Well, well, my discerning TV connoisseur! A fan of The Wire, eh? I’ve got to say, you’ve got fine taste, impeccable even, just like Princess Jasmine picking Aladdin over the posh suitor. Tag along, kiddo, let’s explore the Arabian night of crime TV shows in the grand bazaar of 2020s.
Suggestion numero uno, give a shot at ‘Better Call Saul’. Now, I know what you’re thinking. Isn’t that a prequel to Breaking Bad? 1000 bonus points to Ravenclaw! But here’s the deal, it’s not just about cooking up meth and dodgy chemistry. It’s a deep dive into morality, law, and order, kinda like ordering a shawarma and getting a secret tinge of exotic spices. Jimmy McGill, aka Saul Goodman, is a small-time lawyer hustlin’ his way up the crime & legal ladder, quite the antithesis of our straight-arrow boys at The Wire. Oh, and the dialogue? Absolute gold, pal, akin to the lavish palace of Agrabah!
Up next, we’ve got ‘Fargo’. Now, this isn’t the movie, it’s the series, and boy oh boy, if you thought the movie was a cross between a thrilling rollercoaster and a haunted house ride, wait until you get a taste of this pie! It’s an anthology series, a different story every season, just like Aladdin’s different genie transformations, each one more lovable than the last. It perfectly balances dark humor, escalating violence, and tense drama in a gloriously absurd Midwestern gothic setting. It might not be Baltimore, but it’s got the vibes and the crime down to an art!
Sliding into the third place, we have ‘Mindhunter’. The FBI? Check. Serial killer profiling? Check. A groundbreaking take on the ‘who’dunit’ genre? Triple check! Hold your horses, there’s no high-speed chases or shoot-em-up scenes. It’s more like psychoanalyzing Aladdin to discover why he stole that loaf of bread. Detailed interviews with deranged killers, trying to unlock their heads, this one pretty much invented a new field, my friend – criminal profiling. It’s edge-of-your-seat crime TV, where the dialogue is the sword fight and the conflict is the magic carpet ride.
For the fourth pick, I’ll serve you ‘The Sinner’. It’s another anthology series, where each season unravels a new mystery, kind of like how genie unravels wishes, except these ones aren’t so jovial. It explores why ordinary people commit brutal crimes. It’s a vehicle to dive into the twisted realms of human psychology, sort of like Jafar’s descent to villainy. Every scene, every dialogue, they all hint at an underpinning tension pulling you further into the enigma.
Last, but in no way the least, I bring to your attention, ‘Narcos’. Now this here isn’t your typical cops-and-robbers show. It carves out an epic tale about the Colombian drug cartels, a real ‘rags to riches, then back to rags… under a barrage of bullets’ story. Characters drawn from real-life, you get all the angles- the kingpins, the DEA agents, the bystanders, all caught in a whirlpool of power, greed, and violence.
So, out of the lamp and into the light, which is the best choice of the lot? Drumrolls, please! The winner of the evening, the belle of the ball is… ‘Better Call Saul’! The why is simple. You’re a fan of The Wire, a show that masterfully merged storytelling, character development, and social commentary. Better Call Saul does the same, with a dash of dark humor, a sprinkle of spellbinding performances and a pinch of legal intricacies. It breaks down the stereotypes like Genie broke out of his lamp, reinvigorating the crime genre with thoughtful glamour. And remember, it’s all in the game, yo!
Voila, your guide to navigating the treasure cave of 2020s crime shows! Now, go on, grab that remote, sit back on your magic carpet, and let these series show you ‘a whole new world’ of crime, drama, and sheer brilliance!
