Top 50 Shows of the 2010s

With 2020 approaching, many websites primarily writing about movie and television are doing their end of the decade list, so I thought - why not join in?  I've certainly seen enough to make such a list.  While I glanced at a few - mostly to make sure I wasn't forgetting any shows - I have tried to make this list with as little outside information as possible.  And there are a few shows listed in most lists that I simply haven't seen or haven't seen enough of to include unfortunately - Halt and Catch Fire, Treme, Persons of Interest, The Good Wife, Legend of Korra, Fringe - those are at least the big ones.  There is a good chance that - when I would get to those shows - at least one or more would be a part of this list.  But there's always going to be blind spots for a list with one person.

I'm going to follow Alan Sepinwall's model on this one on what shows to include.  For shows that premiered before 2010, it must have over half of its episodes air in this decade and that it must not have aired over two seasons.  The big omission by this rule is Mad Men, which aired 3 seasons in the 2000s, and It's Always Sunny, which has actually had 97 of its 148 episodes this decade.  Which is a blessing frankly.  I have no idea how to judge Mad Men as a show if I'm forced to remove the first three seasons, which when included with the fourth, I think are its best.  It's certainly on this list, but where is a mystery, especially since I haven't watched the show since the finale.

That's another thing - I am not a heavy rewatcher of shows.  Its why I'm able to watch so many shows, because I watch it once and then move on to another show.  So some of this list will include shows that I haven't seen in over five years, and thus, I'm mostly trusting my memory of how I felt about the show.  Again I have one very specific example in mind that I will rewatch at some point, because I don't remember the show all that well, just that I loved it.  This is going to be a long list, so I'll just get on with it.

#50 - Drunk History

Drunk History has suffered in my annual top ten lists, just because it's basically the same thing season after season.  But for a list like this, that doesn't matter.  It's a simple concept - drunk people trying to tell history accurately - and done well.  As a person who has entertained the idea of becoming a history teacher and as a drunk person, this show is right up my alley.

#49 - Arrow

The first Arrowverse show is also its best.  Legends of Tomorrow was strongly considered and frankly I have preferred that show to Arrow for most of its run, but no Arrowverse show has matched the heights of Arrow - back half of season 1, all of season 2, season 5, and this latest season.  It would not have made the list if not for its last season and I'm worried I'm letting recency bias affect this too much, but I think it deserves a spot.

#48 Key & Peele

I watched my first episode after it went off the air - although obviously I had seem some of the individual sketches - and was at first underwhelmed.  The thing about sketch comedies shows - even highly acclaimed ones - is that not every sketch is a hit.  But this has enough classic sketches that can go face to face with any classic sketch comedy show and the pure consistency of this show to produce at least mildly funny laughs is nearly unparalleled in sketch comedy shows.

#47 New Girl

I'm not much of a binger - I try not to watch two episodes of the same show in one day believe it or not - but I was put off by the ads for this show and didn't watch it immediately, but I watched the first two seasons on Netflix in like 2 weeks.  And I was a fan for good.  This just has a very good comedic cast that could make even mediocre writing funny.  And I'm not suggesting this had mediocre writing (although later in its run, they kind of did, but that's most comedies that air as long as this one did)

#46 Marvel's Agents of Shield

Two superhero (or superhero-adjacent) shows already?  I believe this is the last one.  Whether you consider that a good thing or bad thing, well I'm just letting you know this really isn't indicative of most of my list.  Partially due to trying to time the show with a Marvel movie, this show started really slow, so much so that I stopped watching.  But I picked it back up and it got better and better.  It still has one more season to go, but the show doesn't pick up steam until the last batch of episodes in season 1. (If you're considering starting this, just start at Bill Paxton's first episode.  You may or may not be a little lost, but the first fifteen episodes are extremely skippable)

#45 Silicon Valley

Pending on how I end up finishing my 2019 top ten list - which I haven't started - this show never made my top 10 comedies of the year and yet I have it here.  Part of that is that I didn't have a list in 2014 honestly (I think it would have made it), but it was pretty consistently in the 11th-15th range if I extended my list past ten shows.  I probably gave it an honorable mention every year for instance.  Anyway good show with a very good cast.

#44 Black Mirror

I hesitate to put this on my list because it doesn't have that many episodes and it doesn't really have that many truly great episodes either.  It's not like it has a 100% success rate with its episodes, especially the Netflix seasons.  But I don't know it would feel weird to not include this show (which also never made my list and I'm not even sure its best seasons that were before I started this would either cause they were three episodes).  And even if the episode is not quite as good as I'd like, it at least is vastly different than anything else on television.

#43 The Leftovers

Holy shit Gabe this is low, right?  I liked the show more with each successive season, but there are three seasons and I liked two episodes - TWO - of the first season.  And the Guilty Remnant was a huge drag on the show in my opinion.  So yeah it's not going to rank all that highly for me - especially in comparison to other critics - and I'm definitely going to one day give it another shot, but hey I still have it at 43, so clearly I like it a lot.

#42 Catastrophe

One of the truly annoying things about making a list like this is just how different certain shows are in length.  This has four seasons with six episodes a season.  That's as much as one season of a network comedy.  How the hell do I judge these shows in comparison to one another?  Well, fair or not, what I usually do, is I give credit to the longer show if it uses the extra episodes to still make good episodes.  Which is mostly why Catastrophe is this low.  Because there just aren't that many episodes.  (I do have shows with less episodes higher, so it's not the only reason admittedly)

#41 Terriers

Ladies and gentleman, this is the show I was referring to above.  I probably haven't seen this show in 8 years - it was on Netflix whenever I watched it, but it wasn't long after it aired.  And I did love the show.  But I remember very little about why I loved it.  So admittedly, this could be higher - or lower - and I wouldn't argue with you, but I feel like 41 is a pretty good hedge bet especially since this only had 13 episodes.  I will one day rewatch this show.

#40 Master of None

The second season was unfortunately very hit or miss, which is why it isn't higher, even though the hits were among the best episodes on television.  The first season was much more consistent, but again I'm just not working with very many episodes, so I can't place it much higher than this.

#39 Succession

The timing here is fantastic for Succession to make my list.  The most recent episode I watched - and I haven't watched all of the second season yet - was my favorite of the series.  I know people wanted this to be labeled a comedy, but it wasn't until my most recent episode that it completely clicked as a comedy for me.  And I realize that's a little insane if you watch the show, but it wasn't really laugh out loud funny for me.

#38 Russian Doll

If End of the Fucking World is any indication, it's a blessing that the second season hasn't aired yet.  End of the Fucking World, clearly a one season show if there ever was one, would have made this list if they didn't have season two.  But they did.  Russian Doll is also clearly a one season show that will be making a season two - and I'm part of the problem since I'm going to watch it - but boy did I like the first season.  I hate to sound like a broken record here, but it's only eight episodes and that's why it's not higher.

#37 Bob's Burgers

Bob's Burgers does not have the lack of episodes problems - it has 181 episodes made in this decade.  And I think maybe 10 of them are weak episodes.  It probably doesn't reach the heights of most of the shows on this list, but it is startlingly consistent.  Nearly every episode is at least good and definitely entertaining.

#36 Game of Thrones

Everyone talks about how bad the final season was, but it barely came as a shock to me because it wasn't all that good the season before.  Nonetheless, it still has what I'd call the "book years."  I'm not going to overreact to the last season and not include it on this list, but I'm also not going to pretend that I included this show on my top 10 every year before its last season.  (Granted, no top ten lists before 2015, which is removing its first four seasons).  This should probably be higher, but it's also a show that was pretty heavily reliant on nailing its ending and boy did it not do that.

#35 Louie

Oh boy did I not want to include this show!  And apparently a lot of sites felt the same way.  Including this show is a minefield I'm not interesting in stepping in, but I'm also interested in, you know, presenting an accurate list so I kind of had to include this.  It would feel dishonest not to, which is why I'm not going to pretend this wasn't one of the most highly acclaimed shows of its time (including by me).  Now that I've properly pissed off half the people reading this, I'll piss off the other half: it's fine if Louis CK goes away from pop culture and is never heard from again.  (He has admittedly made this incredibly easy if his recent standup is any indication of where he plans to go from here)

#34 Mr. Robot

I hate that I'm writing this list before the conclusion of this show.  This is at 36 with the assumption that it's going to nail its ending, because it has sure nailed the final season.  This is a show that lost me with its second season and with a third that I thought was fine, but nothing special.  But I was a Mr. Robot fanboy for its first and the show grabbed me back with a gripping final season.  If Sam Esmail fucks up the ending, it's lower than this and maybe not even in the top 50.

#33 Documentary Now!

What a difficult line the writers (and directors) have to straddle to make this entertaining television.  They have to craft 21 minute effective parodies of well-known documentaries and put enough of a twist on them to still make it entertaining on its own.  And they manage it every time.  And like Drunk History, bonus points for a comedy making me interested in classic documentaries which I think is cool as shit.

#32 Lodge 49

This is not a show I would oversell to someone who is interested in watching it personally.  It is an extremely low key type of show that is pretty uninterested in plot.  That's the type of show, that if oversold, can make people wonder what the big deal is.  That would have happened to me had I not "discovered" it on my own.  But I recommend this show and be prepared for how laid back it is.  Unfortunately it was cancelled which on the bright side means a low investment in time to watch the whole thing.

