D's Best of 2014

At this point, most of my posts start off with an apology for infrequent updates. And I know no one is coming here for excuses. The fact of the matter is that the summer months come, my television habit dwindles, my writing suffers, and its hard to get back in the swing of things. Next thing I know its December. And December comes with a gimmie: do a Best Of list. So here we go.

As I’ve said in years past, Best Of lists are arbitrary and kind of silly, but I still enjoy creating ones as an exercise in writing and to reflect on what I enjoyed this past year. It’s also interesting to look at my past lists and see how my tastes and affection for certain shows have changed over time. This particular "list" isn't ranked per-say. But it does flow from favorites at the tops to lesser favorites towards the bottom. Whatever that means.

That being said, without much fanfare, I present to you: 

D’S BEST OF 2014

BROAD CITY

Executive Produced by Amy Poehler with awesome guest stars and a killer supporting cast, you better believe Broad City is hilarious and perfect on every level. I rarely rewatch seasons of shows (and if I do I’m more likely to do it years after first seeing it). But I’ve rewatched Broad City’s first season at least four times this year alone. And usually it’s because I feel such an intense need to share it with others, that I’ll force them to watch it and next thing I know we’ve finished the season together. Abbi and Ilana are the new Lucy/Ethel, Mary/Rhoda, Tina/Amy and I can’t wait for them to breakthrough. And while I find Broad City way more relatable than Girls, listen to me when I say this show is absolutely for the boys as well. Come for the 90s R&B, stay for Hannibal Buress.

THE AMERICANS

The Americans is one of the best shows on television and the fact that it gets no awards love just goes to show how useless awards are. The acting, directing, writing, and feel of this show is all so damn engaging and superb. I loved The Americans its first season out, but its sophomore season was easily just as good and at times even better than the first. While the first season was a take on marriage and partnership amidst the Cold War and a world of espionage, the second season was about commitment, parenting, trauma, and coming of age. The season finale was a gut-punch of a twist on top of a harrowing season of intensity and heartbreak. If any show deserves recognition and viewership, it is certainly The Americans. Screw the nonbelievers. Come for the wigs, stay for the 69.

THE KNICK
Let me start off by saying The Knick’s writing is certainly lacking. While many people find it hard to look past the clunky dialogue, I never took much issue with it because everything else about The Knick is so damn good. Stephen Soderberg not only directed every episode (a la True Detective’s Cary Fukunaga), but he is the show's cinematographer, camera operator, and editor. On every single episode. It’s incredible because not only is it such an impressive work load, but because it is all so completely beautiful and subtle. There are dozens of “stealth-oners” (AKA one take tracking shots that are far less obvious than ones on showier programs) that had me writhing in delight. Every episode was lit and blocked to perfection. The camera took its time to focus on characters without cutting away to dozens of other angles. And the Cliff Martinez score pulsed through the season, giving The Knick its beating heart. So yes, while I’m normally the first person to point out shoddy writing, when it comes to The Knick it almost doesn’t even matter. The show could be in Dothraki and it’d still be great. Come for the liquid cocaine, stay for the liquid cocaine.

MAD MEN 

I’m sure at this point people are tired of hearing how good Mad Men is. But fuck them. Mad Men is fantastic. For the first half of its final season, Mad Men definitely hasn’t let up. The 1960s are coming to a close, times are changing, and while some are thriving in the times, others are struggling to keep their heads afloat. While Mad Men is certainly artistic, incredibly well written, and detailed at every stage, what keeps me coming back are the characters and the dynamics they’ve created. My favorite episodes of the series tend to involve Don and Peggy and this past season had plenty more of those little moments. From a dance, to a passing of the torch, to an Edward Hopper-esque pan-out of Don, Peggy, and Pete eating dinner together, I grew even more attached to these characters and their pseudo-family. You come to Mad Men for those moments, but you stay for the severed nipple.

