The Night Of, HBO's hit procedural crime drama, ended Sunday night with dark ambiguity to match its bleak view of the criminal justice system. The show took a Law & Order premise, stretched it out over eight long episodes, and luxuriated in every seedy detail it could find. By the end, The Night Of was less about whether the main character, Naz, killed a woman; it was more about how being on the accused end of the justice system can shatter a person's world and make it almost impossible to pick up the pieces.
The one big problem with The Night Of, though, is that it had to end, leaving us all wanting more. More crime. More procedure. More courtroom drama. More moral ambiguity. More eczema—wait, scratch that last one.
Thankfully, despite its unique pedigree, The Night Of is just one in a long line of gritty crime shows—the Brits practically churn them out like a factory. And as luck would have it, many of them are available to stream!
Criminal Justice
Criminal Justice is a BBC series from 2008 that starred Ben Whishaw as Ben Coulter, a young man accused of killing a girl after a night of sex and drugs. The only problem: he can't remember what happened that night. Sound familiar? Despite the title change, The Night Of is a remake of the British series. While the original doesn't lose itself nearly as much in the fine details, the plot plays out in crackerjack fashion. Many of the plot points will feel familiar, but Criminal Justice is speedier and more conventionally satisfying. And as an added bonus, it has a second season—there's hope for more yet, Night Of fans! (Criminal Justice is available to stream on Hulu.)
Oz
Even HBO recognized the connections between its first ever hour-long drama and its latest crime series, placing advertisements for Oz in front of episodes of The Night Of on HBO Go. Oz has often fallen by the wayside in discussions of TV's so-called "Golden Age." While it lacked the polish of The Sopranos and other later shows, Oz offered a searing portrait of the America's prison system. Where the prison scenes in The Night Of sometimes felt a little too pulpy for their own good, Oz saw fit to amp its wild style up to 11, plunging viewers into a seriously heightened world that nonetheless shed light on what it takes to survive incarceration. (Oz is available to stream on HBO Go and HBO Now.)
Broadchurch
Inspired by a rash of Scandinavian crime dramas, and hailed for its unflinching depiction of the emotional toll a murder takes on a small community, the BBC series Broadchurch has practically become the template for modern serialized crime fiction on television. And while the show has been applauded for its emotional realism, the plot itself is filled with enough cliffhangers, red herrings, and twists to keep you glued to your seat. It helps that the show features stellar performances from Olivia Coleman and David Tennant. Perfect binge-watch material. (Broadchurch is available to stream on Netflix.)
Top of the Lake
Jane Campion's Top of the Lake, from 2013, is one of the best series of this decade. Set in New Zealand, the show stars Elisabeth Moss as a police officer investigating the disappearance of a 12-year-old girl in her hometown, and unearthing the wounds surrounding her own past. Top of the Lake bucks crime series convention, setting out on avenues of investigation, only to abandon them in favor of the characters' immediate emotional drama. It's got weird, wonderful turns from Holly Hunter and Peter Mullan, and some of the most gorgeous photography on television. But be warned, the ending will tear your heart out, shred it to pieces, light it on fire, and then run it over with a truck. (Top of the Lake is available to stream on Netflix.)
The Killing
The Killing doesn't exactly have the best reputation. A remake of a Danish series, The Killing set out with intentions very similar to The Night Of. It took a Law & Order-style plot and drew it out for two seasons of painstaking detail and heartache. Unfortunately, its plotting was often ridiculous the point of being insulting to viewers. The show's creative difficulties were mirrored by its production. It was canceled after its second season, only to be brought back for a third, then canceled again, then brought back again for one last season by Netflix. While those first two seasons tried a little too hard, and misfired, it's very much worth skipping right to Season Three. You won't be missing much, and you'll be rewarded with one of the better crime stories of recent years—and two excellent performances by Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman. (The Killing is available to stream on Netflix.)
The Fall
Gillian Anderson stars as DSI Stella Gibbons, on the hunt for a depraved family man/serial killer played by Fifty Shades of Grey star Jamie Dornan. For two seasons now, their psychological game of cat and mouse has been completely riveting. It's also surprisingly feminist, with Stella Gibbons frequently bucking up against the backward gender and sexual dynamics of the police force, and putting the men around her in their places. As the series progresses, her fascination with Dornan's killer character turns into something decidedly more twisted and symbiotic. Season Two ended with a crazy cliffhanger, but luckily the show is coming back for a third season later this year. With only twelve episodes so far, you've got plenty of time to catch up. (The Fall is available to stream on Netflix.)
Marcella
Marcella is the latest show from Hans Rosenfeldt, the man behind the hit Scandinavian show The Bridge. This British detective drama stars Anna Friel as Detective Sergeant Marcella Backland, chasing an old serial killer who's started striking again. As her investigation proceeds, Marcella finds herself implicated in a related murders and disappearances, all while navigating the corrupt dealings of construction company her husband works for, and trying to hold together a marriage that's completely falling apart. (Marcella is available to stream on Netflix.)
Top Boy
While not a police procedural or courtroom drama, British Cannel 4's series Top Boy presents a compelling take on street-level crime and drug dealing in an East London housing estate. More stylish than its closest American counterpart, The Wire, the eight-episode series takes viewers into the scary, tragic realities of low-level drug dealing and violence in relatively abandoned communities. By focusing on the genesis of most crime, Top Boy stakes a claim to a kind of realism many other British crime dramas tend to abandon. Plus, it's got a killer score composed by Brian Eno. (Top Boy is available to stream on Netflix and Hulu.)
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