1) When They See Us - Heartbreaking, agonizing, frustrating and so many more adjectives could be used to describe this miniseries. Brilliantly cast and sublimely directed by Anna DuVernay. If you haven't seen this miniseries, you're doing yourself a disservice and missing out on some of the greatest television that's ever been produced and a series that dives into the injustices the supposed criminal justice system has thrown and continues to throw at minorities. Harrowing exploration into just how much that fateful night in Central Park became a touchstone moment defining the lack of value placed on black and brown lives. Antron, Kevin, Yusef and Raymond's stories are all impactful and no less important but Korey's will shake you to your very core; what Jharrel Jerome pulled off here is one of the best acting performances of all time.
2) Chernobyl - HBO has a unique talent of capturing atmosphere in a bone chilling and spine tingling way which evokes a visceral fear that no other network can match and they didn't disappoint here with Chernobyl. Riveting look into one of the preeminent disasters our species has had to grapple with and the effects it's had in the consciousness of our species going on the better part of three decades now. The series does a wonderful job balancing the Soviet Union's cover-up and recklessness with the breadth of people it affected and the scope of the disaster in a larger narrative. Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgard and Emily Watson seem born to play their roles and portray them in an almost scarily genuine manner. There are numerous scenes here that will take your breath away; from the irradiated pets being condemned to slaughter to seeing someone literally scorched to death by the open core of a nuclear reactor.
3) Unbelievable - The year of the miniseries continues with another breathtaking Netflix gem. For anyone who has ever been sexually assaulted and known the horror of not being taken seriously or told they aren't telling the truth, I can't imagine the pain a series like this dredges up. Based on the Pulitzer winning investigative article published for The Marshall Project, Unbelievable explores the serial rapist who assaulted multiple women in Colorado and Washington between 2008-2011. As much as you'll want to smash your head against a wall and be absolutely disgusted by the way Marie's case is handled by police, the work done here by Grace Rasmussen and Karen Duvall is unflinching, determined and ultimately successful. Toni Collette, Merritt Wever and Kaitlyn Dever put together a masterclass of emotionally draining and heroic performances that demand your attention.
4) Sex Education - This came across my feed on Netflix last January and boy am I ever glad I decided to check it out. Rarely has a show dealt with sexuality, acceptance and diversity in a coming of age scripted drama so effectively. And in such a humorous manner, even when trauma finds its way to the main characters and their lives. Most of the topics Sex Education touches upon and deals with have a lot of intersectionality between them and they're always dealt with in a thoughtful and intelligent way that doesn't stereotype or cheapen these experiences. The acting is spot on and Gillian Anderson is riotous good fun and steals each and everyone of her scenes but the cast as a whole just works. If you're looking for somebody to identify with here, young or old, straight or gay, binary or non-binary, black or white... you will find it.
5) Dark S2 - When writers and directors can put together a script involving multiple timelines, bounce between multiple futures, pasts and the present while juggling over a dozen important characters nearly flawlessly and keep their show's plot cohesive and intriguing, well... it's a masterclass in storytelling. Dark is one of the wildest mediums of entertainment you'll ever consume and the 2nd season continued to build on an already mindbending first season. This series is German so if you're somebody, for whatever reason, that steers away from subtitled entertainment do give this a chance. Don't watch it in the English dub. I'm ridiculously impressed with how good Dark tackles the existential nature of time travel and opines on the morality of the decisions its characters make. It's an intelligent show that requires your full attention. In addition to the solid writing and direction, the acting and cinematography here is some of the best on TV.
6) Stranger Things S3 - Perhaps my favorite season of Stranger Things yet. The show has a formula, which it sticks to, that could get tired and stale but to the show's credit it continues re-invent itself just enough every season to remain intriguing. The Russia plot got a little convoluted and wild this season but S3 found its strength in the interpersonal dynamics between its groups of characters more than anything else. The addition of the Scoops Troop (Steve, Dustin, Robin, Erica) provided a lot of levity and humor that counterbalanced the arcs of other character groups. The Eleven + Max relationship was handled really well too. Phenomenal production values from its set pieces to the CGI and its atmospheric soundtrack always delivers. Never expected that an episode of Stranger Things would pull on the heartstrings and have a big emotional impact but we get that in the season finale as well.
7) The Boys - Prime's best original series? I think so. This is my biggest and most welcome surprise of the year. I didn't know anything about the source material going in and wasn't even aware that the series was a Prime Original. Well boy, am I ever glad that a special someone recommended it to me and wanted to watch. The Boys manages to subvert the most harmful tropes of the Super Hero genre, especially as it relates to the perspective of its antiheroes. Its premise could easily devolve into a meandering and shallow plot but it's elevated into a multifaceted thread that takes the time to make sure each character has a meaningful part to play. Insanely impressed with the VFX which manages to appear film quality the majority of the time. They've set up a lot of interesting potential plots going forward and I can't wait to see them materialize. Also, Giancarlo Esposito in S2? Fuck yeah.
