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Sons of Anarchy poster

Shows that feel likeSons of Anarchy (2008–2014)

The Sons of Anarchy (SOA) are an outlaw motorcycle club with many charters in the United States and overseas. The show focused on the original and founding charter, Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original, often referred to by the acronym SAMCRO, Sam Crow, or simply Redwood Charter. The charter operates both legal and illegal businesses in the small town of Charming, California. They combine gun-running and a garage, and involvement in porn film industry. Clay, the charter president, likes it old school and violent; while Jax, his stepson and the club's VP, has thoughts about changing the way things are done. Their conflict has effects on both the club and their personal relationship, especially when Jax goes on a personal quest to cleanse the SAMCRO name and image.

If you loved Sons of Anarchy, the closest series we have are Mayans M.C. (2018), Pablo Escobar: The Drug Lord (2012) and The Penguin (2024). All three share Sons of Anarchy'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 Godless (2017).

★ 8.5 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗7 seasons · FXcreated by Kurt Suttergrittycontemplative
12 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Hulu
Stream it:Hulu ↗
Buy seasons:Amazon see price ↗Apple TV$29.99 buySons of Anarchy, The Complete Series 1-7 · Apple price as of 2026-08-25

If Sons of Anarchy hit the spot, these will too

Mayans M.C. poster
Mayans M.C.
2018–2023 · 5 seasons · FX
★ 7.5crime · dramaHulu

Club loyalty as a cage: same world, a new prospect learning what the patch costs

The difference: Slower burning and smaller in scale — it never reaches SOA's operatic pitch

Set in the aftermath of Jax Teller’s death, Ezekiel "EZ" Reyes is fresh out of prison and a prospect in the Mayans M.C. charter on the Cali/Mexi border. Now, EZ must carve out his new identity in a town where he was once the golden boy with the American Dream in his grasp.

Pablo Escobar: The Drug Lord poster
Pablo Escobar: The Drug Lord
2012 · 1 season · Caracol TV
★ 8.4crime · dramaNetflix

An empire built brick by brick with family always in the blast radius

The difference: Telenovela pacing across a huge episode count, and it's a real-life biography

Pablo is a man with a natural ability for business. Early in his life, Pablo is introduced to the business of cocaine and the power it yields. A young life of crime lands Pablo in and out of jail as he builds his criminal empire. Pablo expands his power through politics but it is not long before his conflicts as a Congressman and a drug lord collide. Pablo has his enemies executed, but not before the United States activates its own war on the Medellin cartel.

The Penguin poster
The Penguin
2024 · 1 season · HBO
★ 8.6drama · crimeMax

A brute clawing up the ladder while insisting it's all for his mother

The difference: One short season in a comic-book Gotham — over before it can sprawl

With the city in peril following the seawall's collapse, Oswald "Oz" Cobb seeks to fill the power vacuum left by the death of Carmine Falcone and finally give his mother Francis the life he's always promised. But first, Oz must confront his enemies and his own demoralizing reputation as "the Penguin."

Peaky Blinders poster
Peaky Blinders
2013–2022 · 6 seasons · BBC One
★ 8.7drama · crimeNetflix

A family firm where violence is the business and the eldest son carries it

The difference: Post-war Birmingham and colder, more stylised — menace instead of roar

A gangster family epic set in 1919 Birmingham, England and centered on a gang who sew razor blades in the peaks of their caps, and their fierce boss Tommy Shelby, who means to move up in the world.

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Power
2014–2020 · 6 seasons · STARZ
★ 8.1crime · dramaHuluStarz

A man running a criminal empire while trying to keep his family clear of it

The difference: Nightclubs and penthouses instead of garages — glossier, and built on one man

A successful New York entrepreneur lives a double life as the head of a drug empire that serves only the rich and influential, all while wanting to escape the underworld and keep his family safe.

Narcos poster
Narcos
2015–2017 · 3 seasons · Netflix
★ 8.7crime · dramaNetflix

The cost of the drug trade tracked from both sides of the gun

The difference: Told at a documentary distance — narration and real history, not club loyalty

A gritty chronicle of the war against Colombia's infamously violent and powerful drug cartels.

American Crime Story poster
American Crime Story
2016–2021 · 3 seasons · FX
★ 8.4crime · dramaHulu

Crime as something a whole community has to live with afterwards

The difference: Each season is a self-contained real case, so no long-running loyalty builds

An anthology series centered around some of history's most famous criminal investigations.

Deadwood poster
Deadwood
2004–2006 · 3 seasons · HBO
★ 8.6western · crime · dramaMax

A lawless community governing itself through violence and loyalty

The difference: The frontier, and language as the main event

The story of the early days of Deadwood, South Dakota; woven around actual historic events with most of the main characters based on real people. Deadwood starts as a gold mining camp and gradually turns from a lawless wild-west community into an organized wild-west civilized town. The story focuses on the real-life characters Seth Bullock and Al Swearengen.

The Sopranos poster
The Sopranos
1999–2007 · 6 seasons · HBO
★ 9.2crime · dramaMax

The boss's home life and his crew's demands pulling him apart week to week

The difference: Slower and more psychological — therapy sessions where SOA has gunfights

The story of New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads. Those difficulties are often highlighted through his ongoing professional relationship with psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi. The show features Tony's family members and Mafia associates in prominent roles and story arcs, most notably his wife Carmela and his cousin and protégé Christopher Moltisanti.

Godless poster
Godless
2017 · 1 season · Netflix
★ 8.2western · dramaNetflix

Codes of loyalty enforced by men who will kill over them

The difference: A single western miniseries, spare and quiet

A ruthless outlaw terrorizes the West in search of a former member of his gang, who’s found a new life in a quiet town populated only by women.

Boardwalk Empire poster
Boardwalk Empire
2010–2014 · 5 seasons · HBO
★ 8.5crime · dramaMax

A town run by one man where the legal and criminal ledgers are the same book

The difference: Prohibition tailoring and political backrooms — stately where SOA is loud

Atlantic City at the dawn of Prohibition is a place where the rules don't apply. And the man who runs things -- legally and otherwise -- is the town's treasurer, Enoch "Nucky" Thompson, who is equal parts politician and gangster.

Justified poster
Justified
2010–2015 · 6 seasons · FX
★ 8.6crime · dramaHulu

The same mix in both: grit, then stillness

A character drama based on the 2001 Elmore Leonard short story "Fire in the Hole." Leonard's tale centers around U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens of Kentucky, a quiet but strong-willed official of the law. The tale covers his high-stakes job, as well as his strained relationships with his ex-wife and father.

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The best-reviewed series that share Sons of Anarchy’s defining feeling.