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There’s just something sexy about criminals. Maybe it’s because they break the rules and do what they want, or maybe it’s because they are so brazenly bad. Either way, killers, thieves, and gangsters have a way of winning us over even when we should be rooting for them to fail.
There’s been a recent string of crime dramas that take this concept to the next level; The criminals have insane chemistry with the cops on their tail. We can’t tell if the brilliant detectives on these cases want to solve the crime so they can put the bad guys behind bars, or get those criminals into bed.
Here are 10 fantastic cop/criminal relationships on streaming that have us wondering if we’re watching a detective drama or a sexy romance.
Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) & Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins)
Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster redefined what onscreen chemistry could be in The Silence of the Lambs. Does Lecter want to eat Starling or kiss her? Does she want him to kiss her? Is he a father figure? Is he a monster? Is she more than a rube? I don’t know! I think the answer is “yes” to all of them! [Watch The Silence of the Lambs]
John Luther (Idris Elba) & Alice Morgan (Ruth Wilson)
Luther is ostensibly a showcase for Idris Elba’s incredible acting skills and palpable star quality, but the most thrilling part of the series is watching him go toe-to-toe with the beguiling sociopathic serial killer Alice Morgan. Ruth Wilson can make an everyday turn of phrase feel like a psychological turn of the screw, and a threat sound like a come on. [Watch Luther]
Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) & Moriarty (Andrew Scott)
There is perhaps no more famous rivalry in crime fiction than the one between the great Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Moriarty. When writers Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss reimagined their relationship for the 21st century, they added a heaping dose of sexual subtext. Sure, the two men are intellectually obsessed with each other as rivals, but their interactions sparkle with the same kind of heat as an epic flirtation. [Watch Sherlock]
Stella Gibson (Gillian Anderson) & Paul Spector (Jamie Dornan)
Netflix’s Northern Irish crime drama, The Fall, introduced a detective and a killer with a new kind of chemistry. Stella Gibson spends two seasons in pursuit of serial killer Paul Spector, and every beat of the case is laced with an intoxicating combination of sex and death. Of course, the two characters never meet until the end of the second season, but even without being on screen together, Dornan and Anderson are connected. They possess a psychological push and pull over one another. [Watch The Fall]
Karen Sisco (Jennifer Lopez) & Jack Foley (George Clooney)
Sure, it’s sexy that Karen Sisco and Jack Foley are stuck in a car trunk together, and that they fall in lust with each other, and that Jennifer Lopez gives us one of the most memorable strip teases in film history. But what makes Karen and Jack’s chemistry so incendiary is that the two are being played by two of the hottest stars in Hollywood history: Jennifer Lopez and George Clooney. [Watch Out Of Sight]
Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) & Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen)
Yes, Hannibal Lecter is on this list twice. As much as we adore his complex relationship with Clarice Starling, we are also intoxicated by the interplay between Lecter and Will Graham on Hannibal. The two are best friends and arch rivals. They share a deep psychological bond and Lecter keeps sniffing Will Graham. It’s like, come on, kiss already. [Watch Hannibal]
Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe) & Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman)
Les Miserables is not about Anne Hathaway crying, nor is it about how hot all those young French revolutionaries were. It’s about a police officer who is obsessed with catching a random petty criminal. I mean, Javert is obsessed. He’s so obsessed, that you half expect one of Jean Valjean’s solos to contain the line, “Why are you so obsessed with me?” [Watch Les Miserables]
Catherine Banning (Rene Russo) & Thomas Crown (Pierce Brosnan)
He’s a rich guy who likes to steal paintings and she’s an investigator sent to catch him. Naturally, they fall in love, have tons of hot sex, and Rene Russo takes her top off. It’s a good time for everyone! [Watch The Thomas Crown Affair]
Grace Burgess (Annabelle Wallis) & Thomas Shelby (Cillian Murphy)
Peaky Blinders doesn’t really divide its characters into categories like “good guys” and “bad guys,” but Grace is theoretically working on the side of “good.” The comely Irish spy weasels her way into gangster Thomas Shelby’s heart and soon finds that maybe she doesn’t want to work for a vindictive cop after all. Of course, that doesn’t change the fact that she’s tricked and betrayed Thomas. It also doesn’t change the fact that they totally want to bone. [Watch Peaky Blinders]
Dr. Madolyn Madden (Vera Farmiga) & Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) & Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon)/
Martin Scorcese’s The Departed gave us one of the more complicated criminal/cop romances in film and TV history. So, Madolyn Madden is a court psychologist who starts dating Colin Sullivan, whom she thinks is a cop, but is actually a spy for the mob. Then, she starts treating Billy Costigan as a part of his probation, but he’s actually an undercover cop. They’re all cops who are criminals and criminals who are cops, and no, it doesn’t have a happy ending. [Watch The Departed]
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