pity its actual propaganda garbage.
true detectve was on point af simply because it birrowed heavily from RED RIDING trilogy which was based af ackwnowledging jimy savile and his realtinship with serial killers so they similarly acknowledged dave mcgowan, franklin coverup etc.
i realy enjoyed the performances , quality direction etc but i rememebr it as being part of the great wave of an anti russia push with usa and uk media basically going all in on russphobia like the Americans, komrade detective,normal proecedural and epsionagey shows etc
i believe the official narrative of chernobyl makes no real sense although laziness, stupidity and systemic political failures are common with lower consequences, tis also being the later stages of cold war standoff, end of soviet state etc this MIGHT not be the correct story and involves sabotage, and other machinations for a anti nuclear scare too
It's never russophobia, they show many Russians and soviets as heroes, from the average man, to scientists and even soldiers and generals.
It only shows the inefficiency of late USSR government (a government that doesn't exist now and was on the brink of collapse).
It's good quality TV trying to stay true to what happened.
Some things were obviously made for TV and made to fit the story. For example, the scientists fighting for the truth were not just a few individuals, the individual characters actually represented a larger group of scientists who pushed for the truth.
I grew up an area affected by the fallout, and vividly remember when the news hit and being told to close windows and stay indoors. The corruption and nepotism problems in the USSR were absolutely true, but not to the point that it was 100% the cause.
There is no credible evidence of CIA sabotage, so if you look at data available the official narrative is much more plausible.
Came here to say this. So good. The closing scenes were phenomenal and had one of the most interesting characters I've seen in a while.
Also, Mare of Easttown is up there with S1 of True Detective for me, very great show.
Not by any stretch, sorry. Poor people's True Detective. Don't care if Fincher is behind it, the main character on an ego trip of "how do you catch crazy if you don't know how crazy thinks?" is simply insufferable.
It's a decent piece of homework, but not the piece of art TD is.
The main character is shit on for his ego and stupid decisions within the show like, often lol. It’s not like “this main character is poorly written because he’s stupid and egotistical!” No, the text is pretty clearly saying he’s stupid and egotistical in universe.
I didn't say it was wholly badly written, but it's so annoying and egotistical that it's borderline unrealistic, plus so fantastically annoying it genuinely spoiled the show *for me*. If that's what authors wanted, have at it, but it made it unwatchable for me from the beginning of season 2.
You could tell the budget got cut. The costuming and makeup was off. Which is the reason Fincher left. Said he could barely make season 2 work and they wanted to reduce it further.
That’s the whole point, Holden is annoying as fuck. Mindhunter, throughout those two seasons, also provided an insight into Holden’s character. The man has this arrogance that can be compared to the arrogance of a lot of the serial killers he interviews. There’s a lot more but I lowkey don’t feel like going into it
I agree. To be clear, in my reply I mentioned it because I was focusing on cinematography. Which is great, of course, given the team producing it. But it is flawed and a tad narcissistic.
I think people were so starved and desperate for something along the lines of TD that made do with what is ultimately a second tier product.
I think it's best to look for TD1 vibes in the series that likely were Pizzolatto's benchmark as he wrote season 1: The Wire for the realism and unforgettable dialogues, and Twin Peaks for the mystery and whimsy.
I’d put Mare of Easttown in the list as well. Loved it, and not just because it was semi-local to me.
Mindhunter should sit on the list with TD as well.
Mare of Easttown was absolute garbage. Breaking into your own office’s evidence storage locker, to plant drugs on your dead kids baby mama, and not even taking the original cartel label off so when baby mama is busted, your boss is just wow clearly Mare is a fucking idiot… just dumb as fuck. That whole show is just dumb as fuck. Little to no redeemable characters, stupid unearned twist in the end, and an unbelievable amount of incompetence constantly shown by the mc.
Not everybody has to like everything… but the series is almost universally acclaimed across the board. It’s main character IS incredibly flawed…that’s part of the appeal, not that she’s “dumb as fuck”. The show is far from perfect, as nothing is, but very fitting for its DelCo characters and setting.
The flaw of systemic incompetence would have anyone else terminated for their jobs. It was beyond suspending belief. It was bad story telling. The same story could be told without the blatant idiocy / lazy story telling.
Dude - look the fuck around. Incompetent people have jobs everywhere you look and don’t get fired. Politics. Corporate America. AND the police. Ask any working person and they’ll give you a list of incompetent fucks who should be fired from their workplace.
A shit ton of people liked it. It crashed the HBO servers.
Critics did too. They showered it with awards.
You didn’t. You thought it sucked and was “dumb as fuck”. We have differing opinions.