LOUIE

What I love about Louie is the artistic free-form the show takes. From a mini-movie, to a serialized six-part episode, to a one-and-done candid plea from a full-figured gal, Louie has so much to say and so many different ways to say it. When I turn on Louie, I love that I don’t know what I’m going to get, that I don’t know which reality we’re living in, which characters are going to get a poignant or hilarious monologue, or where the episode is going to take me. A look at Louie’s adolescence felt like an episode of Freaks and Geeks in all the right ways. An episode where Louie bags a model is closely followed by an episode where Louie rejects a hilarious/sweet overweight waitress which manages to say tons about society and double-standards. The end of the season had even more to say on the matter as Louie attempted to force himself on a familiar woman. Serialization is more of a suggestion than a reality when it comes to Louie and it may seem like a season isn’t leading anywhere, but by the end of this latest run we explored so much about Louie, Louis CK, and the absurdity of love and humanity. This past season explored Louie’s relationships with all the women in his life (from his daughters to his mother to his Hungarian neighbor) and how those relationships reflect back on him. Which was ultimately a commentary on gender and society. I am continuously amazed at Louis CK’s pathos and diminished ego. Come for the model, stay for the fat lady.




TRANSPARENT 

Somehow Transparent is full of the most selfish characters you will ever encounter, yet you can’t help but engage in their story. What I appreciated about this show was how it portrayed the blatant messiness of families—something creator Jill Soloway picked up from the Six Feet Under writer’s room, no doubt. Inspired by her own father coming out and transitioning to a woman, Soloway wrote this show about a family with fluid sexuality/gender--and oftentimes a destructive relationship to sex--as they reel in the aftermath of their own father becoming a woman. Much of it was hard to watch and characters were hard to root for, yet a yearning for homecoming hung over the season. And I’m curious to see how they all grow together. Come for Jeffrey Tambor’s amazing performance, stay for Maura's outfits.

GAME OF THRONES

I hesitate to keep Game of Thrones on this list simply because of its distasteful use of rape and sexual peril. But then I’d be doing a disservice to a show that only manages to get better and better. Having read the books, I know what to expect from upcoming episodes. But David Benioff and DB Weiss have certainly diverged from the books by tweaking one or two narratives while completely fabricating story lines. It’s not always successful (Craster’s Keep, anyone?), but it keeps this book reader on her toes. From very well-choreographed battle scenes to the transformation of the remaining Stark children, the show knows how to land every moment, big or small. It manages to bring one-dimensional book characters to life on the screen as they crackle with charisma (only to die horrible deaths…valar marghulis). Come for the nudes, stay for the Dinklage.




TRUE DETECTIVE

Something about True Detective almost hasn’t aged well with me since it aired earlier this year. At the time the mystery and craft of the show pulled me in and was incredibly engaging, atmospheric, beautiful in its back-swampy ways, and thoughtful in its emotional and spiritual journey. But months later, after its effects have worn off, I find myself slightly annoyed at is pretentions, its rote philosophical pontificating, its disregard of female characters, and its highly praised yet unnecessary and overworked six-minute long tracking shot. (Look, I love me an impressive tracking shot, and True Detective’s was fantastic. But think about that episode and what anything in that shot had to do with anything whatsoever. Cut those last six minutes out of the show, and it would have no effect on the story or season. Which is certainly a waste in its showy, self-aggrandizing presentation.) That being said, True Detective deserves a place on this list and all/any lists due to its solid direction, solid acting, and what it has to say about life and existence. Come for Rust Cohle, stay for The Yellow King.

D's Top TV of 2013

Its about that time of year when you will see many Top Ten lists of The Best TV or Films or Books or Whatnot of the year. I am personally ambivalent when it comes to such lists. Maybe blame it on Buzzfeed fatigue but I just find ranking and comparing series that are so different from one another to be slightly arbitrary and meaningless. But I find value in dissecting what I've responded to in the past year, as it helps me to further understand my personal taste. And I like doing these year end recaps as a way to recommend programming to anyone who may trust my judgement or share my preferences.