#31 American Vandal

Remember above when I mentioned that Russian Doll is probably benefiting from not yet having its second season air?  Well it could pull an American Vandal, which did have a weaker second season, but not by much.  What a delightfully unusual show this one is.  It's a show that makes you sound like a crazy person when you make the case for it in person: believe me I've tried.

#30 Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

I'm very glad this show exists.  While I don't exactly think this show had many weak points, the main character could be... tough to watch at times, which is why I can't place it higher than this.  But still this is a show with many, many original numbers (most of them inspired by something else) that are endlessly re-listenable.  Search for some Crazy Ex songs on Youtube, and if you enjoy them, this show might be for you.  (Here are two of my favorites: 1 and 2)

#29 You're the Worst

This show was a little too committed to the awfulness of its characters to place higher than this (sometimes it became hard to watch), but it told its story in the time it wanted and had a good final season, which is better than you could say about a lot of shows honestly.

#28 Watchmen

To be perfectly honest, this show is better than some shows above it - but it is working with a very small sample of episodes, and if it continues its momentum, will be high on the 2020 lists.  I've also only currently seen four of the episodes, but am pretty sure I'm not going to regret this ranking.  Including shows that clearly are going to go for more seasons but literally just started is weird when making an end of the decade list.

#27 GLOW

This is mostly here on the strength of its second season, probably one of the best seasons of television of this decade.  That's to take nothing away from its first - which needed to get to the wrestling part to find its groove - or its third - which is a little too scattershot, but still has its high points.  Still a pretty great show.

#26 Party Down

All shows are unrealistic, but I now know how lawyers feel about the accuracy of lawyer shows and doctors feel about doctor shows.  Cause wow.  This show is about Hollywood caterers and while I obviously live in St. Louis, this show does not seem all that realistic.  Nonetheless, this has one of the greatest comedy casts ever and takes advantage of that.

#25 Boardwalk Empire

The curse of being the show compared to The Sopranos.  I didn't see this show on many end of decade lists, so I was very surprised to find out that the entire show did in fact air this decade.  A highly underrated show, again this show had the misfortune of being directly compared to The Sopranos due to Terrance Winter, and while it is no Sopranos, it still is worth a place on this list.

#24 Broad City 

This is one of those shows were initially, the perception of this show of people whose TV tastes I trust was at odds with my perception.  Not to say I ever disliked this show, but they always seemed to grade it a little higher than I thought.  But the show seemed to only get better with each season, an opinion I'm not sure is shared by many, and didn't overstay its welcome.  In fact, I believe its last season will land on my top 10 this year, which again - aside from cancellations - doesn't happen that much.

#23 Jane the Virgin

Ah, a show with a title that is instantly off-putting - and to a certain extent the premise is too.  This sounds like a show you can write off - but you can't.  Sometimes, I warn that shows get off to slow starts and eventually find their way - that's the norm actually - but this show came out of the gate instantly great and in fact made my top 10 shows of the year every year since its inception.

#22 Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Talk about unlikely good shows - go back to the Roast of James Franco and lots of people make fun of Andy Samberg for this - which hadn't aired yet - becoming cancelled or bad soon.  And I didn't really blame them for thinking it to be honest.  Instead season seven is going to air in 2020 after a cancellation and subsequent pickup by NBC.  This has the consistency of a Bob's Burgers with better high points.

#21 Stranger Things

Part of me wonders if this should be higher, but then I remember that the solo Eleven story exists, which is easily the worst thing this show ever did.  A huge gamble and I admire the ambition, but man did that episode fall flat and halt that season's momentum.  Anyway, aside from that, the rest of the show is great.

#20 Barry

A hitman turned actor is a great premise that I can also see failing spectacularly.  But Bill Hader has long been a great actor in need of a vehicle for a starring role and Barry finally provides it.  And ronny/lilly is one of my favorite episodes of anything for a long time and completely unlike anything I've ever seen.

#19 Hannibal

I'm a little worried about recency bias for most of my list, but not this one, which I haven't seen in four years since it last aired.  But I remember loving this weird, well acted show that has been unlike anything I've ever seen.

#18 Review

It's here where I'll again knock a show for very few episodes, because this show is a masterpiece.  It's only three seasons with the third being only 3 episodes, and it's not immediately clear it's a masterpiece when you first watch it.  So I'm aware I'm probably raising expectations too high.  But hilarious and dark show.

#17 Better Call Saul

The spinoff of Breaking Bad ultimately has a chance to pass that show in quality, depending on how it ends.  But for now, it'll have to "settle" merely for being the 17th best show on my list.  It is a way better than show than it has any right to be.  Yes, the character of Saul Goodman always looked ripe for his own show, but it never seemed like it would be this good of one.

#16 Fleabag

It is a testament to how good this show is that I have it this high with just 12 episodes.  I cannot stress enough that the amount of episodes and the success rate of that amount is heavily factored into where shows ranked.  It just does not seem fair to rank a show with 50 good episodes below a show 20.  But as I said, this only has 12!

#15 Gravity Falls

As a show that was on Disney XD, which I'm not convinced is a real channel, I did not watch this when it first aired, but well after, on Hulu.  It's only two seasons and 40 episodes, but it has a central mystery behind the comedy that is compelling in its own right.  This is a classic mystery show that constantly teases and foreshadows and actually delivers on that promise, unlike... just about every other mystery show there is.

#14 Nathan for You

This is one of those shows that, I'm sure if you watched the first episode - maybe even the first season - you'd be truly mystified at this ranking.  And I don't necessarily blame you.  It's best episode by far is its movie length last episode - another thing that would mystify based off just watching the first episode.  But stick with the show and you'll find it more than just funny and entertaining.

#13 Justified

I truly do want this to be higher, but I can't really go any higher than this, since for most of its run, it never really vaulted into one of the best shows on television.  The exception is the Margo Martindale season 2, and Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins constantly kept things entertaining, but what sealed its place on this list was its strong final season as well.  Modern Western that I wholeheartedly recommend.

#12 Community 

The sheer consistency of this show for its first three seasons is nearly unmatched by any other comedy on this list - and the first 9 or so episodes of the first season are not included in this list since they aired in 2009.  But that barely harms the show since it didn't really hit its groove until the 2010s hit.  Unfortunately, there's the dreadful season 4 and season 6, but I hardly feel compelled to hold that against them.  Dan Harmon was fired, a lot of the behind the scenes people left with him and the show's momentum was killed.  They did recover to make a good season 5 at least.

#11 Bojack Horseman

I have not completed the most recent season, but I don't have to - the show's first five seasons speak for themselves.  I'm knocking it ever so slightly for keeping its characters in stasis - and they are far from the first show to do so - but it tends to tilt towards misery porn at times with watching its main character constantly screw his own life over.  It's still 11 so obviously I don't have a huge issue with that, but it's a small complaint.

#10 Veep

Even in its down years, the cast and the colorful language kept this entertaining.  And obviously, the show became nearly prescient with what's happened after it aired, making its parody of politics reality.  I will say - it doesn't hurt the show much - but in its middle years, the show's commitment to not reveal Selena's party hurt it a bit - in my opinion anyway.

#9 Rick & Morty 

If only I could put this on this list without the backdrop of its annoying fandom that surrounds it.  I think I got into Rick & Morty before I let the fandom impact my opinion of the show, but I pretty much don't blame people who don't watch it at this point.  Nonetheless, they are missing out as this is a very inventive, funny comedy.

#8 Rectify 

I am struggling to write passages for every show - I'm not sure why I did that - but especially so for shows like Rectify.  Rectify apparently last aired an episode in December of 2016, and while that was three years ago, it feels like five.  So my memory of this show is of a quiet, very well-acted, very well-written drama that I need to rewatch as soon as I can.

#7 Parks and Recreation

With the 2009 episodes cut off, you lose.... virtually nothing.  You lose Hunting Trip, which is a classic, but otherwise you get a very different show in the first six episodes and a show still finding its footing in the beginning of season 2.  And I wholeheartedly recommend you start watching at season 2, but it's not quite at its peak yet.  Rob Lowe and Adam Scott enter the picture in the back half of season 2 and then the show becomes a classic.

#6 Fargo

If only it weren't for season 3, which is definitely better than I remember it, but which was coming off the tails of one of the best seasons of television I've ever watched in season 2.  The show is this high almost entirely on the back of season 2, even though season 1 is quite good in its own right.  And like I said, season 3 isn't bad, it's just mostly unpleasant to watch, which I realize sounds like a different way of saying it was bad, but you'd understand if you watch the show.

#5 Atlanta

How good is this show?  Well it's ratings appear to be shit, though I do not know the context for FX shows, and it got renewed for a third season after the second season and a fourth season in August of 2019 very randomly.  It still hasn't aired the third season.  Between Donald Glover's music and movie career and Laketh Stanfield being in every movie lately, I feel like we're going to get season 4 in 2025.

#4 The Pacific

This is technically a miniseries and I obviously have no other miniseries on this list, even though I'm sure I could have included more.  Alias Grace comes to mind.  I strangely haven't seen Show Me a Hero, but that's a David Simon show so I'm sure that has an argument.  But I just had to include this show, which doesn't even seem like it aired this decade, but it did.  It is a much more difficult watch than Band of Brothers, but no less remarkable.  In fact, it's told in a more - ambitious? - way and with less audience hand-holding.

