The list of the best crime drama TV shows on HBO Max includes some of the best shows ever. Crime dramas make up a disproportionate number of shows in the usual lists of the best television shows ever. HBO originals also make up a disproportionate portion of that list. So imagine how great HBO crime dramas tend to be.
Surprisingly, HBO Max does not have quite as many crime drama TV shows as you may guess, and that includes all subgenres. Between police shows, gangster series, adaptations of lawyer procedurals, and shows centered on gruesome investigations, there are only a handful on HBO, but the best of them rank as high as any TV series ever.
10
Perry Mason (2020-2023)
How A P.I. Becomes A Famous Lawyer
HBO Max’s Perry Mason is a criminally underrated series. Not quite as criminal as the people the titular P.I. and lawyer rubs shoulders with, but criminal none-the-less. Perry Mason stars Matthew Rhys as Mason in the series adapted from Erle Stanley Gardner’s series of books which were also made into a TV series in 1957.
The show depicts the origins of Mason, watching him climb from being a down-and-out investigator to a capable trial lawyer. The series is filled with fantastic period-appropriate flourishes and some incredible acting performances. It’s smart, confident, and knows exactly what kind of show it is.
9
Tokyo Vice (2022-2024)
An American Journalist Gets Up Close And Personal With The Yakuza
Tokyo Vice
7/10
- Release Date
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2022 – 2024-00-00
- Directors
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Josef Kubota Wladyka, Michael Mann, Alan Poul, Hikari
Based on the experiences of Jake Adelstein, an American journalist from Missouri who wrote about the yakuza while living in Tokyo in the ’90s, Tokyo Vice follows Jake’s (Ansel Elgort) exploration of the seedy Japanese underworld. He’s helped by a tired but talented detective named Hiroto Katagiri (Ken Watanabe).
The series is a fascinating look at Japanese culture, crime in Tokyo, and investigative journalism. It presents an interesting insight into criminality. The yakuza operate almost freely in the show, so Jake can get as close as he wants. The tension comes from the gray area between Jake being an observer and a participant.
8
Sharp Objects (2018)
A Journalist Reports On A Crime That Hits Close To Home
Gillian Flynn’s debut novel, Sharp Objects, became an acclaimed HBO miniseries in 2018 thanks to an incredible cast led by Amy Adams, a shocking and intriguing script, and a beautifully detailed and filmed style. It’s a series that can be occasionally hard to stomach with its close-to-home horror, but it’s well worth it.
Sharp Objects stars crime reporter Camille Preaker (Adams), who has recently been released from a psychiatric hospital after years of self-harm. In order to get a grip on herself and her life, she travels back to her hometown to report upon the gruesome murders of two young girls, reopening many old wounds along the way.
7
True Detective (2014-Present)
A Criminal Anthology With Supernatural Undertones
True Detective would rank higher on most crime drama lists if each one of its four seasons was of the same quality as the first. While the next three seasons are far better than they’re often given credit for, they still pale in comparison to the first one set in the Louisiana swamps.
An anthology crime series, True Detective tends to follow the same pattern. Two detectives (or three) investigate a horrific crime only to discover a far-reaching conspiracy underneath that can even involve members of their own department. These well-crafted tales are as frightening as they are action-packed.
6
Boardwalk Empire (2010-2014)
Prohibition Era Gangsters Skirt Laws And Ethics
Boardwalk Empire marries crime and politics more closely than just about any show. The series stars Steve Buscemi as Enoch “Nucky” Thompson, an important political figure in Atlantic City around the time of Prohibition. Nucky uses his political connections and gangster ethos to become one of the most powerful men in the United States.
The series features a massive ensemble of stars and HBO favorites as a who’s who of early 20th-century mugs and criminals. Boardwalk Empire explores the burgeoning of a new kind of America with scandal, money, and politics all twisting around one another, inevitably resulting in bloodshed.
5
We Own This City (2022)
The True Story Of Massive Police Corruption
One of the best miniseries to come out on HBO in recent years, We Own This City is an adaptation of the non-fiction book by Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton. Fenton’s story, developed by HBO legends David Simon and George Pelecanos, reveals the full story of the Baltimore Police Department’s corruption scandal.
The series stars Jon Bernthal as Sgt. Wayne Jenkins, the head of the Gun Trace Task Force, a force with so little oversight, Jenkins and his cronies were able to operate for years, stealing money, planting evidence, and committing fraud, before anything was done. It’s an engrossing series, but one that makes you sick by the end.
4
Barry (2018-2023)
Bill Hader’s Darkly Comic Crime Story
Despite starring a litany of comic actors, including the series creator Bill Hader, and having incredible, laugh-out-loud moments, Barry just gets bleaker and bleaker the longer you watch it. The series follows the titular hitman, played by Hader, who is almost a shell of a man, willing to do whatever someone tells him.
As he discovers more parts of himself that he actually considers “him”, his violent past and present begin to catch up to him. Barry is a force of nature that cops and criminals alike struggle to maintain. While he may say that all he wants to do is act, his actions suggest something much more insidious at his core.
3
Mare Of Easttown (2021)
A Classic And Perfectly Made Murder Series
Mare of Easttown stars Kate Winslet as Marianne “Mare” Sheehan, a detective in the town of Easttown whose life has been on a steady downward slope for some time now. When she’s called in to investigate the recent murder of a teenage mother, her past is dredged up in unpleasant ways.
In some ways, Mare of Easttown is as classic a crime drama TV show as you can find, but it does everything so perfectly, it elevates to a plane of its own. The smartly written story has you guessing throughout and every single performance in the series is a powerful and painful look at the reality of some American lives.
2
The Wire (2002-2008)
Crime Trickles Into Every Part Of Baltimore City
The Wire is a fictional series by David Simon that feels as real as any documentary. Each season of the five-season series focuses on a different part of Baltimore. Crime figures heavily into the show, whether it be with rival gangs fighting over corners or detectives breaking rules to protect people or simply advance their careers.
Politics, unions, the schools, and the media all play a part in the constantly changing story of Baltimore. Corruption is present at almost every level, and it’s all people can do just to stay alive. The Wire resists pointing the finger at a single aspect of the city, instead showing how closely tied everything is to one another.
1
The Sopranos (1999-2007)
Crime In Our Modern World
Every few years, The Sopranos has a renaissance, with new viewers finally watching it for the first time, and old fans going back to watch it again. Every time this happens, it once again becomes perfectly clear that The Sopranos is the best TV show of all time. It’s a crime drama, but so much more.
It’s been nearly a decade and a half since the show ended, and it’s as relevant and enjoyable now as it ever was. There are no mysteries to untangle, no set-piece moments, no major cliffhangers. There is simply the criminal family, operating in a dying and grim world, having to come to terms with that reality.
