10 Best TV Shows Like Emmy Rossum's Furious

Before its first season has even ended, audiences are already hooked on Hulu's latest crime thriller, "Furious." Emmy Rossum stars as Alice Black, an FBI agent investigating a string of murders of men by the young Catherine Grace (Lola Petticrew). What begins as a hunt for a serial killer quickly turns into a suspenseful game of hide-and-seek between two women who may be more alike than different. 

The cat-and-mouse dynamic is a frequent trope in the crime genre, but plenty of shows have found ways to turn it on its head and complicate the relationships between chasers and chased. "Furious" is also far from the first female-led crime thriller, with heroines and anti-heroines increasingly taking center stage in the genre.

These crime dramas and thrillers offer many of the same elements that make the Hulu series so addictive. Whether it's a female-led detective story or a twisty serial killer drama, these should be your next binge-watches once Season 1 of "Furious" is over. 

Whereas "Furious" draws inspiration from the 1987 noir thriller "Black Widow," Apple TV's "The Crowded Room" draws from a different piece of 1980s crime media: Daniel Keyes' non-fiction book "The Minds of Billy Milligan." Tom Holland plays Milligan's on-screen counterpart, Danny Sullivan, a troubled young man whose motives in a 1979 shooting are steadily revealed through interviews with interrogator Rya Goodwin (Amanda Seyfried). 

Much of the crime action in "The Crowded Room" takes place via flashback, while the present-day storyline follows Goodwin's sessions with Danny after his arrest. The series draws an obvious parallel to "Furious" through its empathetic approach to a troubled character at the center of a violent crime. It also has a direct connection to "Furious," with Emmy Rossum appearing as Danny's mother in flashbacks to his childhood. 

Though it's far from the best miniseries on Apple TV, "The Crowded Room" offers a darker, more psychologically focused take on crime and trauma than "Furious," making it a worthwhile companion watch for viewers drawn to morally complicated characters. 

As previously mentioned, "Furious" drew inspiration from the 1987 thriller "Black Widow," whereas Paramount+'s "Fatal Attraction" takes its plot and name from another 1987 thriller starring Michael Douglas and Glenn Close. The series stars Joshua Jackson as Deputy District Attorney Dan Gallagher, who begins an affair with newly hired Victim Services advocate Alex Forrest (Lizzy Caplan). As their romance heats up, Alex goes to extreme lengths to prevent Dan from ending their arrangement. 

"Fatal Attraction" differs from its film predecessor by making Dan and Alex colleagues in the District Attorney's office, placing their increasingly volatile relationship within the legal system. Like "Furious," the series centers on a dangerous dynamic between two people whose connection becomes more complicated as the story unfolds.

Notably, "Fatal Attraction" is a dramatic showcase for Caplan, whose Alex becomes more unpredictable throughout the series. Fans of the original film may have stronger feelings about how the adaptation compares, but viewers with no attachment to the Douglas and Close version may find Paramount+'s reimagining an especially compelling companion to "Furious."

Though it's the first original series not based on a book or previous movie on this list, "The Fall" does star Gillian Anderson, who's no stranger to playing investigators thanks to "The X-Files." In contrast to "The X-Files," "The Fall" is a more grounded crime thriller like the others on this list, with Anderson playing English Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson, who is brought to Northern Ireland to investigate serial killer Paul Spector (Jamie Dornan), who preys on young women in Belfast.

Airing for three seasons with a total of 17 episodes, "The Fall" is driven by its two leads, especially Anderson. She portrays Gibson as a distinctive TV detective: confident in her skills and charm, with colleagues who respect her rather than underestimate her intelligence. Dornan, meanwhile, plays Spector as a calculating and sadistic killer whose double life gives the series much of its tension.

As one of the best TV shows like "Dexter," "The Fall" spends nearly as much time with its serial killer as it does with the investigators hunting him down. That dual perspective gives the cat-and-mouse story a different rhythm, with Gibson and Spector gradually circling closer to one another over the course of the series.

"Sharp Objects" is one of the best miniseries streaming on HBO Max and a major showcase for Amy Adams. Based on a novel by Gillian Flynn, "Sharp Objects" follows crime reporter Camille Preaker (Adams), whose struggles with alcoholism and self-harm continue to flare up after she returns to her childhood home with her mother, Adora (Patricia Clarkson), while investigating the murder and disappearance of two young girls in her Missouri hometown.  

Though it's more focused on its female lead's troubled journey than the central mystery of the series, "Sharp Objects" still gives plenty of attention to the crime at its center. Adams and Clarkson anchor the cast, which also features standout supporting work from Sophia Lillis and Chris Messina, plus a memorable early TV appearance from Sydney Sweeney. 

Given that it lacks the cat-and-mouse structure that makes "Furious" so alluring, fans of the Hulu series may find the slower, more psychologically disturbing "Sharp Objects" a different kind of crime story. It's a Southern Gothic drama built around not just the mystery of a small town, but the mystery of its fascinating lead character. 

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The HBO series "Mare of Easttown" was an Emmy darling following its release in 2021. Kate Winslet stars as Mare Sheehan, a Pennsylvania detective investigating the murder of a local teenager, Erin McMenamin (Cailee Spaeny). However, Mare is haunted not just by her crumbling personal life but by the unsolved disappearance of another local girl, which has shaken her confidence in her abilities. Compared to most other murder mysteries and detective stories on TV, "Mare of Easttown" feels a lot more grounded, and not just because of its actors' accurate regional dialects.

Though the cast is stacked with talent, including Evan Peters, Julianne Nicholson, Jean Smart, Guy Pearce, and Angourie Rice, the standout of the series is easily Winslet. The actress portrays Mare as a complicated, flawed, but ultimately likable detective who wants to do right by her town, grounding the series as much in her personal struggles as in the investigation itself.

