20 Shows Like Dexter Fans Should Watch Now

Showtime's smash-success crime drama "Dexter" followed the extracurricular activities of the titular blood spatter analyst and serial murderer, Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall). For seven seasons, viewers watched the killer with a code, if not a conscience, carve his way through dangerous criminals in Miami, Florida, trying to keep his cover intact as his horrifying hobbies started to catch up with him. Though the series first several seasons were loved by both critics and audiences alike, "Dexter" Season 6 stumbled, offering too much symbolism and a flimsy Big Bad in the form of the Doomsday Killer, embodied by Professor James Gellar (Edward James Olmos) and his assistant Travis Marshall (Colin Hanks). The sixth season managed a meager 40% critics score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and audience ratings weren't much better at 55%.

"Dexter" bounced back with a solid seventh season, introducing a new love interest in the form of black widow Hannah McKay (Yvonne Strahovski) and a much better bad guy in Ukrainian mob boss Isaak Sirko (Ray Stevenson). But the show's eighth and final season would get the lowest ratings yet, managing lowly 33% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and failing to give fans closure as the beloved title character vanishes in a storm but ends up alive, living as a lumberjack in Oregon. Fans were given new hope when Showtime announced a limited-series relaunch, "Dexter: New Blood," offering viewers 10 new episodes and a shot at redemption. 

Now that Showtime has closed the book on everyone's favorite serial killer, viewers may find themselves looking for something to watch next. Here are 20 shows like "Dexter" fans should watch now.

Fox's unsettling crime thriller series "The Following" ran for three seasons. Starring Kevin Bacon as FBI agent Ryan Hardy, the show tells the tale of his attempts to track down and capture escaped serial killer and former professor Joe Carroll (James Purefoy) only to find that his fugitive has developed a cult following of fellow murderers. Hardy is aided by greenhorn FBI agent Mike Weston (Shawn Ashmore) in his pursuit of Carroll and his cadre of killers. The situation gets just a little bit more complicated when Carroll's followers kidnap his son from the custody of his ex-wife, Claire Matthews (Natalie Zea), with whom Ryan has a personal history. Eventually they're forced to deal with another cult and come to learn Joe didn't get started killing all on his own, he was the prodigy of his mentor.

"The Following" received mixed reviews over its three-season run. Critics praised the cast but lamented that the show had become predictable in its second season. It still maintains a 58% average critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, with a slightly better 67% audience score. "The Following" was nominated for the Best Network Television Series at the 2013 Saturn Awards — honoring the best in science fiction, fantasy and horror — and Bacon shared the Best Actor on Television award with "Breaking Bad" actor Bryan Cranston, as Variety reported at the time.

Netflix's psychological thriller "Mindhunter" takes a look inside the twisted mind of American serial killers, meaning "Dexter" fans should feel right at home. Set in the late 1970s and following the work of FBI agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany), the series tells the story of how the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit begins to adopt the practice of criminal profiling, a subject now found in many modern procedural shows. Though initially met with some resistance and skepticism, Ford and Tench really start getting to the meat of the matter when they interview California serial killer Ed Kemper (Cameron Britton). Ed gives the agents a glimpse into how his mind operates and is one of several a real life serial killers depicted in the show. Others include the BTK killer Dennis Rader (Sonny Valicenti), Son of Sam killer David Berkowitz (Oliver Cooper), and Charles Manson (Damon Herriman), one of the most notorious serial killers in modern America.

Based on the true crime book of the same name, "Mindhunter" enjoys a stellar average critics score of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. Given its success, one may wonder why only two seasons have come out so far. Director David Fincher, the driving creative force behind the series, put a potential "Mindhunter" Season 3 on "indefinite hold" to work on other projects like his film "Mank" and other projects, according to TVLine. The outlet cites a statement from a Netflix rep that says Fincher may return to the project in the future.

Considered by many to be the best TV series of all time, "Breaking Bad" gave viewers five gripping seasons of must-see TV from its 2008 premiere to its 2013 finale. Like "Dexter," the show is unique in getting viewers to actively root for a bad guy. While there's no denying that the situation lead character Walter White (Bryan Cranston) falls into is tragic — underpaid, underappreciated, and unable to pay the medical bills he racks up after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer — turning to a life of crime and profiting on the misery of others by manufacturing methamphetamine is not the way to fix things. He eventually comes to care more about the purity of his process than the wellbeing of his family, which is why he's upset to learn in Season 2 that his cancer is in remission; he can no longer excuse the evil deeds he's come to enjoy by pretending he needs to do them for his family's sake.

Walter drags multiple parties along with him as he descends into darkness, chief among whom is his partner in crime and former student Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), a low-level lowlife who's already in the business of slinging meth. But how can Walter hide this illicit enterprise from his wife, Skyler (Anna Gunn), son Walter Jr. (RJ Mitte), and brother-in-law Hank (Dean Norris), who just so happens to be an agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration. Worse yet, how's he going to stay off the radar of other players in the drug trade to stay out of danger? Spoiler alert: Walter becomes the danger.

