Shows Like
What to Watch After Breaking Bad
By Jordan A. · · Updated · 5 min read
You have already been told to watch Better Call Saul. It ran six seasons on AMC from 2015 to 2022, it is excellent, and if you have not seen it, stop reading and go. This list assumes you have, because the more interesting question is what to do after that.
Breaking Bad works on a specific mechanism: an ordinary person makes one defensible choice, then a slightly worse one, and the show never lets him unmake either. That is different from a crime drama about criminals. Below are picks sorted by which part of that machine you want back. Where each streams changes, and the title page on BingeNext shows current US options.
If you want the slow moral slide
The Americans ran six seasons on FX from 2013 to 2018 and is the closest thing to Breaking Bad anyone has made. Two Soviet intelligence officers pose as an American married couple in 1980s Washington. It shares the structure exactly: a marriage where one person is running an operation the other is complicit in, and a body count that accumulates through choices that each looked necessary at the time. The difference is that the show is far more interested in the marriage than in the spycraft. The final season is the best ending in this genre. Start here.
Ozark ran four seasons on Netflix from 2017 to 2022. A financial adviser launders cartel money in the Missouri lake country and drags his family down with him. It shares the escalating-competence engine and the family that becomes accessory. The difference is tone: Ozark is gray and grim where Breaking Bad was often extremely funny. Choose it if you want the shape more than the humor.
Your Honor ran two seasons on Showtime between 2020 and 2023. A New Orleans judge covers up his son's hit and run and the cover-up eats everything. It shares the one-lie-becomes-ten structure in its purest form. It is more melodramatic and much shorter, which some people will prefer.
If you want the craft and the compositions
Fargo has run five seasons on FX since 2014, and it is an anthology, so each season is a new story with a new cast. That means you can start anywhere, though season one and season two are the strongest. It shares Breaking Bad's love of the wide shot, the sudden violence, and ordinary people who discover they are capable of things. The difference is a streak of cosmic comedy Breaking Bad never had.
Mindhunter got two seasons on Netflix, in 2017 and 2019, and no more. FBI agents in the late 1970s invent criminal profiling by interviewing killers. It shares the meticulous framing and the interest in process over action. It is the most controlled-looking show on this list. Be aware it simply stops rather than concludes.
The Night Of is a single eight-episode HBO miniseries from 2016. A young man wakes up next to a body with no memory of the night. It shares the interest in what an institution does to a person once it has hold of them. It resolves properly, which after Mindhunter you may want.
If you want the antihero and the world around him
The Shield ran seven seasons on FX from 2002 to 2008 and is the show Breaking Bad's structure descends from. A corrupt LA strike team leader who is very good at his job and getting worse as a person. It shares the central bargain the audience makes with a charming criminal. The difference is that it is faster, cheaper-looking, and its final episode is arguably crueller than Breaking Bad's.
Justified ran six seasons on FX from 2010 to 2015. A US marshal sent back to eastern Kentucky, where he grew up with the criminals he is now arresting. It shares Breaking Bad's regional specificity and its love of a well-written villain. It is much lighter, closer to a weekly show with an arc than a novel. Choose it when you want good company rather than dread.
Barry ran four seasons on HBO from 2018 to 2023. A hitman takes an acting class. It starts as a comedy and ends somewhere very dark, and the transition is deliberate. It shares the question of whether a person who has done these things can ever be someone else, and it answers it more harshly than Breaking Bad does.
Animal Kingdom ran six seasons on TNT from 2016 to 2022, about a Southern California crime family run by a matriarch. It shares the family-business-is-crime premise, and it is pulpier and more physical than anything else on this list.
Two from further afield
Gomorrah ran five seasons on Sky in Italy from 2014 to 2021, in Neapolitan, following the Camorra from the inside. It shares nothing sentimental at all. There is no protagonist to root for and no redemption offered, which makes it the purest version of the genre. Subtitles and a strong stomach required.
Sneaky Pete ran three seasons on Prime Video from 2015 to 2019. A con man takes a released inmate's identity and moves in with the man's family. It shares the sustained-lie tension and Bryan Cranston is a co-creator and appears in it, which is a nice bit of continuity.
Where to start
If you want the single best answer, it is The Americans. If you want the closest structural copy, Ozark. If you want the craft, Fargo season one or Mindhunter. If you want to enjoy yourself rather than be wrung out, Justified. And if you want something you can finish in a week, The Night Of.
If you would rather describe what you liked and get a shortlist back, that is what BingeNext for TV does. Enter Breaking Bad plus one or two other shows you loved and it returns ranked picks, each with a one-line reason and where it streams. A run takes about a minute. It is free to try, with one pick a day without an account and three a day with a free one.
Topics covered: breaking-bad, crime, drama, antihero
About the author
Jordan A., Founder, BingeNext
Jordan A. is the founder of BingeNext and is responsible for every guide published on this site. He built the recommendation engine after one too many nights lost to the streaming menu. Dates, season counts and where-to-watch details in these guides are checked against official sources before publishing, and corrections are welcome at Jordan@Bingenext.com.