A Bundle Of Crime Shows That Isn’t A Stretch
Crime shows have been around pretty much as long as television. Whether we are watching detectives crack the case, or criminal masterminds plotting the ‘heist of the century’ the drama around those who are on either side of the law captivates us time and time again.
2022 has been an impressive year for crime shows and we here at BOB have built a bundle of the three platforms we think give the best offering of crime shows this year. We’ve picked Showtime, Hulu and HBO Max
We’re all about making streaming super-flexible and convenient. So if you want the whole bundle for a month, or take one platform and switch it or any combination you can think of we make that as easy as possible. We take care of the admin so all you have to do is sit back, relax and watch.
Unconventional Crime Shows
We’ll begin with the most recent in this group: Wedding Season (Hulu). Here to “genre-bust” (according to Hulu). Katie and Stefan fall for each other at a wedding and begin an affair. The only problem being that Katie is due to be married. Following Katie’s wedding her husband and all his family are found dead with the police suspecting Stefan…who in turn suspects Katie. As you can imagine, things are going to get pretty complicated. Part Romcom, part thriller you certainly won’t have seen anything like this before.
The Only Murders in the Building (two seasons – Hulu) sees three armchair sleuths trying to solve a murder that has happened in their apartment block. This has become an instant classic with the witty writing, superb cast and the chemistry between the three main protagonists (played by Selina Gomes, Martin Short and Steve Martin).
Barry (three seasons – HBO Max) is a brilliantly dark show. Bill Hader plays the titular character Barry, a depressed ex-Marine who works as a low-rent hitman. After accidentally finding himself involved in an acting class he becomes torn between bullets and Broadway. We also have to give a shout out to Henry Winkler who is superb as acting coach Gene.
True Story Crime Shows
If a dramatization of actual events is your thing. Then you need look no further than HBO Max who, this year, released 3 superb series.
The Staircase has won (rightly) a lot of praise. Colin Firth stars as Michael Peterson, a crime writer convicted of murdering his wife. A French documentary team who look into the case raise concerns the grounds for conviction might not be as secure as first thought.
Tokyo Vice is based on the book of the same name and sees a young American reporter, Jake Adelstein, join a prestigious Japanese newspaper. As he works his way through the ranks he is detailed to work the crime beat with the vice squad. In doing so he becomes exposed to the dangerous world of the yakuza.
We Own This City sees The Wire co-creator David Simon back in Baltimore with the story of the notorious and corrupt Gun Trace Task Force. It’s very hard to not draw comparisons with The Wire. You are thrown in at the deep end and have to figure out what is going on pretty quickly. Morals, ethics, ‘right’ and wrong boundaries are blurred and fluid. It is shot in a very realistic, gritty way. It is also very, very good.
We also have to give a shout out to Hulu’s Under The Banner of Heaven starring Andrew Garfield. Garfield plays Jeb Pyre a Mormon detective who is investigating the brutal murder of a mother and her baby daughter who are also members of the LDS Church. As the investigation proceeds Pyre finds his faith and very identity coming under sustained pressure
Conventional Crime Shows
If you are looking for something a bit more traditional from your crime shows look no further than these three.
We Hunt Together (two seasons – Showtime) has a Baba and Freddy as a Bonnie and Clyde-style couple going on a murderous rampage (seemingly with Freddy pulling most of the strings). Sure enough, detectives Lola and Jackson are engaged in a game of cat-and-mouse in a plot crammed with twists, turns and a fair few jump scares.
City on a Hill (Showtime) sees Kevin Bacon superb as a morally dubious FBI agent trying to find a way to keep things as he wants them despite the emergence of a righteous and idealistic Assistant District Attorney played by Aldis Hodge. Sure, there might be a few ‘familiar’ moments for fans of the crime shows, but this is definitely a binge-worthy box set.
Finally, we head to court with Reasonable Doubt (Hulu). Emayatzy Corinealdi is Jax Stewart, a maverick defense attorney. Of course because this is TV, her personal life is very much at odds with her powerful career.The eagle-eyed among you will remember Corinealdi from her spell as Candace Brewer in Ballers and she brings a similar steely, iron-willed performance here.
So there we go, if crime shows are your thing, you can’t go wrong with this bundle. We’ve also built the playlist in our app.
Happy Viewing!