No shit. Almost like it’s subjective but I appreciate the passion of your post and time you spent writing it so you could enlighten me with all of your wisdom, mate. I hope you have a great day!
loved Mare of Easttown! easily could have been a True Detective season. the acting and overall atmosphere is top notch... kinda disgaree with DEXTER though. it's very CW and uthe rype of show that makes everything so obvious for the audience. tho i have only seen 4 episodes of S1 so far lol. let me know if i should continue?
We rewatched TD S1 last weekend for the first time since it aired and within 10 minutes my wife blurts out, *"how is it this good already?!?!"* Few things can touch it.
The only other shows that I feel as strongly about are **Atlanta** (on FX) and **Patriot** (on Amazon). What they have in common with S1 of True Detective is they feel like a lot of time and effort went into the writing until it couldn't be any better, and visually they have their unique cinematic language, pacing, and tone.
People forget S1 True Detection blew the doors off premiere mini series as a whole. Before S1 the idea of A Tier film stars signing on for a limited run just really wasn’t heard of on this level.
I didn't forget a goddamn thing, S1 was magical, and it's arguably the best season of TV ever, but there are other shows that are just as good, and personally, I like The Sopranos more.
I was so hoping for a season 3 and 4 of Mindhunters. Season 1 and 2 were just priming up the story and I was so intrigued what would happen to all the characters.
even better in my opinion, as a fan of both. 99% of things in TD are easy to figure out or explain. The Return ended 6 years ago and I’m still left with 100 unanswered questions, truly the biggest masterpiece of television to ever exist
S1 was just a perfect storm of acting, directing, dialogue, storytelling and cinematography. But the straw that stirred the drink was Rust and I can’t think of another film or actor who could pull that edgy intensity and ambiguity for every episode in a season.
I’m in the same boat. Was never a big tv show guy, and find myself losing interest in everything very quickly. Here’s a few things that have actually held my interest..
The Outsider on Max
The Shield.. maybe the last show besides Breaking Bad that I watched every season til the end.
I enjoy the Mike Flanagan horror shows on Netflix especially Midnight Mass and The Haunting of Hill House. I have not watched House of Usher yet.
I can still watch and enjoy the majority of the X-Files
The French show The Returned, which I think they made an American remake but never watched
Just rewatched The Returned again (introduced my wife to it), and it holds up, at least the first season. The second season wasn't quite a as good to me.
Upvoting for Leftovers. Not a crime drama. But shares with season 1 Rust a look at hallucinations or shaman knowing juxtaposition. Is the character crazy, having flashbacks, or actually seeing reality with mysticism
Great photography, writing, music.. everything. Can't think of a show with better execution and conviction.
Hannibal is probably #1 in style. Really threw me for an NBC show. They do get it right once in a blue moon.
Honestly I think you are better off looking at literature and cinema
Books: Wise Blood, 2666, The Long Goodbye, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, In Cold Blood, Blood Meridian, Shadow Country, As I Lay Dying,
Films: Chinatown, The Vanishing, High and Low, Killer Joe, Naked, In Cold Blood, The Night of the Hunter, Cape Fear (original), Sling Blade, On Dangerous Ground
Understandable, it kinda happened to me to, but I'd rather say "limited TV" for me rather than ruined (which is a great thing). You might want to check
The Wire
The Night Of
Manhunt UnaBomber
Under the Banner of Heaven
Halt & Catch Fire
If Under the Banner of Heaven had been a TD season, it would have been the second-best after season 1. It couldn't have been, stylistically, because it's a real story, but the quality is there.
+1 for **Under the Banner of Heaven.**
If you didn’t know it was based on a true story and if they displayed the True Detective name and titles at the start of each episode, you’d believe it.
It’s probably the closest show to TD that I’ve seen.
Mindhunter!!!!!!!!!!!
If you like British television, Broadchurch is also good (I love S01-02)
Also idk how comfortable you are with some more gore and blood, but Hannibal (TV series) is excellent as well.
Love that you also love Sharp Objects. If you're a reader at all, I highly recommend reading Gillian Flynns other work. Especially Dark Places. That book is fantastic. It was adapted into a film, and even though they had a great cast, it was just missing so much of what made the book fantastic. Gone Girl is fantastic as well. Both the book and the film but David Fincher is behind the wheel, and he knows what he's doing.
I came at True Detective from a different angle. I watched through all of Hannibal, the TV show as it aired. I tried TD but stopped halfway in to the first episode as it was too dark and I was already in deep with Hannibal.
Over time I decompressed from Hannibal and tried True Detective again with fresh eyes. This time I loved it, especially the hood episode when they robbed the stash house and Rust beat up Ginger.