8) Mindhunter S2 - Mindhunter at #8? Not an indicator of its quality, just representative of how strong this year of Television has been. Still the preeminent and gold standard of crime thrillers on television, this season delved into the Atlanta child murders with David Fincher's usual unsettling flair. I found the character of Holden to be a little over dramatized this season and his focus a little too narrow compared to the source material and real life counterpart but it's really my only complaint here. Maybe would have liked to see a little more time dedicated to the Wayne Henley and Charles Manson (who was portrayed amazingly) plots but the narrative constraints here are understandable. Mindhunter is HBO quality programming on Netflix and has surpassed True Detective in the crime genre for me. Season 3 is going to be a long and tough wait with Fincher working on Mank at the moment.
9) Game of Thrones S8 - When GRRM calls out the fandom as toxic and denounces the nerd rage that plagued the final season of Game of Thrones, I have a hard time blaming him for the slow delivery of Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring. The final season was all over the place from a writing and narrative perspective and eschewed both for impressive set pieces and battles a little too often. It hit the mark just as much as it missed it while not being nearly as disastrous as the critics and fandom say but it also wasn't up to the standard the show had set either. Disappointing to see characters throw away their reasoning and motivations for whimsical poorly thought out spontaneity. Looking forward to the prequel series that's been green-lit and would one day love to see a sequel following season 8's events grace our screens. Drogon and Ghost will always be the goodest boys and Dany the one true queen.
10) The Expanse S4 - Originally picked up this series while season 3 was airing and instantly got hooked. Love the dynamics between the inner worlds, the belt and every other faction in the series, the conflicts between them are explored in such a unique and complicated manner compared to other science fiction shows set in space. This show has one of my favorite characters on television at the moment in Naomi Nagata; wish more shows could take a hint when it comes to writing multilayered strong female characters. I have never read the source material but from the indications I've gotten, the themes the next book covers already have me anticipating season 5. Have to give a shout out to David Strathairn here too. I never imagined that Klaes Ashford would become one of my favorite characters in the entire show; his character arc was one of the most rewarding journeys and
Honorable Mention:
Star Trek Discovery S2 - Originally wasn't as high on this series but season 2 was a noticeable step up in every regard. This show looks gorgeous and goes into season 3 exploring uncharted territory for Star Trek. Looking forward to them developing their own cannon and stories now being in the 29th century and not beholden to anything at all. Anson Mount as Pike, Ethan Peck as Spock and Rebecca Romijn added some much needed heft and I'm hopeful that they get their own spin-off series to complement the Picard and Section 31 offerings.
Fails of the Year:
The Mandalorian - For what was supposed to be Disney +'s killer app when it came to their bare bones library of new original programming, the show is a major let down. Poor acting, horrible writing and an unimaginative shallow plot that completely lacks any substance whatsoever. There isn't really anything positive to say about this offering other than the fact that its production values are decent and the show looks great most of the time.
2) Chernobyl - HBO has a unique talent of capturing atmosphere in a bone chilling and spine tingling way which evokes a visceral fear that no other network can match and they didn't disappoint here with Chernobyl. Riveting look into one of the preeminent disasters our species has had to grapple with and the effects it's had in the consciousness of our species going on the better part of three decades now. The series does a wonderful job balancing the Soviet Union's cover-up and recklessness with the breadth of people it affected and the scope of the disaster in a larger narrative. Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgard and Emily Watson seem born to play their roles and portray them in an almost scarily genuine manner. There are numerous scenes here that will take your breath away; from the irradiated pets being condemned to slaughter to seeing someone literally scorched to death by the open core of a nuclear reactor.
3) Unbelievable - The year of the miniseries continues with another breathtaking Netflix gem. For anyone who has ever been sexually assaulted and known the horror of not being taken seriously or told they aren't telling the truth, I can't imagine the pain a series like this dredges up. Based on the Pulitzer winning investigative article published for The Marshall Project, Unbelievable explores the serial rapist who assaulted multiple women in Colorado and Washington between 2008-2011. As much as you'll want to smash your head against a wall and be absolutely disgusted by the way Marie's case is handled by police, the work done here by Grace Rasmussen and Karen Duvall is unflinching, determined and ultimately successful. Toni Collette, Merritt Wever and Kaitlyn Dever put together a masterclass of emotionally draining and heroic performances that demand your attention.
4) Sex Education - This came across my feed on Netflix last January and boy am I ever glad I decided to check it out. Rarely has a show dealt with sexuality, acceptance and diversity in a coming of age scripted drama so effectively. And in such a humorous manner, even when trauma finds its way to the main characters and their lives. Most of the topics Sex Education touches upon and deals with have a lot of intersectionality between them and they're always dealt with in a thoughtful and intelligent way that doesn't stereotype or cheapen these experiences. The acting is spot on and Gillian Anderson is riotous good fun and steals each and everyone of her scenes but the cast as a whole just works. If you're looking for somebody to identify with here, young or old, straight or gay, binary or non-binary, black or white... you will find it.