#3 Breaking Bad

I'm not the biggest fan of the final season, but seasons 3 and 4 are the most thrilling, fly by the seat of your pants television I have ever seen and probably will ever see.  This is sort of a "watch it one time" type of show and if you watch it more than once, watch it with someone else with fresh eyes.  I'm still afraid I'm putting it too high - not that many would argue - just because, as I said, not the biggest fan of season 5.  But even then, season 5 has Ozymandias so you know what, it belongs.

#2 The Good Place

It is entirely possible that this show will fuck up the ending, but that actually doesn't matter at all on this list.  I mean a show as geared up towards an ending as Good Place will retroactively make the rest of the show worse if they do it badly enough, but I don't think that's going to happen.  Truly one of my favorite shows of all time.

#1 The Americans

I mean come on.  If you guys ever ever read my TV stuff - literally ever - this is the least surprising #1 pick ever.  It was my #1 show every single year I made a top 10 list.  I'm going to have to make my first top ten list without The Americans in a couple weeks.  And I don't know what's replacing it.  So that'll be fun.  So watch The Americans I say enthusiastically and demandingly.

Honorable Mentions
Legends of Tomorrow - A truly entertaining show I recommend to anyone.  It probably should have made its way on my list.

Archer - Unfortunately, this show was great for about two years, and one of the better years was in 2009 so pretty easy omission here.

The Crown - It's a bit too boring, but it's very well made and has great acting.

The Knick - The Steven Soderbergh produced show benefits heavily from what I thought was a great ending in its two season run.

Black-ish - In terms of sitcoms with serious highs, this had a real shot, but there's a whole lot of episodes of this show that are skippable.

Wilfred - This show never had a real shot at this list, but I do want to give a shoutout to this weird ass show that I liked a lot!

This is Us - Yeah yeah this show is actually good and it's kind of annoying, but it does try to manipulate emotions too much.

Shameless - At this point, I think the not good seasons outweigh the good ones, and that's why it's not on here, but it had a good run for a while there.

Santa Clarita Diet - Dark comedy featuring Olyphant and Drew Barrymore that I can't recommend enough if you like dark comedy.

Orphan Black - Again, never a real shot, but watching Tatiana Maslany play 20 different characters is worth the price of admission.

Banshee - Very kickass show

Chernobyl - I forgot to mention this show when mentioning miniseries that probably could have made it.

On Becoming a God in Central Florida - I felt weird putting too many one season shows on this list unfortunately otherwise it did have a shot.

2015 Top Ten Dramas

I made the foolish decision to make an end-of-the-year top ten list.  Most top ten lists come out before Christmas, but there was just no time for me to watch what I felt I needed to watch in order to come up with the best possible list.  Given that the holidays provide loads of opportunity of free time, it was also more convenient.  I don't regret that decision either.  The list today, the top ten drama, could have been ably made without the extra time, although a couple shows are in the top ten that I just watched in December.  The comedy list on the other hand would have looked a hell of a lot different.

For my order, I decided to list them backwards from 10 to 1 and then afterwards list the honorable mentions.  I feel by abstaining from listing the honorable mentions until afterwards, you might actually have some doubt as to what will come towards the top.  Also, I don't want to list your favorite show in the honorable mention, you'll get mad and then not read the rest of the post.

Both lists are what I think are the best, but I will admit a certain element of how much I enjoy the show comes into play.  By that I mean, there are a few shows that could technically be described as better than some in the top ten, but whenever I put them in there, it just felt wrong.  It felt like I was putting it in there only because I felt it was supposed to be in there and not because I thought it was one of my top ten shows of the year.

Anyway my opinions are my own and there's really no need to be offended that I didn't include your favorite show.  There's a decent chance I don't even watch it too.  I don't have a specific example for dramas, but I'm fairly certain Bob's Burgers most recent year would be strongly considered for comedy, but I'm just not caught up to the show and it was not possible for me to do so.  I've wasted enough words introducing this list so let's just get on with it.

*I only count episodes that air in 2015.  Most of the shows in this list have the entire season air in 2015, but for shows like The Flash that still follow the traditional network television format, 2015 covers one half of two different seasons.  To stay on that example, I'm not technically counting the first nine episodes of the first season of The Flash.

#10 The Flash - CW (Season 1-2)

I consider this show's placement on the list to be an upset.  I hadn't planned on putting this on my top ten.  I wanted to put it in my top ten, but then I went through the list of shows that I was considering and I didn't seem to have any room for it.  The more I thought about it though, the more I realized it had to be on the list.

The Flash is unlike just about every other recent superhero show or movie in that it purposefully goes for a lighter tone acknowledging that being a superhero would be pretty fucking awesome, especially one who runs at lightning speed.  It's a show well aware of its origins and it embraces those origins.  It has the cheesy, pun-related and comic book dialogue while also retaining an emotional core thanks to a strong cast led by Grant Gustin and Jesse L. Martin.  Plus, it appeals to both comic book fans and people who have never read a comic book in their life (like me).  I've seen enough comments and read enough reviews to know you might actually enjoy this more if you're into the comics, because the creators are well-versed in its history.  But seeing as this is number ten on my list, it obviously appeals strongly to novices in comics too.

There are reasons to watch The Flash and then there is THE REASON to watch The Flash.  That reason is Tom Cavanaugh.  Words can't adequately describe just how good of a performance he gives, specifically in the first season.  He's Barry's mentor and he seems sincere in his intentions, but he also has hidden motives and is clearly not totally on Barry's side.  He's able to play these seemingly contradictory points to near perfection.

Model Episode: "Fast Enough" (S1 E23)

So far the best episode of the show was the season one finale.  One of the joys of The Flash's first season was that it was able to seamlessly blend its monster of the week and its season long narratives.  It all culminates in, frankly, a batshit insane finale.

#9 - Making a Murderer - Netflix 

Given that this was released two weeks ago and I've seen nothing like the cultural impact that The Jinx did when that aired, most of you probably haven't watched this.  (Edit: Well, when I wrote that, it was a true statement.  It's seemingly blown up recently though.)  Well, I'm going to need to take this opportunity to say that you should.  It is very hard for me to put a documentary series on this list - The Jinx wasn't anywhere close to making it - and yet I can't deny that this belongs here.  The show is about Steven Avery, a man wrongfully convicted back in 1985 of sexual assault.  He later gets released and well... find out the rest of the story by watching the documentary.  If you think that was a spoiler, he gets released by the end of the pilot episode and it was also apparently a very famous case.

The Manitowoc County police department is clearly corrupt, BUT this series does show certain things even honest cops might do that terrify the shit out of me.  Like when interviewing potential witnesses, accidentally give them crucial information that they otherwise would not know.  Although if you've seen this series, what I'm referencing is nothing short of despicable.

Model Episode: "Indefensible" (S1 E4)

It's hard to pick a specific episode, but I believe this episode had the biggest impact on me.  It's one of the hardest things I've ever had to watch, mostly because it really happened.  Again, I don't want to spoil, but I'm just getting angry thinking about it.  If you watched it, I'm talking about what happened to Branden Dassey and his appointed lawyer.

#8 - Sense8 - Netflix (Season 1)

This show is responsible for one of my favorite scenes of the year, when the group of sensates all sing along to "What's Up" by 4 Non Blondes.  I don't think my feelings towards that scene can be replicated because I tried to watch it on Youtube and it's just not the same as that first time.  That was the moment I fell in love with the show.  Sense8 is about eight different characters around the world of different ethnicities, sexual orientations, and genders.  They are able to communicate with each other gradually, through their special abilities.

There's something so different about this show.  It's full of the celebration of human life, of the differences in human beings and how we should celebrate those differences.  It's a show with eight characters that couldn't be more different using their differences to overcome the threat to their lives.  It could be characterized as slow and the characters themselves could be characterized as cliches.  To an extent, they do start out that way.  I'm starting to come around to the idea that being a cliche isn't necessarily a bad thing by itself as long as you develop the characters.  Also you could argue it's necessary with such an ambitious idea to familiarize the audience with the characters as soon as possible by creating known character staples.

The cast is quite good despite being full of relative unknowns (full disclaimer: the foreign actors might be well-known elsewhere, but I'm pretty good with actor's names and I've never heard of any of the eight principal characters so I feel comfortable saying they aren't well-known in the US).  Anyway, none of them are weak links.  If there is a standout actor, I'd have to give it to Miguel Ángel Silvestre, who plays Lito.  For the entirety of the show, his story is pretty much completely unrelated to anything else happening and due to him (and Alfonso Herrera and Eréndira Ibarra) it's arguably one of the most compelling.  And Doona Bae, who plays Sun, is also pretty good by virtue of playing my favorite character.

Model Episode - "What's Going On?" (S1 E4)

There's really no way for me to pick any other episode.  This is an episode that takes full advantage of its premise by having every character sing along to a... well it's not a very well-respected song critically speaking.  (I don't mind it, though I was literally one-year-old when it was popular and I have a feeling it being overplayed is a huge factor in why it's disliked among certain circles).  I also rarely can point to one specific episode that makes me love a show and how can I resist picking the episode of Sense8 where everything clicked.

#7 - Jane the Virgin - CW (Season 1-2)

It says a lot that two CW shows made my top ten list.  Seriously, when did the CW become so good?  (Also, I'm sorry iZombie fans, but this won't make my list and it's entirely due to the fact that, hey some really good shows needed to be left off this list).  Jane the Virgin distinguishes itself from other shows I watch because it is entirely different from every other show I watch.  It juggles different tones constantly between being a melodramatic telenovela, a multigenerational family drama, a romantic love triangle, a crime mystery (easily the weakest part, but hey you need to keep Michael involved), and I'm probably missing something else.

