What do you want to watch tonight?
Each title says who it's good for, and who it isn't. Tap what you want tonight, or say no to one and why.
Closest to Castle first

Bones 2005
Series
Dr. Temperance Brennan and her colleagues at the Jeffersonian's Medico-Legal Lab assist Special Agent Seeley Booth with murder investigations when the remains are so badly decomposed, burned or destroyed that the standard identification methods are useless.
The sides of Bones
- A forensic anthropologist who reads skeletons
- An FBI agent who trusts his gut
- A lab full of scientists solving murders
Good for you if
- you like a murder solved from bones, insects and a chipped tooth.
- you like the sparks between Booth, the FBI agent, and Brennan, the scientist.
- you like the whole Jeffersonian team arguing over the remains.
Bad for you if
- you can't commit to twelve seasons.
- you can't stand close-ups of rotting and burned bodies.
About: science · partnership · love

The Mentalist 2008
Series
Patrick Jane, a former celebrity psychic medium, uses his razor sharp skills of observation and expertise at "reading" people to solve serious crimes with the California Bureau of Investigation.
The sides of The Mentalist
- A fake psychic working with the police
- A serial killer called Red John
- Cases solved by reading people
Good for you if
- you like a weekly case cracked by watching how suspects lie.
- you like Simon Baker's charm as Patrick Jane, smiling while he grieves.
- you want a long hunt for Red John, the killer who took Jane's family.
Bad for you if
- seven seasons of cases is too much for you.
- you want shootouts and chases more than conversations in a room.
About: grief · revenge · deception
Elementary 2012
Series
A modern-day drama about a crime-solving duo that cracks the NYPD's most impossible cases. Following his fall from grace in London and a stint in rehab, eccentric Sherlock escapes to Manhattan where his wealthy father forces him to live with his worst nightmare - a sober companion, Dr. Watson.
The sides of Elementary
- Sherlock Holmes fresh out of rehab in New York
- A sober companion named Joan Watson
- A Brooklyn brownstone full of beehives and locks
Good for you if
- you like a new NYPD case cracked every week.
- you like Sherlock and Joan slowly becoming partners.
- you like a detective fighting to stay sober.
Bad for you if
- seven seasons is too much for you.
- you want chases more than deductions.
About: addiction · friendship · recovery
Mare of Easttown 2021
Series
A detective in a small Pennsylvania town investigates a local murder while trying to keep her life from falling apart.
The sides of Mare of Easttown
- A detective in a small Pennsylvania town
- A teenage mother found dead
- A grandmother raising her late son's child
Good for you if
- you like a small-town murder where every neighbour could be hiding something.
- you like Kate Winslet as a tired, stubborn local cop.
- you like a crime story that cares as much about Mare's family as the case.
Bad for you if
- you can't take grief, addiction and a son's suicide on screen.
- you need chases and shootouts more than slow detective work.
About: grief · small towns · motherhood · guilt
Lucifer 2016
Series
Bored and unhappy as the Lord of Hell, Lucifer Morningstar abandoned his throne and retired to Los Angeles, where he has teamed up with LAPD detective Chloe Decker to take down criminals. But the longer he's away from the underworld, the greater the threat that the worst of humanity could escape.
The sides of Lucifer
- The devil on holiday in Los Angeles
- A detective he can't charm
- A case every episode
Good for you if
- you like a cocky lead who says exactly what he thinks.
- you want an easy crime show with a case each week.
- you like a slow-burning will-they-won't-they.
Bad for you if
- you want something dark and edgy. This one stays light.
- six seasons and over ninety episodes is too much for you.
About: redemption · free will · love
NCIS 2003
Series
From murder and espionage to terrorism and stolen submarines, a team of special agents investigates any crime that has any connection to Navy and Marine Corps personnel, regardless of rank or position.
The sides of NCIS
- Navy crime investigators
- Gibbs and his rules
- A lab, a morgue and a team that jokes
Good for you if
- you like a crime show with jokes, where a goth lab expert and a chatty medical examiner lighten every case.
- you like murders and spy cases tied to the Navy.
- you like the team around Gibbs teasing each other like family.
Bad for you if
- over twenty seasons is too much for you.
- you want a case that takes a whole season to solve.
About: duty · loyalty · justice

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit 1999
Series
In the criminal justice system, sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.
The sides of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
- A New York squad for sex crimes
- Detective Olivia Benson
- Cases that end in court
Good for you if
- you like a case a week, from the interrogation room to the courtroom.