So I'm not ranking these programs. I'm just spotlighting ones that I found to be the best of the year. But please take all of this with a grain of salt as I have clearly not watched everything on television. I gravitate towards certain types of programming and so it is from those heavenly bodies that I judge the landscape before me.

Enlightened (HBO)
I wrote about Enlightened earlier this year when its fate was still uncertain. Now we know that this excellent program was not picked up for another season. There is nothing else like Enlightened on television. It was earnest, existential, spiritually provocative, and refreshing in ways no other program is. I am beyond disappointed that such a fantastic program has been denied the chance to continue to grow and bloom. But I am grateful for the few beautiful episodes we were afforded this past year. And I hope creator Mike White is given the opportunity to run a similar show in the future.
Season Highlights: Episode 2.5 "The Ghost is Seen" was one of my favorite episodes of any show this past year. It opened with such melancholy and closed so quietly hopeful that you'd have to be heartless not to emotionally respond to such superb storytelling.

The Americans (FX)
I straight up loved the first season of this show. I don't know what I was expecting going into it, but The Americans ended up being the best freshman season of a program since Homeland. I don't understand how it could get overlooked by both the Emmys and the Golden Globes, but good riddance. As much as it deserves recognition, I don't need award pressure and blowback surrounding this program. I mentioned The Americans a couple of times this year but all you need to know is that the performances are great, the writing is great, the directing is great, the spy games are fun, the characters are dimensional and sympathetic, and the costumes/wigs are awesome. And above all, it easily has the best soundtrack on television. Forget Glee. Forget American Horror Story (as much as I love all the Fleetwood Mac this season). The Americans uses pop music like no other. Just ask The AV Club.
Season Highlights: ALL OF IT Episodes 1.3 and 1.10 "Gregory" and "Only You" are essentially companion episodes revolving around the introduction and fate of a compelling supporting character.

Top of the Lake (Sundance)
Before I get into Top of the Lake, may I mention how Sundance has been killing it? The Sundance Channel introduced its own scripted programming only this year and every single show has been right up my alley. Top of the Lake happens to be the first of these scripted programs to air and its quite a hard act to follow. Directed by Jane Campion, this miniseries was confident, beautifully shot, deliberately paced, fantastically acted, and reached Twin Peaks level of quirky. Elisabeth Moss led the cast and put in a spot-on performance. Keeping in mind her work on Mad Men along with her work on this miniseries (not to mention her fake New Zealand accent), its easy to recognize the immensity of Elisabeth Moss's talent. The rest of the cast also did top notch work as Top of the Lake delivered in all the ways AMC's The Killing never could. Sundance followed up Top of the Lake with Rectify and then the excellent French series The Returned (which I am currently engrossed in). Each show has the same feel proving that with only three series, Sundance Channel already has its own style of programming and I can't wait to see what else it has in store.
Season Highlights: As it is a miniseries it is hard to pin point one episode over another, but the final two installments are suspenseful, heartbreaking, and revelatory. Which essentially makes the whole series worth watching.

Game of Thrones (HBO)
Listen, I just love me some fantasy/sci-fi. And Game of Thrones is an epic fantasy whose grandiosity increasingly entertains as it continues. But what makes the show so good has nothing to do with its fantasy elements and everything to do with its ballsy, earned, and robust storytelling. This past season was the first time I watched the show after having already read the books and it certainly didn't take any of the enjoyment away. Yes, on some level I robbed myself of a doozy of a television experience, but knowing it was coming didn't diminish the shock in any way. (Just ask anyone who hasn't read the books but has rewatched the season). My only real criticism is probably the very cheesy, kind of racist, over-the-top scene that closed the season finale (but this amazing gif-set, which is cheesy in its own right, made it all better).
Season Highlights: Episode 3.9 "The Rains of Castamere," duh. It was quite possibly one of the most talked about television events in recent history and a huge game changer.

