6 Thriller Shows From the 2010s That Are Perfect From Start to Finish

Published Nov 2, 2026, 5:36 PM EST

Jennie Richardson is a TV Features and Lists Writer for Collider, and a graduate student pursuing an MFA in Fiction Writing. In other words, she really loves stories. 

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The 2010s was an excellent decade for television fans, and it saw the premiere of a number of phenomenal series that have since become classics. Hilarious sitcoms like New Girl, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Schitt's Creek all premiered in the 2010s, as well as emotional and captivating drama series like The Leftovers, Rectify, and This Is Us. The decade also saw the premiere of a number of fantastic thrillers, a select handful of which are absolutely flawless all the way through.

A truly perfect thriller series is difficult to pull off. It needs to have a compelling premise, high physical and emotional stakes, and a central twist driving the series' narrative tension. It also needs nuanced and flawed characters for viewers to follow and root for, even and especially when they make questionable choices. These series maintain a strong quality all the way through, from their beginnings that immediately draw viewers in, to their endings that deliver satisfying payoff and twists that feel earned. These are thriller shows from the 2010s that are perfect from start to finish.

'Dark' (2017–2020)

Image via Netflix

Dark is a German time travel thriller series centered on multiple generations of four interconnected families: the Kahnwalds, the Nielsens, the Dopplers, and the Tiedemanns. In the present day, in 2019, 11-year-old Mikkel Nielsen (Daan Lennard Liebrenz) suddenly and mysteriously goes missing, bringing up memories of another disappearance back in 1986 that is still unsolved: that of then-12-year-old Mads Nielsen (Valentin Oppermann).

All four of the main families have connections to the events surrounding these two disappearances and the subsequent fallout of both, which play out over the course of two timelines that slowly become more entangled with one another through time travel. Dark is a brilliantly written and suspenseful thriller series that sets up a number of compelling mysteries at the start, and then slowly unravels these threads over the course of its three flawless seasons.

'Hannibal' (2013–2015)

Image via NBC

Hannibal is the story of iconic fictional serial killer and cannibal Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) like it's never been told before. The series is centered on Will Graham (Hugh Dancy), a brilliant man who's a natural criminal profiler. Will has the ability to put himself in the shoes of anybody, no matter how twisted, and he uses this skill to catch serial killers for the FBI. Through this job, Will meets forensic psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter and develops an intense connection with him.

Little does Will know, though, Hannibal is actually the notorious serial killer and cannibal known as the Chesapeake Ripper, who has still never been caught. Hannibal is an intense, captivating thriller series that forces viewers to be on the edges of their seats the entire time. Hannibal has extremely high physical stakes due to both Will's cases and Hannibal himself, but most of all, Will and Hannibal's obsessive dynamic is a source of tension and suspense that only builds with each perfect episode.

'Mr. Robot' (2015–2019)

Image via USA Network

Mr. Robot follows Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek), a brilliant cybersecurity engineer who works for a New York City-based company called Allsafe. In his free time, Elliot is a vigilante hacker who uses his skills to get justice against terrible people who would otherwise never get caught. The series kicks off when Elliot is recruited by the mysterious Mr. Robot (Christian Slater) to join a secretive anarchist hacker group called fsociety.

One of the main goals of fsociety is to take down E-Corp, a corrupt and extremely powerful corporation that has control over a number of major industries, and that also happens to work very closely with Allsafe. Mr. Robot is very intense all the way through, as Elliot works hard to navigate his two very conflicting lives without getting exposed. Every season is absolutely fantastic, both for the development of Elliot's character arc, and for the cleverly written twists and turns of the show's main plotline.

Collider Exclusive · Universe Personality Quiz Which Iconic Universe Do You Belong in the Most? Star Wars · Lord of the Rings · Harry Potter · Game of Thrones · Star Trek

Five legendary universes. Five completely different visions of what the world could be — or already was. One of them is the world your instincts, your values, and your particular way of existing were built for. Eight questions will tell you which one.

🚀Star Wars

💍Lord of the Rings

🧙Harry Potter

👑Game of Thrones

🖖Star Trek

FIND YOUR UNIVERSE →

01

What gives your life its deepest sense of meaning? Every universe is built around a different answer to this question.

ABeing part of something larger than myself — a cause, a rebellion, a fight for freedom that outlasts me. BThe journey itself — the places I'll go, the companions beside me, the world I'll discover on the way. CLearning — unlocking what I'm capable of, understanding the world's hidden mechanics, growing into something more. DLegacy — the name I leave behind, the power I build, the mark I make before the world moves on without me. EUnderstanding — exploring what exists beyond the horizon and asking what it means to be alive in a universe this vast.

NEXT QUESTION →

02

Which kind of world do you most want to inhabit? The environment shapes who you become. Choose carefully.

