Prime Video's 3-Part Crime Series Is The Breaking Bad Follow-Up Most People Missed

Although Prime Video’s 3-season series Sneaky Pete was a perfect spiritual successor to Breaking Bad, most people missed out on the darkly comic crime thriller. While Breaking Bad’s ending was one of the best finales in TV history, viewers were still left wishing that the show wasn’t over yet. This explains the popularity of its spinoff, Better Call Saul.

Although Better Call Saul and El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie both managed to expand the story of the series in their own ways, the franchise still came to an end eventually. The short-form cartoon comedy series Slippin’ Jimmy proved that even a franchise as heavily praised as Breaking Bad could overextend its welcome with an unnecessary spinoff.

What Is Sneaky Pete About?

Luckily, 2015’s underrated Prime Video crime drama Sneaky Pete offered viewers a perfect follow-up to Breaking Bad that recaptured the show’s unique blend of dark comedy, tense crime drama, and clever, unexpected twists. Starring Giovanni Ribisi, Sneaky Pete focused on an amoral con man who assumes the identity of his cellmate to evade a ruthless gangster.

Fresh out of prison, Ribisi’s Marius reinvents himself as Pete Murphy, reuniting with his fellow criminal’s estranged family and hoping that no one will know the difference. With a starry supporting cast that includes Marin Ireland, Margo Martindale, Ethan Embry, and Bryan Cranston, Sneaky Pete is an unpredictable thriller and a fast-paced character study.

Sneaky Pete Is A Spiritual Successor To Breaking Bad

While Sneaky Pete shared its creator with House, the show had just as much DNA in common with Breaking Bad, and not just because of Cranston’s presence in the series. Since Breaking Bad’s later seasons focus so heavily on the gradual moral devolution of Walter White, it is easy to forget how funny the show was initially.

Throughout season 1, Walt’s violent misadventures feel as much like a comedy of errors as the start of a dark path. Viewers are too busy worrying about Walt surviving each episode with his life and secret identity intact to ever realize just how much of a dark side he is starting to expose. Sneaky Pete takes the same approach.

Why Sneaky Pete Was Canceled After 3 Seasons

Margo Martindale and Peter Gerety in Sneaky Pete Season 3 Amazon

It is impossible not to root for Marius despite his con artistry, so viewers end up excusing the increasingly terrible misdeeds of Ribisi’s character as the show goes on. Given a longer runtime, Sneaky Pete would likely have rivaled Breaking Bad in its portrait of a likable antihero’s moral dissolution.

Sadly, a shift away from mid-budget dramedies and toward big-budget projects like The Boys meant that Sneaky Pete was canceled after three critically acclaimed seasons at Prime. Although Sneaky Pete didn’t last as long as Breaking Bad, the show remains its most fitting replacement seven years after its finale.