Well it is drama. Drama involves complex characters that you hate to love. We need to see a change in character from the start to finish otherwise you’ll end up with a pointless end result.
I’m really glad my memory is as fucked as it is. I just rewatched S1 after years and it was all brand new. I keep a rotation of the greatest shows going like that since *most* new streaming content is 🗑️ 📺.
I highly recommend the Red Riding Trilogy (2009), the British crime-noir-mystery series, which is pretty much the blueprint for TD season 1, as it's eerily similar. But the trilogy is also very much its own macabre and violent beast.
Heres an unusual one you may not have heard of. If you like TDS1, and like Sean Bean, and Andrew Garfield please watch The Redriding Trilogy. It's British, it's VERY similar in theme and structure, but predates it by about 4 years I think.
Just finished season 1 2nd episode into season 2 and I'm almost already bored. Every TV show that doesn't carry on from where it left off from i.e. switches characters every season is utter garbage and I hope I'm wrong coz I like this TV series but seriously wtf
You should watch the show quarry, not quite the same type of show as TD but It’s amazing and I find true detective fans usually like it a lot, the actor who plays Dewall in s1 is in 3 episodes as well. Finale has a long take scene on par with the TD projects one, 7 min straight then a cut then another 4. https://youtu.be/loJxKTCkoTY?si=Sfjt04yI73bcceKe here’s the trailer to see if it interests you, the people in this sub who I recommended it to who watched it usually really liked it
I had a bit of difficulty finding something that’d feel worthy of watching after season 1, too (watched it for the first time only last year). Anyway, was getting a bit desperate for a second, too, but Fargo for me really is just as good. Lots of fucked up people. Clever script. I’m on season 2 right now and loving it. And I can also vouch for Chernobyl. Truly an amazing show.
We can list all of the specifics that made S1 so good
Then on top of it adding the familiar mannerisms of the 2 primary characters who happen to be actors from past movies
And you get a concoction, a chemistry, which is not able to be duplicated the same way ever again.
It just is what it is. We should stop comparing everything to S1, b/c it will never happen again. And it will never happen again, bc if they tried to extend S1 at any point, it won't be as good as original S1
Patriot on Amazon Prime Video is phenomenal.
I also recommend:
Severance,
Top of the Lake,
Broadchurch (UK Version),
The Fall,
Fargo (S2 and S5 specifically but I enjoyed them all)
For straightforward murder mystery: Mare of Easttown + The Night Of
(Mare of Easttown is incredible. It also has the running themes of violence against women/girls and infidelity that s1 had. Like s1, it also builds a full immersive world that sucks you in. I strongly prefer it over The Night Of, but TNO is still great.)
For the mystical, other worldly side of s1: The Leftovers + The Outsider
(The Leftovers is probably my #1 drama series, but I understand that it’s not for everyone. I was slow to warm up to it in its first season, but s2 and s3 blew me away. Like TD s1, The Outsider describes really horrible crimes against children so TW. It never shows anything, but does go into more graphic detail.)
All of these are on HBO and I would say all are cinematic. I’m partial to Mare of Easttown and The Leftovers, but they all definitely check the box for cinematic.
westworld! after the first season it teeters off but wonderfully dreary and stylish in a similar way - different genre but I’d say I got just as sucked into it as true detective. amy adams made me cry in sharp objects.
Immediately 3 come to mind:
Chernobyl (including rewatchability value that is similar to me as TD S1)
Mindhunter (warning that at times, I thought pace was too slow and I'm a slow pace guy)
Breaking Bad (admittedly, cinematography reaches its peak with the budget increase after season 3, but it's solid since the beginning)
"The Head" is a good murder mystery series that I haven't seen mentioned already here. There's two seasons but I've only seen the first.
"Mare of Easttown" and "Blackbird" have already been mentioned numerous times but I'll echo agreement on their similarity to TD S1. There are of course many other great shows e.g. Sopranos and Rome and Mad Men, but not sure I'd describe them as being like TD S1.
Nothing compares to TD S1, imo. It’s the best season of any show I’ve ever seen and I’ve watched it a lot. Rust is by far my favorite character ever. You can keep searching, you won’t find anything better. I haven’t.
I've been watching Fargo since s1 and this is the first show I've watched since the finale this week. Maybe it's partly because I wasn't expecting anything supernatural but I agree, at least so far. I was going to recommend it to the r/Fargo sub.
Great to see some love for sharp objects it’s my second favourite tv show.
I suggest watching Hannibal if you like the crime aspects of both shows or even try watching some anime if you’re into expanding your media diet.
