When I think of detective shows, I guess I gotta think of "True Detective". Matthew McConoughey was a meticulous guy who has to hunt a satanic weirdo in the first season.

I don't think The Following was a very good show, so I can't recommend that. Sorry, Kevin Bacon! I've also been meaning to check out "Aquarius", a Charles Manson show where David Duchovny is on the case.

Flippin loved the first series of True Detective. Mac n Woody were on fine form & the whole thing was excellent all round, well written, beautifully shot, almost perfect. The second season was... uneven. Hope that hasn't killed the series.

Didn't mind The Following, tho i do think it's a rare example of the pilot being the best ep in the entire series. Bacon, Purefoy & Curry were all decent, but don't think it's Kev Williamson's best writing.

Aquarius i have not heard of, but interested in Manson so will check it out, thanks Box

what is Bosch if not a drill?

Crime challenge bump

Gonna re-evaluate this thread with more thoughts on crime, cuz I love crime shows. Not necessarily detective vs criminal stuff, but some of it.

Of course, one of the best is Twin Peaks. It's a murder/mystery show with a lot of quirks, and it started off relatively tame on network television, but David Lynch kept making it better. By the time the first movie rolled around, it already got more sinister with an R-rating. What appears to be a light-hearted show on the surface is actually rooted in rape, murder, incest, and supernatural overtones. When Showtime made season 3, they kept the edgy style and all the criminal subplots that go with it. It's pretty glorious.

The Punisher was a recent one that was super gritty, and had tons of violence in it. Some of it even made me squirm. He's more of a vigilante working against a government conspiracy, but it's all really about revenge with him.

Sons of Anarchy is perhaps the coolest show I've ever seen, and it gets ultra violent at times. I'm talking eyes gouged out, tongues cut off, people dismembered by rival gangs, and some truly emotional bits in there too. It really draws you in.

Of course, I was also a big fan of Dexter, in which a guy who works for the police is hunting serial killers because he's one too. He just channels his anger more constructively. The first half of the show is rock solid, and the rest is hit or miss, but they got pretty twisted too. Police conspiracies, manhunts, etc. Everyone of us watching was waiting to see Dexter lose his cool, because Michael C. Hall was phenomenal in that show. Even through the shitty seasons, he kept us coming back.

OZ is set entirely inside a prison for the entire show. I remember maybe ONE scene that was outside, but the rest is about inmates trying to survive in an equally dangerous setting. Plus, you even get a subplot where Tom Atkins plays a white supremacist. How cool is that? People get fucked up in this show.

Perhaps my second favorite Marvel/Netflix show is Jessica Jones, a private investigator who has to stop a menacing David Tennant from ruining her life. Now that dude made the show great. What an evil bastard, he was.

A recent crime show was Mr. Mercedes, featuring good old Brendan Gleeson having to stop a killer who likes to taunt him any chance he can get. Not particularly graphic, but there's some violence. Definitely looking forward to season 2, based on another Stephen King book.

Mindhunter was a recent Netflix series that I watched some of. It's well made, and most of it is just talk and talk, but I still kinda zoned out of it and never finished.

I think foz and I can agree that the best crime show ever is Trailer Park Boys, in which a drunken trailer park supervisor and his shirtless cheeseburger-addicted assistant try to stop drug-dealers and greasy schemers. JK on this being gritty, and there's almost no physical violence, but it's still great.

Hahaha, TPB is indeed fantastic, not sure about 'best crime show ever' but certainly best North American comedy of the century!

Of the ones i've seen pretty much completely agree with you. Love Oz even if (like Dexter) it jumps the shark after season 4 and never recovers. Atkins is great, but for badass evil nazi JK Simmons steals every scene he's in. Also when Oz came out late 90s a lot of the techniques they used were innovative and original, not sure how well it dates 20 years on, but for anyone who hasn't seen it still worth a look.

I watched both Mr Mercedes & Mindhunter recently, the former featured great performances from Gleeson & a Treadaway twin, like you say not that graphic but there's a scene in the pilot where context and sound are as effective as graphic gore. Gleeson could be great value this month, featuring in fantastic crime comedies like The Guard, Calvary & In Bruges.

