[Honorable mention: Altered Carbon, Daredevil Season 3, Big Mouth, The Good Place]
In a lot of ways, I can't shake the feeling that this show was conceived of and produced in a response to Vikings on the history channel. Obsessively attentive to detail and history, this look at the struggle between Vikings and Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the 9th century features a Saxon noble, Uhtred, who was raised by Vikings and finds himself in the service of Alfred, the king of Wessex as he struggles to preserve English independence. Based on a series of books by Bernard Cornwell, it's kind of part Vikings part Game of Thrones, featuring on both the peculiarities of medieval life (in, it must be said, a more accurate and true to life way than Vikings ever has) and the political machinations behind the rise and rule of the only English king to gain the honorific "the Great". Season 3 was the best one yet, anchored behind the performances of Alexander Dreymon (Uhtred) and David Dawson (Alfred).
David Simon, the creator of The Wire and Treme, has in The Deuce created something wholly unique on TV. A show about sex work, the mob, New York City, nightlife, pimps, porn and the police in the 70's. Season 3 will apparently jump to the 1980's. Behind the performances of Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Franco (who plays twins) the series features plenty of great writing (like The Wire episodes are often written by novelists like Richard Price and George Pelecanos) and acting along with the nudity. I enjoyed season 2 more than the first as the world continues to flesh itself out (no pun intended) and we move towards the modern day. Come for Gyllenhaal and Franco, stay for the other great performances and the humanizing portrayal of marginalized communities.
Adapted from a podcast (which is simply great go check it out if you're a fan of podcasts) and starring Julia Roberts, Bobby Cannavale and Shea Whigham, Homecoming is a psychological thriller straight out of the Hitchcock school directed by Sam Esmail. (Mr. Robot) The score, atmosphere, and way the series is shot really give the whole thing a retro feel, and 30 minute episodes for a drama really make this series fly by. I will say, I think the podcast is better (I stan Oscar Isaac all day every day - and yes, Oscar Isaac plays the role of Walter Cruz on the podcast), but that's in no way a knock on this series, which does psychological tension and mystery in an extremely satisfying way. Well worth a watch if you have Amazon Prime.
Donald Glover's project, Atlanta, is one of the most interesting creative projects happening anywhere in media right now, and its second season upped the ante creatively from the first. If there's a knock on this show its that its weirder, one-off episodes distract from the overarching narrative, but the show pulls no punches, features a great cast, and un-apologetically defies genre and convention more consistently than any other show currently airing anywhere. It certainly doesn't hurt that its cast is all blowing up at the moment, with LaKeith Stanfield starring in Sorry to Bother You, Brian Tyree Henry starring in everything and Zazie Beets being one of the best parts of Deadpool 2.
Succession was maybe the single biggest and most pleasant surprise of the year. An HBO drama/dark comedy from British comedy writer Jesse Armstrong and Adam McCay (the writer/director of The Big Short and Vice) centering on an aging Roger Ailes-esque media mogul, his children, and their various machinations as they jockey for position, power and influence in the billionaire's orbit. I think what truly differentiates Succession is that unlike basically every other work of fiction I've ever seen/read about the uber wealthy Succession treats its subjects as pathetic, embarrassing, and desperate in their grasps for power and influence. At its best, a quasi Shakespearean look at the black heart of modern oligarchy, Succession is often every bit as hilarious as it is compelling.
I feel like I'm on The Magicians' street team for how much I've been talking this show up over the last few years, but its third and most recent season (season 4 starts tonight) took the show to new heights. The Magicians is sort of Harry Potter meets Narnia meets the X-Men, where magic is real, and a secret magic university trains aspiring magicians, who happen to be 20 somethings who engage in 20 something behavior. The series moves past that straightforward premise relatively quickly, but the series features an incredibly likable ensemble and is maybe the most fun show on TV. For my money, the 5th episode of the 3rd season, titled "A Life in the Day" was the single best episode of TV I watched in 2018. Seasons 1-3 are available on Netflix.
Kind of a big year for Gillian Flynn, guys. First she co-wrote a HBO adaptation of her own book starring Amy Adams, and she also wrote the screenplay for the underrated Widows. While I'm not going to sit here and tell you that Sharp Objects is flawless and amazing, what it was was well made pulpy, southern noir featuring an incredible central performance from Amy Adams. (I support Amy Adams always) So whatever your thoughts about the ending (I thought it was a fun surprise but also kind of nonsensical) the ride was absolutely worth it, and the miniseries demonstrated the strength of television as a storytelling vehicle. There's simply no way a film would have been able to pull off this story as well as the miniseries format does.
Another new show and pleasant surprise from HBO, Barry may have been the single most fun show to watch week in and week out in 2018. Barry is a small town hitman who finds himself catching the acting bug while in LA for a job, and hijinks ensue. This show features outstanding performances from Bill Hader, Henry Winkler, Stephen Root and Sarah Goldberg and rises to so much more than its rather straightforward premise. At times sweet and sad and hilarious yet punctuated with some rather hardcore violence, this show is just different from anything else on TV at the moment. Season 1 exists as its own self contained story, yet I'm excited for Season 2.
Year in year out, Bojack is probably the single best Netflix original series. At once an absurdist comedy, a send up of Hollywood (Hollywoo?) and the entertainment industry, a rumination on depression and regret and a surprisingly touching story about a cartoon horse, this is a show that shouldn't have lasted one season, yet somehow saved its best for Season 5. Often hilarious, almost always absurd, and very often very, very sad, Bojack just consistently brings excellence in the form of a half hour cartoon comedy. This season included ruminations on #metoo, regret, addiction, family, death and parenthood, and does so as well as anything else currently on the air. If you can handle the absurdist premise, you won't be disappointed.
The Americans was consistently great throughout its long run, featuring fantastic work from its two leads, Keri Russell (who I'm now terrified of thank you very much) and Matthew Rhys but in its final season it accomplished something that even the best television shows of all time have struggled to do, stuck the landing. The last few seasons built up to an incredibly tense point where our protagonists, embedded KGB spies Philip and Elizabeth Jennings were clearly living on borrowed time, but the crescendo and payoff were so much better than I ever could have bargained for. There's a scene in the finale that is one of the single best scenes in the history of television for my money. Simply one of the best and most rewarding final acts in TV history. Period.
It's absolutely unfair for something like Maniac to be included with 5th and 6th seasons of ongoing shows, but that's the media landscape we live in today. Based on a Norwegian series and directed by Cary Fukunaga, Maniac was just totally unlike anything else currently on TV. The cast was fantastic, with Jonah Hill and Emma Stone absolutely delivering along with the often underrated Justin Theroux (turning out one of the weirdest performances in years) and rising star (in my book at least) Julia Garner. Part Eternal Sunshine, part Terry Gilliam, part Blade Runner and totally unafraid to take chances Maniac plays with genre and reality itself to tell a surprisingly touching and powerful story through some very strange narratives. Easily my favorite original programming Netflix has ever done.
No comments:
Post a Comment