Mad Men (AMC)
When it comes to Mad Men, either you love it or you don't. The latest season definitely wasn't the best of the series, but when it comes to such a rich show, does that really even matter? This past June I wrote an impassioned post about Mad Men's most recent season and I honestly don't have much else to add except that regardless of season, Mad Men is one of the most engrossing and well-crafted series on television. Period.
Season Highlights: As I've said in the past, an entire season of Mad Men is like a good novel and so choosing a favorite episode is sometimes like choosing a favorite chapter of a book (which is kind of an awkward thing to do). It'd be easier to pick out various moments. But Episode 6.6 "For Immediate Release" was absolutely a highlight as it captured a sense of exhilaration reminiscent of the show's classic third season finale.

Orange is the New Black (Netflix)
Basically all summer all anyone talked about was this show, and with good reason. Because holy cow, what a fantastic program. As I mentioned in July, it was incredibly hard for me to shake Orange from my system (not that I wanted to). Something about Orange stuck with me. Beyond its tight structure, great writing, and celebrity directing (Jodie Foster, people!), it was the dimensional characters that made this show what it was. And I admire Orange for its large and diverse female cast, the likes of which we rarely seen on television--especially not in such an enriching format. I'm counting down the days until we get more.
Season Highlights: When you binge-watch a show, episodes tend to bleed together. But episode 1.5 "The Chickening" was a particular stand out in its zaniness. And the end of Episode 1.11 "Tall Men With Feelings" with its fantastic nod to NPR, the montage that it involves, and the circumstances after, is another favorite.

Breaking Bad (AMC)
What is there to say about Breaking Bad? I never wrote a post regarding this series last season as I found it hard to parse out my thoughts on the finale. Months later I find that the final episode doesn't necessarily hold up as well as I would like, but thats fine because everything that came before it was absolutely amazing and expertly executed on every single level. And as for the finale I can't fault it for tying things up so neatly after the explosive episodes we got before it. Walt basically moving like a ghost throughout the final episode, entering and leaving scenes without notice as he calmly tied up lose ends, offered a moment to catch our breaths right before the end. I loved the creepy aspect of Walt prowling about with such ease and confidence as compared to the clumsy fool we met years ago. And how we got there was a crazy wild journey, so far beyond anything else on television. I always said no one does intensity like Breaking Bad, and that was absolutely true from the get-go in this final half of season five. This was one of the best series of television to ever grace our screens. Every season somehow improved on the one before it leaving us with this gem of a final season.
Season Highlights: Forget everything I just said about the finale. Because that was the epilogue. Episode 5.14, the explosive "Ozymandias," was the true ending to this show. Not only was "Ozymandias" arguably the best episode of Breaking Bad, but it was one of the best episodes of television I have ever seen. Everything great about Breaking Bad was expertly exhibited in this one hour of television and everyone watching was left with their jaws on the floor, their hearts pounding, and their minds reeling. The emotion, the performances, the pace, the writing, the directing...every single thing was spot on. And its why Breaking Bad was arguably the best thing on television in 2013.


But wait! That not all....

In Which I Passionately Discuss Mad Men

One of my favorite things about television, or at least the type of television I gravitate towards, is how it is like a great book or novel. Each season being a different volume in some great series. I guess growing up a huge Harry Potter nerd means I have an affection for serialized storytelling. And I'm always hungry for more. I have an unquenchable appetite for a story with plot, purpose, and payoff. People that feel like actual people is also a plus. In terms of visuals, I've grown to even love the technical side of things, finding myself appreciating certain shots or sequences that a causal viewer may not even notice. Obviously these latter qualities are unique to visual media, but craft is craft. Whether it is a book whose prose you find poignant or if it's a television show whose visual motifs you admire above all else, it almost doesn't even matter what's being said when the presentation is just so damn good. And obviously, one such show to possess all this since its start, has been Mad Men.

