‘Furious’ is over, but these 4 shows can fill the void
‘Furious’ is over, but these 4 shows can fill the void
More damaged detectives, morally messy killers, and investigations that get very personal.
The best show on TV just wrapped up Season 1 and I’m “Furious” it’s over. This has been THE Sunday night event in our house for the last five weeks, and if you’ve been watching “Furious” too, you know why. Watching Alice (Emmy Rossum) chase Catherine (Lola Petticrew) has been not just entertaining, but unpredictable and emotionally draining (in the best way). So, now that it’s over, and we’re left with a very interesting cliffhanger that could change the entire direction of Season 2 (just renewed!), we need something else to watch. Here are my picks for what to watch next if you loved “Furious.”
Furious
FBI agent Alice Black is on the hunt for a mysterious and calculating female serial killer. Both walk their own paths toward justice, and as their lives start to intertwine, the line between right and wrong begins to blur.
If you loved Alice, watch: ‘Mare of Easttown’
If Alice was your favorite part of “Furious,” go straight to “Mare of Easttown.” Tara and I watched this one as soon as it dropped, and we were mesmerized. Kate Winslet plays Mare Sheehan, a detective in this small Pennsylvania town where she’s investigating the murder of a teenage mom while another girl is still missing… and everybody knows everybody. Or slept with somebody. Or is related to somebody — it’s that kind of place. Meanwhile Mare’s son died by suicide, her family life is a whole thing, and she’s trying to solve murders while carrying around a grief she very clearly does not want to face.
And that’s why she reminds me so much of Alice. Two very competent detectives with terrible emotional coping mechanisms. Not that it’s their fault — they’ve both faced serious trauma. And that leads to some self-destructive tendencies and an unpredictability in both characters that is just so much fun to watch. Now, “Mare of Easttown” is much more of a whodunit, but if it was Alice’s character that captured you, Mare will do the same.
Mare of Easttown
A detective in a small Pennsylvania town (Kate Winslet) investigates a local murder while trying to keep her life from falling apart. The stellar cast features Jean Smart, David Denman, and Guy Pearce.
If you liked the cat-and-mouse chase, watch: ‘The Fall’
If what you liked most about “Furious” was watching Alice slowly close in on Catherine or the switching perspective that let you follow each of them, then “The Fall” is next. This one follows Detective Stella Gibson (Gillian Anderson) as she hunts serial killer Paul Spector (Jamie Dornan) in Belfast. Now, just like in “Furious” where you meet Catherine right from the opening scene, you know who the killer is right from the jump here too. So, the tension doesn’t come from the question of who did it. It comes from the question of how Gibson will catch him… and what horrors will he carry out in the meantime?
Be warned though: “The Fall” is darker. It’s colder and slower and definitely less morally ambiguous about the killer. But just like Alice, Gibson understands violence against women, and that becomes a theme of the show as killer and detective head towards a collision course. So if you liked the back and forth of hunter and hunted, “The Fall” is a great next watch.
The Fall
When the Police Service of Northern Ireland are unable to close a case after 28 days, Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson of the Metropolitan Police Service is called in to review the case. Under her new leadership, the local detectives must track down and stop a serial killer who is terrorising the city of Belfast.
If you loved the connection between Alice and Catherine, watch: ‘Killing Eve’
You won’t find a stranger serial killer/detective connection than in “Killing Eve.” Two women who understand each other and are inexplicably drawn to each other even though each is on the opposite side of the law. Sound familiar? The series follows MI5 intelligence officer Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh) as she becomes obsessed with tracking Villanelle (Jodie Comer), a wild, unpredictable international assassin who becomes just as fascinated with Eve. And just like “Furious,” your allegiance constantly shifts between them as you bounce from one perspective to the next.
Not only is the plot similar, but both shows share a similar tone. Both mix dark humor with violence, strange intimacy, and moral grey areas that keep you trying to figure out who you’re actually rooting for. The real difference is how far the relationship goes. In the case of Alice and Catherine, there’s a sisterhood between them where you feel like they really care for each other. But in “Killing Eve,” it gets weird. Eve and Villanelle find themselves romantically attracted to one another in a way that’s way more heightened and playful than anything in “Furious” (which casts intimacy in a much darker shade). But the chemistry between the two women in both shows is powerful, and if that’s what hooked you, definitely watch “Killing Eve” next.
If the anger underneath struck a chord, watch: ‘Unbelievable’
I named “Unbelievable” the best under-the-radar drama on Netflix, and Tara and I went into it with basically nothing except “Kaitlyn Dever is supposed to be amazing.” Well, she is and so is the rest of the show. Dever plays Marie Adler, who reports being raped and then gets doubted so aggressively that the system almost becomes its own second crime. Then Merritt Wever and Toni Collette show up as detectives Karen Duvall and Grace Rasmussen, start linking similar assaults, and the show sort of… opens up. Not quickly and not easily, but eventually.
The connection to “Furious” is in the title — it’s infuriating to watch these systems constantly fail the vulnerable people they are supposed to protect. “Furious” takes that anger and lights it on fire. “Unbelievable” makes you sit in it. And honestly, I’m not sure which is worse. If you loved watching strong women beat the injustice of the system, watch “Unbelievable.” Just don’t be too mad at me when it leaves you furious.
Unbelievable
After a young woman is accused of lying about a rape, two female detectives investigate a spate of eerily similar attacks.
More to watch after finishing ‘Furious’:
‘Sharp Objects’ | HBO Max
Sharp Objects
Reporter Camille Preaker confronts the psychological demons from her past when she returns to her hometown to investigate the murders of two young girls.
‘The Dropout’ | Hulu
The Dropout
The story of Elizabeth Holmes, the enigmatic Stanford dropout who founded medical testing start-up Theranos. Lauded as a Steve Jobs for the next tech generation and once worth billions of dollars, the myth crumbled when it was revealed that none of the tech actually worked, putting thousands of people’s health in grave danger.
‘Luther’ | AMC+
Luther
A dark psychological crime drama starring Idris Elba as Luther, a man struggling with his own terrible demons, who might be as dangerous as the depraved murderers he hunts.
‘Top of the Lake’ | Hulu
Top of the Lake
A woman haunted by her past, Detective Robin Griffin, investigates complex and unsettling cases.