Mindhunter was a bit talky i guess, do find the whole evolution of the FBI fascinating tho and it was interesting to see how they fictionalised scenes with real killers. There's a good one on Netflix focusing on the FBI chase for the Unabomber called 'Manhunter'.

For some reason i never got past season 3 of SOA, remember them going to Ireland but i drifted away, should get back on it. Also need to check out that Aquarius you mentioned, and Twin Peaks Return. And Punicher. Actually that last one's on Netflix so perfect for this month.

Some quality recs there Box, might start a similar thread but focusing on films...

From what i have seen :

The Killing - Great up to the end of the 2nd season (based on the books) and after that the show collapsed, it was push cash-grab, the writing was appaling.

The Night Of - Very gripping from start to finish, i binge watched the whole thing.

The Broadchurch - Started watching this one 2 days ago, i am midway 1st season, it feels 1-2 notches below the aforementioned but still very watchable, will see how it goes!

Which 'The Killing' did you see? I've only watched the Danish one, which i enjoyed, not sure if the eng lang will be different enough to bother with.

The Night Of looks good, loved Ahmed in Four Lions & Tuturro's always great, will get on it thanks!

ive seen Broadchurch (minus the definate article) it's ok, a bit tamer and more family drama than most titles mentioned. thought it suffered after the first season from the 'how many crimes/tragedies/dramatic stuff can happen to the same families in the same small village' syndrome. if that's a thing. Colman n Tenant are good together, dodgy aaccent from Dr Who mind...

I have watched the American remake of The Killing, the first 2 seasons are based on the novels so probably it will be similar with the Danish, but 3rd and 4th seasons they just hired random screenwriters the drop in quality was so noticeable that it felt a different show altogether.

I need to ask you about Broadchurch, i must have missed something i am watching it w/o subtitles and there are times i am sturggling with the accents. I didn't get it how the boy was killed and how the boat comes into the picture later on? Did the killer(s) tried to dispose the body into the sea using that boat and it was washed away back to the beach that was found in the morning? A couple of days later they set the boat that had Danny's DNA on fire during the night, again that didn't make much sense as to why would they do that days afterward and not the same night that the murder was commited?

oof, tricky one - i can tell you how the body is on the beach, but i cant remember when thats revealed - i think its more toward the finale, so if you are not there yet i don't want to spoil.

I'm not from the Cornwall/Devon area, but as a Brit i can tell that some the actors accents are very poor, whi i can only assume adds to difficulty comprehending for people not familiar with the 'oo arr' accent!

Dude i mean honestly, i can't take seriously that detective with the Scottish accent, i don't know i am just not buying into it! Still an entertaining show but it just feels too contrived and artificial for my liking, but i will finish watching it regardless.

You should definitely check The Night Of, it doesn't focus on the "whodunit" aspect as much as other crime shows (it has some of that obviously), but it veers into a different terriroty (wont spoil) which was refreshing for me. John Turturro is easily one of the best actors working atm in my book, shoo-in for this role, he dominates every frame. Riz Ahmed gives a powerhouse performance, but damn Turturro is on a whole different level, you will know when and if you watch it.

Haha! the detective is David Tennant who is actually Scottish and the only main actor in the show speaking in thier 'usual' voice. He's pretty good at accents and most of his work I've seen he speaks with a decent English accent, it's the one's who are supposed to be from the Broadchurch area who don't convince. Saying that I can totally understand how a Scots accent could be hard to grasp, and yeah I agree the show's ok but not amazing, I ended up watching all 3 seasons but in honesty you don't miss much if you stop after the first.

You've sold me on The Night Of, looks like that & The Punisher will dominate my month.

EDIT** ive just realised my comment about 'Dr Who' in the earlier reply could be construed to be about ol Scots Davey T. I meant the new Doctor - Jodie Whittaker - who's SouthWest drawl is cringeworthy. 2 Dr Whos in one Church, who'da thunk it.

few more

The only one I can think of that hasn't been listed is Boardwalk Empire. Not actually seen it, but it sounds great. It's about gangsters in New Jersey during the 1920s.

I've not seen that either, but heard good things & comparisons to The Soprano's which isn't a bad thing.

Perfect timing for me, ive found the complete show on DVD for 30e and i snatched it right away.