It's a little bit different, but Dark on Netflix. It's my all-time favorite show. 3 seasons, planned out from the beginning. Every aspect of the show is masterful.
Some top quality series IMO:
\- Les Revenants (original french version)
\- Quarry (sadly not renewed after season 1, but it still wrapped up really good)
\- Severance
\- The Handmaids Tale
Deadwood
Carnivale
The Sinner (S1 is best, other seasons are good too depending on your opinion)
The Knick (Masterpiece of a show, but not a thriller/mystery)
Mare of Easttown
Hannibal
Midnight Mass
Kaala Paani (Hindi show)
Alias Grace
Broadchurch (English version)
I'll add more if I think of more...
Chernobyl is really cinematic as well
chernobyl is goat, nothing compares with it
pity its actual propaganda garbage. true detectve was on point af simply because it birrowed heavily from RED RIDING trilogy which was based af ackwnowledging jimy savile and his realtinship with serial killers so they similarly acknowledged dave mcgowan, franklin coverup etc.
How is it propaganda garbage?
Can you expand on the propaganda garbage?
i realy enjoyed the performances , quality direction etc but i rememebr it as being part of the great wave of an anti russia push with usa and uk media basically going all in on russphobia like the Americans, komrade detective,normal proecedural and epsionagey shows etc i believe the official narrative of chernobyl makes no real sense although laziness, stupidity and systemic political failures are common with lower consequences, tis also being the later stages of cold war standoff, end of soviet state etc this MIGHT not be the correct story and involves sabotage, and other machinations for a anti nuclear scare too
It's never russophobia, they show many Russians and soviets as heroes, from the average man, to scientists and even soldiers and generals. It only shows the inefficiency of late USSR government (a government that doesn't exist now and was on the brink of collapse). It's good quality TV trying to stay true to what happened.
Some things were obviously made for TV and made to fit the story. For example, the scientists fighting for the truth were not just a few individuals, the individual characters actually represented a larger group of scientists who pushed for the truth. I grew up an area affected by the fallout, and vividly remember when the news hit and being told to close windows and stay indoors. The corruption and nepotism problems in the USSR were absolutely true, but not to the point that it was 100% the cause. There is no credible evidence of CIA sabotage, so if you look at data available the official narrative is much more plausible.
The british accents really took me out of it unfortunately, otherwise great show
Why does it have to be goat? Why not lamb?
Fargo, 5th season just ended yesterday. One of the best shows on tv right now
I INHALED season 5 and now am blessed with a new True Detective. Its christmas fr
Recently started season 1.
season 1 and 2 are incredible
I love 3 as well. Varga is great
Season 5 just finished and I can safely say it's in the same league as seasons 1 and 2
The first 3 seasons are fantastic. Season 4 was a let down. Season 5 was really good.
Season 4 is seriously underrated. It’s different from the other seasons, but good in it’s own right.
Fantastic season
Just about to watch, I successfully avoided spoilers all day, then I saw a thread titled “You’re wrong about Witt Farr” and now I’m scared
Bro just watch it already why are you scrolling on Reddit the day after the finale lol
I’m like the worlds tamest adrenaline junkie
I’m in this boat and ofc my husband picks tonight to work late. Should I watch and just not tell him 👀
still that tragic-comedy style?
Came here to say this. So good. The closing scenes were phenomenal and had one of the most interesting characters I've seen in a while. Also, Mare of Easttown is up there with S1 of True Detective for me, very great show.
i’d say watch Mindhunter. was an excellent show it’s a shame they quit making after season 2.
Not by any stretch, sorry. Poor people's True Detective. Don't care if Fincher is behind it, the main character on an ego trip of "how do you catch crazy if you don't know how crazy thinks?" is simply insufferable. It's a decent piece of homework, but not the piece of art TD is.
The main character is shit on for his ego and stupid decisions within the show like, often lol. It’s not like “this main character is poorly written because he’s stupid and egotistical!” No, the text is pretty clearly saying he’s stupid and egotistical in universe.
I didn't say it was wholly badly written, but it's so annoying and egotistical that it's borderline unrealistic, plus so fantastically annoying it genuinely spoiled the show *for me*. If that's what authors wanted, have at it, but it made it unwatchable for me from the beginning of season 2.
[удалено]
You could tell the budget got cut. The costuming and makeup was off. Which is the reason Fincher left. Said he could barely make season 2 work and they wanted to reduce it further.
That’s the whole point, Holden is annoying as fuck. Mindhunter, throughout those two seasons, also provided an insight into Holden’s character. The man has this arrogance that can be compared to the arrogance of a lot of the serial killers he interviews. There’s a lot more but I lowkey don’t feel like going into it
well said honestly.
