In Netflix's Criminal, you're never once permitted to explore what and who lies outside the police station, and – aside from brief corridor meetings – the action predominantly takes place within a single interrogation room and its adjacent observation area.
The detectives push for a confession, presenting their evidence and using a variety of tactics – hard stares, imaginary kids, an appeal to moral values – as the suspects fall back on "no comment" and fabrication.
Eventually they are undone through cold, hard facts and emotional fatigue – Criminal is a procedural anthology series, so a swift resolution is inevitable.
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But despite its formula, the show successfully manages to hold your interest with every episode as you patiently wait to find out how each case will unfold, all the time confined to one location, with nothing but words, body language and facial expressions – plus the occasional piece of photographic evidence – to expose the truth.
It's storytelling in its purest form, and while there are nods to workplace romances and team trips to the pub, they're merely a side note. The exceptions, such as Hugo Duffy's struggle with alcohol addiction, which plays a role in Criminal: UK, are solely introduced as a way to further a particular story and ensure that a credible conclusion is reached.
The show is anchored by what happens in those conversations between the detectives and the suspects. That is where the heavy lifting happens, and not on the side of a canal as it's dredged for dead bodies, or during a police chase through a rain-soaked metropolis.
While that might sound like less, what you get is so much more.
By coincidence (?) also on Netflix, Mindhunter's strongest feature is those moments when Holden and Bill find themselves sat opposite a selection of America's most notorious killers, from Ed Kemper to David Berkowitz.
The show wanders through a number of different locations, giving it a significantly more expansive feel than that of Criminal. But it's those encounters, when the FBI's finest minds are locked in deeply disturbing discussions with their subjects, that the thriller series hits its stride. That's the key to Mindhunter's success.
By choosing to abandon action, noise and fanfare altogether, as Criminal has, or use them sparingly, as the creatives behind Mindhunter have chosen to do, both series achieve maximum effect. And crucially, that nuanced discussion around which both shows orbit taps into our intrinsic human need to understand why criminals do what they do, particularly when it comes to acts of extreme violence.
Alien invasions and gangland shootouts make great telly – seriously, we love them too – but sometimes all you need is a room, a couple of chairs and a compelling conversation.
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