FX's gritty crime drama "The Shield" is another series that gets you to root for the bad guy in law enforcement. Unlike Dexter Morgan, who kills in the shadows to satisfy his dark urges, Detective Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) commits his crimes in broad daylight with a gun in one hand and a badge in the other because he's as corrupt as cops come. Vic's the head of the controversial Strike Team unit of the Farmington division of the LAPD, a group of plainclothes officers who strong-arm criminals and use various other tactics of a questionable nature to get results. And while the team's results are undeniable, so is Vic's extreme corruption, evident in just the first episode when he kills Terry Crowley (Reed Diamond), a member of the Strike Team that he's not sure he can trust. As a loving husband and caring father, Vic is presented as a complex character with many facets.

Joining Vic on the strike team is right-hand man Shane Vendrell (Walton Goggins) and fellow hard cases Curtis Lemansky (Kenny Johnson), and Ronnie Gardocki (David Rees Snell), whose loyalties are never in question, though they seem decidedly less bent than their leader. They all work under Captain David Aceveda (Benito Martinez), alongside by-the-book detectives like Dutch Wagenbavh (Jay Karnes) and Claudette Wyms (CCH Pounder). For Season 4, Glenn Close joined the cast of "The Shield" as Captain Monica Rawling, who tries hard to rein Vic and the Strike Team in after Aceveda fails upward to the L.A. city council.

"The Shield" has an average critics score of 90%, with three of its seven seasons scoring 95% or higher on Rotten Tomatoes.

Fox's dark procedural drama "Prodigal Son" takes an interesting, though slightly familiar, twist on the world of criminal profiling. Lead character Malcolm Bright (Tom Payne) is a brilliant profiler who used to work for the FBI, now lending his insights to the NYPD. Much like Will Graham from "Hannibal," Malcolm is able to empathize with killers and see a crime scene from their perspective, enabling him to pick up details most analysts would miss entirely. Like Will, he's concerned that his talent and abilities will one day lead him down a dark path. Unlike Will, however, he's got someone else entirely haunting his psyche: his father, Martin Whitly (Michael Sheen). Malcolm's dad is currently incarcerated in a criminal psych ward for committing 23 grisly murders, not exactly father of the year material. Fortunately Malcolm has NYPD lieutenant Gil Arroyo (Lou Diamond Phillips) looking out for him. The arresting officer who helped put Martin behind bars — with help from young Malcolm himself — Gil has always had a soft spot for the young man and is responsible for his current gig with the NYPD after being canned by the Bureau. When Malcolm visits his father hoping for insight into the killings he's helping to investigate, combustible elements abound.

Mixing in various themes and dynamics from "Red Dragon," "The Silence of the Lambs," and even its recent predecessor "Hannibal," "Prodigal Son" received mixed reviews, earning a middling 58% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. It did, however, resonate better with viewers, resulting in an 87% audience score.

Netflix's "The Punisher" sees the titular Marvel antihero brought to life on the small screen, serving as a spinoff from the platform's first Marvel series, "Daredevil." Actor Jon Bernthal takes on the role of Frank Castle a.k.a. the Punisher, a character previously played by Dolph Lundgren, Thomas Jane, and Ray Stevenson on the big screen. When it comes to stopping crime, Frank takes a different approach to the whole vigilante thing than his costumed counterparts like Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), a.k.a. Daredevil; the idea of justice is a secondary aim at best, maybe more of a fortunate coincidence. Like the name suggests, the former Force Recon Marine — who was set on a mission of mayhem after his family was killed — cares only about punishing those who commit crimes, often serving as judge, jury, and executioner.

Season 1 of "The Punisher" introduces Frank's former comrade, pretty boy Billy Russo (Ben Barnes) — known as the villainous Jigsaw in the source material — as an antagonist, with an awkward simpatico character in Special Agent Dinah Madani (Amber Rose Revah). Frank is also joined by a comrade from Marvel Comics: David Lieberman (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) a.k.a. Micro, though he's far more formidable in the Netflix version of the character than in the source material.

"Marvel's The Punisher" sports a decent 64% average critics score across its two-season run, though it gets more love from viewers in the form of a 77% average audience score. All of Marvel's Netflix series — including "Iron Fist," "Jessica Jones," "Luke Cage," and "The Defenders" — got the axe in 2019, as parent company Disney prepared to launch its own streaming service, Disney+.

Most TV shows that get you to root for the bad guy don't have a villain anywhere near as charming and likable as the one you'll find on "The Blacklist." International criminal mastermind Raymond Reddington (James Spader) has been on the run for decades after going rogue and selling U.S. military sequence while part of the Navy's intelligence apparatus. In that time, he's cultivated an underworld empire and apparently mastered the art of wit. For reasons not immediately clear, Reddington walks into the FBI's headquarters and surrenders himself; he then offers to become the world's greatest confidential informant, helping the Bureau track down some of the world's worst criminals. Of course, there's a catch: he'll only work with Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone), a daisy-fresh rookie FBI profiler who's about to start her very first day on the job.

