10 Shows to Watch if You Loved Breaking Bad (Streaming in the UAE)

If you’ve finished Breaking Bad and you’re not ready to leave morally messy crime stories behind, there’s good news: plenty of shows hit the same sweet spot of tension, character drama and slow-burn crime storytelling. All the picks below are officially available on streaming platforms in the UAE across Netflix, OSN+ and Disney+.

If you still need to catch up on Walt and Jesse, start with our guide to where to watch Breaking Badin the UAE. For more ideas in general, keep our What to Watch This Week UAE, New on Netflix UAE, New on OSN+ UAE and New on Disney+ UAE hubs open in another tab.

1. Better Call Saul – Netflix

If you somehow skipped it, this is the first stop after Breaking Bad. Better Call Saul follows small-time lawyer Jimmy McGill as he slowly becomes the morally flexible Saul Goodman you know from Albuquerque.

The tone is quieter than Breaking Bad at first, but the show builds into a brutal crime story in its own right, with cartel plots, clever schemes and some of the best character work on TV. It also deepens Mike, Gus and the wider world in ways that make a rewatch of Breaking Bad even richer. All seasons are on Netflix UAE.

2. Ozark – Netflix

Swap the New Mexico desert for the Missouri lakes, and you get Ozark. When financial adviser Marty Byrde moves his family to the Ozarks to launder money for a cartel, he discovers the locals are just as dangerous as the people he’s running from.

Like Breaking Bad, this show keeps raising the stakes as one bad decision forces another. You get family drama, ruthless villains, and a central couple who get dragged deeper into crime with each season. All four seasons stream on Netflix UAE, with the behind-the-scenes special A Farewell to Ozark also available if you want more once you’re done.

3. Narcos – Netflix

If you were hooked by Breaking Bad’s cartel side, Narcos is the natural next step. The series dramatizes the rise and fall of Pablo Escobar and the Medellín cartel, told from both cartel and DEA points of view.

It has the same mix of tense standoffs, brutal violence and impossible choices, but this time rooted in real events. With a documentary-style voiceover and on-the-ground feel, it plays like a harsher, more grounded version of the drug trade Walt only scraped. All three seasons are on Netflix UAE.

4. Narcos: Mexico – Netflix

Once you finish Narcos, keep going with Narcos: Mexico. This companion series rewinds to the 1980s Guadalajara cartel, tracing the birth of the modern Mexican drug war and the rise of figures like Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo.

The tone and structure mirror Narcos, but there’s a different flavour to the politics and alliances. If you liked the push-and-pull between law enforcement and organised crime in Breaking Bad, this gives you a wider view of the same ecosystem. All three seasons are available on Netflix UAE.

5. Queen of the South – Netflix

Queen of the South takes the “regular person pulled into the drug world” idea and flips the perspective. Teresa Mendoza goes on the run after her drug-dealer boyfriend is murdered, eventually building her own powerful organisation.

It’s pulpier and more action-heavy than Breaking Bad, but it still leans on strategy, betrayal and the cost of power. Teresa’s journey from survivor to boss will scratch the same itch as watching Walt grow into Heisenberg, with a different kind of lead and setting. All seasons are streaming on Netflix UAE, with offline downloads supported.

6. Peaky Blinders – Netflix

If you loved watching Walt slowly build an empire, Peaky Blinders brings that same energy to post-World War I Birmingham. Tommy Shelby leads a razor-cap gang as he pushes from street-level rackets into politics, international deals and bigger enemies.

The show blends crime drama with period style, sharp writing and a stacked cast. It’s less about drugs and more about power and control, but the antihero arc will feel familiar. All six seasons are on Netflix UAE, and the upcoming Peaky Blinders film will continue the story on Netflix globally in 2026.

7. Snowfall – Disney+

Snowfall is one of the closest spiritual cousins to Breaking Bad in terms of theme. Set in 1980s Los Angeles, it tracks the early days of the crack epidemic and its impact on a young dealer, a CIA operative, and others pulled into the storm.

Like Breaking Bad, it shows how a drug trade reshapes families, neighbourhoods and institutions over several seasons. The show blends street-level hustle with geopolitical fallout and gets heavier as it goes. All six seasons stream on Disney+ in the UAE via the general-entertainment side of the service.

8. The Wire – OSN+

If you want the “serious” crime drama that many critics rank even higher than Breaking Bad, you have to try The Wire. Set in Baltimore, each season explores a different piece of the city’s ecosystem: street-level dealing, police, unions, schools, politics and media.

It’s slower and more procedural but incredibly rewarding, showing how systems trap everyone – from corner boys to mayors. In the UAE, all five seasons stream on OSN+ as part of its HBO line-up. You can also check our deeper where to watch The Wirein the UAE guide if you want more detail.

9. The Sopranos – OSN+

Before Breaking Bad, the gold standard for antihero TV was The Sopranos. The series follows New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano as he tries to juggle his crime family, home life and mental health, often failing at all three.

You get dark humour, brutal violence, therapy scenes and some of the best character writing ever made for TV. The show paved the way for Walt, and the echoes are clear once you’ve seen both. All six seasons (86 episodes) are available on OSN+ in the UAE as part of its HBO classics slate.

10. Boardwalk Empire – OSN+

If you enjoyed the business-minded side of Walt’s rise, Boardwalk Empire takes you back to Prohibition-era Atlantic City, where politician and fixer Nucky Thompson runs alcohol smuggling and political deals from the Boardwalk.

The show mixes real historical figures (like Al Capone and Lucky Luciano) with fictional ones, building a layered portrait of crime, money and power. It’s an HBO drama, so expect strong production values, complex arcs and plenty of moral rot. All seasons are streaming on OSN+ in the UAE.

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