A great and gritty crime drama can be formed through excellent writing and perfect casting, but what augments a show many times is the series' setting. As viewers, we need the right atmosphere. If it's always sunny, you are going to see a horror film. If it's cloudy, crime drama.
The best shows can do this with ease. In the most recent season of True Detective, for instance, the darkness was as much a character as anyone who could speak dialogue. We felt as oppressed as anyone in the show.
But when a series has the correct gloominess and takes place in remote locations, we have a winner. Each of the series below does that, and is worth binge-watching. You just wouldn't want to live in any of the towns or areas where the shows take place.
Fargo
- 5 seasons: Airs on FX and can be streamed on Hulu
Fargo, North Dakota, isn't in itself a true small town. It has a population of over 100,000 people. It still retains a small-town feel because it's so remote. There might be a good number of people in the city, but not many outside it. This means any crime that happens will occur mostly in the town or just on the edge of the city limits.
And there is a lot of crime that happens in Fargo for a town of its size. This isn't a fact we assume, but based on the series, which is based on the Coen Brothers film, no one will want to live there. Assuming you do, you might be involved in the crime, but you will know someone who was.
Oddly, the fictional Fargo appears to interest organized crime families. Season 1 features a hitman, season 2 includes the Kansas City mafia, and so on. You don't want to live in a town run by the mob.
Broadchurch
- 3 seasons: Can be streamed on Masterpiece (originally on ITV and Masterpiece)
The fictional town of Broadchurch is in the middle of nowhere on the rugged coast of Dorset, England. It is seemingly always windy with a bit of a chill, but that might come as much from the violent crime as the weather.
In season 1, an 11-year-old boy is murdered, and everyone in the area is a suspect. The first suspect has some issues, but is he the one who committed the crime? Or is it someone connected to the police force? Either way, the tension is tight.
Season 3 revolves around a woman who has been raped, but there appears to be a lot more to the narrative. At times, it seems as if the whole town is somehow involved. Maybe they are?
Grantchester
- 10 seasons: Airs on ITV and Masterpiece
The premise of this series, which will be ending next year after its 11th season, is a bit of a stretch. A detective inspector looks into mostly violent crimes, and there are so many over the years that one might assume this village would eventually run out of people. But the DI partners with the town vicar and nearly every investigation.
The series is set in the 1950s and early 1960s, so maybe vicars went around with the police to help people feel freer to speak with unarmed police, but that is doubtful. The show does have a keen sense of humor, and part of that stems from the show always having the same DI (played by Robson Green), but three different vicars. The DI simply can't quit them.
And though this show has gone on for a decade, it keeps viewers interested. That comes from the well-written relationships of everyone on the series, and the crimes are riveting, too. The best advice here, though, is that if you live in Grantchester, you probably will want to move before your sudden passing is having to be investigated.
Dark Winds
- 3 seasons: Airs on AMC and can be streamed on AMC+ and Netflix (limited)
Perhaps the most underrated series on television, each season is somewhat self-contained. The characters, led by the incredible Zahn McClarnon playing Joe Leaphorn, do deal with the aftermath of what has happened from season to season, however.
The show takes place on and around the Navajo Nation in the Four Corners area of the Southwest. The crimes that take place, including murder and abuse, are normally brought to the area from outsiders, and left to the Navajo Tribal Police to investigate and solve.
Fans are also taken on a path that includes the supernatural, mysticism, and mystery. The characters are dynamic, flawed, and well-acted. One also never knows exactly what is going to happen next, just like every great crime drama.
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