I'm not going to write a review of this show anywhere else so I need to say it here. One pet peeve of mine about this show is Jane's writing career.  In order to keep the show somewhat in reality, the writers clearly intend for some things to be realistic, like the familial bond, and some things that could come out of a telenovela.  I get the impression, and I could be totally wrong here, that her writing career is supposed to be at least semi-realistic.  I don't know what it is, whether it's my jealousy at how easily she's able to go back to school post-graduation (I would love to take the graduate program she did, but due to the price and lack of foreseeable income it would generate, I can't) or the fact that the show isn't all that convincing in portraying her as this great writer she's supposed to be, but it just rings false to me.

Anyway, I just had to share that.  I have to give credit to the show for creating a love triangle where both men seem like actual competition instead of the usual love triangle where it's pretty obvious which one is the better option.  (For what it's worth, due to the fact that Rafael's strengths are mostly pretty face and rich, I'm #TeamMichael)  Gina Rodriguez is perfectly cast, able to change her performance for whatever the tone of the scene requires.  Yael Grobglas's performance is so good that the writers know that no matter how bad her actions are, the audience will sympathize with her character.  Lastly, Jaime Camil takes an over-the-top telenovela star whose performance fits that characterization and makes him a character... somehow.  It's great.

Model Episode - "Chapter 28" (S2 E6)

Since I watched the first season in literally less than a week, it was kind of hard to pick a standout episode.  But ultimately I went with an episode that proved the writers were unafraid to try new things.  This episode occurs over three months, a pretty drastic change from its usual format.  I also could have chosen the episode when the "bromance" between Rogelio and Michael starts or the season one finale, which is probably a better representation of everything that makes Jane the Virgin great.

#6 Mad Men - AMC (Season 7 Part Two)

The first four shows on this list represent shows in their first season, so its fitting that I break the trend here with a show in its very last season.  There's not really anything new I can add that hasn't already been written about Mad Men.  Not many shows could have nearly every episode put an end to a character's journey.  Essentially, each episode seemed to have an episode where if if they were the main character, that episode would function as their de factor series finale.  They may have appeared in later episodes, but they did have a specific episode end their character journey.

I don't find anything particularly unique about Mad Men's final season (part two) compared to its previous seasons.  Obviously, given its placement on this list, that isn't a complaint.  I just mean to compliment the virtues of Mad Men's final season (part two), I might as well be complimenting what makes Mad Men, Mad Men.  While I hold the first four seasons higher than the following three - including the final season - what is "average" Mad Men is quite a bit better than everything else on television.

Plus, I think Mad Men stuck the landing for the finale.  I consider the journey more important than the conclusion (which is why I think Lost is still a great show), but I've found instances of picking this list where the finale factored a lot more into my thinking than I thought they would.  It ties everything together.  Hell - and this will probably sound blasphemous to some - it's significantly lowered my opinion of Breaking Bad (at least in terms of best shows ever).  So, thank you Mad Men, for ending the show on a good note.

Model Episode - "Person to Person" (S7 E14)

Well, it'd be really weird if this wasn't my pick after my whole last paragraph said how great it was that Mad Men ended the show on a good note, wouldn't it?  Anyway, I've always found it hard to tell apart Mad Men episodes from each other except for the select few that seem to end up on the "Best Mad Men Episodes" list.

#5 - Rectify - Sundance (Season 3)

I'm going to guess most people have either never seen this or if they did, thought it was too slow.  It's also only six episodes.  How do judge a show that only has the burden of making six episodes over a show that has to make 22 episodes?  Well, there are two ways I'm justifying this ranking.  First thing is first, not many shows have truly great episodes.  I mean you really enjoy a season and usually there's one or two episodes that you can pick out later when you make your "Best Episodes" list in your head.  But most of the time, you enjoy the show for its status quo.

Part of my rankings honestly were looking at the episode titles, reading about them if necessary, and then seeing how many episodes I instantly remember loving.  The whole episode comes into my mind and I want to go back and see that episode.  Mad Men hurt itself because I know a Mad Men episode that blows my mind and none in season seven really did it.  It probably set too high of a standard.  As for the Rectify, I have no problem in saying that there were more very good episodes in this six-episode season than most shows.  In fact, I had this ranked higher, but realized I couldn't simply make the argument that it was true for any of the shows above it.

Rectify is responsible for possibly my pick for the greatest scene of the year.  I would link it to you if I could find a link.  A drunk, depressed Teddy confesses to his nephew about something he did when he was younger.  Clayne Crawford is just spectacular in this scene.  It's one of those scenes where everytime I think of it, I just feel horrible at how often this likely happens.  Great piece of writing.  Great acting.

Model Episode - "Thrill Ride" (S3 E2)

This episode obviously contains the aforementioned scene I was talking about above.  As Brandon Nowalk of the AV Club says "This episode does for Teddy what Rectify does for Daniel."  We see things from his perspective and through other people.


#4 - Justified - FX (Season 6)

Full disclosure: Justified's last episode aired in early April so it's pretty hard for me to specifically remember some of this season.  If you're wondering why it's as high as #4, well I had the same problem with similar shows that ended so early in the year.  I'll have the same problem with some of the upcoming shows as well.  But I did read the episode descriptions for this season, and it brought me back the feelings I had for this season.

Remember that thing I said about how the ending was more important than I thought?  Justified's final season is a prime example of that.  Hearing the names Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins alone should probably be the end of my argument, but this season also featured Mary Steenburgen, Sam Elliot, and Garrett Dillahunt.  There's also the return of Kaityln Dever as Loretta from season two (the series' best season), the always reliable Patton Oswalt, the hilarious Jere Burns (this show is funnier than quite a few comedies actually), and Mykelti Williamson.  The only person missing from the Justified All-Stars is Margo Martindale.  And that was never going to happen.

Justified's sixth season is a season of master plotting.  Sometime in the middle of the season, the plot ramped up to where it seemed like anyone (except for Raylan or Boyd) could die and each successive episode somehow kept the tension as high as could be.  It was to the point where it was the eighth episode and hard to imagine how they could keep up the pace they were at - it really seemed like they'd need to either stall or have the last few episodes be quiet reflection with most of the characters dead or in jail.  And yet, they managed to believably keep the action and tension high into the finale.

Model Episode - "Fugitive Number One"(S6 E11)

Really, you could probably put any of the last few episodes of the season here and not be wrong.  This one stands out to me at least because of two death scenes that are brutal to watch.  For fear that not everyone reading has seen this series - and because I think everyone reading should watch this series - I'll not spoil the deaths, but both scenes just add to this sense of impending doom.  Both were also pretty heartbreaking to me, though none of the characters were "good" people.

#3 - Hannibal - NBC (Season 3)

Rectify made the top five based off its writing, for the most part.  Justified made the top five for its dialogue, pacing, and plotting.  Hannibal makes this list based off its directing mostly.  Put it this way: this director of this movie directed five episodes and the cinematographer of Pan's Labyrinth directed three episodes.  Directors come in and experiment with things to see how they can make use of a presumably small budget.  I think I read a quote from Bryan Fuller telling directors to make it like a pretentious art film.  (He was probably joking)  I can see how the directors followed that, but it's also underselling how good the show was.

Hannibal was perhaps worried about cancellation so the back end of the season dealt with the television show's interpretation of The Great Red Dragon.  Honestly, that's most of what I remember about the season.  Richard Armitage being effectively creepy and strangely sympathetic.  He gives a performance worthy of the character of Francis Dolarhyde.  The show also improves by giving a greater role to Gillian Anderson - always a good move - and making Alana Bloom a much more active and more interesting character.

Hannibal is essentially talented directors with free reign with the writing of Bryan Fuller brought to life by fantastic acting from the regulars to the supporting players.  Hugh Dancy, Laurence Fishburne and Mads Mikkelson - which is the definitive Hannibal Lecter performance for me anyway - all are as reliable as they've always been. Then good luck picking the best supporting actor of this group: Rutina Wesley as Francis' blind love interest, Nina Ariande as Will's wife, Katherine Isabelle as Margot Verger, or any of the actors I've mentioned above.  Seriously, all of them are making me run out of adjectives to describe them.

Model Episode - "Digestivo" (S3 E7)

I'm going to choose the bridge between the two halves of the season.  The first is focused on Will finding Hannibal and the second on the Red Dragon.  Both are good, but here is where we get exposed to an episode of Mason Verger (I didn't give Joe Anderson enough credit for Verger, but I sadly prefer season two's Michael Pitt).  At the end of the episode, the show reframes Hannibal's capture by law by having him give up to spite Will instead of actually being caught.  It fits in perfectly with the show.

#2 - Fargo - FX (Season 2)

I find Fargo and Justified pretty similar in terms of why and how they're good.  They both have unusually excellent plotting that lets the tension stay high.  Both shows make it seem like characters would have to die before the finale, manage to prolong it to the end of the season, and not make it seem like they stalled or faltered along the way.  Both have excellent dialogue that allows it to go slower than you might otherwise expect.  And both have quite the cast to boast with some of the best performances coming from the people you wouldn't expect.