When I am in the midst of a season of Mad Men, I feel like I'm in the midst of a great book. Not just in terms of seasonal arcs or plotting, but in the sense that I need time to absorb the chapter I just finished. I need to actively consider the style and structure choices. I need to dissect characters and their actions. I need a moment to recall the lines of dialogue and how they were delivered. And to speculate on where it's all going. And I also can't wait to get online and read how other people interpreted the episode. It's like a great big book club for me. Or an English class in which last night's reading is brought to discussion. I always look forward to reading some Mad Men recaps to gather various points of view or discussion. And heck, Mad Men has made me love comment sections because I will absolutely seek those out. Even the people commenting bring up fantastic points that I would never have thought of on my own. It often ends up being a jumping off point to parse my own theories and analyses. And what makes Mad Men so good is that so much is left open. Matthew Weiner doesn't give definitive answers--which he should never do, to be honest--he just lets people have their own relationship with the ambiguities of his work. And in that sense, it's like a great book.

After last Sunday's sixth season finale, I tweeted that it was probably one of my least favorite seasons of the show. But honestly, that means nothing. Because even the worst season of Mad Men is amazing. And also because I've had almost a week to reflect and while I may still stand by that statement, the season overall has grown on me. The things that I found boring and repetitive were meant to feel boring and repetitive. I was so sick of Don Draper this season. And his endless cycle of self-destructive drinking and cheating and "mystery." It didn't feel exciting or compelling anymore. It didn't feel much of anything. It was lifeless and indifferent and habitual. Yes there were painful low points, but I didn't feel sympathy in those moments. I felt disgusted and sick of it all. But now that the season is over and I'm looking at this complete thing, I realize it felt that way for a reason. Because even Don felt that way about himself.

For example, I was so uninterested in the brothel flashbacks. But I have now fully realized their necessity to the understanding of Don Draper slash Dick Whitman. At times I thought it was just about mommy issues and why Don treats women the way he does. And while it was about that, it was only partially. The flashbacks kept going, implying there was more to them. Their overuse and heavy-handedness are exactly what got everyone talking about them. Every recapper and commenter was rolling their eyes at those whorehouse scenes not knowing that it was all leading up to this incredible character moment in which Don lets his Dick out in a meeting. Similarly, everyone was wondering, "What's the deal with Bob Benson?" which led to a great reveal that's not even really about Bob that much at all. Instead we reflect on Don and who he is, where he started, and what he's become. But Bob's existence wasn't merely about holding a mirror up to Don Draper. It was actually done in a fantastically rich way. Because Bob feels like a character now. He's only been around thirteen episodes, and we don't know much about him, but there's enough there to hold our attention. And all at once, in Bob's reveal, we were presented with fantastic writing for more than one character. It's a twofer. And it feels genius because it came so easily and led to so much more. Because all of this--the brothel flashbacks and Dick slips and Bob Bension mysteries--was in the service of not only character, but plot and story. This whole season was leading us there and we didn't even know it. We were looking directly at it--we were complaining about it and speculating about it--and it still managed to surprise us. And it's fucking amazing. In its subtlety, seeming simplicity, and denouement, it is all amazing. And it's quintessential Mad Men.

There was also the death imagery from the season's opener. And the quote from Dante's "Inferno" that was ever present in our minds, heavily implying that Don had entered some sort of existential hell this season. Not to mention the chaos of 1968, the assassinations and riots, the sirens constantly blaring, the drug induced hallucinations...and also that bayonet incident. But after the Hershey speech it's now clear that the imagery wasn't necessarily foreshadowing someone's actual death (although, to be fair, the finale did include one) but possibly the death of Don Draper. And I love where this season left off. Not only the speech and what it implies about Don's state, but also that brief moment between Sally and Don. And even the moment between Sally and Betty in the previous episode. And also Peggy and Ted. And Peggy and that pantsuit. And Pete and his family. And Joan and Roger (and Kevin). And Don and SC&P. And Megan and that mouth of hers. And Ken and his one eye. And obviously, what its always been about: Don Draper and Dick Whitman.

Knowing that the next season of Mad Men is going to be its last has got me excited. I'm looking forward for this show to end. And not in any sort of negative way, but because I'm ready for some resolution. The show has run its course and everyone knows it. It's been quality since the beginning and I can't wait to see the end. To see where the story leaves us. And to see how the volume fits on the shelf.