- you like Mariska Hargitay as Olivia Benson, there for every victim.
Bad for you if
- you can't take on twenty-eight seasons.
- you can't watch stories of sexual assault and abuse, even told with care.
About: justice · victims · trauma

CSI: Miami 2002
Series
The show follows Crime Scene Investigators working for the Miami-Dade Police Department as they use physical evidence, similar to their Las Vegas counterparts, to solve grisly murders. The series mixes deduction, gritty subject matter, and character-driven drama in the same vein as the original series in the CSI franchise, except that the Miami CSIs are cops first, scientists second.
The sides of CSI: Miami
- Crime scene investigators in Miami
- Horatio Caine and his sunglasses
- A new murder solved each episode
Good for you if
- you like a case opened and closed in one episode.
- you like a familiar team in the Miami sun, week after week.
Bad for you if
- ten seasons is too much for you.
- you need lab results that take longer than one scene.
About: justice · forensics · Miami
iZombie 2015
Series
A medical student who becomes a zombie joins a Coroner's Office in order to gain access to the brains she must reluctantly eat so that she can maintain her humanity. But every brain she eats, she also inherits their memories and must now solve their deaths with help from the Medical examiner and a police detective.
The sides of iZombie
- A zombie working at a Seattle morgue
- Brains that hand over their memories
- A murder solved every episode
Good for you if
- you like a murder of the week solved through the victim's memories.
- you like Liv picking up a new personality with every brain she eats.
- you like Liv, Ravi and Clive working cases together.
Bad for you if
- your stomach turns at brain eating, even cooked.
- you want a zombie story that actually scares you.
About: identity · death · second chances
Zodiac 2007
Film
In 1970s San Francisco, a cartoonist, a reporter and two police inspectors spend years trying to identify the Zodiac killer, who taunts them with letters and codes.
The sides of Zodiac
- An obsession that eats years of a life
- Real investigation work, step by step
- 1970s San Francisco
- A case that won't close
Good for you if
- you like a cartoonist, a reporter and a detective trying to crack a killer's coded letters.
- you like a long investigation more than a quick chase.
- you can live with questions that never get a full answer.
Bad for you if
- you want chases and shootouts. This one is mostly phone calls and archives.
- two hours and forty minutes is too long for your evening.
About: obsession · the truth · time · journalism
Sherlock 2010
Series
A modern update finds the famous sleuth and his doctor partner solving crime in 21st century London.
The sides of Sherlock
- Sherlock Holmes in modern London
- An army doctor back from Afghanistan
- A consulting criminal named Moriarty
Good for you if
- you like watching a genius solve a case from a stranger's shoes.
- you like fast, sharp talk with the deductions written on screen.
- you like a prickly friendship between Sherlock and John Watson.
Bad for you if
- you need every deduction to be something a real detective could make.
- you can't keep up when Sherlock reels off deductions faster than you can read them.
About: friendship · genius · loneliness · obsession
Only Murders in the Building 2021
Series
Three strangers share an obsession with true crime and suddenly find themselves wrapped up in one.
The sides of Only Murders in the Building
- Three neighbors who love true crime podcasts
- A murder in their New York building
- A podcast they record about the case
Good for you if
- you like a whodunit with a new murder to solve each season.
- you like Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez trading jokes.
- you want a murder story that stays cozy.
Bad for you if
- you want suspense that keeps you on the edge of your seat.
- you want chases and fights, not three neighbors with a podcast mic.
About: friendship · loneliness · true crime
Prisoners 2013
Film
When his young daughter and her friend disappear on Thanksgiving, a father takes the law into his own hands while a detective works the case.
The sides of Prisoners
- A detective who won't let go
- How far a father will go
- A case built like a maze
- Rain, cold, and grey light
Good for you if
- you like being tense for two and a half hours straight.
- you like collecting clues and trying to get ahead of the detective.
- you like watching an actor go somewhere raw. Hugh Jackman does.
Bad for you if
- a child in danger is too much for you.
- two and a half hours is too long for your evening.
About: faith · revenge · guilt · fatherhood
Criminal Minds 2005
Series
An elite team of FBI profilers analyze the country's most twisted criminal minds, anticipating their next moves before they strike again. The Behavioral Analysis Unit's most experienced agent is David Rossi, a founding member of the BAU who returns to help the team solve new cases.
The sides of Criminal Minds
- An FBI team of profilers
- Serial killers tracked by how they think
- A jet that takes them to each case
Good for you if
- you like working out who the killer is from how he thinks.
