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The Alienist poster

Shows that feel likeThe Alienist (2018–2020)

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.

If you loved The Alienist, the closest series we have are The Chestnut Man (2021), Scream: The TV Series (2015) and The Undoing (2020). All three share The Alienist's contemplative and gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Slow Horses (2022).

★ 7.7 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗2 seasons · TNTcreated by Cary Joji Fukunagacontemplativegrittytwisty
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video
Stream it:TNT ↗

If The Alienist hit the spot, these will too

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

Both keep coming back to the same thing: serial killer

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.

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

One thread runs through both: serial killer

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

The same mix in both: stillness, then grit

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 with a pulse of twists, in both cases

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?

Slow Horses poster
Slow Horses
2022– · 6 seasons · Apple TV
★ 8.4crime · drama · mysteryApple TV+

Both lean on stillness more than on crime

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.

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

Gritty mystery in both cases

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

The same city underneath both: New York City

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.

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

Drama built on twists, twice over

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.

CSI: NY poster
CSI: NY
2004–2013 · 9 seasons · CBS
★ 7crime · drama · mystery

Contemplative crime, and it commits to that

Follow the investigations of a team of NYPD forensic scientists and police officers identified as "Crime Scene Investigators".

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

From the 2020s, and it lands the same way

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

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

Twisty drama in both cases

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.

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

Both working the same crime territory

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.

In the mood for more contemplative?

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