If season one of Fargo was the Billy Bob Thornton showcase, season two is the Bokeem Woodbine showcase.  And the Kirsten Dunst showcase.  And though he wasn't in the whole season, the Nick Offerman showcase.  (Seriously, he was amazing in his drunken state trying to convince Bear Gerhardt to back away from the police station.  There's also Patrick Wilson, Jean Smart, Jesse Plemons, Ted Danson, and the list goes on.  Zahn McClarnon as Hanzee turned out to be a much better character than he initially seemed.

Model Episode "The Castle"

Here's another show where I don't really think you can necessarily go wrong with any answer.  This is the episode where everything turns to shit.  Basically, this is the episode where Hanzee turns on the Gerhardt family, the police are ambushed at motel, Ed and Peggy end the episode running away ("It's just a flyer saucer, Ed. We got to go."), and Betsy falls ill at home.  Again, I don't necessarily know if this is the best episode, but this is definitely the episode where the most seems to happen and that's as good of a choice as any really.  Nearly any episode would apply.

#1 - The Americans - FX (Season 3)

Come on, did you really expect any different - at least for those who follow me on Twitter?  This had to be the choice.  Fargo was a strong contender for #1, but ultimately I was pretty sure that it was mostly due to the fact that it was the series I JUST saw.  I'm a little worried it's too high still.  But The Americans third season was perhaps their best season to date.  (Season two's ending kind of breaks down the more you think about it and season one wasn't as great as either at keeping the story momentum.)

Due to both the viewership and the fact that - outside of people who I've met through the internet - nobody I know has ever watched this show (that I'm aware of at least), I'm not going to go into too much detail about what makes this season great.  The two protagonists, Phillip and Elizabeth, face a dilemma put upon by the Soviet government.  (If you aren't aware of the premise, Phillip and Elizabeth are married undercover Soviet spies living in America who speak perfect English)  One of the characters has no intention of following through on their orders while the other encourages it. Basically, this show excels at identifying perhaps the most important element of marriage - trust - and then making both skillful liars and spies, obviously making trust extremely difficult.

This season also really hammers down the toll that killing and lying and the things required of an undercover spy would have on a normal person.  We FEEL what the characters are feeling.  The show has built up two seasons worth of sympathy to the point where we root for them over the Americans.  This season features a dead body being put inside a suitcase, the most painful and intimate tooth extraction you'll ever see, and many deaths.  Oh and this season also features the dad needing to seduce a girl his daughter's age and it's actually worse than it sounds when you know why specifically he struggles with this.

Model Episode - "Stingers" - (S3 E10)

Wow it's going to be impossible to say why this is the episode without spoiling.  For people who've seen the show though, it's the episode where the primary conflict of the whole season - the conflict that it appeared would last at least to the final episode - is revealed in this episode.  The writing in this episode exceeds even the usual Americans episode as the characters behave as realistic as I can imagine in a situation nobody has surely ever experienced.

Honorable Mentions

Shows once in my top ten
The Leftovers - I would have felt dishonest if it were in my top ten.  I just don't really connect with this show as most seem to do.  I don't want to levy this criticism towards it, but I can't think of a better word: it's just a little too pretentious for me.  I don't think this is true of everyone in the sense that I don't necessarily think other people will find it pretentious.  I just find frequently watching the show that I'm not buying the events are as important as they show is trying to convey.

Looking - I really did want to include this in my top ten, but then I watched Sense8 and then I watched Making a Murderer and it just became impossible to include it on my list.  I don't think I'll get many complaints about this one though.

The Knick - I wasn't really planning on putting it on the list, but then the ending of the second season was about as good a conclusion as you can hope for to any series.  So then it made it's way on, only to again be knocked off by my recent watches.  Anyway, if I had to pick a reason why this isn't on the list, it's probably that I don't find the writing that great.  This show is being considered almost solely due to the director, the setting and the acting.  Sometimes the writing is great, specifically the season two finale, but most of the time it's only average.

The Rest
I enjoyed the third season of Banshee and it had a few of the best action sequences of the year.  I really liked the first season of Better Call Saul, but if I'm being honest it was never seriously considered.  I can't really say why either.  It's just one of those things when I was making the list and highlighting certain shows, and this pretty much immediately was highlighted as an honorable mention show.  The same is said for Game of Thrones fifth season.  I've always thought of this as a good (with occasionally amazing episodes), not great show.  Nothing changed in the fifth season.  iZombie, despite its awful name, is a Rob Thomas show and he's got a pretty good track record.  This is a much better show than you think it is.  Jessica Jones was brought down by mostly one episode, an episode with narrative shortcuts and contrivances.  In fact, I think it's probably the worst episode of any of the shows mentioned on this post. (Edit: I forgot to mention Mr. Robot as another show that is on honorable mention.)

That is my list.  Tell me what you think.

Justified S5 Review

Writing about the fifth season of Justified is a bit difficult.  On the one hand, this is pretty clearly the worst season since season one and from a personal enjoyment stance, probably even worse because I didn't have as high of expectations then.  On the other hand, it's still Justified at its core, and Justified is a fun show to watch.

Before it was both one of the most fun shows to watch as well as being critically solid with good villains and few weaknesses.  Now, it's almost as fun to watch as it has always been, but it's got those pesky problems.  It's not quite at the level that Sons of Anarchy is - which is a show I enjoy, but at this point I have accepted its problems and accepted the show is just not as good as I once thought.

This season, Raylan is as distant as ever from the audience.  It's never been clearer that he just wants to kill all the bad guys.  And while that's sometimes fun to watch, it makes him infinitely less complex of a character than he used to be.  Did the death of Arlo somewhat ruin Raylan as a character?  Timothy Olyphant is still really good in this role, but I can't shake the feeling that's something off about Raylan in this season.

Meanwhile, the show took a bad decision and made the Crowes the season five main villain.  Don't get me wrong, the Crowes are a very interesting family, but they already did that in season two with the Bennett family.  And the Bennetts absolutely blow the Crowe family out of the water in every way imaginable.  Daryl Crowe is nowhere near as interesting, menacing, worthy, or complex of a character as Mags Bennett was.

The weird thing is I feel like the answer was staring them directly in the face.  Featured in four episodes in this season were brothers Wood and Steve Harris.  They managed to be more interesting counterparts to Raylan/Boyd than the Crowes in essentially just one spotlighted episode.  (They were in four, but the last one was the only real attempt to make them awesome).  I would much rather have seen a season of those two than the Crowes.  I hope Wood Harris will be back in next season.  (As it appears Steve has died)

Let me be clear about one thing about the Crowe family.  I didn't have a problem with the actors.  Michael Rapaport got a LOT of flack for his weak accent.  Perhaps it's because I don't care or I'm just not really that good at determining different accents, but I had no issues with it.  He was fine in the role.  I liked Alicia Witt a lot as Wendy Crowe.  Jacob Lofland is fantastic as a child actor as Kendal Crowe (seriously, Justified knows how to pick 'em).  I really couldn't care less about Danny Crowe, but he had a funny and appropriate death.  None of them hold a candle to the Bennett family though.

A legitimate drag on the season was the Ava prison storyline.  Talk about just not giving a shit about what happens.  Probably doesn't help that it was pretty obvious she was getting out at the end of the season and the whole season just felt like wheel-turning.  I never felt like she was actually going to die, and I never cared about her problems in the prison because I knew she was getting out.  When Lee Paxton died early in the season, and they found an excuse to keep her in, that was just annoying.  That felt like plot contrivance to me.

Lastly, Tim and Rachel were virtually ignored for large chunks of the season.  Again.  It's not really a problem only because this isn't a season five problem.  But when there are storylines that are less than great, it's really irritating that Tim and Rachel aren't getting any screen time, since they were most likely be more interesting.  

Somehow despite all of this, Justified still looks like Justified.  I can't think of another show that could have as many problems and still seem like the show hasn't lost a step in being "fun to watch."  But Justified managed that trick.  I don't feel like the show wasted my time, or made me angry, or anything, it's just that Justified has set a high standard and season five was well below that standard.

Also, the set-up for season six has me excited.  Ava betraying Boyd to Raylan because he got her out of prison?  Boyd becoming a bank robber again?  Mary Steenburgen in a more prominent role as a criminal badass?  More Wynn Duffy?  And, knock on wood, but it looks like Rachel and Tim will be more involved with bringing Boyd crowder down.  So the final season of this great show is looking to go out with a big bang.

Playlist

1. "Lens Flare Lagoon" - Lone

2. "Bad MF" - Pharoahe Monch

3. "Dream" - Iration

4. "Mangrove" - Young & Sick

5. "Girls Chase Boys" - Ingrid Michaelson

Rewind: Justified S4

If you haven't seen Justified, I encourage you to watch the show, but don't read this review.  If you must be convinced, read my first season review devoid of spoilers.

SPOILERS BELOW

The fourth season of Justified further cements itself as one of the premiere shows on television.  With that said, I'm apparently alone in thinking this season was somewhat of a let-down from previous seasons.  That's not to say I was disappointed by the season - far from it - but I do think it was its worst since season one.

The last three episodes very nearly absolve the season of any faults and make up for some clunky moments and way too much plot.  Too much plot was a common complaint in season three, but I thought it had never been more evident and clunky than this season.  Justified has never been a realistic show, but I've never found myself asking so many plausibility moments as I did throughout the first ten episodes.

