7 TV Detectives Smarter Than Sherlock, Ranked
Florencia is a Movies & TV writer at CBR who brings her love of pop culture and storytelling to every piece she writes. Whether diving into the humor of sitcoms, the creativity of adult animation, or the thrills of horror, she enjoys exploring what makes great entertainment resonate with audiences.
Since joining CBR, Florencia has combined sharp analysis with a genuine enthusiasm for fan culture, always ready to discuss the stories, characters, and twists that keep viewers hooked.
Murder mysteries and police procedural dramas are some of the best and most popular TV series, and in many cases, the reason for the show’s popularity lies in the main TV detective leading the series. One of the most legendary and popular fictional detectives of all time is, without a doubt, Sherlock Holmes, a character that first made his debut in 1887’s A Study in Scarlet, a detective novel written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. While Sherlock is a popular detective known for his intelligence and incredible deduction skills, there are a few TV detectives who could be considered even smarter than Sherlock.
From classic characters like Hercule Poirot and Jessica Fletcher, to more modern detectives such as Spencer Reid and Adrian Monk, many TV detectives are brilliant, have amazing observational skills, and could even be considered smarter than Sherlock Holmes himself. Sometimes, IQ and book smarts aren’t all that’s necessary to be a great detective, and to be able to understand human nature, social cues, and cultural context are just as important and great skills that make a detective even smarter, and some of the best TV detectives have these qualities and more.
The Mentalist’s Patrick Jane’s Intelligence Is Often Overlooked
As a whole, The Mentalist is often overlooked and underrated when talking about great police procedurals, so it makes sense that The Mentalist’s protagonist, Patrick Jane, is also mostly overlooked or forgotten when talking about smart fictional detectives. However, Jane is not only smart and has keen observational skills, but he is also an excellent judge of character and has a deep knowledge of human psychology. This is what helps him solve crimes as he pretends to be a psychic medium, often using these very skills to get the truth out of even the most difficult suspect or witness.
It makes sense that Jane would be just as smart, or even smarter than Sherlock Holmes. The character was created as a mixture of a con artist and the character of Holmes himself, adding a layer of social skills and charm that Sherlock often lacks, and that makes Jane even better as a detective. Jane knows multiple languages, is able to con his way into working as a consultant detective, and managed to track down some of the most dangerous criminals.
Adrian Monk Has Incredible Observational Skills in Monk
Monk was a beloved and popular police procedural drama, and the titular character, Adrian Monk, is easily one of the smartest detectives on TV, maybe even smarter than Sherlock Holmes himself. Monk has incredible observational skills, which play a huge role in his success at unraveling mysteries and finding criminals. Sometimes, even despite himself, Monk can notice even the smallest details of a place or person, allowing him to form opinions and deductions that are more often than not correct.
Adrian Monk can sometimes struggle with social interaction due to his many phobias and OCD, but he doesn’t let them stop him or derail his investigations, even if some of his phobias can distract his thought process now and then. Monk takes the best traits of other smart fictional detectives, such as Holmes himself, Hercule Poirot, and Columbo, turning him into a blend of smart and talented people. Over the course of the show, Monk is able to work on his phobias and overcome some of his biggest challenges, giving him incredible character development while making him an even better detective.
Murder, She Wrote’s Jessica Fletcher Is an Excellent Judge of Character
Murder, She Wrote is a classic murder mystery series with a great killer reveal every episode, and evokes a lot of memories and nostalgia for many. The show’s main character, Jessica Fletcher, is an amateur sleuth and crime writer who takes her knowledge of human nature and puts it to work on solving different crimes and mysteries. What sets Fletcher apart and might even make her smarter than Sherlock is that she never had any sort of formal training or time to do research or investigations before delving right into detective work.
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Sherlock Holmes is someone who works as a detective, not an amateur sleuth. He mostly relies on physical evidence and scientific analysis, such as trace evidence and prints. However, Jessica Fletcher never had any formal training or experience as a detective, and most of the time she’s able to arrive at the truth and find the criminal without any physical evidence, simply trusting her own deductive skills, observational skills, and how great she is as a judge of character.
Hercule Poirot Makes Perfect Use of His Little Grey Cells
As fictional and iconic TV detectives, Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot might be the most similar characters, often pitted against each other or constantly compared. And it makes sense, as Poirot has many similarities with Holmes, not just in their respective fields but in their beginnings and environment, as they are both characters that spawned from a detective book series, and work as consultant detectives with the help of a trusted assistant. However, where Sherlock relies on physical evidence and forensic analysis, Poirot relies on observational skills and attention to detail, and a great use of his “little grey cells.”
Hercule Poirot often solves crimes that have happened in the past, or can even solve cases without even seeing the victim or the crime scene at all. Simply by recounting the events, listening to a witness’s recollection, and finding information about everyone involved, he can form an opinion and come to a conclusion, which is almost always the truth. Poirot’s assistant, Hastings, can sometimes complain that Poirot doesn’t “get on his knees” to inspect footprints or find evidence, but Poirot doesn’t need to, as his intelligence and incredible deduction skills rely on understanding the sequence of events, the motivations behind crimes, and on finding hidden details and inconsistencies in people’s stories, and that’s an incredible skill that very few detectives posses.
Miss Marple Takes Advantage of Her Knowledge of Human Nature
While Hercule Poirot might be Agatha Christie’s most popular detective, Miss Marple is also a great and incredibly smart amateur sleuth. The elderly lady is often overlooked and underestimated, as she might often appear “soft” or unassuming. However, Miss Jane Marple has an incredibly sharp wit and attention to detail, and her knowledge of human nature is what often helps her solve even the most difficult cases.
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Miss Marple is observant and a great judge of character, leading to her having more than a few great adaptations. While many might think she doesn’t have enough knowledge or experience because she comes from a very small village, it is thanks to this small village that Miss Marple has learned so much about human nature. She can often find similarities between people from her village in the people involved in the many crimes she investigates, which helps her understand a character’s actions, motivations, and even predict their next move. Her intelligence relies on understanding the complexity of social relations and human actions and motivations, which only some of the smartest detectives can truly understand.
High Potential’s Morgan Gillory Has a High IQ and a Unique Thought Process
High Potential is one of the latest police procedural dramas and a current hit on ABC, and for good reason. The show’s protagonist, Morgan Gillory, has an IQ of 160 and is considered a high-potential intellectual, and her incredible memory and observational skills, as well as her unorthodox methods, help her land a job as a consultant detective with the LAPD. Morgan has proven she is not only book smart but also understands social cues and human connections, and uses that to her advantage when solving crimes.
When many high-IQ characters are often depicted as lacking social skills or having a hard time in their personal lives when it comes to making friends and forming relationships, Morgan Gillory breaks the mold as someone who is both incredibly smart and has great social skills, even if these can sometimes be out of the norm for the LAPD. Morgan knows about history, science, and politics, but also knows about pop culture, fashion, and more, giving her another layer of knowledge that helps her solve cases. Morgan is smarter than Sherlock because she is able to work with people, understand people, and use her IQ to help others as well as herself, and she continues to learn and improve even when she is already so skilled and talented.
Criminal Minds’ Spencer Reid Is a Mostly Self-Taught Genius
Criminal Minds is one of the most popular and long-lasting police procedural dramas, and Spencer Reid is one of the reasons why this show was such a hit with viewers. Spencer is a mostly self-taught genius with incredible book smarts, eidetic memory, and a vast knowledge of criminal behavior, which helps him solve crimes and find criminals. While he starts as awkward and with little social experience, Spencer learns and grows alongside the rest of the BAU, which later makes him an even better detective.
