
Shows that feel likeDexter (2006–2013)
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).
If Dexter hit the spot, these will too

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 killer embedded in the investigation meant to catch him
The difference: Operatic and beautiful — appetite as art, not a tidy code

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

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

The same two preoccupations: murder, and serial killer
The difference: Takes it somewhere less contemplative than Dexter does

Common ground: psychological thriller
The difference: Easier on the grit than Dexter

Miami forensics and a squad room to hide inside
The difference: Straight procedural camp, nobody hiding anything

Both are built on the same subject: psychological thriller

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

Both keep coming back to the same thing: serial killer

A killer choosing victims by a private set of rules
The difference: Teen slasher, played for jumps

The same mix in both: stillness, then twists
In the mood for more gritty?
all gritty shows →The best-reviewed series that share Dexter’s defining feeling.