However, I'm not sure the show has ever had an episode as action-packed and awesome as the eleventh episode.  Watching Boyd try to decipher where Raylan has decided to hide Drew Thompson was thrilling, exciting, and probably the reason many consider this to be the greatest season.  The show also had Tim play cat-and-mouse with Colton, which provided many great moments.

The last three episodes provide the height of what this show can be, but I do consider grading this season as a whole and not just the end.  I don't want to mislead you though.  I loved this season.  Claiming this season was a bit of a let-down in quality is purely a case of the standard Justified has already set for itself.

Oddly enough, this season did a lot of things that I complained about in previous reviews.  Winona was in two episodes and used expertly in the two of them.  Tim was given an actual arc this season with his mini-showdown with Colton.  And Rachel probably had more screen time she's had in the three previous seasons combined.  (I would like Rachel to get something resembling Tim's fantastic story with Colt, but her slowly becoming Raylan is interesting - Still I had no idea she was married until this season and then they act like that was a big character moment for her)

The "low points" of the season - and keep in mind with this dialogue, it's not like I'm saying it's still not a good episode - were the seventh episode when they brought back a seemingly one-off villain and the ninth episode when Raylan is allowed to transport former sheriff Mosley.  It's not like I didn't like Jody Adair, but the second time through was much less interesting and brought nothing new that Justified has already done before.  The ninth episode was the show cutting corners to get to certain plot points, something the show rarely does.  (Or at least as obviously)

This season did provide a great conclusion to Arlo's time on this show.  It's pretty clear his narrative purpose was reaching its end with him being in prison for life and I can't say I see a much better way to end his story than this.  I don't really understand why he had to kill a guy back in the first episode - for narrative purposes to raise the intrigue for the mystery, but killing that guy seemed pointless.  I know he wants no one to talk about that bag, but man that seemed to be going overboard.

Sheriff Shelby being Drew Thompson was a decent reveal - they made it pretty explicit the episode before - and somebody the audience knows is certainly more interesting than a random guy.  Shelby was about the most logical and big-name of a character to make the reveal meaningful.  Jim Beaver played his part in making the character's seemingly transformative character from his earlier days authentic and genuine.

I enjoyed Boyd's season-long arc.  A man who has seemed in control of what he's doing slowly saw everything fall apart.  At one point, he had Colton trying to hide Ellen Mae's disappearance, Johnny trying to betray him, Jimmy recovering from multiple snake bites, and Ava trying to deal with having Ellen Mae killed (or thinking she had him killed).  He was far from in control and everything seemed to go against him.  That's a much more interesting Boyd than one who gets his way all the time (although less fun if you're a Boyd fan, and who isn't a Boyd fan?)

As for the performances, Goggins and Olyphant of course deliver.  Olyphant is never better than when he has to deal with hearing about his father's death as contradicting emotions flood over him.  Goggins was on fire all season as a man who keeps finding himself caught off-guard from Duffy shooting his own man to the preacher getting bit by the snake.  I feel like a redemptive arc for Boyd will be coming, although it'll probably be too late and also not any time soon. (Also, I could be way off; his second season attempt at being good could indicate he's never going good again)

Among the supporting players, David Meunier and Joelle Carter are at their best this season.  Meunier as Johnny Crowder is a backstabbing, terrible person, but yet you feel sympathy for him with his pathetic "I love you" to Ava.  Carter has a tough job, acting-wise, to have Ava try and cross the line into "bad guy," but she can't quite do it and sleep at night.

Then of course Mike O'Malley, known for his work on Yes Dear, switches up and plays a pretty menacing figure who's a little too cocky and unpredictable.  I'll never get tired of Jere Burns and his reaction shots, which this season provided plenty of for me.  Lastly, Ron Eldrard does such a good job with his role as Colton that, even after he's brutally murdered many people, you kind of are sad when he basically commits suicide.

In all, this was a weird season for me.  The highs were the best the show has ever been and the lows were the worst the show has ever been.  I'm not really sure how exactly that evens out, but for me, it lands below the more consistent second and third seasons.  I want to emphasize how high the bar is for Justified and that's the only reason for my consternation.

Playlist - My Top 50 tracks for the year finishes; 1-10; 11-20; 21-30; 31-40)
41. "Sticks and Stones" - Arlissa
42. "Animals" - Martin Garrix
43. "Clarity" - Zedd ft. Foxes!
44. "John Doe" - B.O.B. ft. Priscilla
45. "Rip Your Heart Out" - Hopsin ft. Tech N9ne
46. "Waste of Paint" - Peace
47. "Love Game" - Eminem ft. Kendrick Lamar
48. "Contact" - Daft Punk
49. "I Sat by the Ocean" - Queens of the Stone Age
50. "Alive" - Empire of the Sun

Rewind: Justified S3

If you haven't seen Justified, I encourage you to watch the show, but don't read this review.  If you must be convinced, read my first season review devoid of spoilers.

SPOILERS BELOW

Justified continued it's abnormally long streak of great television in season three, with the exception of a single misstep.  This is ridiculously entertaining television, good enough that it's quickly making it's way onto my favorite of all-time.

The theme of this season appeared to be fathers and sons, whether in blood or in practice.  Raylan is having a kid, which I don't think we know the sex of yet, but I'd bet good money it's a boy.  Limehouse seemed to have taken over the mantle of Errol's father.  Raylan's father, Arlo, is a constant thorn in Raylan's side.  Then, a sneaky father-son type relationship occurred between Arlo and Boyd.  And lastly, Robert Quarles has a possibly imaginary connection to his surrogate father in Theo Tonin.  (Mags Bennet, while not a father, was an authority figure who certainly hovered over Dickie's actions and would fit the theme)

And I got to say, the writers of this show must have been abandoned as children, because they do not think very highly of fathers - according to this show at least.  With the exception of Arlo's protection of Boyd, every father disappoints their son.  I guess Raylan hasn't really had the chance to yet, but I'm going bet that's as surefire thing to happen as Raylan remaining trigger-happy in season four.

To replace of the towering figure that is Mags Bennet from season two, the writers went for the quantity of villains, but certainly didn't lack for quality thankfully.  There's Robert Quarles, who slowly reveals himself to be a madman.  There's Ellstin Limehouse, who slowly begins to seem like a practical man and not really a villain.  The narrative arc of these two characters, who seemed to switch positions from the beginning of the season towards the end, was an unexpected delight.

While Neal McDonough does not quite match the performance of Margo Martindale, he steals every scene he's in.  He relishes every moment he's able to be on screen and chews the scenery.  It straddles the line between caricature and real person, but I think he manages to do it quite effectively.  Mykelti Williamson, most famous for Bubba in Forrest Gump, manages to make you forget all about the shrimp business and fear his ability to burn your hand.

Justified is one of those shows that's so incredibly well-acted that I find I will have less space to praise everyone who deserves such praise.  It's a crime that I will only spend one sentence on Walton Goggins and Timothy Olyphant, but I can't really say anything new that I haven't said already about them.  Nick Searcy is criminally underrated in his role as Art Mullen.  Jeremy Davies has sometimes a little too much fun playing Dickie Bennett, nonetheless he does his Davies thing but with enough variation to separate Dickie from his Lost and Saving Private Ryan characters.  Lastly, Jere Burns as Wynn Duffy basically spent this season reacting to whatever Quarles did and created a compelling and funny character out of that.  (And his scene where Raylan plays Russian Roulette with him is hilarious)

The show also has an amazing ability to create compelling characters with so little time.  Trooper Tom Bergen had more personality than any character in the two seasons I watched of The Walking Dead.  Jim Beaver was so good in his clearly designed one-off role that they found a way to bring him back.  Hell, Desmond Harrington provided a more interesting character in one episode than his character on Dexter in 72 episodes.  And don't even get me started on the greatness of Dewey Crowe, who gets his own, glorious standalone episode in this season.

If there's a weakness to this show, it's that Winona is kind of an awful character (not person).  It's the show's lone character who is terribly written.  One moment she's in support of Raylan, the next she leaves the house without a moment's notice.  She is literally unpredictable, but not in any way that makes sense to the character.  It seems they are basically writing her out of this show, which is fine by me.  And it's not really a female problem either because Joelle Carter as Ava really steps up as a character in this season.  (Also, Helen was well-written and Lindsay in her one or two episodes is a character I want to see again hopefully)

The other weakness, but it seems unfair to call it a weakness, is that they still don't really give Tim or Rachel anything to do.  It's unfair to call it a weakness, because when they get things to do, they are awesome.  Tim's sarcastic one-liners plus general annoyance with Raylan are always a highlight.  Rachel's a little less well-defined, but she's far from a drag on the series.  I sort of hope they find a more prominent way to integrate them into the story, but if they keep doing what they have been, I won't be too bothered by it.

I mentioned above that this season has a single misstep and that misstep is "Coalition," the twelfth episode of this season.  First, Boyd leaves Quarles to be guarded by two low-life hookers and a single, dim-witted bodyguard while keeping him so loosely tied up that it was hardly a surprise when he got free.  Then Boyd leaves Errol and Dickie with a wheelchair-bound Johnny.  It was an uncharacteristically unrealistic episode that was purely to move the plot along.

Otherwise, Justified hit on every other episode.  Whether it was a standalone plot that was extremely satisfying such as "Thick of Mud" with Dewey Crowe, a plot-moving episode such as "Measure," or an episode that pays off your patience such as "Slaughterhouse," they all at the least were immensely entertaining.