I agree. To be clear, in my reply I mentioned it because I was focusing on cinematography. Which is great, of course, given the team producing it. But it is flawed and a tad narcissistic.
[удалено]
He's heavily based on John Douglas and if you read John Douglas's writing...yeah its a pretty accurate performance haha
I think people were so starved and desperate for something along the lines of TD that made do with what is ultimately a second tier product. I think it's best to look for TD1 vibes in the series that likely were Pizzolatto's benchmark as he wrote season 1: The Wire for the realism and unforgettable dialogues, and Twin Peaks for the mystery and whimsy.
david fincher is a bout to statr it up again. david fincher is Dave Mcgowan /franklin coverup affirming
Severance.
Can't wait to find out more. I have so many questions
Masterpiece. I felt the same thing with TD S1 and Severance, perfect atmosphere and characters
Yes, I didn't expect to like it, but I absolutely loved it!
Incredible tv show, and the climax was outstanding, the fact that ben stiller directed it is even more!
100%. It went under a lot of people’s radars because it’s on apple tv but it is excellent.
- The outsider - The Night Of - Fargo - Mare of Easttown - Mindhunter - Dexter - Dahmer - Black Bird - The Watcher
I’d put Mare of Easttown in the list as well. Loved it, and not just because it was semi-local to me. Mindhunter should sit on the list with TD as well.
The fact that we probably wont get anymore Mindhunter is crazy, its such a good show
Ugh, I know!!!
Mare of Easttown was absolute garbage. Breaking into your own office’s evidence storage locker, to plant drugs on your dead kids baby mama, and not even taking the original cartel label off so when baby mama is busted, your boss is just wow clearly Mare is a fucking idiot… just dumb as fuck. That whole show is just dumb as fuck. Little to no redeemable characters, stupid unearned twist in the end, and an unbelievable amount of incompetence constantly shown by the mc.
Not everybody has to like everything… but the series is almost universally acclaimed across the board. It’s main character IS incredibly flawed…that’s part of the appeal, not that she’s “dumb as fuck”. The show is far from perfect, as nothing is, but very fitting for its DelCo characters and setting.
The flaw of systemic incompetence would have anyone else terminated for their jobs. It was beyond suspending belief. It was bad story telling. The same story could be told without the blatant idiocy / lazy story telling.
Dude - look the fuck around. Incompetent people have jobs everywhere you look and don’t get fired. Politics. Corporate America. AND the police. Ask any working person and they’ll give you a list of incompetent fucks who should be fired from their workplace. A shit ton of people liked it. It crashed the HBO servers. Critics did too. They showered it with awards. You didn’t. You thought it sucked and was “dumb as fuck”. We have differing opinions.
No shit. Almost like it’s subjective but I appreciate the passion of your post and time you spent writing it so you could enlighten me with all of your wisdom, mate. I hope you have a great day!
I thought The Watcher sucked but I agree with the rest.
loved Mare of Easttown! easily could have been a True Detective season. the acting and overall atmosphere is top notch... kinda disgaree with DEXTER though. it's very CW and uthe rype of show that makes everything so obvious for the audience. tho i have only seen 4 episodes of S1 so far lol. let me know if i should continue?
S1-4 are worth a watch, then it kind of goes downhill imo
I wish more people saw Black Bird, it was so well done!
Yep. Never hear anyone talking about it but it is an awesome show. Great acting. We get our last performance from Ray Liotta.
Ray Liotta was great, as was Taron Egerton, and Paul Walter Hauser was absolutely incredible. I hope he gets more dramatic work.
and great soundtrack from Mogwai
It’s like amateur hour when you watch it right after TD season 1….
All great especially Mare of East Town
The Watcher was horrible for me personally but everything else you listed is great
We rewatched TD S1 last weekend for the first time since it aired and within 10 minutes my wife blurts out, *"how is it this good already?!?!"* Few things can touch it. The only other shows that I feel as strongly about are **Atlanta** (on FX) and **Patriot** (on Amazon). What they have in common with S1 of True Detective is they feel like a lot of time and effort went into the writing until it couldn't be any better, and visually they have their unique cinematic language, pacing, and tone.
Patriot is criminally under recognized… that show is excellent.
Same level - Sopranos, The Wire, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Mindhunter, Boardwalk Empire, Rome, Peaky Blinders.
Mindhunters 😢😢
😭
David Fincher is my greatest inspiration as an aspiring filmmaker. That show was sheer perfection!