With a Season 2 of "Mare of Easttown" a strong possibility, audiences may eventually get to see more of Mare and the community surrounding her. Though it's got less of the cat-and-mouse suspense of a show like "Furious," it's the kind of genre-heavy suburban noir that should appeal to viewers drawn to character-driven crime dramas.

BBC One's "Luther" was a mainstay on the British network throughout the 2010s, airing five seasons across the decade, with a film released on Netflix in 2023 (and Ruth Wilson confirmed to be returning for a new movie). Idris Elba stars as DCI John Luther, a detective who becomes obsessed with Wilson's Alice Morgan, a psychopathic murderer who becomes equally obsessed with the violence-prone titular character. 

Compared to other cat-and-mouse shows, the relationship between Elba and Wilson's characters isn't confined to just cop and perp. "Luther" is a police procedural, with Morgan frequently aiding Luther in his investigations and even helping him enact revenge on the killers who take the lives of his loved ones. Her absence is felt when Wilson sits out Season 4, even as Luther turns his attention to other serial killers.

Though Elba had already proven his TV stardom on shows like "The Wire," "Luther" gave him a major leading role of his own and became one of the defining projects of his career. It's the kind of drama that, with its grisly cases and memorable serial killers, is not for the faint of heart but difficult to look away from nonetheless. 

In terms of serial killers in media, it doesn't get more iconic than Dr. Hannibal Lecter. The forensic psychiatrist-turned-cannibalistic murderer originated in Thomas Harris' thriller novels before reaching wider mainstream recognition through Anthony Hopkins' portrayal in "The Silence of the Lambs." NBC's "Hannibal" loosely reimagines the character and events from Harris' novels, with the genius killer played by Mads Mikkelsen. 

Over three seasons, "Hannibal" primarily follows Lecter's secret life as a killer while evaluating profiler Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) for the FBI and consulting on his cases. Unlike other crime dramas on this list like "Furious," "Hannibal" plays with the audience's knowledge of Dr. Lecter's psychopathy to create suspense in his working dynamic with Graham, turning what would otherwise be a cat-and-mouse chase into a mouse-luring-the-cat-to-the-dark-side type of narrative. 

Though "Hannibal" was cancelled after its third season, creator Bryan Fuller refuses to give up on a fourth, which is in limbo given the complicated licensing of Harris' source material. Still, its shift from standard procedural mysteries toward the unsettling descent into its characters' psyches should appeal to "Furious" fans who want more complex serial killer figures in their media diet. 

Even though "Killing Eve" is one of the most notorious examples of a series finale that completely ruined their show, in its prime, it stood out as one of TV's most distinctive crime dramas. The BBC America series, whose first season was written and developed by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, follows the mutual obsession of a workaholic MI6 agent Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh), and the charming sociopathic assassin Villanelle (Jodie Comer), as part of a larger British intelligence investigation into a mysterious criminal organization known as "The Twelve."

Though its first season is a pretty straightforward cat-and-mouse narrative that truly makes its audience pine to see its leads share the screen, subsequent seasons divert from this initial premise. Villanelle eventually revolts against her employers and becomes an unlikely ally of Eve, spurred not just by obsession but by romantic love. Comer became one of the show's defining performers as Villanelle, though later seasons received a more mixed response as different showrunners took over from Waller-Bridge.

Ending aside, "Killing Eve" helped popularize a kind of crime drama built around complicated sympathy for its killer as much as the person pursuing them. "Furious" works in similar territory, asking audiences to invest in Catherine even as her crimes make her increasingly dangerous.

"Mindhunter" takes a vastly different approach to chasing serial killers than any of the other series on this list. Based on a true crime book by former FBI agent John Douglas and author Mark Olshaker, the Netflix series produced by David Fincher tells the fictionalized story of the government's first forays into criminal profiling. Jonathan Groff and Holt McCallany play FBI agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench, who partner with psychologist Wendy Carr (Anna Torv) to interview some of the most notorious real-life serial killers in American history.

With only two seasons that are still worth watching, even though Netflix cancelled it too soon, "Mindhunter" fictionalizes a lot of the events of Douglas and Olshaker's book but creates considerable suspense from scenes that mainly follow characters sitting around tables and talking. In particular, Cameron Britton as Edmund Kemper, Damon Herriman as Charles Manson, and Sonny Valicenti as the BTK Killer give chilling performances as some of the real-life murderers the series depicts.

Though it's less pulpy than a show like "Furious," "Mindhunter" should appeal to crime fans interested in a more methodical and psychologically focused approach to serial killers. It's not only interested in what makes a serial killer tick, but in how the study of those killers helped shape modern criminal profiling, giving viewers another lens through which to watch stories like "Furious."

"True Detective" has become one of HBO's most prominent neo-noir crime dramas since premiering in 2014, with its first season, starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, remaining especially well known. The anthology series follows a different team of detectives each season investigating a local string of crimes, ranging from serial murders to mysterious disappearances, often touching on police corruption, political violence, PTSD, and existential dread. 

Season 2 may seem like the closest comparison to a show like "Furious," given that Rachel McAdams is part of an ensemble cast that also includes Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn, but Season 1, although way grittier than the Hulu series, feels closer to the serial killer pulp that Emmy Rossum's Alice faces. Season 4 also deserves a mention, taking place in Alaska with Jodie Foster as the local chief of police tasked with investigating the disappearances of eight scientists.

Amidst its varying quality from season to season, "True Detective" helped bring a darker, more character-driven approach to the TV detective drama. Rather than functioning solely as a traditional police procedural, the series spends considerable time exploring its investigators and the psychological toll their cases take on them. That same interest in the people pursuing violent criminals gives "Furious" another point of connection to the HBO anthology.