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How to Get Away with Murder poster

Shows that feel likeHow to Get Away with Murder (2014–2020)

A sexy, suspense-driven legal thriller about a group of ambitious law students and their brilliant, mysterious criminal defense professor. They become entangled in a murder plot and will shake the entire university and change the course of their lives.

If you loved How to Get Away with Murder, the closest series we have are The Night Of (2016), Defending Jacob (2020) and The Outsider (2020). All three share How to Get Away with Murder'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 The Alienist (2018).

★ 8.1 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗6 seasons · ABCcreated by Peter Nowalkgrittycontemplativetwisty
10 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video
Stream it:Hulu ↗

If How to Get Away with Murder hit the spot, these will too

The Night Of poster
The Night Of
2016 · 1 season · HBO
★ 8.4crime · drama · mysteryMax

One murder charge dismantles a life while the lawyers play every angle

The difference: One sober, meticulous case — none of the soapy rush or weekly twists

After a night of partying with a female stranger, a man wakes up to find her stabbed to death and is charged with her murder.

Defending Jacob poster
Defending Jacob
2020 · 1 season · Apple TV
★ 7.7drama · mystery · crimeApple TV+

The accused might be guilty, and the people defending him can't be sure

The difference: A quiet family drama in a minor key — courtroom scenes are scarce

A family's lives are irreparably disrupted when the 14-year-old son is accused of murdering a fellow classmate.

The Outsider poster
The Outsider
2020 · 1 season · HBO
★ 7.6drama · mystery · crimeMax

A murder case where every answer makes the truth look worse

The difference: Turns supernatural midway and moves at a deliberate crawl

When an insidious supernatural force edges its way into a seemingly straightforward investigation into the gruesome murder of a young boy, it leads a seasoned cop and an unorthodox investigator to question everything they believe in.

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

A tight circle keeping secrets while the body count climbs around them

The difference: Teen slasher pulp — the twists are cheaper and the acting thinner

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.

The Killing poster
The Killing
2011–2014 · 4 seasons · AMC
★ 8.3drama · crime · mysteryHulu

One murder pulled apart thread by thread until nobody looks innocent

The difference: Grief-soaked and rain-grey — momentum comes in a drip, not a rush

The Killing is an American crime drama television series based upon the Danish television series Forbrydelsen. Set in Seattle, Washington, the series follows the various murder investigations by homicide detectives Sarah Linden and Stephen Holder.

Mare of Easttown poster
Mare of Easttown
2021 · 1 season · HBO
★ 8.4drama · crime · mysteryMax

A flawed, magnetic lead carrying a murder case and her own wreckage at once

The difference: Seven quiet hours and done — no seasons of escalating cover-ups

A detective in a small Pennsylvania town investigates a local murder while trying to keep her life from falling apart.

The Chestnut Man poster
The Chestnut Man
2021–2026 · 2 seasons · Netflix
★ 7.6drama · crime · mysteryNetflix

One thread runs through both: murder

At a grisly murder scene sits a figurine made of chestnuts. From this creepy clue, two detectives hunt a killer linked to a politician's missing child.

Bates Motel poster
Bates Motel
2013–2017 · 5 seasons · A&E
★ 8.1drama · crime · mysteryPrime Video

Watching people you like slide into covering up the unforgivable

The difference: Trades the courtroom for a motel — slower, stranger, more intimate

A "contemporary prequel" to the 1960 film Psycho, depicting the life of Norman Bates and his mother Norma prior to the events portrayed in Hitchcock's film, albeit in a different fictional town and in a modern setting. The series begins after the death of Norma's husband, when she purchases a motel located in a coastal Oregon town so she and Norman can start a new life.

Elementary poster
Elementary
2012–2019 · 7 seasons · CBS
★ 7.9drama · mystery · crimePrime VideoHulu

A damaged genius outthinking every case New York throws at him

The difference: Tidy case-of-the-week rhythm — nothing spills into the next episode

A modern-day drama about a crime-solving duo that cracks the NYPD's most impossible cases. Following his fall from grace in London and a stint in rehab, eccentric Sherlock escapes to Manhattan where his wealthy father forces him to live with his worst nightmare - a sober companion, Dr. Watson.

Lie to Me poster
Lie to Me
2009–2011 · 3 seasons · FOX
★ 8crime · drama · mysteryHulu

Built on the thrill of catching the exact moment somebody lies

The difference: Procedural and safe — the leads never get blood on their hands

The world's leading deception researcher, Dr. Cal Lightman, studies facial expression, body language and tone of voice to determine when a person is lying and why, which helps law enforcement and government agencies uncover the truth. But his skills also make it easier for him to deceive others.

The Alienist poster
The Alienist
2018–2020 · 2 seasons · TNT
★ 7.7drama · crime · mystery

Ambitious outsiders bending the rules of a system that wants them gone

The difference: Corseted 1890s pacing — grim atmosphere instead of pulpy speed

New York, 1896. Police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt brings together criminal psychologist Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, newspaper illustrator John Moore and secretary Sara Howard to investigate several murders of male prostitutes.

Quantico poster
Quantico
2015–2018 · 3 seasons · ABC
★ 6.7crime · drama · mystery

Gritty and contemplative in the same breath

A diverse group of recruits has arrived at the FBI Quantico Base for training. They are the best, the brightest and the most vetted, so it seems impossible that one of them is suspected of masterminding the biggest attack on New York City since 9/11.

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The best-reviewed series that share How to Get Away with Murder’s defining feeling.