Breaking Bad is one of the best crime dramas ever made: a quiet chemistry teacher, Walter White, slowly turns into a drug kingpin, and every season gets tenser than the last. Once it ends, it is hard to find something that feels as good. I finished it myself and went looking for more, so here are 8 shows like Breaking Bad, all with crime, hard choices and characters you cannot stop watching.
1. Better Call Saul
The first stop for every Breaking Bad fan. Better Call Saul follows Jimmy McGill, the small-time lawyer who becomes Saul Goodman. It ran for six seasons (2015–2022), comes from the same creators, and brings back familiar faces like Mike Ehrmantraut and Gus Fring. Many fans think it is just as good as Breaking Bad. Better Call Saul is on Netflix in many countries, with all six seasons, including season 6, ready to stream.
2. El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie
El Camino (2019) is the Breaking Bad movie that picks up right after the final episode. Aaron Paul returns as Jesse Pinkman, on the run and trying to start again. Watch it straight after the series finale: it gives Jesse the ending many fans were waiting for.
3. Ozark
If you liked watching an ordinary man sink into the criminal world, Ozark is the closest match. Jason Bateman plays Marty Byrde, a financial adviser who moves his family to the Missouri Ozarks to launder money for a Mexican drug cartel. There are four seasons and 44 episodes, and Ozark season 4 ends the story with a strong finale.
4. Narcos and Narcos: Mexico
Narcos tells the true story of Pablo Escobar and the war on the Colombian drug cartels, seen through the eyes of two DEA agents. After three seasons, Narcos: Mexico moves the story to the rise of the Guadalajara cartel. Real history, great acting and the same feeling of danger as Breaking Bad.
5. Money Heist
Money Heist (La Casa de Papel) is about a genius called the Professor and his team robbing the Royal Mint of Spain. It is less dark than Breaking Bad, but it has the same clever planning and the same feeling of "how will they get out of this?" in every episode. When you finish, try Money Heist: Korea and the spin-off Berlin.
6. Peaky Blinders
Cillian Murphy plays Tommy Shelby, the cold and brilliant leader of a Birmingham gang after the First World War. Like Walter White, Tommy keeps choosing power over everything else. Six series of style, music and gangster drama.
7. Mindhunter
Produced by David Fincher, Mindhunter follows two FBI agents in the 1970s who interview serial killers to understand how they think. It is slow, smart and very tense. Only two seasons were made, but Mindhunter on Netflix is still one of the best crime series of the last ten years.
8. Dark
Dark is a German series about four families in a small town, missing children and a secret that spans generations. It is not a drug story, but if you liked how Breaking Bad planned every detail from the first episode, Dark rewards you in the same way. All three seasons are complete.
Which one should you watch first?
- For more of the same world: Better Call Saul, then El Camino.
- For a family pulled into crime: Ozark.
- For true crime: Narcos and Narcos: Mexico.
- For clever heists: Money Heist.
- For something darker and stranger: Mindhunter or Dark.
Watch them all on Netflix in Oman and worldwide
Want to watch these without paying for a full Netflix plan? Get a Netflix subscription from arafatbin.com: your own personal profile with a 4-digit PIN, Full HD on one screen, unlimited downloads, and a test before setup. It works in Oman, the Gulf and every other country, and you can pay in OMR or USD. See today's Netflix price in Oman and the plans on the product page.
Note: the Netflix library is different in each country and changes over time, so a title in this list may not be available everywhere.