Tubi is finding hidden gems. This one shines.

Where to watch *Kingpin*: Tubi

**Cast: **Clifton Powell, Jamal Woolard, Criminal Manne, Tymika Chambliss-Williams, Frank Battle

*Le Femme Nikita *(1997–2001) / Nikita (2010–2013)

Maggie Q as the third Nikita - or fourth if you count Bridget Fonda in "Point of No Return".

Ben Mark Holzberg/CW/Courtesy Everett Collection

Which version of Nikita's story do you want to indulge in? The retelling of the 1987 Luc Besson film, where a homeless petty criminal (Peta Wilson) is recruited by a secret government organization to become a highly skilled assassin? Or the more recent version, where Nikita (Maggie Q) has already escaped the secret government agency and is back to take them all down? Whether you're in for the origin series or the revenge tale, *Nikita* stories are always a soapy, sexy, occasionally deadly good time.

Where to watch *Le Femme Nikita*: Tubi

**Cast: **Peta Wilson, Roy Dupuis, Don Francks, Eugene Robert Glazer

Where to watch *Nikita*: Tubi

**EW grade: **N/A (read the review)

**Cast: **Maggie Q, Shane West, Lyndsy Fonseca, Aaron Stanford

Peta Wilson and Co. bring Luc Besson's action hit to the small screen.

Jeff Katz/Warner Bros. Television Courtesy Everett Collection

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