During the last two decades a dramatic shift in the production and distribution strategies of TV series has taken place on a global level. This article discusses how these broad changes also led to a transformation in the form and the themes of European crime series, which emerge as ideal objects to study the representation of European societies in contemporary popular culture. The article looks at recent serial crime dramas such as La casa de papel, Suburra, and Peaky Blinders, which have abandoned the classic formula of European crime TV series, usually focused on the figure of the detective and primarily addressed to a national audience. Designed for an international market, these series provocatively concentrate on the figure of the criminal and adopt an explicitly sensationalist approach. The article argues that this style and the bleak depiction of European society in these series are both an expression and a critical representation of the rise of populism across the Old Continent.

在过去的二十年里，电视剧的制作和发行策略在全球范围内发生了巨大的转变。本文讨论了这些广泛的变化如何也导致了欧洲犯罪系列的形式和主题的转变，这些系列成为研究欧洲社会在当代流行文化中的表现的理想对象。这篇文章着眼于最近的连续犯罪剧，如《纸上之家》、《Suburra》和《Peaky Blinders》。放弃了欧洲犯罪电视连续剧的经典公式，通常以侦探形象为重点，主要面向全国观众。这些系列专为国际市场设计，挑衅地专注于罪犯的形象，并采用明显的耸人听闻的方法。文章认为，这些系列中的这种风格和对欧洲社会的黯淡描绘，既是旧大陆民粹主义兴起的一种表达，也是一种批判性表现。