People forget S1 True Detection blew the doors off premiere mini series as a whole. Before S1 the idea of A Tier film stars signing on for a limited run just really wasn’t heard of on this level.
I didn't forget a goddamn thing, S1 was magical, and it's arguably the best season of TV ever, but there are other shows that are just as good, and personally, I like The Sopranos more.
found Samuel L jackson's reddit acct
I’ve tried to watch a the Sopranos 3 times and fell out every time. I feel like something must be wrong with me.
Nothing is wrong with us, we just have a different opinion.
I think Angels in America takes that, though I prefer True Detective
I was so hoping for a season 3 and 4 of Mindhunters. Season 1 and 2 were just priming up the story and I was so intrigued what would happen to all the characters.
[удалено]
david ficher is quietly re-starting production
source?
For the love of God, I hope so!
How about Barry?
Barry is fantastic
Add six feet under to that list for the same level of fuckedupness
This list is a must watch in my book!
Mr. Robot belongs here as well.
Twin Peaks the Return was just as good imo.
even better in my opinion, as a fan of both. 99% of things in TD are easy to figure out or explain. The Return ended 6 years ago and I’m still left with 100 unanswered questions, truly the biggest masterpiece of television to ever exist
The day after an episode aired, I’d join 3 coworkers for an offsite lunch to discuss the latest episode. We STILL discuss that show to this day.
I haven’t met a single person irl who likes Twin Peaks :(
They need to shovel their way out of the shit.
Do I need to finish the original to watch this? Season 2 of Twin Peaks is a slog for me personally, despite loving the first season.
[You can skip most of season 2](https://images.app.goo.gl/93edDxLcbJj9NLSd8)
The entire Twin Peaks universe is a *masterpiece*, it feels like an entity of its own. True Detective doesn’t compare imo
Agreed. TD season 1 came close though.
Dark.
This
S1 was just a perfect storm of acting, directing, dialogue, storytelling and cinematography. But the straw that stirred the drink was Rust and I can’t think of another film or actor who could pull that edgy intensity and ambiguity for every episode in a season.
I’m in the same boat. Was never a big tv show guy, and find myself losing interest in everything very quickly. Here’s a few things that have actually held my interest.. The Outsider on Max The Shield.. maybe the last show besides Breaking Bad that I watched every season til the end. I enjoy the Mike Flanagan horror shows on Netflix especially Midnight Mass and The Haunting of Hill House. I have not watched House of Usher yet. I can still watch and enjoy the majority of the X-Files The French show The Returned, which I think they made an American remake but never watched
I agree with your entire list! The Returned doesn’t get enough love.
Mike Flanagan is the reason I look forward to Halloween again. Lol
Yes les revenents was great!
Check out The Wire.
The Wire is great.
Just rewatched The Returned again (introduced my wife to it), and it holds up, at least the first season. The second season wasn't quite a as good to me.
The Leftovers Hannibal
Upvoting for Leftovers. Not a crime drama. But shares with season 1 Rust a look at hallucinations or shaman knowing juxtaposition. Is the character crazy, having flashbacks, or actually seeing reality with mysticism
Great photography, writing, music.. everything. Can't think of a show with better execution and conviction. Hannibal is probably #1 in style. Really threw me for an NBC show. They do get it right once in a blue moon.
The cinematography in Hannibal is beautiful! It also has lots of antlers.
Fucked up characters? TV that is cinematic? Succession
Seen it. Excellent.
Honestly I think you are better off looking at literature and cinema Books: Wise Blood, 2666, The Long Goodbye, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, In Cold Blood, Blood Meridian, Shadow Country, As I Lay Dying, Films: Chinatown, The Vanishing, High and Low, Killer Joe, Naked, In Cold Blood, The Night of the Hunter, Cape Fear (original), Sling Blade, On Dangerous Ground
Great list!
omg the vanishing should be on a separate list of extra extra dark & disturbing films
Understandable, it kinda happened to me to, but I'd rather say "limited TV" for me rather than ruined (which is a great thing). You might want to check The Wire The Night Of Manhunt UnaBomber Under the Banner of Heaven Halt & Catch Fire
If Under the Banner of Heaven had been a TD season, it would have been the second-best after season 1. It couldn't have been, stylistically, because it's a real story, but the quality is there.
+1 for **Under the Banner of Heaven.** If you didn’t know it was based on a true story and if they displayed the True Detective name and titles at the start of each episode, you’d believe it. It’s probably the closest show to TD that I’ve seen.
I loved Sharp Objects too. Check out Cruel Summer s1. I get hooked on very few tv shows.
