Best shows to watch like Ozark 

You've made it to the last stretch, Ozark lovers. You've most likely binge-watched the first seven episodes of Season 4, soaking up all of the drama and action surrounding the Byrdes and their final Midwestern machinations. While we're all excited to see how Season 4, Part 2 finishes up the story, the fact remains that we are still waiting.

Of course, there's a lot of television to watch. Even if you've seen everything in Ozark, there are plenty of other alternatives. Are you a fan of Jason Bateman? You're taken care of. Are you a thriller fan? There are many options. Want a drama surrounding the drug trade? No problem at all.

The good news is that while Ozark is excellent at what it does, it isn't breaking new ground. There are plenty of other shows with huge stakes that will make you want to binge-watch episodes without wasting a minute.

So, as we await the return of our favorite series, here are four similar shows that might become your new obsession.

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Best shows like Ozark you shouldn't miss

1) Breaking Bad

Ozark is like playing with GoBots instead of Transformers if you haven't seen Breaking Bad. The series wouldn't exist if it weren't for AMC's iconic criminal drama, which is widely regarded as one of the top ten television shows of all time.

The parallels aren't a coincidence; Bryan Cranston portrays a man forced into the criminal underworld (manufacturing and selling meth) due to severe circumstances (he has terminal cancer and needs to provide for his family), which served as the inspiration for Ozark.

Breaking Bad, however, outperforms Ozark in terms of writing, direction, and acting, nailing the high-wire intensity that many subsequent shows have attempted to imitate. Breaking Bad has it all- cartels, money laundering, a tense family- and it's even better.

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2) Sneaky Pete

Sneaky Pete is an undervalued crime thriller from Amazon, following a man on the run from a crime lord who tries to act normal to appear non-suspicious. Does this ring a bell? Giovanni Ribisi plays an ex-con who, after being freed from jail, takes over the identity of his cellmate in order to flee his own turbulent history. He reunites with his cellmate's long-lost family and must pretend to be him while saving himself from goons, further complicating matters.

It traps Ribisi's character in an ever-tightening noose that he somehow manages to escape, much like Marty Byrde. In case you need any more convincing, Bryan Cranston and Margo Martindale feature in this show as well.

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3) The Outsider

Jason Bateman demonstrated significant theatrical abilities both in front of and behind the camera as an actor and director in Ozark.

Bateman starred in and directed this one-season HBO series in which he plays a Little League coach suspected of murdering a young boy. The Outsider rapidly introduces supernatural elements to its tale, given that the film is based on a Stephen King novel, but the moodiness, occasional blue tinge, and Bateman's superb performance are exactly what you have been looking for.

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4) Narcos

If you want to watch vicious, ruthless cartels in action, you will love Narcos on Netflix. The DEA's takedown of Pablo Escobar, the iconic Medelln cartel leader and the world's biggest coke dealer, was the subject of the first season of the original Narcos, which premiered in 2015.

Narcos: Mexico then chronicles the drug trade in Mexico and the Guadalajara cartel in 1980s. The criminal world in the show offers plenty of excitement and devious backstabbing.