The best STARZ thriller shows for your next big binge
The best STARZ thriller shows for your next big binge
Drug empires, suburban secrets, serial killers, and murdery mysteries make these four shows very different kinds of binges.
STARZ is a low-key go-to for Tara and me. Now, usually we’re there looking for movies, but it’s got a pretty decent TV lineup too, even if it’s not the biggest. This week, I’m looking at the best thriller TV shows to binge on the streamer. On this list, you’ll find drug empires, suburban couples destroying lives, Ella Purnell finding out she kind of loves to kill, and two Irish detectives with a case very close to home. So, here are my picks for the best binge-worthy thriller TV shows streaming on STARZ right now.
Best binge-worthy thriller shows streaming on STARZ
Best crime binge: ‘BMF’
I’m going to start with easily the longest binge on this list. If you’re looking to get lost in a crime world, look no further than “BMF.” It starts with Detroit brothers Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory (Demetrius Flenory Jr.) and Terry “Southwest T” Flenory (Da’Vinchi) building the 50 Boyz.
But they don’t stay in Detroit very long. Soon, they’re expanding to Atlanta, St. Louis, Miami, and California, with each new city bringing its own unique set of problems. Think cops, rival gangs, and two brothers who just aren’t on the same page. Terry wants to try his hand at being legitimate, while Demetrius dreams of how big the empire could get. That dynamic is the heartbeat of the show, and over four seasons their relationship gets shakier and shakier.
BMF
The drug trafficking drama is inspired by the true story of two brothers who rose from the decaying streets of southwest Detroit in the late 1980s and gave birth to one of the most influential crime families in the country. It revolves around brothers Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory and Terry “Southwest T” Flenory, who together took their vision beyond the drug trade and into the world of hip-hop. The drama, per Starz, will tell a story about love, family and capitalism in the pursuit of the American dream.
Best guilty-pleasure binge: ‘The Couple Next Door’
Here’s the deal with “The Couple Next Door” — whenever somebody could make a good choice, assume they won’t. Evie (Eleanor Tomlinson) and Pete (Alfred Enoch) move next to Danny (Sam Heughan) and Becka (Jessica De Gouw), a couple with an open marriage, and things get messy when they start hanging out. Expect jealousy, obsession, secrets… and eventually violence.
Now don’t get too attached to these characters because Season 2 resets much of the cast. But you can still expect a similar story. And if you like your psychological thrillers a little pulpy, a little sexy, a little over the top, and a lot of fun, check it out. Oh, and it’s a short binge at just six episodes per season, so it won’t wear out its welcome!
The Couple Next Door
Evie and Pete move into an upscale neighborhood and find themselves in a world of curtain twitching and status anxiety. They find friendship in the shape of the couple next door, alpha traffic cop Danny and his wife, glamorous yoga instructor Becka, but after Danny and Evie share a passionate night together there is trouble ahead.
Best darkly funny binge: ‘Sweetpea’
What happens when you snap… and find out you kind of love murder? Rhiannon Lewis finds out in “Sweetpea.” Ella Purnell plays the lead here, as a woman who’s been dismissed and bullied her whole life and finally loses it. Except she’s also bad at killing. She panics regularly, improvises way too much, and then comes up with a bunch of justifications for why what she’s doing isn’t horrible. All the while keeping things darkly funny along the way.
What’s interesting here is how it can swing you back and forth morally in terms of who you’re cheering for. At first you’re kind of on Rhiannon’s side when you find out how badly she’s been bullied. But when that bully, Julia (Nicôle Lecky), turns up again and eventually gives her side of the story, you kind of swing the other way. Then, there’s AJ (Calam Lynch), who offers the possibility of something a little more normal. And just to keep the tension high, there’s Detective Marina (Leah Harvey), who keeps inching closer. With only a single season and just six episodes, this one’s worth tearing through.
Sweetpea
Rhiannon Lewis doesn’t make much of an impression - people walk past her in the street without a second glance. That is until she is pushed over the edge and loses control. Rhiannon’s life transforms, but can she keep her killer secret?
Best psychological mystery binge: ‘Dublin Murders’
Every great detective case actually begins with a previous case the detective couldn’t solve. It’s a formula as old as time, and it exists because it works. So it is with “Dublin Murders.” Rob Reilly (Killian Scott) and Cassie Maddox (Sarah Greene) are assigned to the murder of a young girl found in the woods outside Dublin. The problem? Rob secretly grew up nearby as Adam Ryan, and years earlier he went into those same woods with two friends who were never seen again. Rob was the only kid who came back, and he still can’t remember what happened. BOOM, there’s your real mystery underneath the plot mystery.
Then a second murder pulls Cassie into her own bizarre connection to a victim. A dead woman looks almost exactly like her and has been living under “Lexie Madison,” an identity Cassie once invented while working undercover. Cassie goes undercover again, this time pretending to be Lexie, while Rob becomes increasingly obsessed with whether the new murder connects to his childhood. Confused yet? It makes for bad writing but great TV, and I won’t tell you whether it all comes together in the end or not. It’s slower than the other shows on this list, but if you want a thriller that keeps getting weirder, this is it.
Dublin Murders
Two detectives are dispatched to investigate the murder of a young girl on the outskirts of Dublin, but as the case of the missing children intensifies, both are forced to confront the darkness that lies in their past.
More binge-worthy thriller TV shows on STARZ:
‘Power’
Power
A successful New York entrepreneur lives a double life as the head of a drug empire that serves only the rich and influential, all while wanting to escape the underworld and keep his family safe.
‘Power Book II: Ghost’
Power Book II: Ghost
Picking up just days after the “Power” finale, this sequel series follows Tariq navigating his new life, in which his desire to shed his father’s legacy comes up against the mounting pressure to save his family.
‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’
Power Book III: Raising Kanan
Set in South Jamaica, Queens, in 1991, this prequel to “Power” revolves around the coming of age of Kanan Stark.
‘Black Sails’
Black Sails
The pirate adventures of Captain Flint and his men twenty years prior to Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic “Treasure Island.” Flint, the most brilliant and most feared pirate captain of his day, takes on a fast-talking young addition to his crew who goes by the name John Silver. Threatened with extinction on all sides, they fight for the survival of New Providence Island, the most notorious criminal haven of its day – a debauched paradise teeming with pirates, prostitutes, thieves and fortune seekers, a place defined by both its enlightened ideals and its stunning brutality.