- you like racing with the team to stop the next victim.
- you like the BAU as a family, from Reid to Garcia.
Bad for you if
- you can't take on nineteen seasons.
- you can't stand serial killers and what they do to their victims.
About: evil · profiling · teamwork
The Rookie 2018
Series
Starting over isn't easy, especially for small-town guy John Nolan who, after a life-altering incident, is pursuing his dream of being an LAPD officer. As the force's oldest rookie, he's met with skepticism from some higher-ups who see him as just a walking midlife crisis.
The sides of The Rookie
- The oldest rookie in the LAPD
- Training officers who doubt him
- Calls across Los Angeles
Good for you if
- you like car chases and patrol calls that go wrong in every episode.
- you like following a whole precinct of rookies and their training officers.
- you like a small-town man in midlife starting over as the LAPD's oldest rookie.
Bad for you if
- nine seasons is too much for you.
- you roll your eyes at heartfelt talks between partners after every case.
About: second chances · duty · age
Twin Peaks 1990
Series
The body of Laura Palmer is washed up on a beach near the small Washington state town of Twin Peaks. FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper is called in to investigate her strange demise only to uncover a web of mystery that ultimately leads him deep into the heart of the surrounding woodland and his very own soul.
The sides of Twin Peaks
- A murdered homecoming queen wrapped in plastic
- An FBI agent who loves coffee and cherry pie
- A red room with curtains and a dancing man
Good for you if
- you like David Lynch's dreams, giants and backward talk.
- you want to know who killed Laura Palmer.
- you like a story that leaves its secrets in the woods.
Bad for you if
- you need an investigation that follows clues and logic.
- you find early-90s TV dated.
- you can't take a teenager's murder, drugs and domestic violence in one small town.
About: secrets · small towns · good and evil
Sex and the City 1998
Series
Based on the bestselling book by Candace Bushnell, Sex and the City tells the story of four best friends, all single and in their late thirties, as they pursue their careers and talk about their sex lives, all while trying to survive the New York social scene.
The sides of Sex and the City
- Four single women in Manhattan
- A columnist writing about sex and dating
- Brunches where they tell each other everything
Good for you if
- you like four friends who stay each other's real love story.
- you like Carrie and Mr. Big, on and off for years.
- you like frank, funny talk about sex over brunch.
Bad for you if
- you'd rather avoid sex scenes and explicit talk.
- you want things to happen, not dates and conversations.
About: friendship · love · independence
Knives Out 2019
Film
When a rich crime novelist is found dead the morning after his 85th birthday party, a private detective questions his whole greedy family.
The sides of Knives Out
- A classic whodunit, with a house full of suspects
- A rich family at each other's throats
- Murder played for fun
Good for you if
- you like guessing who did it, and being wrong.
- you want a murder mystery that's funny too.
- you like a big cast of suspects, each worse than the last.
Bad for you if
- you want to be scared. This is more of a game than a nightmare.
- you're in the mood for something dark and serious.
About: inheritance · family · class · lies
The Wire 2002
Series
Told from the points of view of both the Baltimore homicide and narcotics detectives and their targets, the series captures a universe in which the national war on drugs has become a permanent, self-sustaining bureaucracy, and distinctions between good and evil are routinely obliterated.
The sides of The Wire
- Baltimore cops wiretapping a drug crew
- The docks, the schools, City Hall and the newspaper
- Dealers and detectives seen from both sides
Good for you if
- you like seeing how police, politics and schools keep a city stuck.
- you like a case built patiently over a whole season.
- you want people like Omar, Stringer Bell and McNulty to stay with you.
Bad for you if
- you lose track with dozens of characters on both sides.
- you need some hope. Baltimore rarely changes here.
About: institutions · the drug war · loyalty
Desperate Housewives 2004
Series
Looking down on her friends and family isn't a way of life for Mary Alice Young... it's a way of death. One day, in her perfect house, in the loveliest of suburbs, Mary Alice ended it all. Now she's taking us into the lives of her family, friends and neighbors, commenting from her elevated P.O.V.
The sides of Desperate Housewives
- A dead neighbor narrating the street
- Four housewives on Wisteria Lane
- A secret buried in every house
Good for you if
- you like a suicide on a perfect street turning into a season-long mystery.
- you like suburban scandal played half for laughs.
- you like four women who keep each other's secrets over coffee.
Bad for you if
- eight seasons is too much for you.
- you lose track when four households each have their own drama.
About: suburbia · secrets · marriage · friendship