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Slow Horses poster

Shows that feel likeSlow Horses (2022–)

Follow a dysfunctional team of MI5 agents—and their obnoxious boss, the notorious Jackson Lamb—as they navigate the espionage world's smoke and mirrors to defend England from sinister forces.

If you loved Slow Horses, the closest series we have are The Chestnut Man (2021), The Alienist (2018) and The Undoing (2020). All three share Slow Horses' 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 Killing (2011).

11 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Hulu
Stream it:Apple TV ↗

If Slow Horses hit the spot, these will too

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

Gritty and contemplative in the same breath

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.

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

A team of misfit outsiders working a case the establishment fumbles

The difference: Grim period seriousness — not a laugh in the building

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.

The Undoing poster
The Undoing
2020 · 1 season · HBO
★ 7.4drama · crime · mysteryMax

Twisty crime in both cases

Grace and Jonathan Fraser are living the only lives they ever wanted. Overnight a chasm opens in their lives: a violent death and a chain of terrible revelations. Left behind in the wake of a spreading and very public disaster, Grace must dismantle one life and create another for her child and her family.

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder poster
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder
2024– · 3 seasons · BBC Three
★ 6.8drama · crime · mysteryNetflix

Drama built on grit, twice over

Five years after the death of schoolgirl Andie Bell, Pippa Fitz-Amobi sets out to uncover what really happened to her. Sal Singh, Andie's boyfriend, admitted to the murder before taking his own life, but Pip doesn't believe he's responsible and teams up with Sal's brother Ravi to uncover the truth. If Sal Singh isn't a murderer and the real killer is still out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from finding out the truth?

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

Quiet professionals watching a case poison everything around them

The difference: A family tragedy, not espionage — and completely humorless

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

Weary investigators grinding at a case that refuses to make sense

The difference: Supernatural dread replaces the bureaucratic satire

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.

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

A shambolic, written-off investigator who's better than anyone admits

The difference: Small-town grief drama — no spies, no institutional comedy

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

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

The unglamorous slog of investigation, rain and dead ends included

The difference: Relentlessly bleak, with no gallows wit to cut it

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.

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

Systems full of tired people quietly failing the case in front of them

The difference: One case, one season, and it lands like a punch, not a smirk

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.

Ratched poster
Ratched
2020 · 1 season · Netflix
★ 7.2mystery · drama · crimeNetflix

A poisonous workplace where the real danger sits behind a desk

The difference: Lurid stylized melodrama — camp where Slow Horses is dry

In 1947, Mildred Ratched begins working as a nurse at a leading psychiatric hospital. But beneath her stylish exterior lurks a growing darkness.

The Blacklist poster
The Blacklist
2013–2023 · 10 seasons · NBC
★ 7.9drama · crime · mysteryNetflix

A brilliant, insufferable operator running rings around his agency

The difference: A slick network procedural — formula over character rot

Raymond "Red" Reddington, one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives, surrenders in person at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. He claims that he and the FBI have the same interests: bringing down dangerous criminals and terrorists. In the last two decades, he's made a list of criminals and terrorists that matter the most but the FBI cannot find because it does not know they exist. Reddington calls this "The Blacklist". Reddington will co-operate, but insists that he will speak only to Elizabeth Keen, a rookie FBI profiler.

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

Contemplative mystery, and it commits to that

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.

In the mood for more gritty?

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The best-reviewed series that share Slow Horses’ defining feeling.