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| 20 Shows Like Netflix’s ‘Legends’ That Will Completely Mess With Your Trust Issues. (Credits: Netflix) |
Netflix’s ‘Legends’ has quietly turned into one of those crime thrillers viewers cannot stop recommending with the energy of someone forcing friends to watch “just one more episode” at 2am. The series mixes undercover operations, identity crises, smuggling investigations, and enough paranoia to make every handshake look suspicious. What really pulled audiences in, though, was the fact that these customs officers were not polished super spies with perfect hair and impossible gadgets.
They were ordinary people thrown into deeply dangerous situations and somehow expected to survive through nerve, improvisation, and pure stubbornness. Naturally, once the credits roll, viewers immediately start searching for another series capable of delivering the same mix of tension, emotional burnout, and criminals behaving like they skipped therapy for several decades straight.
If ‘Legends’ left you craving more stories about infiltration, covert missions, corrupt systems, and people slowly questioning every life decision they have ever made, these shows absolutely deserve a spot on your watchlist.
20 Shows Like Legends
1. Taskaree: The Smuggler’s Web (2026-)
Among newer crime thrillers, ‘Taskaree: The Smuggler’s Web’ feels spiritually closest to ‘Legends.’ Set around Mumbai’s international airport, the Netflix series follows suspended customs officer Arjun Meena, played by Emraan Hashmi, as he returns to tackle a global smuggling operation.
Instead of glamorous espionage fantasy, the show leans heavily into exhausted officers, internal corruption, political pressure, and criminals who somehow keep surviving every raid like they possess supernatural timing. Fans of ‘Legends’ will immediately recognise the same atmosphere of ordinary officials carrying absurdly dangerous responsibilities while barely receiving enough support to buy coffee.
2. Undercover (2019-2022)
Netflix’s Belgian-Dutch thriller ‘Undercover’ is one of the strongest recommendations for anyone obsessed with covert identities. Inspired by real operations, the series follows agents Bob Lemmens and Kim De Rooij as they pose as a couple to infiltrate drug lord Ferry Bouman’s inner circle.
The brilliance of the series lies in how uncomfortable everything feels. Nobody looks cool for very long. Lies become exhausting, emotional boundaries collapse, and one wrong conversation can destroy years of work. It is basically what happens when undercover work stops pretending to be stylish and starts looking emotionally catastrophic.
3. The Asset (2025-)
The Danish Netflix drama ‘The Asset’, also known as ‘Legenden’, delivers another grim exploration of deep-cover work. Clara Dessau plays Tea Lind, a police cadet recruited into an undercover mission targeting a criminal network. As expected, things spiral quickly. What starts as strategic infiltration slowly turns into emotional entanglement, divided loyalties, and mounting psychological pressure. Fans online have especially praised how the series avoids simplistic morality and instead focuses on how easily undercover officers can lose themselves while trying to survive inside criminal environments.
4. The Night Manager (2016-)
If ‘Legends’ made you enjoy watching deeply stressed people pretend they are in control, ‘The Night Manager’ deserves immediate attention. Based on John le Carré’s novel, the BBC thriller stars Tom Hiddleston as former soldier Jonathan Pine, who infiltrates the world of arms dealer Richard Roper, played with unsettling charm by Hugh Laurie.
The series balances elegance with dread brilliantly. One moment you are admiring luxury hotels and expensive dinners, and the next everyone suddenly looks capable of ruining your life over a single sentence.
5. The Bureau (2015-2020)
French espionage thriller ‘The Bureau’ is often called one of the smartest undercover dramas ever made, and honestly, the reputation is deserved. Mathieu Kassovitz stars as intelligence officer Guillaume Debailly, who struggles to reconnect with normal life after years undercover.
Unlike louder action-heavy thrillers, this series quietly destroys your nerves through psychological tension and emotional isolation. It is less “explosions every five minutes” and more “watching someone forget who they really are over six seasons.”
6. ZeroZeroZero (2019-2020)
For viewers fascinated by the global mechanics behind trafficking operations in ‘Legends,’ ‘ZeroZeroZero’ is essential viewing. The series follows a massive cocaine shipment travelling between Mexico, Italy, Morocco, and the United States while criminal organisations and power struggles collide. The scale is enormous, yet the show never loses sight of the human cost underneath the violence and greed. Also, fair warning: after watching this series, every shipping container at a port suddenly starts looking suspicious.
7. Cocaine Coast (2018)
Spanish crime drama ‘Cocaine Coast’ or ‘Fariña’ explores how economic hardship transformed parts of Galicia into smuggling hubs during the 1980s. The rise of Sito Miñanco from fisherman to trafficking figure mirrors the morally grey atmosphere that made ‘Legends’ so gripping. Rather than presenting crime as glamorous fantasy, the series shows how desperation, ambition, and opportunity quietly pull ordinary people into dangerous worlds.
8. Informer (2018)
BBC thriller ‘Informer’ remains one of the most underrated British dramas in recent years. Nabhaan Rizwan plays Raza Shar, a young man pressured into becoming an informant after encountering counterterrorism officers.
What follows is a tense balancing act between family expectations, state surveillance, and personal survival. Much like ‘Legends,’ the show thrives on discomfort and emotional conflict rather than nonstop action sequences.
