Prestige television has been built on the back of the idea of an anti-hero, who is a singular Shakespearean character who is fascinating because of their flawed mindset and self-destructive behavior. Although it is true that the lead actor often ends up being a showcase for the lead actor, a series that actually wants to span the test of time has to have an ensemble cast in which everyone is perfect.
An ensemble requires actors to be self-aware and conscious of the way in which they fit together within pieces of a larger story, and it does mean that the stars have to show humility. A guest star is as important as a lead, who is as important as an extra or an A-lister, and the ability to work together is critical within the ever-popular genre of contemporary crime dramas. The best crime shows understand that a compelling lead is only part of the equation, with these truly great ensembles making every detective, criminal, witness, and supporting player feel essential to the larger story.
10
‘True Detective’ (2014–2024)
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Image via HBO</figure>
True Detective is among the most unique HBO shows because it showed that A-list movie stars would be able to work on small-scale productions that still had the scale and distinctive style of a cinematic production. It was a big deal when Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, two widely celebrated actors who were at the peak of their popularity when cast, were willing to work together on True Detective, and it ended up being the best acting that either of them has ever done.
True Detective has an interesting structure in which each new season has a new set of characters, despite them all taking place in the same universe. Season 2 has a standout role for Colin Farrell as a renegade detective who plays by his own rules, and Season 3 has perhaps the best performance ever from Mahershala Ali. Even as the cast changes in each season of True Detective, the show works because each ensemble creates a distinct chemistry that makes the investigations feel character-driven.
9
‘Mindhunter’ (2017–2019)
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Image via ©Netflix / courtesy Everett Collection</figure>
Mindhunter is a crime series that looks, feels, and flows like a David Fincher film, so it was only fitting that it would have an ensemble cast that was befitting of the man who made classics like Zodiac and Se7en. The most significant breakthrough performance in Mindhunter was from Jonathan Groff, as it was unlike anything that he had ever done before; while he had already been a well-known Broadway star who had been celebrated for his work in Hamilton and Spring Awakening, no one was expecting him to play an obsessive detective who finds himself relating a little too closely to the serial killers that he is investigating.
Mindhunter was able to continuously find great guest stars who were able to transform into the different killers, but the heart of the show lay in Holt McCallany‘s portrayal of Bill Tench. The series succeeds because Groff, McCallany, Anna Torv, and the rotating group of serial-killer performers all contribute equally to its intense atmosphere.
8
‘Hannibal’ (2013–2015)
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Image via NBC</figure>
Hannibal was a bold thriller because it was hardly the first adaptation of the classic Thomas Harris novel series, and had to deal with the comparison to Manhunter and The Silence of the Lambs. Although both Bryan Cox and Sir Anthony Hopkins created distinctive versions of Dr. Hannibal Lecter that have stood the test of time as all-time great cinematic villains, Mads Mikkelsen was able to do something new with the character by showing a charismatic, seductive side to the psychopathic serial killer before he was discovered for what he was.
Mikkelsen is completely matched in the series by Hugh Dancy, who offered the definitive portrayal of FBI Agent Will Graham, but Laurence Fishburne also added an important component to the trifecta of leads because his version of Agent Jack Crawford was the closest thing that Hannibal got to the “average guy.” Mikkelsen, Dancy, and Fishburne form an unusually balanced trio, with each performance sharpening the series’ psychological tension.
7
‘Twin Peaks’ (1990–2017)
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Image via showtime</figure>
Twin Peaks is praised as being the most influential and artistically daring television series of all time because of how much style David Lynch brought to the show from his work in film, but the show has become a cult phenomenon because of how much people fell in love with the characters, all of whom were played by wonderful actors.
Twin Peaks was a homecoming of sorts because it involved many actors who Lynch had worked with on other projects, including Kyle MacLachlan, who he had become close collaborators with ever since casting him for his first screen role ever in the 1984 version of Dune. The most significant breakthrough was Sheryl Lee as Laura Palmer, as in a just world her performance in the prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me would have earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress. The sprawling cast gives Twin Peaks its singular identity, with even minor characters adding to the mystery surrounding Laura Palmer.
6
‘The Wire’ (2002–2008)
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Image via HBO</figure>
The Wire is in the running for the greatest ensemble cast of all time because it had a massive ensemble that got bigger as it went on, as each subsequent season of the series added a new layer of complexity by adding a new level of infrastructure. The show helped to break many actors who would go on to have massive careers, most notably Idris Elba before he became a huge star as a result of Luther.
The Wire made an interesting choice of casting many real law enforcement officials and politicians in order to withstand an aura of authenticity, but it also offered a shot to actors who needed it. The late great Michael Kenneth Williams was a chameleon actor who left behind an amazing body of work, but his performance as Omar in The Wire might be the single best of his career. Few crime shows use an ensemble as effectively as The Wire, where police officers, politicians, dockworkers, teachers, and criminals all feel equally important to the larger portrait of Baltimore.
Four criminal masterminds. One of them was always going to be yours.
Here is who comes for you, why they picked you out of everyone available, and what they want from
the encounter.
Your nemesis does not want to beat you. He wants to know you
completely, and he is patient enough to wait for it. The frightening part is how good the
conversation is.
- Lecter is the most dangerous kind of opponent: the one who finds you interesting. He
never raises his voice, because he has never needed to. - You keep a great deal to yourself and you are careful about what you show. That reserve
is exactly the door he would knock on. - The films understood something other thrillers missed. The horror is not the violence.
It is being perfectly understood by the wrong person. - He would be unfailingly polite about all of it. That is the worst part.
Your nemesis is not after money, territory or revenge. He is
after a demonstration, and you are the person he has chosen to prove his point on.
