Forget 'Law & Order: SVU', This 105-Episode Police Procedural Is Officially Your Next Netflix Binge

Published Sep 14, 2026, 1:57 PM EDT

Amanda M. Castro is a Network TV writer at Collider and a New York–based journalist whose work has appeared in Newsweek, where she is an Associate Editor, and The U.S. Sun, where she previously served as a Senior Consumer Reporter.

She specializes in network television coverage, delivering sharp, thoughtful analysis of long-running procedural hits and ambitious new dramas across broadcast TV. At Collider, Amanda explores character arcs, storytelling trends, and the cultural impact of network series that keep audiences tuning in week after week.

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Amanda is bilingual and holds a degree in Communication, Film, and Media Studies from the University of New Haven.

If you’ve ever spent time browsing Netflix for something to watch that’s both familiar and exciting, Major Crimes showing up will be good news for you. Major Crimes is a police series that aired on TNT for six seasons between 2012 and 2018 and is now available on Netflix for binge-watching, with all 105 episodes.

It's also a good option for fans who have already watched all episodes of Law & Order: SVU and want something similar in terms of investigation, but with a bigger emphasis on storytelling.

What Is ‘Major Crimes’ About?

Image via TNT

Major Crimes begins after the exit of Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick) from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Major Crimes Division. Captain Sharon Raydor (Mary McDonnell) takes over the mantle of leadership and faces an uphill battle because the detectives she leads don't trust her.

Raydor has spent time in the Internal Affairs unit, and the detectives she now leads have plenty of reasons to remain skeptical of her work. Then there is Lieutenant Louie Provenza (G.W. Bailey), who is an experienced detective but has no interest in listening to anyone who has worked in IA, meaning the position Raydor holds currently.

Major Crimes has a special advantage compared to other procedural dramas. The cases matter, but so does the squad's evolving dynamic. Raydor isn’t instantly accepted as the boss, and the team doesn’t suddenly become a perfectly harmonious found family. They argue, annoy one another, and occasionally make terrible decisions. In other words, though, they actually feel like coworkers.

‘Major Crimes’ Is More Than Just Another Murder-of-the-Week Show

The show addresses issues of gang violence, hate crimes, shootings, socioeconomic disparity, and problems of race and gender without pretending that a 43-minute episode can provide a perfect solution to the aforementioned problems. For example, in one of the plots, the murder of a transgender teenager challenges the detectives to work through the complicated relationships of her family members. In another plot, the mystery of a shooting goes through several episodes of investigation and is related to the solvable shooting of a police officer that had taken place several years before.

The show also offers a refreshing take on how police work is supposed to function. Major Crimes doesn’t constantly turn its detectives into action heroes because, among other things, getting a confession isn’t enough if the rest of the case falls apart in court. When Detective Julio Sanchez (Raymond Cruz) loses control and crosses a line, his colleagues don’t celebrate his righteous anger; they make him answer for it.

The biggest reason to stick with Major Crimes, however, is McDonnell. Raydor could have easily become the stereotypical tough female police chief: cold, intimidating, and perpetually surrounded by men who underestimate her. Raydor is competent without being infallible, guarded without being emotionless, and deeply invested in her work without letting it consume her identity. Her relationship with the detectives develops slowly, which makes it far more satisfying when the squad eventually begins to respect her. Her personal life also becomes increasingly important, particularly her relationship with Rusty Beck (Graham Patrick Martin), a troubled teenager who becomes her foster son and eventually her adopted son.

Why ‘Major Crimes’ Is Worth Binge-Watching on Netflix

Plenty of police procedurals exist on television, which is why Major Crimes could have disappeared into the enormous pile of competent but forgettable crime dramas. The series succeeds because it understands that the murder is only the beginning, and that the real hook is watching a group of flawed, occasionally difficult people figure out how to work together as cases grow increasingly complicated.

At 105 episodes, there’s enough Major Crimes to settle into. This isn’t a show you’ll finish over one particularly irresponsible weekend because it's one you can watch for weeks, dip in and out of, and eventually find yourself genuinely invested in the detectives you’ve been following.

Major Crimes makes a good alternative to Law & Order: SVU, as both know the appeal of a complicated case, but the former puts more emphasis on the people standing around the evidence board. The crimes keep changing, the characters keep growing, and once you get attached to the team, solving the case becomes only half the reason to keep watching.

If you’ve already exhausted SVU and want another long-running crime procedural with enough character drama to keep the murders from becoming repetitive, Major Crimes is an easy recommendation. Netflix just gave this underappreciated TNT series its second life. You might as well see what all 105 episodes have been waiting for.

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  G.W. Bailey

  Lt. Louie Provenza

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  Mary McDonnell

  Captain Sharon Raydor

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  Tony Denison

  Lt. Andy Flynn

• Michael Paul Chan

  Lt. Mike Tao