5) Dark S2 - When writers and directors can put together a script involving multiple timelines, bounce between multiple futures, pasts and the present while juggling over a dozen important characters nearly flawlessly and keep their show's plot cohesive and intriguing, well... it's a masterclass in storytelling. Dark is one of the wildest mediums of entertainment you'll ever consume and the 2nd season continued to build on an already mindbending first season. This series is German so if you're somebody, for whatever reason, that steers away from subtitled entertainment do give this a chance. Don't watch it in the English dub. I'm ridiculously impressed with how good Dark tackles the existential nature of time travel and opines on the morality of the decisions its characters make. It's an intelligent show that requires your full attention. In addition to the solid writing and direction, the acting and cinematography here is some of the best on TV.
6) Stranger Things S3 - Perhaps my favorite season of Stranger Things yet. The show has a formula, which it sticks to, that could get tired and stale but to the show's credit it continues re-invent itself just enough every season to remain intriguing. The Russia plot got a little convoluted and wild this season but S3 found its strength in the interpersonal dynamics between its groups of characters more than anything else. The addition of the Scoops Troop (Steve, Dustin, Robin, Erica) provided a lot of levity and humor that counterbalanced the arcs of other character groups. The Eleven + Max relationship was handled really well too. Phenomenal production values from its set pieces to the CGI and its atmospheric soundtrack always delivers. Never expected that an episode of Stranger Things would pull on the heartstrings and have a big emotional impact but we get that in the season finale as well.
7) The Boys - Prime's best original series? I think so. This is my biggest and most welcome surprise of the year. I didn't know anything about the source material going in and wasn't even aware that the series was a Prime Original. Well boy, am I ever glad that a special someone recommended it to me and wanted to watch. The Boys manages to subvert the most harmful tropes of the Super Hero genre, especially as it relates to the perspective of its antiheroes. Its premise could easily devolve into a meandering and shallow plot but it's elevated into a multifaceted thread that takes the time to make sure each character has a meaningful part to play. Insanely impressed with the VFX which manages to appear film quality the majority of the time. They've set up a lot of interesting potential plots going forward and I can't wait to see them materialize. Also, Giancarlo Esposito in S2? Fuck yeah.
8) Mindhunter S2 - Mindhunter at #8? Not an indicator of its quality, just representative of how strong this year of Television has been. Still the preeminent and gold standard of crime thrillers on television, this season delved into the Atlanta child murders with David Fincher's usual unsettling flair. I found the character of Holden to be a little over dramatized this season and his focus a little too narrow compared to the source material and real life counterpart but it's really my only complaint here. Maybe would have liked to see a little more time dedicated to the Wayne Henley and Charles Manson (who was portrayed amazingly) plots but the narrative constraints here are understandable. Mindhunter is HBO quality programming on Netflix and has surpassed True Detective in the crime genre for me. Season 3 is going to be a long and tough wait with Fincher working on Mank at the moment.
9) Game of Thrones S8 - When GRRM calls out the fandom as toxic and denounces the nerd rage that plagued the final season of Game of Thrones, I have a hard time blaming him for the slow delivery of Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring. The final season was all over the place from a writing and narrative perspective and eschewed both for impressive set pieces and battles a little too often. It hit the mark just as much as it missed it while not being nearly as disastrous as the critics and fandom say but it also wasn't up to the standard the show had set either. Disappointing to see characters throw away their reasoning and motivations for whimsical poorly thought out spontaneity. Looking forward to the prequel series that's been green-lit and would one day love to see a sequel following season 8's events grace our screens. Drogon and Ghost will always be the goodest boys and Dany the one true queen.
10) The Expanse S4 - Originally picked up this series while season 3 was airing and instantly got hooked. Love the dynamics between the inner worlds, the belt and every other faction in the series, the conflicts between them are explored in such a unique and complicated manner compared to other science fiction shows set in space. This show has one of my favorite characters on television at the moment in Naomi Nagata; wish more shows could take a hint when it comes to writing multilayered strong female characters. I have never read the source material but from the indications I've gotten, the themes the next book covers already have me anticipating season 5. Have to give a shout out to David Strathairn here too. I never imagined that Klaes Ashford would become one of my favorite characters in the entire show; his character arc was one of the most rewarding journeys and
I'm going to miss seeing him on the show going forward
Honorable Mention:
Star Trek Discovery S2 - Originally wasn't as high on this series but season 2 was a noticeable step up in every regard. This show looks gorgeous and goes into season 3 exploring uncharted territory for Star Trek. Looking forward to them developing their own cannon and stories now being in the 29th century and not beholden to anything at all. Anson Mount as Pike, Ethan Peck as Spock and Rebecca Romijn added some much needed heft and I'm hopeful that they get their own spin-off series to complement the Picard and Section 31 offerings.
Fails of the Year:
The Mandalorian - For what was supposed to be Disney +'s killer app when it came to their bare bones library of new original programming, the show is a major let down. Poor acting, horrible writing and an unimaginative shallow plot that completely lacks any substance whatsoever. There isn't really anything positive to say about this offering other than the fact that its production values are decent and the show looks great most of the time.
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