The FBI's Assistant Director Harold Cooper (Harry Lennix) forms a task force to work with Reddington, staffing it with the by-the-book Special Agent Donald Ressler (Diego Klattenhoff) who's been unsuccessfully working to apprehend Reddington for years. Unraveling Reddington's interest in Keen is almost as entertaining as catching the bad guys, some of whom the task force didn't even know existed. Regardless of his motives, the "concierge of crime" makes one thing abundantly clear to Keen: she should not trust her husband Tom (Ryan Eggold), who he says is not who she thinks he is. We're sure that's not at all awkward to hear from an international fugitive and criminal mastermind you just met.

The BBC's period crime drama "The Serpent" follows an investigation into the titular killer's brutal murder of international travelers in Southeast Asia. Real life serial killer Charles Sobhraj (Tahar Rahim), active in the 1970s, frequently targets the free spirits backpacking through Bangkok, Thailand, along an overland route known as "The Hippie Trail" that begins in Europe. Much like prolific serial killer Ted Bundy, Sobhraj relies on his good looks and charm — often posing as a gemstone salesman — to befriend his potential victims, endearing himself to hi marks before killing and robbing them and also using their identities to further support his illicit activities. He's accompanied by girlfriend Marie-Andrée Leclerc (Jenna Coleman), who somehow madly in love with him and able to look past his horrible misdeeds. The evidence against him was never pieced together until a Dutch diplomat named Herman Knippenberg (Billy Howle) began looking into the disappearances of Dutch tourists whose last known appearances were at Sobhraj's home.

According to the Bangkok Post, the real-life Sobhraj was dubbed "The Serpent" as a result of his "snake-like ability to avoid detection by authorities." The outlet reports that he's believed to be responsible for the deaths of at least 20 tourists. Though he was initially imprisoned in India, Sobhraj was released in 1997; the Bangkok post reports that Sobhraj returned to Nepal and was subsequently imprisoned, currently incarcerated in Kathmandu. "The Serpent," which arrived on Netflix in 2021, enjoys a solid 70% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and Rahim received particular praise for his performance in the title role.

In 2014, premium cable network HBO premiered a new crime drama called "True Detective." The first season of the anthology series follows the work of two Louisiana State Police detectives, splitting time between 2012 and 1995 as they look back into the murder of a prostitute that they'd previously investigated 17 years prior. Detective Rustin Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) and Detective Marty Hart (Woody Harrelson) offer snapshots of their personalities at completely different times in their lives, as time and their careers have each taken their respective tolls on the men. 

"True Detective" Season 2 explores the murder of a corrupt California bureaucrat, whose body is discovered by California Highway Patrol officer Paul Woodrugh (Taylor Kitsch). Corrupt detective Ray Velcoro (Colin Farrell) of the fictional Vinci, California, police department is tasked with looking investigating the death, as is Detective Ani Bezzerides (Rachel McAdams) of the Ventura County Sheriff's office, though you can bet the former's mob connections fuel his interest in the case. 

Season 3 of "True Detective" takes the nonlinear storytelling to another level, alternating between 1980, 1990, and 2015. Season 3 follows the work of Detective Wayne Hays (Mahershala Ali) and his partner Roland West (Stephen Dorff) as they look into the disappearance of brother and sister Will and Julie Purcell. Ten years later, the case is reopened when Julie's prints are found and 35 years after the initial disappearance, it serves as the subject for a crime documentary.

"True Detective" sports a solid 78% average critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and proved so popular with viewers that users crashed the HBO Go streaming app during the finale of Season 1 (via Rolling Stone).

Sorry Jack, Chucky's back! The pint-sized terror has made his way to the small screen in "Chucky," a series airing on USA and Syfy. When teenager Jake Wheeler (Zackary Arthur) buys a Good Guy doll at a garage sale, hoping to make use of it for an art project, he does more than win further disapproval from his father Lucas (Devon Sawa); he unwittingly sets a monster loose in his New Jersey hometown. Let's just say the city of Hackensack is about to become the city of hack and slash. Fans of the "Child's Play" film franchise know that this particular plaything is possessed by the soul of fictional serial killer Charles Lee Ray, who goes by Chucky (Brad Dourif). Jake even receives a call from original "Child's Play" protagonist Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent), who warns him the take extreme care with Chucky. Unfortunately, like always, it's too late: Chucky is on the loose.

"Chucky" is set canonically after the events of the seventh film in the "Child's Play" franchise, "Cult of Chucky." The first season of "Chucky" enjoys a 91% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. Following its eight-episode first installment, "Chucky" Season 2 got the green light and is expected to premiere in 2022, according to Deadline. "We're thrilled to start pulling the strings on a second season of puppet mayhem with Chucky," series creator Don Mancini said. "Many thanks to our partners at USA, Syfy and UCP for their incredible support and guidance bringing 'Chucky' to the small screen, bigger than ever."