Even on episodes designed to get the pieces moving for a later date, the dialogue crackles with such spark that it's impossible not to be enraptured at the screen every minute.  This is the best-written dialogue of any show ever.  I've never been as entertained watching two people talking to each other as I am when Boyd and Raylan have a conversation.  Olyphant and Goggins have so much chemistry, there's a semi-plausible way they could get the two characters to start fucking.  (If both weren't clearly heterosexuals, I'd say it'd be downright likely)

Overall, if you aren't watching Justified, you are really missing out on a great show.  (Actually if you aren't watching it and have read it this far, what the hell is wrong with you?  Stop reading spoilers and watch the show!)

Playlist (Part of my Top 50 tracks for year; no particular order; 1-10 are here)

11. "Hurricane" - MS MR
12. "Indian Summer" - Stereophonics
13. "Burn" - Ellie Goulding
14. "400 Lux" - Lorde
15. "Timber" Ke$ha ft. Pitbull (Guilty pleasure)
16. "Pompeii" - Bastille
17. "Soothe My Soul" - Depeche Mode
18. "Kemosabe" - Everything Everything
19. "Needle" - Born Ruffians
20. "Lost that Easy" - Cold War Kids

Rewind: Justified S2

The second season of Justified elevates what was already a pretty great show.  I find it hard to imagine a show like this ever becoming bad because when you take amazing dialogue and great actors, it will always be interesting to watch at the least.

The star of this season - and anyone who has seen this season has to agree - is Margo Martindale as Mags Bennett.  I don't want to be hyperbolic, but she possibly has the greatest performance in any season of any television show I've ever seen.  She is simultaneously terrifying, loving, motherly, sympathetic, crime lord, conniving, and just about every contradictory adjective you can imagine.  Somehow, none of those ring false and the audience is with her every step of the way.  She won a well-deserved Emmy for this role.

The season kicks off with a child molester hired by the Bennetts trying to reach his next prey in Loretta McCready.  But Loretta's a smart girl and she also has the fortune of having Raylan Givens trying to help her.  Mags then kills her father for calling the police and then the chain of events that led to this season's conclusion happens.  I like how ultimately her decision to kill him - which was rather pointless - was her direct downfall.

I have to give props to the child actress who plays Loretta.  I haven't seen her in anything else, but she can act.  She held in her own in scenes involving Martindale and Timothy Olyphant.  To put it in simple terms, a large portion of this season depended on how much you were invested in her story and she certainly succeeded in that regard.

The main story line of the second season was so incredibly invigorating that any story involving the secondary characters fell flat, whether by comparison or for some other reason.  Winona's not exactly a drag on the show, but she's very close to becoming one.  For instance, in the season finale, she begs Raylan to not go to Harlan to FIND A MISSING GIRL.  Ok, I get it, she is worried he's going to get killed.  But seriously you draw the line on this particular instance?  I'm not even saying it's bad writing, this character isn't extremely likable and a little on the insane side - like oh say stealing money from an evidence locker. (However, she is listed as "credit only" in almost half of the Season 3 episodes and is removed from the main cast for Season 4 so I shouldn't worry about this.)

Boyd Crowder's transformation from a guy wanting to be good to turning into a criminal longing to control Harlan and maybe more was the second best thing about this season.  I'm not going to lie.  I fell for him becoming a "good person."  This made a lot more sense and felt more natural.  Congratulations to Goggins for elevating his season one performance in my opinion.

Season two felt like a nice balance between episodes concerning the main plot and episodes that feature a mostly unrelated, standalone plot.  I feel they have found the secret formula to achieving 13 interesting episodes.  I really don't believe it has to be 13 consecutive episodes of just the plot that ultimately matters, because honestly if that plot is uninteresting, the whole season tends to suck.  (Season 3 of Sons of Anarchy for instance).

Another thing that was great about season two?  It deglorified Raylan's tendency to go rogue as a marshal.  When he kept abandoning Tim, he came off as pathetic more than badass.  It's always nice  to know when the show tries to show all facets of the character, even the less savory aspects.  On the other hand, Raylan is still clearly a hero.  In the age of anti-heros, he barely qualifies.  He disobeys command and shoots way too many guys, although all of them are bad guys.  It's pretty damn easy to root for him when he refuses to kill a guy for revenge (Dickie) or accept witnesses who lie.

If there's a weakness to this show, it's that it still hasn't really solved its supporting marshals problem.  Art is still as great as ever and his distrust of Raylan was one of the more affecting parts of the show.  The other two?  They became marginally more intriguing and interesting.  Tim is nearly solved with the aforementioned episode when he needs to "nanny" Raylan and gets all the good one-liners.  ("That shit gets me hard.")  Rachel?  I was honestly invested in her one plot involving her sister's killer going insane, but that was about it.  I don't mind the really slow development, but I'm still waiting for it to come.

I haven't mentioned the plot involving the coal mining company.  I don't know what really went on even though at the time it was easy to follow.  I can't say anymore due to not really remembering any specifics.  Anyway, the only important part of the plot was getting Boyd more confident (and more power) and showing the Bennetts for what they were.

Overall, I feel season two strongly improved the first season.  I always find post-season one reviews to be difficult because I talk too much about plot, and it looks like I'm guilty here as well.  Oh well I guess that's just a product of having said everything that needed to be said in my season one review.  

New Justified reviews will be coming pretty quickly as I plan to catch up to the fifth season.  I'm posting on another show next week (maybe The Simpsons fourth season?) and then I'll return to Justified the week after that.  Then probably another non-Justified week followed by Justified.  Yes, it will be after the season premiere, but DVR's exist.  Anyway thanks for reading.

Playlist
1. "Love Natural" - Crystal Fighters
2. "Two Trains" - Yo La Tenga
3. "Country Shit" - Big Krit ft. Ludacris & Bun B
4. "Sister Christian" - Night Ranger (Boogie Nights)
5. "Rap God" - Eminem

Rewind: Justified S1 Review

For anybody who has seen this show, I'll state the obvious in saying Justified is a really good show.  I came into this show with pretty high expectations, although little idea of what the show would be like.  Needless to say, the show exceeded those expectations.  This just quickly established itself as one of my favorite shows of all time in fact.  It's that good.

There's no such thing as too much praise when it comes to talking about Timothy Olyphant as Deputy US Marshall Raylan Givens.  He's not the only reason this show is good, but he's the reason even subpar episodes are compelling.  I hadn't really watched Olyphant in much before this and now consider myself an unabashed fan of his.

Olyphant has a certain devilish charm that is probably every man's dream.  His delivery, combined with the excellent dialogue, could get me to voluntarily confess to a crime I didn't commit.  And I'd walk away feeling like he was doing me a favor.  I'm not trying to come across like he's an infallible superhero,  In fact, the facade of exterior toughness quickly reveals itself to be... well a facade.

Raylan's is a trigger-happy lawman whether he wants to admit it or not.  It may seem like he wants to resolve the conflict at hand without firing his weapon, but there's this sense that he really just wants to shoot to release his well-hidden anger.  He's a bit of a renegade, which means he connects more to criminals than his fellow cops.

One of those criminals is Boyd Crowder, a master manipulator, played by Walton Goggins.  Now I've never seen The Shield - lord knows I've heard enough about how good he was in that - but finally I get a taste of that praise.  In the first episode, he's a Neo Nazi leader, but he's a deeper character than that.  He seems more of an opportunistic criminal who has this masterful ability to lead impressionable, dumb rednecks.  This becomes more apparent as the season goes on, but really Goggins makes him interesting immediately.

Justified has probably the best dialogue of any show I've ever seen.  These characters speak in a completely different way than I've ever heard on television, and yet it's surprisingly realistic.  The way the characters choose their phrasing and weave their words together is utterly amazing.  This series is based off the short novel "Fire in the Hole" by Elmore Leonard.  They largely steal the pilot from that text, but it seems they found a way to capture his ability to parse words without seeming like a lesser imitator.

In case you're not sold on the show yet, another satisfying aspect of this show is the setting.  It's set in Lexington, Kentucky - a version that is not exactly flattering to the town.  It's basically Wild Wild West, may the best gunslinger win.  Somehow, it has that culture and applies it to modern life without seeming - well outrageously implausible.

If there's a weakness to this show, it's that the rest of Given's law enforcement team is remarkably forgettable.  The exception to this is Art Mullen's, Given's boss.  Played by Nick Searcy, he has to toe that line between friends and keeping Givens in line.  And he has to keep Givens in line a lot.  There's two other main characters, a white guy and a black girl.  They do have actual names, but really that's how I remember who they are.  I don't actually know their names.  (I could look it up and I did, but I wanted to illustrate just how forgettable they are)

But they are forgettable for a reason.  This show is incredible at casting.  There are an insane amount of great character actors whose name you can't place, but whose face you will surely recognize.  Chris Ellis, Raymond J. Berry, Brett Cullen, Ray McKinnon, M.C. Gainey, Jere Burns, W. Earl Brown, Stephen Root.  (That's not even mentioning Alan Ruck in his fantastic one episode stint or Tony Hale, who doesn't get much to do but BUSTER!)

The female characters could use some work too.  It's not that they are written badly, but there's a huge disconnect between the two main female leads on this show.... and just about every other man.  It's a bit alarming just because it's a hugely male-centric show, and the few female characters are underwhelming.

