Mystery and Thriller TV Series We’re Watching This Year
While TV schedules aren’t planned as far in advance as movie schedules, there’s still plenty to look forward to just in the first few months of 2024. Mystery and thriller fans can expect the returns of favorite series and characters, along with new shows based on some popular books (and one semi-popular movie). Here are the TV series we’re planning to check out as the year begins.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Co-creator and star Donald Glover reimagines the Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie spy thriller as a TV series, with PEN15’s Maya Erskine joining Glover as the title characters. The spies code-named John and Jane Smith pose as a married couple as part of their cover, and they find themselves slowly falling in love for real. The series mixes espionage action with romantic comedy, featuring new high-profile guest stars in each episode, as the couple takes down a new target. Stream on Amazon Prime Video.
Tokyo Vice season 2
The first season of this Tokyo-set crime drama flew a bit under the radar, despite a pilot directed by Michael Mann and a flashy international concept. But it’s an appealingly gritty story about an ambitious, often unscrupulous American (Ansel Elgort) insinuating himself into the city’s underworld while working as a newspaper reporter. The second season finds him entangled even further with organized crime, while attempting to expose the corruption and murder that the local police ignore. Stream on Max.
Tracker
This Is Us star Justin Hartley takes on the role of nomadic survivalist Colter Shaw, created by novelist Jeffrey Deaver. Shaw travels the country, using his skills as a tracker to aid law enforcement agencies and private citizens in solving crimes and locating missing persons. He’s not just a good Samaritan, though — he calls himself a “rewardist,” seeking out cases that involve large cash rewards for tracking down a perpetrator or victim. With a premiere directly following the Super Bowl, Tracker is positioned as the next major CBS crime procedural. Stream on Paramount+.
Elsbeth
Acclaimed legal drama The Good Wife continues its franchise expansion with this second spin-off, following the conclusion of The Good Fight. Carrie Preston has played offbeat lawyer Elsbeth Tascioni since the first season of The Good Wife, appearing in multiple episodes of that series as well as The Good Fight. Now Elsbeth gets her own show, in which she moves from Chicago to New York City and becomes a consultant for the NYPD. Preston, who won an Emmy for playing Elsbeth in 2013, stars alongside Wendell Pierce and Gloria Reuben. Premieres February 29 on CBS.
Apples Never Fall
Between Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, Liane Moriarty has become the go-to author for prestige TV series with enticing mysteries, and this latest Moriarty adaptation promises another addictive, twisty thriller. Annette Bening and Sam Neill play a married couple who’ve just retired after selling the tennis academy they founded and ran. When Bening’s Joy goes missing, the couple’s four adult children have to confront dark family secrets as they search for their mother. Premieres March 14 on Peacock.
Manhunt
Adapting James L. Swanson’s nonfiction book Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer, this true-crime series approaches the search for assassin John Wilkes Booth as a pulse-pounding thriller. Outlander’s Tobias Menzies plays Edwin Stanton, the U.S. Secretary of War who headed up the efforts to find Booth (Anthony Boyle) after he killed President Abraham Lincoln (Hamish Linklater). The seven-episode series explores the intricacies of the case and all its related players, from government officials to Booth’s co-conspirators. Premieres March 15 on Apple TV+.
The Gentlemen
The surprise success of Guy Ritchie’s 2019 movie The Gentlemen has spawned this TV series adaptation, with Ritchie as producer, co-creator, and director of the first two episodes. Theo James stars in this version as Eddie Halstead, who inherits an estate from his late father and discovers that it’s being used as a base for illegal marijuana cultivation, which puts him at odds with various underworld figures. Premieres in March on Netflix.
Ripley
Matt Damon may have given the definitive performance as Tom Ripley in The Talented Mr. Ripley, but the suave sociopath from Patricia Highsmith’s classic novels has also been played by John Malkovich, Alain Delon, Barry Pepper and Dennis Hopper. Now Andrew Scott (All of Us Strangers) joins that elite company in a new series adapting the Ripley books. The 1960s-set show begins with its take on The Talented Mr. Ripley, featuring Johnny Flynn and Dakota Fanning as the rich jet-setters who become Ripley’s victims. Premieres April 4 on Netflix.
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Josh Bell is a freelance writer and movie/TV critic based in Las Vegas. He’s the former film editor of Las Vegas Weekly and the former TV comedies guide for About.com. He has written about movies, TV, and pop culture for Vulture, Polygon, CBR, Inverse, Crooked Marquee, and more. With comedian Jason Harris, he co-hosts the podcast Awesome Movie Year.