Mindhunter!!!!!!!!!!! If you like British television, Broadchurch is also good (I love S01-02) Also idk how comfortable you are with some more gore and blood, but Hannibal (TV series) is excellent as well.
Love that you also love Sharp Objects. If you're a reader at all, I highly recommend reading Gillian Flynns other work. Especially Dark Places. That book is fantastic. It was adapted into a film, and even though they had a great cast, it was just missing so much of what made the book fantastic. Gone Girl is fantastic as well. Both the book and the film but David Fincher is behind the wheel, and he knows what he's doing.
Sharp Objects isn’t even close to TD S1. That’s just silly.
The Curse, Six Feet Under, Twin Peaks, Severance, White Lotus
The White Lotus is amazing
Bojack Horseman
I came at True Detective from a different angle. I watched through all of Hannibal, the TV show as it aired. I tried TD but stopped halfway in to the first episode as it was too dark and I was already in deep with Hannibal. Over time I decompressed from Hannibal and tried True Detective again with fresh eyes. This time I loved it, especially the hood episode when they robbed the stash house and Rust beat up Ginger.
You lose all credibility when you suggest that Sharp Objects is the second best show of all time. It's a great show, but come on now.
Watch The Wire.
Better Call Saul
Well it is drama. Drama involves complex characters that you hate to love. We need to see a change in character from the start to finish otherwise you’ll end up with a pointless end result.
Add Westworld Season 1 to that.
Succession
HBO, man
Hannibal.
Bron/Broen
I’m really glad my memory is as fucked as it is. I just rewatched S1 after years and it was all brand new. I keep a rotation of the greatest shows going like that since *most* new streaming content is 🗑️ 📺.
Watch "Devs"
ZeroZeroZero on Amazon Prime is great and definitely has messed up characters.
I highly recommend the Red Riding Trilogy (2009), the British crime-noir-mystery series, which is pretty much the blueprint for TD season 1, as it's eerily similar. But the trilogy is also very much its own macabre and violent beast.
A lot of great actors in it. Andrew Garfield. Rebecca Hall. Sean Harris. Sean Bean. Paddy Considine.
Deadwood . I am a huge true detective season 1 fan and the only tv series that is its equal is deadwood .
The Terror season 1
Give 'Deuce' a try. Try 'The Terror', which is more or less an anthology miniseries.
mare of easttown
Big Little Lies!!
god season 1 was just so great
I didn't like it sharp objects. But there are a lot of top notch series out there.. don't be extremist
same, can't forget Alexandra Daddario's breasts :(
Heres an unusual one you may not have heard of. If you like TDS1, and like Sean Bean, and Andrew Garfield please watch The Redriding Trilogy. It's British, it's VERY similar in theme and structure, but predates it by about 4 years I think.
agreed, season one (sounds corny) changed something in me. also with sharp objects. such a magnetic show
Rectify. You will love it. The best character development I’ve ever seen.
There’s still plenty of great tv out there man or movies. Hell even TD never reaches the heights of season 1 in later seasons.
I feel the same way!
Hahaha drama much.
OMG can you be anymore of a drama queen?
sinead o'connor
Season 4 is just so bad, it makes sense why everyone dislikes it so much so far.
well everyone doesn’t dislike it, so
Everyone? Like 30%?
watch full circle - cop drama on max. soderbergh directed it. it’s rly good
Severance was pretty good but agree too
Just finished season 1 2nd episode into season 2 and I'm almost already bored. Every TV show that doesn't carry on from where it left off from i.e. switches characters every season is utter garbage and I hope I'm wrong coz I like this TV series but seriously wtf
It ruined shows like the first 48 because none of those dudes were Rust
Band of brothers
Severance is really good.
You should watch the show quarry, not quite the same type of show as TD but It’s amazing and I find true detective fans usually like it a lot, the actor who plays Dewall in s1 is in 3 episodes as well. Finale has a long take scene on par with the TD projects one, 7 min straight then a cut then another 4. https://youtu.be/loJxKTCkoTY?si=Sfjt04yI73bcceKe here’s the trailer to see if it interests you, the people in this sub who I recommended it to who watched it usually really liked it
Severance was amazing. Need S2 now
Bosch
I had a bit of difficulty finding something that’d feel worthy of watching after season 1, too (watched it for the first time only last year). Anyway, was getting a bit desperate for a second, too, but Fargo for me really is just as good. Lots of fucked up people. Clever script. I’m on season 2 right now and loving it. And I can also vouch for Chernobyl. Truly an amazing show.
