Best Mafia Series On Netflix
Throughout the history of television and film, we have been treated to many series and movies that follow organized crime, otherwise known as the mafia. Some have told stories of local neighborhood criminal groups while others have gone big and international.
Regardless of size, there has never been a shortage of mafia stories to tell. Netflix has a few of these stories too so let’s take a look at the best Mafia series they have to offer.
Best Mafia Series on Netflix
Peaky Blinders
Peaky Blinders is an excellent mafia series on Netflix that is led by Cillian Murphy who plays crime boss, Tommy Shelby. The series is set in 2019, just a few months after the end of World War I, and follows Shelby and his mafia street gang called the Peaky Blinders.
This gang is based in Birmingham, England, and runs all aspects of illegal activities in the city. The Peaky Blinders name is derived from and based on the true-life gang members from the early 1900s who are well-tailored with their jackets, overcoats, silk scarves, bell-bottomed pants, leather boots, and peaked flat caps that have blades hidden inside them.
The Netflix mafia series was created by Steven Knight and has run for six seasons with each season comprising of 6 episodes. The plan was to finish it all with a season 7, but the finale will now be a feature film.
Along with Murphy, this violent series also stars Paul Anderson, Tom Hardy, Sophie Rundle, Ned Dennehy, and Benjamin Zephaniah. Helen McCrory was also a mainstay for the first five seasons, but she tragically lost her battle with breast cancer back in 2021.
Watch Peaky Blinders on Netflix.
Narcos
Narcos is another excellent mafia series on Netflix that follows the rise of drug cartel kingpin, Pablo Escobar. Escobar was the founder of the Medellín Cartel, and he ruled it with an extremely violent iron fist. Known by all as El Patrón, Escobar was the head of the cartel for over 20 years.
The series begins in the late ‘70s as Escobar first begins to manufacture and distribute cocaine through his own version of the mafia. Wagner Moura is very convincing as Escobar while Pedro Pascal plays DEA agent Javier Peña. The series is told through the eyes of DEA agent Steve Murphy, played by Boyd Holbrook.
The first two seasons of the Chris Brancato, Carlo Bernard, and Doug Miro-created Narcos ran in 2015 and 2016 respectively, and totaled 10 episodes. A third season of Narcos followed in 2017, also with 10 episodes. But this final season took place after the death of Escobar and followed Peña on his new assignment to take down the Cali Cartel and Escobar’s main rival, Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela (Damián Alcázar).
Boyd Holbrook did not return for the third season. The series also starred Alberto Ammann, Paulina Gaitan, and Juan Murcia.
Watch Narcos on Netflix.
Fear City: New York vs. The Mafia
One last excellent Mafia series on Netflix is titled Fear City: New York vs. The Mafia. This excellent series follows the true-life story of how the mafia took over and ran the city of New York before law enforcement finally took a stand to take back the Big Apple.
The true crime documentary series was told in three episodes and followed the FBI as they began to slowly take down New York City’s Five Families: the Bonanno, Columbo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese crime organizations.
If you are interested in the real-life mafia and want to see the efforts of law enforcement back in the day, then Fear City: New York vs. The Mafia is a great series to watch.
Watch Fear City: New York vs. The Mafia on Netflix.
