Thanks to its fairly unconventional premise, there are few shows exactly like Bodies. The new Netflix series, which follows four British detectives from different points in history who all find themselves investigating the same crime, is a fairly unique spin on the crime procedural.
As a result, finding shows that feel exactly like Bodies can be a bit challenging. Fortunately, we’ve pulled a few options together that should give you some of the same things that you liked so much about Bodies.
Dark
This German Netflix series is one of the more twisty, convoluted sci-fi shows on the streamer, but it’s also one of the more rewarding. Dark is set in a small town after some children go missing, forcing the whole town to reckon with its dark past and secrets that have remained buried for a generation.
Dark adds distinctive elements of sci-fi to the stew of its story as well, linking the town in the present town to its past in 1986. It may take a diagram to figure out exactly what’s happening as the series dives further and further down the rabbit hole, but as long as you’ve got some time to do your own research, you’re sure to find Dark exceptionally rewarding.
Dark is streaming on Netflix.
True Detective
Although subsequent seasons have been slightly less satisfying, True Detective‘s first season was a deeply compelling yarn, and one that also used the passage of time to great effect.
Because it split its time between the present, decades after the initial investigation, and the past when the murders at the show’s center were fresh, we get multiple perspectives on how the case unfolds and eventually resolves itself. Although True Detective doesn’t have quite the same scope in time as Bodies, the two shows do share an interest in the way that time itself can influence an investigation.
True Detective is streaming on Max.
Twin Peaks
Few series in the history of TV have been more eerie or influential than Twin Peaks. The show, which tells the story of an FBI agent who comes to a small Washington town to investigate the murder of a high school girl, was often deeply surreal and unnerving, even if you could never totally get a handle on what was happening.
Bodies is certainly a much more literal show than Twin Peaks, but the latter series explored the darkness behind murder in a way that few other shows have been able to capture. One part soap opera and one part riveting detective drama, Twin Peaks has become the ultimate cult show, and it’s easy to understand why. Its influence even extends to video games, where the recent release of Alan Wake 2 has revived interest in the show, which keeps on appearing in popular culture.
Twin Peaks is streaming on Paramount+.
