The Looming Tower poster

The Looming Tower

★ 8.0 20K votes 2018–2018 1 season · 10 episodes Ended Hulu
Real historyReal historical events and figures woven into the story.This show: 9/10EspionageSpies, intelligence agencies and double lives.This show: 8/10Political intriguePower struggles inside governments and institutions.This show: 8/10Tight limited runA compact, complete story told in just a few episodes.This show: 8/10TenseSustained suspense and pressure from start to finish.This show: 8/10Mounting dreadThe pleasure is in the slowly mounting fear.This show: 7/10Event miniseriesPrestige limited television built as an event.This show: 7/10Dark toneShadowy mood and subject matter, a shade short of outright bleak.This show: 7/10
Rate this series
Starring
Jeff DanielsTahar RahimWrenn SchmidtBill CampLouis CancelmiVirginia Kull
Written by
Dan FuttermanAlex GibneyLawrence Wright
Starring
Jeff DanielsTahar RahimWrenn SchmidtBill CampLouis CancelmiVirginia Kull
Written by
Dan FuttermanAlex GibneyLawrence Wright
Ratings per Episode
246810
Votes per Episode
02505007501k

The Looming Tower Episode Ratings Heatmap

AvgE1E2E3E4E5E6E7E8E9E10
S17.87.87.97.97.57.47.77.87.78.18.6

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About

"Bureaucratic rivalry as slow-motion tragedy"

Based on Lawrence Wright's book, this limited series tracks the years before September 11, 2001, focusing on the toxic rivalry between the FBI and a CIA counterterrorism unit as they chase the same threat while refusing to share intelligence. It's a slow-burning, dialogue-heavy procedural rather than an action thriller, driven by strong performances and mounting dread you know is heading somewhere terrible. The tension comes from bureaucracy and ego, not gunfights, and the show trusts you to sit with frustration, hindsight, and the quiet horror of preventable failure.

Watch it for

the performances, especially Jeff Daniels and Peter Sarsgaard as clashing agents driven by ego and duty.

Maybe skip if

you want action or fast pacing rather than tense, talky institutional drama.

Written by our AI editor to help you decide, spoiler-free by design.

All Seasons

▼
Miniseries2018
7.86K108h 20m
EpTitleRatingYoursVotesRuntime
▶1Now it Begins...7.8
87850 min
▶2Losing My Religion7.9
71650 min
▶3Mistakes Were Made7.9
68350 min
▶4Mercury7.5
62350 min
▶5Y2K7.4
60950 min
▶6Boys at War7.7
60950 min
▶7The General7.8
58050 min
▶8A Very Special Relationship7.7
56650 min
▶9Tuesday8.1
58450 min
▶109/118.6
65150 min

Full Cast & Crew

Cast

Jeff Daniels John O'Neill
Tahar Rahim Ali Soufan
Wrenn Schmidt Diane Marsh
Bill Camp Robert Chesney
Louis Cancelmi Vince Stuart
Virginia Kull Kathy Shaughnessy
Ella Rae Peck Heather
Sullivan Jones Floyd Bennet
Michael Stuhlbarg Richard Clarke
Peter Sarsgaard Martin Schmidt

Crew

Dan Futterman
Alex Gibney
Lawrence Wright

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