The majority of this season, with the exception of the last three episodes, was mostly procedural as well.  That's kind of a weakness, but really I can't blame them for initiating us into this world slowly.  I definitely liked the structure of this season more than Sons of Anarchy's structure, although SOA pretty much did the same thing the first season as well.  But its still worth mentioning for people who must have serialized storytelling.

Overall, if you want to watch badasses at work, there's not much shows that do it better than Justified.  If you like seeing the main protagonist take control of the situation and destroy the opponents in slick, smart ways, this show is definitely for you.

(Side note: For as good of a show as this is, the theme song to this is godawful.  It grows on you but I think that's just because I associate it with good television, not on its own merits.)

Playlist
1. "Dead Man Shoes" - The Virginmarys
2. "Stripes" - Brandy Clark (first country song I've ever had on this)
3. "Villuminati" - J. Cole
4. "Surrender" - Cheap Trick
5.  "My Iron Lung" - Radiohead

Unconventional Dramas

Before reading this, I suggest you read the introduction to this site where I say what I'm doing.  

This list is 13 shows and counting.  I say counting because I remain very optimistic about the new series coming out on FX called The Americans.  I will be tuning in to watch the premiere and hopefully the entire first season.  

Shows I've watched

There are only two shows on this list and both lasted a single season before they were cancelled.  Let me assure you they were not cancelled because they were bad shows, but because nobody watched them.  Bad marketing,hard premise to sell, whatever it was, the shows received poor ratings.  (Both were acclaimed critically.)

In 2002, Joss Whedon created his first show that had nothing to do with the Buffyverse tackling a futuristic Western space show.  It starred Nathan Fillion as Captain Mal Reynolds (or Captain Tightpants) as captain of Serenity, the relatively modest space ship.  Reynolds and his crew battle the law, his sometimes adversary and sometimes enemy Badger, and Saffron (played by Christina Hendricks of Mad Men.)

So Fox screwed this up.  One of the best pilots I've ever seen was not aired until it was clear the show would not be renewed.  I cannot for the life of me understand why the pilot was not aired.  So right off the bat, the second episode, which does the first episode an injustice in introducing the characters and the world, gets the show on a bad start.  Then they air the episodes out-of-order throughout the run making it difficult to get any serious serialized storytelling done.  Firefly never stood a chance with ratings thanks to Fox.

Against all odds, the show was able to do a follow-up movie called Serenity, which is phenomenal as an epilogue to the show and I think as a stand-alone movie, though I have no idea.  Anyway, this show is 18 episodes and a movie, all on Netflix and is a good way to pass the time.

Terriers is a very good, short-lived show about two private investigators who run an unlicensed P.I. firm.  I'm going to blame the marketing on this show's lack of ratings.  It's not that I hadn't seen ads when it was released, it's just that the ads revealed nothing about the show.  You see the ad and you don't want to go see the show, you wonder what the show is about.  Most people are not curious enough to see what the show is about.  You have to WANT to see it.  

Anyway, Donald Logue plays an ex-cop and recovering alcoholic and his partner is an ex-criminal.  Between the two of them, they have no problem skirting the law and they are pretty successful at their job despite loads of personal issues.

Shows I am watching

We'll go from shittiest to best.  Dexter is gaining in viewership and declining in quality.  Seasons 1-2 were great TV that did little to nothing with the supporting characters and it has shown in the decline of the show.  Seasons 3-4 were both good, but it was not hard to see the show was starting to lead to the not great Season 5.  Basically, it's hard to create suspense around a criminal who has no consequences for anything he does.  After each season, the writers wipe the slate clean and act like nothing happened.

My advice to anyone looking to get into Dexter is to watch the first four seasons (if only because John Lithgow is amazing in Season 4) and then stop.  Just stop.  (I'm 8 episodes into Season 7 and it's some of the best the show has done since Season 4, but they could easily mess this up.)

Next up his Homeland.  Season 1 was amazing, all the acclaim for the show very deserved.  Season 2 was... ridiculous.  I understand you need to suspend disbelief to watch a show just as this, but preposterous plotline after preposterous plot line made the show borderline unwatchable.  The writers seemingly thought the audiences were watching the show for the thrilling action and surprising twists.  Despite more action in Season 2, Season 1 was more successful in creating tense moments and realistic story lines.  The Season 2 finale fortunately gives me hope they will try a different approach in the upcoming season.  

I've only seen the first season of The Walking Dead and so far it is pretty good. It's obvious the creator forced a season's worth of material into six episodes so the plot moves way too fast.  They introduce a new set on one episode, the next the set explodes.  It would have been nice if they could have taken their time more.  

I'm five episodes into The West Wing and so far I like it.  The cast is excellent with Martin Sheen as the POTUS.  Bradley Whitford playing Josh Lyman and Richard Schiff playing Toby Ziegler are the most interesting characters so far.  As usual, Sorkin has written shitty female characters, but I guess that's why all his shows are nearly all-male.

I'm pretty excited that the so far bland and lone black character (and also seemingly forced) is the main character of Pysch.  Maybe he'll show more personality in later episodes!

Lastly, the wonderful Game of Thrones, which I have little to complain about.  I haven't read the books so I don't care if they are true to the source.  (I kind of plan on reading the books if I ever get in a book-reading mode of my life).  There are three characters on this show that I love: Peter Dinklage, as Tyrion Lannister, Maisie Williams as Arya Stark, and Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen.  


The title really says what this show is about: a battle for the throne of the Western kingdom.  It's highly entertaining and I'm greatly invested into seeing who will win this "game."

Shows I will watch
Two people whose opinions I respect strongly recommended The Newsroom so despite not great feedback from my other sources, I will give the first season a watch.  I'm not optimistic about the show, but I'll at least give it a chance.  Plus, I love Jeff Daniels and Sam Wasterson so I don't see a huge downside to watching the show.

Justified is a show that will take a while for me to start.  I might just wait until the series ends so I can buy the entire series.  This show is not on Netflix or on my premium channels at home like most HBO and Showtime shows so it appears I will have to buy this series.  So while I actually am very interested in starting this show now, money and availability are huge impediments. 

I'm interested in Twin Peaks not because I like David Lynch (I did not like Mullohand Drive for instance), but because of how it different it was from anything before it.  It was a creative leap from what I've read at least from any other show and could have paved the way for the shows that changed TV (according to Alan Sepinwall).  

Lastly, Prison Break will be watched well into the future.  I know Prison Break is more or less like 24 in style (not the timeline aspect, but the thrilling action), so I will wait to watch this until I've seen 24.  

Unfortunately, 24 is by far the show I am least interested in watching of the shows that changed TV so that means I will be getting to Prison Break quite a bit later. 

Final Thoughts
Watch Game of Thrones.  Easy choice.  Watch Homeland Season 1.  Whether or not to watch Season 2 highly depends on if Season 3 is good or not.  So you should probably just wait.  So far I'd recommend Sons of Anarchy (through 11 episodes) and West Wing (through five episodes), but neither show has really been watched that much.

Definitely watch Firefly and definitely watch Terriers.  The Walking Dead was good in season 1 (will have season 1 review at some point, but I'll probably re-watch that season to refresh my memory).
There's a few shows I want to watch but the availability of the series is not great.  Shameless with William H. Macy looks awesome, but I just discovered it so I have to figure out a way to watch the first two seasons without paying since I'm a cheap bastard.  The same applies to House of Lies with Don Cheadle, though my interest there is significantly less.  Whereas I'd probably pay to watch Shameless, House of Lies I wouldn't.

I kind of want to watch Girls, but not near enough to add it to my huge list of TV shows.  (Also, a recent description of the show that it was Sex in the City for hipsters is so unbelievably not what I want to watch so probably avoid this.)  I desperately want to watch Boardwalk Empire, I'm just waiting until I can catch a moment where Season 1 will be available on HBO premium.  I want to watch Curb Your Enthusiasm and Eastbound and Down, but I'm incredibly late to the party.

I'm watching Go On on Hulu.  It's good enough for me to not quit, but shitty enough to not write about.  Actually, it's probably really bad, but I just like Matthew Perry.  

The Good Wife and Fringe are shows I'm slightly interested in.  May add to them to the list in the future.  The Americans, Zero Hour, and Cult are shows that are premiering this winter that I will watch the pilots of and decide whether or not to go further. 

I'm at an odd time for posting.  My original intent was to post the eight sections of TV shows that I created, however it appears that will not be my plan.  Whenever I finish a season of a show I'm watching I will post my review of that season.  I already posted my review of Downton Abbey Season 1, I posted my review of Sons of Anarchy Season 1, and later I will post my review of The Walking Dead Season 1.  I also plan to do a season-by-season review of Buffy, though I can't decide if that would be one post or a two-parter.  I'm getting too far ahead of myself though.

(Also I'll mention if I have spoilers or not for the reviews.  Planning on not having spoilers, though it could prove too hard.  I may have a section for non-spoilers and then indicate when the spoilers come.  Hopefully people reading will choose to avoid the spoiler section though I kind of doubt they will.)

I'm planning to watch American Horror Story very soon in conjunction with Sons of Anarchy Season 2.  I have little idea what this is about, but it looks different and interesting.  Connie Britton being on the show certainly makes my acceptance of this show more likely.  I'm not into the horror genre, but a few episodes won't kill me.

Next post: I will review The Americans pilot with Keri Russel and Matthew Rhys