Explore These 15 Must-Watch TV Shows for Fans of Ozark

Blending crime thriller elements with family drama, “Ozark” masterfully depicts the turbulent lives of the Byrdes, Langmores, and Snells (Peter Mullan and Lisa Emery). The intricate plotlines and escalating tensions are expertly woven together through sharp writing, stellar performances, and striking cinematography. For those who found “Ozark” compelling, there are numerous other series that echo its themes and intensity.

A frequent comparison is drawn between “Ozark” and “Breaking Bad,” primarily due to the parallel journeys of their anti-hero protagonists, Marty Byrde and Walter White, portrayed by Bryan Cranston. Both characters initially appear as unassuming individuals thrust into the criminal underworld, confronting physical and legal perils. The marital discord that Marty experiences with Wendy is reminiscent of the early conflicts Walter faces with his wife Skyler, played by Anna Gunn, in “Breaking Bad.”

Despite the challenge of living up to its predecessor, “Better Call Saul” has carved out its own acclaim, not overshadowed by “Breaking Bad,” although it serves as its prequel. Running from 2015 to 2022, the series traces the transformation of Jimmy McGill, a small-time hustler from Chicago played by Bob Odenkirk, into the flamboyant, quick-witted lawyer Saul Goodman, entrenched in the Albuquerque legal scene and entwined with a Mexican cartel.

The two series share major thematic elements, although they are emphasized differently. While money laundering is at the core of “Ozark,” “Breaking Bad” is primarily about Walt’s drug operation with a secondary focus on Skyler’s creative accounting wizardry. Walt and Marty are both essentially contractors working for Mexican drug cartels, and “Ozark” paid tribute to “Breaking Bad” with a scene showing Marty literally washing money in a laundry machine like Walt before him. “Breaking Bad” is even more highly-regarded than its spiritual successor, with a 96% approval score from critics and 97% from audiences at Rotten Tomatoes.

It’s rare that a follow-up series is thought of as superior to the original, but “Better Call Saul” doesn’t take a back seat to “Breaking Bad” despite existing as a prequel to Vince Gilligan’s prior hit. From 2015 to 2022, the prequel showed how Chicago small-time hustler Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) fell in with a Mexican cartel and transformed into the slick-talking, loud-dressing Albuquerque lawyer Saul Goodman. 

It was nominated for 53 Emmy awards but won zero, an injustice that doesn’t speak to the show’s overall quality. The final episode of “Better Call Saul” wrapped the saga up in a satisfying way and has a a stellar average rating of 9.8/10 from viewers at IMDb. You can watch the “Breaking Bad” franchise in chronological order or order of release – either way gives you plenty of drama, dark humor, and drug dealing/money laundering shenanigans.

“Boardwalk Empire” is set in Atlantic City, New Jersey, but its connection to “Ozark” has nothing to do with casinos. Gambling wasn’t legalized in the seaside resort town until 1977 and “Boardwalk Empire” starts in 1920, just as Prohibition was taking effect in the United States. The series dramatizes how organized crime syndicates took over the manufacture and distribution of bootleg spirits, and Steve Buscemi stars as corrupt Atlantic County treasurer Enoch “Nucky” Thompson.

“Boardwalk Empire” has the crime and interpersonal drama of “Ozark,” although some of its characters are inspired by historical figures. Buscemi’s character is based on Enoch “Nucky” Johnson, a former Atlantic County Sheriff and Republican party boss who partnered with the likes of Al Capone and Lucky Luciano during Prohibition. Capone and Luciano are fictionalized in “Boardwalk Empire” by Stephen Graham and Vincent Piazza, and financial wizard Meyer Lansky is played by Anatol Yusef. Lansksy is the closest thing “Boardwalk Empire” has to a Marty Byrde, and the dangerous criminals surrounding each of these men makes these series equally exciting.

“Peaky Blinders” is the first show on this list to take place outside the United States, set in post-World War I England. It stars Cillian Murphy as Thomas Selby, a war veteran who builds a criminal empire in Birmingham alongside his brothers Arthur (Paul Anderson), John (Joe Cole), and Finn (Harry Kirton).  The HBO series ran for 36 episodes across six seasons, and most chapters are just under an hour long, so you can binge-watch the entire saga in a couple of lost weekends. 

“Peaky Blinders” was an international darling with audiences and awards organizations alike, winning the 2018 BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) award as best drama series. Other notable honors include a pair of Irish Film and Television awards for Murphy as best actor in a drama and three British National Television Awards in 2020 and 2022. “Peaky Blinders” is a visual treat filled with exquisite period costumes, automobiles, and interior decor.

The premise of “Sneaky Pete” has a smaller scope than most of the other shows on this list, and the title character is actually an imposter named Marius Josipovic (Giovanni Ribisi). After serving a prison sentence and earning his release, Marius pretends to be his former cellmate Pete (Ethan Embry) to hide from a gangster. Marius goes to live with Pete’s grandparents Otto (Peter Gerety) and Audrey (Margo Martindale), while Bryan Cranston plays the underworld gambling magnate to whom Marius owes a six-figure debt. 