9. Line of Duty (2012-)
Few British crime dramas have built as loyal a fanbase as ‘Line of Duty.’ The BBC series follows anti-corruption unit AC-12 as they investigate police misconduct and organised crime connections.
The interrogation scenes alone deserve awards for raising blood pressure nationwide. Martin Compston, Vicky McClure, and Adrian Dunbar turned phrases like “bent coppers” into pop culture history, while viewers collectively learned to trust absolutely nobody by the end of each season.
10. The Shadow Line (2011)
Created by Hugo Blick, ‘The Shadow Line’ blurs the boundary between law enforcement and organised crime through overlapping investigations surrounding murdered drug lord Harvey Wratten. The series feels haunting, morally complicated, and strangely hypnotic. Like ‘Legends,’ it constantly reminds viewers that institutions meant to uphold order are often operating inside chaos themselves.
11. Fauda (2015-)
Israeli thriller ‘Fauda’ throws viewers directly into the psychological and operational realities of undercover counterterrorism work. Lior Raz delivers a deeply raw performance as Doron Kavillio, whose missions repeatedly destroy any illusion of emotional stability.
The show’s biggest strength is its refusal to simplify anyone involved. Every operation comes with consequences, and nearly everyone looks emotionally exhausted by episode three.
12. Special Ops (2020-2025)
Indian espionage thriller ‘Special Ops’ follows intelligence officer Himmat Singh, played brilliantly by Kay Kay Menon, as he hunts a mastermind linked to multiple attacks. Packed with covert missions and global investigations, the series balances scale with strong character work.
Fans especially love how the team dynamic feels believable rather than overly polished. Nobody here acts like a superhero. Most characters look like they survive entirely through caffeine and stress.
13. Bodyguard (2018)
Before becoming everyone’s favourite suspiciously handsome politician in every thriller imaginable, Richard Madden starred in BBC hit ‘Bodyguard.’ The series follows war veteran David Budd, assigned to protect a controversial Home Secretary while battling his own trauma. Political conspiracies, surveillance paranoia, and emotional instability collide beautifully here. Also, viewers spent half the season convinced literally every character was secretly plotting something.
14. McMafia (2018-)
Inspired by global organised crime networks, ‘McMafia’ follows banker Alex Godman, who becomes entangled in international criminal systems despite desperately wanting a clean life. Naturally, things go very badly very quickly. The series captures the same global scope and quiet menace that made ‘Legends’ compelling.
15. Narcos (2015-2017)
It would honestly feel illegal to discuss infiltration dramas without mentioning ‘Narcos.’ While the series focuses heavily on cartel history and law enforcement operations surrounding Pablo Escobar, its exploration of undercover work, corruption, and blurred morality remains gripping years later. Also, few shows have ever convinced viewers so effectively that answering unknown phone calls is a terrible life choice.
16. Giri/Haji (2019)
BBC’s ‘Giri/Haji’ combines British crime noir with Japanese family drama in a surprisingly emotional way. Detective Kenzo Mori travels to London searching for his supposedly dead brother tied to Yakuza conflicts. Stylish yet deeply human, the series quietly became a cult favourite among crime thriller fans.
17. Slow Horses (2022-)
If ‘Legends’ showed intelligence work as psychologically draining, ‘Slow Horses’ asks what happens when dysfunctional agents are forced to keep working anyway. Led by a magnificently grumpy Gary Oldman, the Apple TV+ series balances espionage tension with sharp dark humour. Think failed spies, ruined careers, terrible hygiene, and surprisingly brilliant investigations.
18. Top Boy (2011-2023)
While not an undercover drama, ‘Top Boy’ captures the social and criminal realities surrounding drug networks with startling authenticity. The series examines ambition, survival, and systemic failure in East London without reducing characters to stereotypes. It is gritty, emotionally devastating, and frequently difficult to stop watching.
19. The Americans (2013-2018)
One of television’s greatest undercover dramas, ‘The Americans’ follows two Soviet spies posing as an ordinary suburban couple in Cold War America.
Watching them juggle parenting and espionage simultaneously somehow becomes one of the most stressful experiences imaginable. Family dinners have rarely felt this threatening.
20. Ozark (2017-2022)
Although focused more on money laundering than infiltration, ‘Ozark’ shares the same suffocating atmosphere of constant danger and impossible choices. Jason Bateman and Laura Linney play a couple dragged deeper into criminal systems they can never fully escape. By season four, even normal conversations about family holidays somehow feel like hostage negotiations.
Online reactions to shows like these have exploded since ‘Legends’ landed on Netflix. Some viewers are diving headfirst into classic undercover thrillers, while others are discovering just how emotionally bleak this genre can become once the glamour disappears.
A lot of fans have joked that these series collectively prove one thing above all else: absolutely nobody in television should ever agree to go undercover because it always ends with emotional collapse, identity confusion, or somebody staring dramatically out of a rainy window questioning every life choice they ever made.
Still, that tension is exactly why audiences keep returning to stories like ‘Legends.’ Beneath the covert missions and dangerous operations are deeply human questions about loyalty, survival, morality, and identity. Plus, there is something strangely addictive about watching characters maintain fake personalities for so long they barely recognise themselves anymore.
So if you have already finished ‘Legends’ and now feel emotionally abandoned by Netflix, these 20 series should keep your trust issues thriving nicely. Which one are you watching first?