Top 5 Must-See TV Series for Fans of Nemesis

Netflix’s latest crime drama sensation, “Nemesis,” premiered its first season on May 14. The series centers on LAPD lieutenant Isaiah Stiles, portrayed by Matthew Law, who becomes thoroughly consumed by his relentless pursuit of notorious thief Coltrane Wilder, played by Y’lan Noel. Throughout the eight episodes of Season 1, this gripping duel of intellects unfolds at a tantalizingly deliberate pace, earning both critical acclaim and an impressive milestone of over 1 billion total minutes streamed to date.

With “Nemesis” being co-created by Courtney A. Kemp, co-creator of the “Power” universe on Starz, it’s no surprise that fans of the show might gravitate toward similar crime dramas such as “Power.” However, those craving more should specifically seek out crime thrillers that skillfully balance suspense and intrigue through a cat-and-mouse narrative featuring its primary hero and villain. Here are five shows that encapsulate this thrilling dynamic perfectly.

Though “The Endgame” only graced NBC’s lineup for one season in 2022 before its untimely cancellation, it left audiences hanging with a dramatic cliffhanger, joining the ranks of unresolved television tales. Despite its abrupt conclusion, this meticulously crafted crime drama remains spellbinding, delivering intense storytelling that captivates viewers, even without closure.

Similar to “Nemesis,” “The Endgame” features a charismatic villain who masterminds a series of elaborate heists, drawing the attention of a tenacious law enforcement officer. Monica Baccarin plays Elena Federova, bringing a flair reminiscent of a classic Bond villain, while Ryan Michelle Bathé portrays FBI agent Val Turner, who becomes engrossed in the challenging task of outmaneuvering Federova and deciphering her enigmatic schemes. Alas, viewers were left wanting more of this enticing saga.

“The Day of the Jackal,” originally a 1971 novel and later a 1973 film, has been reinvented as a television series on Peacock. The modernized adaptation transplants the narrative into today’s world, incorporating technological advancements while delving deeper into character development and embracing more political undertones than the original versions.

Eddie Redmayne plays Alexander Duggan, an assassin known to clients only as The Jackal. When he’s offered a job with a lot more risks and complications than he usually accepts, he reluctantly takes the contract as it promises to pay him enough money to retire from the murdering business. But a complication he didn’t plan for is that it would get him wrapped up in a complex game of cat and mouse with an MI6 agent (Lashana Lynch, the first female 007) — a game that ends up getting more personal than either of them bargained for. 

Speaking of cat and mouse games that got way too personal, “Killing Eve” has entered the chat. While it starts off like most other crime thrillers do — an investigator’s investigation quickly takes over their entire life — it isn’t long before it’s made clear that the cat and mouse game in “Killing Eve” is going to go a whole other level. A sexy level, in fact.

Eve’s (Sandra Oh) career as an MI5 agent doesn’t pan out, but she’s soon secretly scooped up by MI6 when her proclivity for female agents makes her the perfect person to investigate a dangerous assassin known as Villanelle (Jodie Comer). As Eve tracks her, the two eventually meet in person — and it’s immediately obvious that they aren’t going to be able to avoid mixing business with pleasure, as it were. Even if you have already binged the show, there are things you only in “Killing Eve” on a rewatch, so it’s as good a time as any to run through it again. 

Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) sometimes struggles to keep her bipolar disorder from interfering with her job as a CIA officer. More to the point, it causes a lot of her colleagues and superiors to not always trust her judgment — which becomes a huge issue when Carrie becomes convinced that a former Marine was turned into a sleeper agent while he was captured by al-Qaeda.

So is Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis) really a secret terrorist who poses a massive threat to the security of the United States, or is it just Carrie’s paranoia run amok? We won’t spoil it for you if you haven’t watched “Homeland,” Showtime’s eight-time Primetime Emmy winning series that will leave you utterly captivated from beginning to end. Even being stretched out to eight seasons, “Homeland” never experiences any major dips in quality — when ranking every “Homeland” season worst to best, the lowest ranked season is merely good instead of great. 

We end this list with a cat and mouse crime drama that depicts a real life cat and mouse game between an actual drug lord and DEA agent. Okay, so Netflix’s “Narcos” is obviously a highly dramatized depiction of the war between Pablo Escobar (Wagner Moura) and federal agent Steve Murphy (Boyd Holbrook). It follows Escobar between the late ’70s and early ’90s, chronicling his rise as a drug kingpin to his eventual death — sorry, but it’s not really a spoiler alert when it’s about a real person who died over 30 years ago.

But the ways “Narcos” stretches the truth is in service of a thrilling, action-packed crime epic that sees Escobar and Agent Murphy go round and round in one of the most exciting cat and mouse games the genre has ever seen. Not only are all three seasons of “Narcos” excellent, there was also a great spin-off totally worth your time called “Narcos: Mexico” that digs into a little more of what went on within Escobar’s empire in the ’80s.