Top 5 "Slow Horse"-like shows to watch while waiting for Season 4

Top 5 "Slow Horse"-like shows to watch while waiting for Season 4

We've all seen countless procedurals and spy shows where the main characters are very competent. While that is fun, it is often more interesting to watch procedurally-adjacent movies and TV shows where the characters are chaotic or not very good at their jobs.

The British series Slow Horses, starring Gary Oldman, features a ragtag group of disgraced MI-5 agents. Their missions don't usually start with big stakes, which is a nice change of pace from the typical carbon-copy procedurals we never tire of. Of course, after a few twists and turns, the agents find themselves in a more difficult predicament than they expected.

"Slow Horses" is not the only series with eccentric detectives and spies. While you wait for Season 4, check out some of the shows like "Slow Horses".

Sean Spencer (James Roday Rodriguez) and Burton Guster (Dulé Hill) may bring back the pineapple when it comes to chaotic criminal investigation duos. The "Psycho" series features faux-psychic Sean Spencer, who, along with his more realistic but no less eccentric sidekick Gus, helps the police in solving murders.

The show has a goofy comedy style that is much more on-the-nose than the dry humor of "Slow Horses," but Sean and Gus get into just as much trouble. Many characters question their methods, but Sean and Gus almost always solve the case. Timothy Omundson (Carlton Lassiter), Corbin Bernsen (Henry Spencer), and Maggie Lawson (Juliet O'Hara) star.

Watch on Peacock or Prime Video

Few crime-fighting teams are as unconventional as the prisoners who are given time off to catch escaped criminals. Breakout Kings" is an offshoot of "Prison Break" and follows OG character T-Bag through his second prison escape (and subsequent re-arrest).

Naturally, the team recruited by the two marshals does not always play by the rules, adding an interesting twist to the weekly captures. Led by Matt Olmstead and Nick Santora, the series lasted only two seasons and is one of the lesser-known genre shows. But it is still worth watching. The cast includes actors Domenic Lombarducci (Ray Zancanelli), Jimmi Simpson (Lloyd Lowry), Malcolm Goodwin (Shea Daniels), Laz Alonso (Charlie Duchamp), and Serinda Swann (Erica Reed).

Rent/Buy on Amazon or Apple

Sherlock Holmes is the king of unorthodox detectives, and like "Slow Horse," the BBC's "SHERLOCK" takes an unconventional approach to the procedural genre, with dry, typically British It is full of dry, British humor. Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock Holmes is undoubtedly a genius, but he is also an addict. His madness certainly makes sense, but his personality quirks never convince those around him, and his lone wolf approach often alienates him from his partner, Dr. John Watson (Martin Freeman).

Dr. Who's Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat created the series, which also stars Una Stubbs (Mrs. Hudson), Rupert Graves (Lieutenant Lestrade), Mark Gatiss (Mycroft Holmes), Andrew Scott (Jim Moriarty), and Louise Brealey (Molly Hooper). The series ran from 2010 to 2017, with only 15 episodes (each episode being the length of a movie).

Watch on Pluto

The concept of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor naturally creates maverick-type characters. Each episode of the show Leverage follows a robbery led by Nathan Ford (Timothy Hutton), a former insurance investigator and grieving father and alcoholic.

The team consists of crook Sophie Deveraux (Gina Bellman), hacker Alec Hardison (Aldis Hodge), recovery specialist and muscle-bound Elliot Spencer (Christian Kane), and thief Parker (Beth Riesgraf). Parker (Beth Riesgraf), a thief. Spencer has a dry, very British manner (with a bit of a hot-blooded side). Created by Chris Downey and John Rogers, the series has been revived on Prime Video nearly a decade after it ended its run in 2012.

View on Freevee

The British "MI-5" (formerly "Spooks") is essentially a more competent version of "Slow Horses". Created in 2002 by David Wolstencroft, it is a fairly traditional procedural show that ran for a whopping 10 seasons until 2011. However, like most British programs, each season contains only a handful of episodes, totaling 86 episodes.

The show is more focused on the existence of terrorist threats to national security than a fairly sporty show like Slow Horses. The spy team is led by Harry Pearce, played by Peter Firth, and features prominent British actors including Matthew Macfadyen, Keely Hawes, and David Oyelowo. Firth is the only cast member to appear in all 86 episodes.

Watch on BritBox (via Prime Video)

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