The stellar top-to-bottom cast of “Sneaky Pete” makes this a delightful watch despite the ever-present worry viewers feel for Marius. He’s similar to Marty Byrde in “Ozark” in that we watch them both make obviously bad choices in pursuit of shady goals all the while rooting for them at least a little bit. Clever and creative, “Sneaky Pete” has a lot to offer fans of a well-crafted crime drama.

If you enjoy Margo Martindale in “Sneaky Pete,” check out the Amazon Prime dark comedy “The Sticky.”  Martindale stars here as Ruth Landry, a Canadian maple syrup farmer who turns to the dark side after facing the loss of her property while her husband lies in a coma. Ruth teams up with security guard Remy (Guillaume Cyr) and small-time Chicago gangster Mike (Chris Diamantopoulos) to steal millions of dollars worth of syrup at harvest time. 

“The Sticky” is a fictionalized retelling of the $18 million theft in 2011 from the Quebec Maple Syrup Producers’ strategic reserve. A disclaimer at the top of each episode states that the show “is absolutely not the true story of the great Canadian maple syrup heist,” and it’s hard to imagine the real criminals having this much conflict amongst themselves and still getting away with their crime. Executive producer Jamie Lee Curtis appears in the final two chapters as Mike’s criminal family associate Bo, and her face-offs with Ruth under extreme duress are wildly entertaining. The soundtrack is also a delight, with an assortment of French-language pop songs surrounding Elvis Presley’s “Devil in Disguise” and tracks from The Chordettes and Heart.

“The Sticky” is one of the most under-appreciated series out there, and Martindale’s performance alone is well worth the roughly three-hour investment in “The Sticky.”

It’s hard to cast one net across all five seasons of “Fargo” as each one exists as an independent crime story. The scofflaws of “Fargo” have widely varying degrees of intentionality and competence, and many are presented as simultaneously relatable and cartoonish. The first three seasons feature a steady parade of stars at their best: Martin Freeman, Allison Tolman, Billy Bob Thornton, Colin Hanks, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, and Ewan McGregor. Chris Rock anchors Season 4 as Kansas City gangster Loy Cannon, and Season 5 stars Juno Temple, Jon Hamm, and Jennifer Jason Leigh. 

We’re especially fond of that most recent installment; it also features Joe Keery of “Stranger Things” as Gator, the son of Hamm’s Sheriff Roy Tillman. “Fargo” Season 5 ended with some bloodshed on the Tillman ranch and a tense peace between Temple’s Dot Lyon and Ole Munch, Sam Spruell’s captivating 500-year old sin eater. Spruell’s character is unlike any other on TV, and his performance in this unique role is one of the many delights in Season 5. “Fargo” has plenty of awards hardware to support itsinclusion here as well. The show’s three Emmy wins in Season 1 include one for best miniseries, and Lamorne Morris’ Season 5 performance as Deputy Witt Farr earned the seventh Emmy statuette for “Fargo” in 2024.

“Ozark” is primarily about the criminal exploits of the Byrde family, and any discussion of television crime families has to include “The Sopranos” and its titular New Jersey Mafia clan. David Chase’s HBO series won 21 Emmy awards from an astounding 112 nominations, including multiple wins as best drama series and for James Gandolfini and Edie Falco in their lead roles as Tony and Carmela Soprano.

 “The Sopranos” is recommended viewing for a much larger crowd than just “Ozark” fans, although the family conflict within a crime drama links the two series spiritually. “Th Sopranos” is often regarded as one of the best TV series ever made; Looper placed it third in our rankings of the best TV series of all time, and TV Guide put it at No. 1 overall in 2013. These well-earned kudos are creditable in no small part to the deep cast of “The Sopranos.” Drea De Matteo and Michael Imperioli earned Emmy wins in supporting roles, and Tony Sirico, Steve Schirripa, and Frank Vincent are excellent as key members of Tony’s crew.

At first glance, the Dutton ranching family of Taylor Sheridan’s “Yellowstone” doesn’t have much in common with the money-laundering Byrdes in “Ozark,” but both series put the main clan and their questionable business practices in a setting that becomes part of the story. Kevin Costner and Kelly Reilly star in “Yellowstone” as father and daughter John and Beth Dutton, with Luke Grimes and Wes Bentley as brothers Kayce and Jamie. Native American actors Gil Birmingham and Mo Brings Plenty lend cultural authenticity as leaders of the fictional Broken Rock tribe, who try to buy some of their ancestral land back from the Duttons. “Yellowstone” ended with some plot points left unresolved, but the series has been wildly popular with viewers since it premiered in 2018.

Costner won the 2023 Golden Globe as best actor in a drama series, and Reilly’s untamed and unfiltered performance as Beth provides many of the series’ most memorable moments. In 2023, Reilly told Entertainment Tonight about the world Taylor Sheridan created for the show. “There’s something about these characters,” she said. “There’s a conflict within them … they’re these flawed human beings and it’s just great storytelling.”

The protagonist of “Barry” is further along in his personal arc than Marty Byrde when we pick up his story, and his ride is wilder over the course of 32 episodes. Barry Berkman (Bill Hader) is a former Marine sniper who returns from war to a career as a hit man under the guidance of old family friend Monroe Fuches (Steven Root). When we catch up with Barry, he has just discovered an acting class run by the self-absorbed, washed-up actor Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler). 

