Underrated Crime Shows You Need To Watch

"Elementary" more or less fell by the wayside in the shadow of "Sherlock," and was panned by some critics at the time for being a knockoff or copycat of the more popular series, but those comparisons might be slightly unfair.

"Elementary" takes place in contemporary times (just like "Sherlock"), which was one of the main reasons some viewers dismissed it during its broadcast run. The fact that it takes place in New York City instead of London was seen as a gimmick, as was the casting of Lucy Liu as Dr. Watson. As a result, even though it has a good seven seasons to binge, this is one Sherlock Holmes adaptation that many crime fans missed. You don't have to be a Holmes nerd to get into this show, though — it's a dynamite police procedural in its own right, with entertaining villain-of-the-week storylines as well as some longer, compelling, multi-part arcs. For Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts, it's also chock full of Easter eggs from the original canon. 

Further working in its favor: It's rare to find a strong, deep, male-female relationship that stays purely platonic. And it's also worth noting that "Elementary" doesn't descend into convoluted plotlines and off-the-rails character changes in its later seasons.

This dark, gritty, anti-hero centered series is one drop in the ever-larger Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise bucket, although it's only barely above average in terms of its Rotten Tomatoes ratings and isn't really talked about or included in most discussions of any of the other Marvel components. "Daredevil," the similarly gritty series from which "Punisher" spun off, tends to be in the Marvel conversation much more often than 'The Punisher."

Like so many other films and series in the MCU, "The Punisher" is based on the comics, and to its credit, it serves as a mostly faithful adaptation of one of the darkest superheroes to enact revenge in the nighttime city streets since Batman got grimdark. It's a refreshing departure from the generally cheery tone in much of the rest of the MCU, and it's elevated further by star Jon Bernthal, who can be seen doing some of his best questionable-hero-goes-bad-guy work since "The Walking Dead." In the end, the reasons this series is underrated compared to other superhero fare are the same qualities that make it a great show for crime fans: the good guy isn't super good, it's graphically violent (and features some really good stunt work), and the revenge plot gets pretty dark.

All in all, this neglected runt of the blockbuster MCU superhero litter is well worth a watch.

The "Masterpiece Mystery!" umbrella series on PBS has long served as a reliable way for many crime show fans in the US to get some of the best UK period dramas and mysteries. Especially in the '90s, "Mystery!" was the host of such crime drama greats as the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes series and the earlier wildly popular Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot shows, among many others. Being surrounded by so many fan favorites is one reason "Cadfael" fell through the cracks when it aired, but if you missed out on it in the midst of all the other "Mystery!" series that got more attention, now's the time to catch it.

It's not unusual to find a crime series set in the past, but it's rare that we see one that takes place all the way back in the medieval era. Brother Cadfael is a former crusader, now a monk who only wants to tend to his garden in peace, but finds his calm solitude disturbed by murder. Brilliant RSC Shakespeare veteran Derek Jacobi plays the central monk-turned-sleuth, and he brings all his acting chops to bear on the role. Employing the familiar mystery formula of more widely watched series like "Murder, She Wrote," "Cadfael" centers on an unassuming character who's often the only one sharp enough to solve the mysteries unraveling in the show's countryside setting. It's some of the best written, best acted comfort viewing you've ever missed in the crime genre.

"Lie to Me" is another crime series that follows the Sherlock Holmes pattern, centering on an eccentric and independent yet brilliant investigator who helps (or leads) the official police force. His amazing powers of observation and high level of analytical brain power always save the day. This is what makes Tim Roth's Cal Lightman character so entertaining: The micro-expression science dramatized in the show was based on studies done by Paul Ekman, who actually kept a blog during the show's initial broadcast, defining the real science while showing how they had to change it for dramatic effect.

You'd think that with Tim Roth's popularity and the massive appeal of the Holmes pattern, "Lie to Me" would be as intensely popular as it was critically acclaimed. Not so: some critics panned it as a knockoff of knockoffs. Others compared it unfavorably to another eccentric-in-the-middle show, "The Mentalist," which was already wildly popular at the time. Still others complained that the way the science is treated in these plots isn't plausible.

"Lie to Me" does hold up, and is just as fun as any "House," Holmes, or "Mentalist." It does rely on Roth carrying much of the proceedings, but he does so spectacularly, and his charisma shines through in every episode. The series touches on several hot button topics of the time and treats the body language science with honor as well as theatricality.

"Wallander" is a beautifully deep, bleak crime show based on a series of novels by Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell. A its central character, it features a hangdog detective who solves strange murders in an otherwise quiet little town. All of this sounds pretty cliche, until you notice the particular setting is unusual, leaving viewers with a much more existential exploration of the inner life of our protagonist than in more commonly found American series.

The setting? Sweden. Craggy, sunless, rural coastline Sweden, no less. It's all brought to life expertly by Mankell, who adapted his own books while working as the showrunner for the Swedish series. The show covers the dark and windy roads inside Detective Wallander's tortured brain, in parallel with the several strange and macabre murders he labors to solve.

Why was this show underrated? Well, the British remake starring Kenneth Branagh sort of took over — and the Swedish version was released on BBC4 instead of BBC2, which is where the Branagh version was shown. The more popular British version is good too, but going back to the roots of the Swedish original is really the way to go with "Wallander."

This stylish police comedy tells the fish-out-of-water story of a NYC cop in London, with the added benefit of a fantastic cast and intricate storylines. Even the side characters are funny, compelling, and really make for a dynamite ensemble. As funny as it is crisply smart, this crime show is more of an ensemble comedy than a drama, and it incorporates many of the dynamic shooting styles that would later garner cinematography awards for the BBC hit "Sherlock." The displaced-protagonist premise is a perfect complement for the show's crime-solving mystery-of-the week structure, and the villains in each episode make up a colorful menagerie that includes a dangerous gangster, a charismatic (and asthmatic) crime boss, and a charming and old-fashioned light-fingered master thief. Finally, the show's last episode ends with enough neatly tied loose ends to satisfy the series-long tensions introduced and heightened along the way.

"Keen Eddie" wasn't particularly panned or praised while it was on the air; instead, it was just largely missed — possibly because it aired a summer substitute series — and these days, it seems like hardly anyone has even heard of it. Even Rotten Tomatoes doesn't have a single rating for it. "Keen Eddie" has been forgotten, and that's too bad — this was really a fun, clever series, and there's just enough of it to be able to binge and complete without too much effort.