AA galaxy of planets, each with its own culture — connected by conflict, trade, and the Force. BAncient lands of breathtaking beauty, deep history, and a creeping darkness at the edges. CA world hidden inside our own — full of wonder, community, and magic waiting to be learned. DA brutal, beautiful continent where power is everything and every alliance is a calculation. EA future where humanity has reached the stars — and must decide what kind of species it wants to be.

NEXT QUESTION →

03

How do you prefer your conflicts resolved? The shape of a world's conflicts tells you everything about its soul.

AThrough sacrifice and courage — someone has to make the impossible choice so others don't have to. BThrough fellowship — the impossible becomes possible when the right people walk the same road. CThrough growth — confronting what you fear, understanding what you lack, and becoming equal to the challenge. DThrough strategy — outthinking, outmaneuvering, positioning yourself so the outcome was never in doubt. EThrough dialogue — finding the third option, the peaceful resolution, the answer that doesn't require a body count.

NEXT QUESTION →

04

Who do you want beside you when things get difficult? Your ideal companions reveal the world you were made for.

AA small crew — a pilot, a rogue, a warrior — each broken in their own way, unbeatable together. BA fellowship of different kinds of people, bound by purpose and deepened by the long road. CFriends who grew up alongside me — who knew me before I knew myself, and stayed anyway. DAllies whose loyalty I've earned — and tested — and whose ambitions align with mine, for now. EA crew of brilliant, curious, principled people from every corner of known space.

NEXT QUESTION →

05

What is your relationship with power? How you seek, wield, or resist power is the map of who you are.

AI want to use it to protect — and I'm terrified of what I might become if I'm not careful. BI distrust it. The most important power in this story is the courage to give it up. CI want to earn it — through knowledge, through effort, through becoming someone worthy of it. DI want to wield it. Preferably before someone else decides to wield it against me. EI want to understand it — its structures, its limits, its ethical dimensions. Power without accountability is the real threat.

NEXT QUESTION →

06

How does your universe treat good and evil? A world's moral architecture tells you more about it than any map.

AThere is a dark side and a light side — and the choice between them is always present, always personal. BEvil is real and ancient and patient — and goodness, however small, is the only thing that can undo it. CGood and evil are real, but they live inside people — and people are complicated, always capable of both. DGood and evil are mostly a matter of perspective and proximity. Power is the only honest currency. EEvil is usually the result of ignorance, fear, or broken systems — and understanding it is the first step to solving it.

NEXT QUESTION →

07

What role would you naturally fall into? Every universe has archetypes. Which one fits you without trying?

AThe reluctant hero — ordinary origins, extraordinary moment, changed forever by the choice to act. BThe unlikely carrier — the one nobody expected to matter most, quietly bearing the weight of everything. CThe student — not yet who I'll become, learning through every mistake, growing into something the world needs. DThe player — sharp enough to see the game for what it is, ambitious enough to try to win it. EThe explorer — drawn to the unknown, driven by curiosity, most alive when standing somewhere no one has stood before.

NEXT QUESTION →

08

What do you ultimately believe about the future? The answer to this is the clearest window into which universe already lives inside you.

AThat hope is real — that even in the darkest galaxy, a new hope is always possible. CThat even the smallest person can change the course of the future, if they have the courage to try. CThat love and friendship and doing what's right will matter in the end, even when everything says otherwise. DThat the wheel keeps turning — that power shifts, winters end, and what endures is those willing to fight for it. EThat humanity — or whatever we become — is capable of extraordinary things, if we choose to be.

REVEAL MY UNIVERSE →

Your Universe Has Been Chosen You Belong In…

Your answers point to the iconic universe your values, your instincts, and your particular way of seeing the world were built for. This is where you would find your people — and your purpose.

Star Wars

You believe in the cause — in the idea that freedom is worth fighting for even when the odds are impossible and the empire is vast.

• You are drawn to the moral clarity of a universe where hope itself is a form of resistance.
• You'd find your people in the Rebellion — a ragtag coalition of true believers held together by conviction more than resources.
• Star Wars is fundamentally a story about ordinary people choosing to matter in an extraordinary conflict — and that is exactly your kind of story.
• The Force may or may not be with you. But the will to use it for something larger than yourself certainly is.

Lord of the Rings

You understand, in the deepest part of yourself, that the journey matters as much as the destination — and that the world's beauty is worth protecting even at great cost.

• Middle-earth is a world of ancient wonder, deep friendship, and a darkness that only retreats when enough small acts of courage accumulate.
• You would thrive here because you value the fellowship more than the glory — the road more than the arrival.
• Tolkien's universe rewards patience, loyalty, and the willingness to carry something heavy across a very long distance.
• Those are not burdens to you. They are simply how you move through the world.

Harry Potter

You believe that love, loyalty, and doing what's right are not naive sentiments — they are the most powerful forces in any world, magical or otherwise.

• The Wizarding World is a place of wonder hidden in plain sight, where learning is transformative and the bonds you form at school follow you into every battle.
• You would flourish here because you take both the magic and the friendships seriously — and you understand that one without the other is incomplete.
• Harry Potter's universe ultimately rewards those who choose to stand for something even when standing is terrifying.
• That choice — made quietly, without guarantee — is something you understand completely.