- The Joker only picks opponents who believe in something. Your decency is not a defence
against him. It is the entire reason he showed up. - He has no plan you can predict and nothing you can take away, which removes every tool
you would normally reach for. - His whole argument is that you are one bad day away from being him, and you would spend
the rest of your life proving him wrong. - He would call it a magic trick. You would call it the worst night of your life.
Your nemesis respects you, which sounds flattering until you work
out what it means. He chose you because nobody else was worth his time.
- Moriarty is the original criminal mastermind, the template every later one borrows from:
a mind the equal of the hero’s, pointed the wrong way. - You enjoy being the cleverest person in the room. He is counting on exactly that, and he
has already built the room. - This is the rare nemesis who would be genuinely disappointed if you lost badly. He needs
the game to be worth playing. - It ends the way these things always end. Two people, one problem, and only one way down.
Your nemesis has no personal interest in you whatsoever, and that
is precisely what makes him unsurvivable. You are not a rival. You are a stop on the way.
- Chigurh does not negotiate, gloat or explain. He arrives, he asks one question, and the
answer was decided long before you opened your mouth. - You trust yourself to handle things. He is the one problem in the world that has no
interest in how capable you are. - No Country for Old Men rewrote the screen villain by removing the thing audiences
quietly rely on: the sense that talking might work. - Call it. He will wait.
5
‘The Sopranos’ (1999–2007)
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Image via HBO</figure>
The Sopranos is obviously beloved for the amazing lead performance by the late great James Gandolfini, which is every bit as important to the history of television as Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront was to cinema. Gandolfini’s brilliance in the addictive crime show does not mean that he was the only one holding his weight, as one only needs to watch the ending of Season 4 to see that Edie Falco was able to go head-to-head with him.
Michael Imperioli deserves a tremendous amount of credit for turning Christopher Moltisanti into a tragic, occasionally humorous character who goes through a lot of change as he considers what role he wants to play in Tony’s empire. The Sopranos also had better villains than nearly any other show in history, with Joe Pantoliano‘s role as Ralphie being the nastiest of them all. Gandolfini may be the center of the series, but the strength of Falco, Imperioli, Lorraine Bracco, Dominic Chianese, and the rest of the cast turns Tony’s world into a fully realized ecosystem.
4
‘Breaking Bad’ (2008–2013)
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Image via AMC</figure>
Breaking Bad is another completely essential crime show within the development of television acting because of the genius of Bryan Cranston‘s performance as Walter White. It is easy to forget how shocking it was at the time to see the actor best known for his performance in Malcolm in the Middle being able to transform into a tragic character who slowly becomes a cruel and manipulative villain.
Breaking Bad was nonetheless a true cultural phenomenon because of the strong feelings that people had for every member of the cast, with Aaron Paul‘s breakthrough as Jesse Pinkman being the most significant because of how much the character changes. While Giancarlo Esposito has justifiably been praised as perhaps the best TV villain ever, Jesse Plemons should also be complimented for making Todd into a loathsome psychopath who had absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Cranston and Paul are extraordinary, but the series becomes truly great because the rest of the cast make every corner of its criminal world feel equally compelling.
3
‘The Shield’ (2002–2008)
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Image via FX</figure>
The Shield goes somewhat underrated within the canon of great television shows, but it was highly influential in depicting a realistic version of what modern law enforcement looked like, and was ahead of its time in showing the corruption and abuse within the LAPD. Michael Chiklis is nothing short of brilliant in the role of the despicable sociopath Vic Mackey, which makes it all the more surprising that his other most famous role is playing a lovable version of The Thing in the early Fantastic Four films directed by Tim Story.
The Shield developed a strong ensemble of regulars, many of whom would go on to make other shows with creator Shawn Ryan, but it also became such a great avenue for acting that many A-list stars signed on to do seasonal guest roles, including Glenn Close and Forest Whitaker. The performances surrounding Chiklis are what make the moral compromises and betrayals within the Strike Team hit with such force.
2
‘Mr. Robot’ (2015–2019)
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Image via USA Network</figure>
Mr. Robot was the show that turned Rami Malek into a household name by giving him the fascinating role of Elliot Alderson, a character that required him to go to emotionally and physically transformative places across the course of four seasons. Mr. Robot also offered a comeback role for Christian Slater, a beloved heartthrob of the early ’90s who gives his richest and most unpredictable performance ever as Elliot’s alter ego. The series brought in brilliant guest stars, including Bobby Cannavale as the quirky antagonist Irving, but it also helped to cultivate new stars in Carly Chaikin as Darlene Alderson and Martin Wallstrom as Tyrell Wellick.
The development of these morally ambiguous, yet fascinating characters helped to craft a riveting modern noir that called upon the actors to go to ambitious places in portraying different iterations of their roles within dream and nightmare scenes. The show’s ensemble gives Elliot’s fractured world its depth, with the guest cast constantly challenging and reshaping how audiences understand him.
1
‘Better Call Saul’ (2015–2022)
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Image via AMC</figure>
Better Call Saul is the greatest spinoff show of all time and one that was able to take advantage of the existing cast of Breaking Bad, while also adding in new characters that only made the universe Vince Gilligan created feel richer. Bob Odenkirk was able to turn the comic side character of Breaking Bad into a manipulative mastermind who equaled Cranston’s version of Walter, but it was Rhea Seehorn‘s performance as Kim Wexler that turned Better Call Saul into an even deeper series.
Esposito and Jonathan Banks showed different sides of their Breaking Bad characters through the prequel component, which caught them at more formative moments earlier on in their careers. One of the more unsung members of the cast was Patrick Fabian as Howard Hamlin, a character who is initially seen as an annoyance because of his skepticism about Jimmy until he is proven right. The series reaches another level because the cast members make every storyline feel essential rather than secondary.
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