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Dexter poster

Shows that feel likeDexter (2006–2013)

Dexter Morgan, a blood spatter pattern analyst for the Miami Metro Police also leads a secret life as a serial killer, hunting down criminals who have slipped through the cracks of justice.

If you loved Dexter, the closest series we have are Luther (2010), Hannibal (2013) and Sharp Objects (2018). All three share Dexter's gritty and contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Cruel Summer (2021).

★ 8.6 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗8 seasons · Showtimecreated by James Manos Jr.grittycontemplativetwistyunsettling
11 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video
Stream it:Paramount+ ↗
Buy seasons:Amazon see price ↗Apple TV$39.99 buyDexter, The Complete Series · Apple price as of 2026-09-29

If Dexter hit the spot, these will too

Luther poster
Luther
2010–2019 · 5 seasons · BBC One
★ 8.4crime · drama · mysteryMaxHulu

A hunter whose talent for monsters comes from thinking like one

The difference: Luther unravels in the open — no secret self, no code to keep hidden

A dark psychological crime drama starring Idris Elba as Luther, a man struggling with his own terrible demons, who might be as dangerous as the depraved murderers he hunts.

Hannibal poster
Hannibal
2013–2015 · 3 seasons · NBC
★ 8.5drama · crimeNetflixPrime Video

A killer embedded in the investigation meant to catch him

The difference: Operatic and beautiful — appetite as art, not a tidy code

Both a gift and a curse, Graham has the extraordinary ability to think like his prey—he sees what they see, feels what they feel. But while Graham is pursuing an especially troubling, cannibalistic murderer, Special Agent Jack Crawford teams him with a highly respected psychiatrist – a man with a taste for the criminal minded – Dr. Hannibal Lecter.

Sharp Objects poster
Sharp Objects
2018 · 1 season · HBO
★ 8crime · drama · mysteryMax

Sun-baked heat, a private ritual of harm and a face kept carefully calm

The difference: A single slow season — grief and drink, not a body count to cheer

Reporter Camille Preaker confronts the psychological demons from her past when she returns to her hometown to investigate the murders of two young girls.

DAHMER - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story poster
★ 8crime · dramaNetflix

The ordinary surface a killer keeps up, and who fails to look

The difference: True crime with no sympathy offered and no code to admire

This series examines the gruesome and horrific true crimes of Jeffrey Dahmer and the systemic failures that enabled one of America’s most notorious serial killers to continue his murderous spree in plain sight for over a decade.

You poster
You
2018–2025 · 5 seasons · Lifetime
★ 7.6mystery · crime · dramaNetflix

The same two preoccupations: murder, and serial killer

The difference: Takes it somewhere less contemplative than Dexter does

A dangerously charming, obsessive man goes to extreme measures to insert himself into the lives of women who fascinate him.

Cruel Summer poster
Cruel Summer
2021–2023 · 2 seasons · Freeform
★ 7.4mystery · dramaHulu

Common ground: psychological thriller

The difference: Easier on the grit than Dexter

Taking place over three summers - 1993, 1994, 1995 - in a small Texas town, a beautiful popular teen, Kate, is abducted and, seemingly unrelated, a girl, Jeanette, goes from being a sweet, awkward outlier to the most popular girl in town and, by ’95, the most despised person in America.

CSI: Miami poster
CSI: Miami
2002–2012 · 10 seasons · CBS
★ 6.5drama · mystery · crimeHuluParamount+

Miami forensics and a squad room to hide inside

The difference: Straight procedural camp, nobody hiding anything

The show follows Crime Scene Investigators working for the Miami-Dade Police Department as they use physical evidence, similar to their Las Vegas counterparts, to solve grisly murders. The series mixes deduction, gritty subject matter, and character-driven drama in the same vein as the original series in the CSI franchise, except that the Miami CSIs are cops first, scientists second.

Yellowjackets poster
Yellowjackets
2021– · 4 seasons · Showtime
★ 7.7drama · mysteryNetflixParamount+

Both are built on the same subject: psychological thriller

This equal parts survival epic, psychological horror story and coming-of-age drama tells the saga of a team of wildly talented high school girls soccer players who become the (un)lucky survivors of a plane crash deep in the remote northern wilderness. The series chronicles their descent from a complicated but thriving team to savage clans, while also tracking the lives they’ve attempted to piece back together nearly 25 years later.

Death Note poster
Death Note
2006–2007 · 1 season · Nippon TV
★ 8.9animation · mystery · sci-fi & fantasyNetflixPrime Video

Someone deciding who deserves to die and building a system for it

The difference: Animated, and a duel of intellects rather than a double life

Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects—and he’s bored out of his mind. But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But will Light succeed in his noble goal, or will the Death Note turn him into the very thing he fights against?

The Fall poster
The Fall
2013–2016 · 3 seasons · RTÉ One
★ 8.1drama · crimePrime VideoPeacock

Both keep coming back to the same thing: serial killer

When the Police Service of Northern Ireland are unable to close a case after 28 days, Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson of the Metropolitan Police Service is called in to review the case. Under her new leadership, the local detectives must track down and stop a serial killer who is terrorising the city of Belfast.

Scream: The TV Series poster
Scream: The TV Series
2015–2019 · 3 seasons · MTV
★ 7drama · crime · mystery

A killer choosing victims by a private set of rules

The difference: Teen slasher, played for jumps

What starts as a YouTube video going viral, soon leads to problems for the teenagers of Lakewood and serves as the catalyst for a murder that opens up a window to the town's troubled past. Everyone has secrets. Everyone tells lies. Everyone is fair game.

Revenge poster
Revenge
2011–2015 · 4 seasons · ABC
★ 7.8drama · mysteryHulu

The same mix in both: stillness, then twists

When Emily Thorne moves to the Hamptons, everyone wonders about the new girl, but she knows everything about them, including what they did to her family. Years ago, they took everything from her. Now, one by one, she's going to make them pay.

In the mood for more gritty?

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The best-reviewed series that share Dexter’s defining feeling.