While the rest of the shows on this list center around characters who turn to crime after (mostly) upright lives, Barry flips this in trying to go straight after years as a professional killer. The series won 10 Emmy awards from 55 nominations in its four seasons on HBO: Hader won twice as best lead actor in a comedy and Winkler took home his first-ever Emmy statuette in 2018 as best supporting actor in the genre. The series finale left no plot threads unresolved and Winkler thought “Barry” ending after four seasons was perfect timing. 

The comedy is as dark as anything we’ve ever seen, with truly shocking twists, and the talented cast runs much deeper than Hader, Root, and Winkler. Anthony Carrigan earned three Emmy nominations for playing Chechen mobster NoHo Hank to perfection, and Sarah Goldberg’s breakout performance as Barry’s acting classmate Sally Reed is captivating throughout. Goldberg earned several award nominations for her work on “Barry,” including one for an Emmy in 2019.

“Money Heist” involves a found family of criminals that launches a bold robbery of the Royal Mint of Spain, and the 41 episodes have just as much ebb and flow of tension as “Ozark.” There’s romantic, professional, and old fashioned cops-and-robbers drama throughout, as the gang’s leader The Professor (Alvaro Morte) coordinates several complex robberies. The series won multiple Fotogramas de Plata awards in Spain along with the 2018 international Emmy for best drama series, and has received critical acclaim around the world. 

You can watch “Money Heist” on Netflix, although it may be listed under the Spanish title “La casa de papel” in some locations. It’s available in several languages, including English, for international audiences, but watching with the original audio and subtitles will give viewers the full impact of the actors’ performances.

Another found family crime drama fans of “Ozark” might like is “Good Girls,” which premiered on NBC in 2018 and ran for four seasons. It stars Rhetta, Christina Hendricks, and Mae Whitman as a trio of suburban moms who turn to crime when circumstances get dire for their families. Sound familiar? On their own and in cahoots with Latino gangster Rio (Manny Montana), the three friends get into counterfeiting, money laundering, and drug smuggling over the show’s 50 episodes. 

Reno Wilson and Matthew Lillard play Ruby and Beth’s mostly-unsuspecting husbands Stan and Dean, and Lidya Jewett had her breakout role as Ruby and Stan’s daughter Sara. The crimes in “Good Girls” will be somewhat familiar to “Ozark” viewers, and the transformation of ordinary working people into criminals in over their heads should ring a bell as well. The three charming but remarkably different main characters are believable as friends, and their struggles to keep their families in the dark adds another layer of drama to the proceedings.

Just like the Sopranos need to be included in any discussion of shady TV families, so do the Roys of HBO’s smash hit “Succession,” who are led by aging family patriarch Logan (Brian Cox). Although the Roys are less directly involved in criminal activity than most of the fictional gangs on this list, there’s plenty in their behavior to be ashamed of. 

Unless you were buried under a pile of generational wealth for the better part of 2018 to 2023, you probably know about the series. It won 20 Emmy awards from 76 nominations despite only running for four seasons. A good portion of the drama in “Succession” comes from the jockeying for influence among the Roy children: Kieran Culkin, Jeremy Strong, and Sarah Snook won Emmys in lead acting categories for these roles. “Succession” is quite bingeable despite the intense drama, and the connective tissue between episodes is substantial enough to keep viewers interested in flowing through them at a steady pace.

The main characters in “Sons of Anarchy” aren’t your milquetoast neighbors dabbling in crime during a time of crisis: They’re a highly organized network of gun smugglers and dealers. The series aired on FX and ran for seven seasons starting in 2008, with Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal, and Ron Perlman starring as leaders of the eponymous motorcycle gang. 

The series is very loosely based on the history of the famous Hells Angels motorcycle club, which was formed in California in 1948 and now has chapters across the world. The world of “Sons of Anarchy” overlaps that of “Ozark” in that they share loose networks of criminals living in so-called “normal” society. “Sons of Anarchy” was a hit with major awards organizations and audiences, and is captivating throughout its seven-season run. It originally aired on FX, but you can stream all 92 episodes on Hulu.

“Queen of the South” is another Netflix series with Spanish roots, although this one began as the novel “La Reina del Sur” by Cartagena native Arturo Perez-Reverte. It was first adapted for the small screen by the Spanish language network Telemundo, but the more recent Netflix version starring Alice Braga is in English. Braga plays Teresa Mendoza, a Mexican woman who comes to the United States after her drug-dealing boyfriend is murdered. She has good business instincts, just like Marty Byrde, and in desperation gets involved with cartels on the American side of the border. 

Perez-Reverte based Teresa on Sandra Avila Beltran, a Baja California native who was known as “The Queen of the Pacific” and served eight years in prison for money laundering. Like “Ozark,” “Queen of the South” has plenty of action and drama; many viewers will also find themselves sympathizing with and rooting for the criminal protagonist. It is a bit more violent than “Ozark,” though, so keep that in mind if watching as a family.