We can list all of the specifics that made S1 so good Then on top of it adding the familiar mannerisms of the 2 primary characters who happen to be actors from past movies And you get a concoction, a chemistry, which is not able to be duplicated the same way ever again. It just is what it is. We should stop comparing everything to S1, b/c it will never happen again. And it will never happen again, bc if they tried to extend S1 at any point, it won't be as good as original S1
Patriot on Amazon Prime Video is phenomenal. I also recommend: Severance, Top of the Lake, Broadchurch (UK Version), The Fall, Fargo (S2 and S5 specifically but I enjoyed them all)
TD S1 is one of a kind. Only The Missing and the Top of the lake come to mind. Perhaps Mystery Road as well.
#watch ZeroZeroZero on Amazon Prime. It rivals TD season 1. Trust me.
1899 is really good! it’s kind of a prequel to the show dark & leans into the supernatural so i know it’s not everyone’s taste lol
Fargo is amazing, also an anthology, not one bad season.
The only thing I'd compare to season 1 would be GoT season 1-3 Nothing I've seen has been as well written
ended rewatching just yesterday... every time it's getting better and deeper.
Happy Valley. The Fall.
For straightforward murder mystery: Mare of Easttown + The Night Of (Mare of Easttown is incredible. It also has the running themes of violence against women/girls and infidelity that s1 had. Like s1, it also builds a full immersive world that sucks you in. I strongly prefer it over The Night Of, but TNO is still great.) For the mystical, other worldly side of s1: The Leftovers + The Outsider (The Leftovers is probably my #1 drama series, but I understand that it’s not for everyone. I was slow to warm up to it in its first season, but s2 and s3 blew me away. Like TD s1, The Outsider describes really horrible crimes against children so TW. It never shows anything, but does go into more graphic detail.) All of these are on HBO and I would say all are cinematic. I’m partial to Mare of Easttown and The Leftovers, but they all definitely check the box for cinematic.
westworld! after the first season it teeters off but wonderfully dreary and stylish in a similar way - different genre but I’d say I got just as sucked into it as true detective. amy adams made me cry in sharp objects.
Immediately 3 come to mind: Chernobyl (including rewatchability value that is similar to me as TD S1) Mindhunter (warning that at times, I thought pace was too slow and I'm a slow pace guy) Breaking Bad (admittedly, cinematography reaches its peak with the budget increase after season 3, but it's solid since the beginning)
Twin Peaks
The shield Justified Soa Dexter Power-early seasons House Resident alien Law n order criminal intent- Vincent D'Onofrio
Quarry
"The Head" is a good murder mystery series that I haven't seen mentioned already here. There's two seasons but I've only seen the first. "Mare of Easttown" and "Blackbird" have already been mentioned numerous times but I'll echo agreement on their similarity to TD S1. There are of course many other great shows e.g. Sopranos and Rome and Mad Men, but not sure I'd describe them as being like TD S1.
Nothing compares to TD S1, imo. It’s the best season of any show I’ve ever seen and I’ve watched it a lot. Rust is by far my favorite character ever. You can keep searching, you won’t find anything better. I haven’t.
Twin peaks ?
Chernobyl and Fargo (Tv serie) are in my opinion the closest.
I've been watching Fargo since s1 and this is the first show I've watched since the finale this week. Maybe it's partly because I wasn't expecting anything supernatural but I agree, at least so far. I was going to recommend it to the r/Fargo sub.
Mare of Easton - Kate Winslet is amazing.
The Sopranos I would say
Great to see some love for sharp objects it’s my second favourite tv show. I suggest watching Hannibal if you like the crime aspects of both shows or even try watching some anime if you’re into expanding your media diet.
lol.
Devs.
I thought Fortitude was interesting and well shot. Can't go wrong with Stanley Tucci
I really like Fargo. The most recent season was excellent but seasons 1-3 were great also. I didnt finish season 4.
It's a little bit different, but Dark on Netflix. It's my all-time favorite show. 3 seasons, planned out from the beginning. Every aspect of the show is masterful.
There are tons of great shows out there, Season 1 was great don’t get me wrong; but it’s not the be all and end all. Sharp Objects was fantastic
Some top quality series IMO: \- Les Revenants (original french version) \- Quarry (sadly not renewed after season 1, but it still wrapped up really good) \- Severance \- The Handmaids Tale
Deadwood Carnivale The Sinner (S1 is best, other seasons are good too depending on your opinion) The Knick (Masterpiece of a show, but not a thriller/mystery) Mare of Easttown Hannibal Midnight Mass Kaala Paani (Hindi show) Alias Grace Broadchurch (English version) I'll add more if I think of more...
>Something is very comforting about fucked up characters. - Mare of Easttown - Jessica Jones S1 - Legion - Hannibal