Game of Thrones

You see the world clearly — its power structures, its hypocrisies, its brutal arithmetic — and you are not paralysed by that clarity. You use it.

• Westeros is a world that rewards intelligence, adaptability, and the willingness to understand that every alliance is also a negotiation.
• You would survive here — possibly thrive here — because you don't confuse the world as it is with the world as you'd like it to be.
• Game of Thrones is a story about what happens when the idealists and the realists collide. You are sharp enough to know which one lasts longer.
• Winter always comes. You are already prepared.

Star Trek

You believe the future is worth building — that curiosity, cooperation, and the expansion of understanding are not just ideals but the most practical path forward for any civilisation.

• Star Trek is a universe where the questions matter as much as the answers, and where encountering something utterly alien is cause for wonder rather than fear.
• You would belong here because you are fundamentally optimistic about what intelligence and decency can achieve — while being honest about how hard that achievement is.
• The Federation is the universe's most ambitious thought experiment: what if we actually got better?
• You don't just hope that's possible. You think it's the only thing worth working toward.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

'Barry' (2018–2023)

Image via HBO

Barry is a dark comedy thriller series that follows Barry Berkman (Bill Hader), a former U.S. marine who becomes a hitman after being discharged. He was recruited by Monroe Fuches (Stephen Root), an old family friend who now works as his handler. Barry keeps his head down and does the work, using it as an outlet and not thinking too deeply about what he does. When Barry's latest target is an aspiring actor named Ryan Madison (Tyler Jacob Moore) who's based in Los Angeles, though, he goes undercover to join Ryan's acting class and gain his trust.

After working this job, though, Barry finds himself still drawn to this acting class. He continues to attend the class while pretending to be someone he's not, taking lessons from acting teacher Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler), and getting to know his new crush, Sally Reed (Sarah Goldberg). All the while, Fuches pushes Barry to keep up with his job as a hitman, even when doing so gets him involved with the Chechen mob. Barry is both an intense thriller series and a hilarious satire of the entertainment industry, perfectly balancing its more serious storylines with the ridiculousness of Barry's double life.

'How to Get Away With Murder' (2014–2020)

How to Get Away With Murder is a phenomenal dark academia thriller series that follows Annalise Keating (Viola Davis), a criminal defense lawyer and law school professor. Annalise teaches at a prestigious Philadelphia university called Middleton and has her own firm, where she hires a small group of four of her students each semester as interns. At the start of the new school year, Annalise breaks her usual rule to choose five interns: Michaela Pratt (Aja Naomi King), Connor Walsh (Jack Falahee), Laurel Castillo (Karla Souza), Asher Millstone (Matt McGorry), and Wes Gibbins (Alfred Enoch). As Annalise's interns assist her with new clients each episode, the season's present-day storyline revolves around an overarching mystery: the murder of Lila Stangard (Megan West), an undergrad student at Middleton.

All the while, throughout the season, each episode contains flash-forwards to the night Annalise's husband, Sam (Tom Verica), is killed later in the semester. Initially, all that's revealed about this night is that Connor, Michaela, Laurel, and Wes are all working together to cover up Sam's murder and hide his body. Throughout the season, in the present, Annalise's interns try to prove themselves to her while she keeps an eye on the Lila Stangard murder investigation. In the future, the events of the night of Sam's murder slowly unfold until the episode that reveals everything. How to Get Away With Murder is a riveting, deeply compelling, and intense show that keeps viewers guessing with each episode, all the way up until the final moments of its shocking series finale.

Revenge (2011–2015)

Image via ABC

Revenge starts with a flashback to its central tragedy: almost 20 years before the start of the series, a good man named David Clarke (James Tupper) was framed for an act of terrorism for which his boss and neighbor, Conrad Grayson (Henry Czerny), was responsible. At that time, David was having an affair with Conrad's wife, Victoria (Madeline Stowe), who helped Conrad frame him. David was then arrested and sentenced to life in prison, where he died almost ten years later, leaving his young daughter, Amanda, completely alone. In the present day, a now-adult Amanda goes undercover using the name Emily Thorne (Emily VanCamp).

At the start of the series, Emily returns to the Hamptons, where her whole life fell apart, for the first time since the night of her father's arrest. Now, Emily has a detailed plan to enact ruthless and specific revenge on every single one of the many people who contributed to framing her father, with the help of his friend and protegée, Nolan Ross (Gabriel Mann). Her endgame, though, is the seemingly untouchable Grayson family. Revenge is such a fun, suspenseful, and captivating series. Every episode, Emily moves her plan forward, cleverly getting revenge on her various targets in vicious and justified ways. The Graysons are not easy people to take down, though, and to get close to them, she has to romance Conrad and Victoria's unknowing son, Daniel (Josh Bowman).