It’s raining outside and you don’t know what to do. You are bored and thinking I could watch a series, but which one? Crime shows are a deep part of our Pop Culture and there are so many to chose from. I love to watch crime series on such days and here are my top 5 for you:
The Blacklist
Raymond “Red” Reddington, a former US Naval Intelligence officer who had disappeared twenty years earlier to become one of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, surrenders himself to FBI Assistant Director Harold Cooper at the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, D.C. Taken to an FBI “black site”, Reddington claims he wishes to help the FBI track down and apprehend the criminals and terrorists he spent the last twenty years associating with; individuals that are so dangerous and devious that the United States government is unaware of their very existence. He offers Cooper his knowledge and assistance on two conditions: immunity from prosecution, and that he wants to work exclusively with Elizabeth Keen.
NCIS
The NCIS series has been showing the work of the law enforcement agency of the US Navy. Mostly it is about exciting criminal cases and the fight against terrorism. The series is only really worth seeing, of course, through the investigators’ humorous dialogues and their private stories. Above all, fan favorites, such as the crazy Goth forensic scientist Abby or the lovable pathologist Ducky, who always talks to the corpses. However, the central character is the boss special agent Gibbs, whose sad background story that his family was murdered is one of the main motifs of the series. Of course, NCIS also impresses with numerous inside jokes and running gags. For example, the appearance of Gibbss many red-haired ex-women.
The Mentalist
With his special skills, the former mentalist Patrick Jane is helping a team of investigators at the CBI to investigate criminal cases. This topic was not completely new when it was first broadcast in 2008 since the comedy-crime series Psych from 2006 has very similar content. Something that the characters in Psych regularly make fun of, since The Mentalist is also a fictional series. The main difference, however, is that Patrick Jane no longer pretends to be a mentalist or clairvoyant in his investigations, but rather discloses his tricks completely. In addition, despite many funny moments, the mentalist is much darker to a large extent. Until the sixth season, the central storyline revolves around the hunt for the scary serial killer Red John, who brutally murdered Patrick’s family. Red John works so well in his staging that one can clearly call him in one sentence with Dexter and Hannibal Lecter. In addition, his identity remains a well-kept mystery until shortly before the end.
Castle
Was after an alleged clairvoyant and his own mentalist? Exactly, a crazy crime writer who helps the police. Greatly played by Nathan Fillion, Richard Castle has a brilliant dynamic with his partner Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katić). If her colleagues Ryan, Esposito and Beckett’s best friend, who belongs to pathologist Lanie, come along, funny moments are inevitable. And let’s not forget Schlösser’s family, his daughter Alexis and his mother, a certain relationship. The series lives not only from humor and crime but also from castles and Beckett’s flourishing relationship. In addition, the entire series that has been heard is that Beckett’s murder and her mother and his background to them throughout the seasons.
Criminal Minds
Criminal Minds is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis. It premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and concluded with its fifteenth season on February 19, 2020. It follows a group of criminal profilers who work for the FBI as members of its Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), using behavioral analysis and profiling to investigate crimes and find perpetrators. The show tells the story of the team as they work various cases, and tackle their personal struggles.
What are your favorite crime series?
Written by Jacqueline Beckmann
