Without further ado … here are my top 10 dramas of the
season in alphabetical order.
Tomorrow, I will reveal what would be my six nominees and
what I think will be the academy's nominees, one day before the Emmy Awards are
announced.
Boardwalk Empire – I
was very worried about Season 3 of Boardwalk Empire. The show had made a bold
turn for Nucky Thompson (played expertly by Steve Buscemi) in having him kill
fan favorite Jimmy Darmody at the end of Season 2 and it helped make that
season spectacular. But without Darmody around, how could this show hold
interest? They did it by introducing the sick and twisted Gyp Rosetti who gave newly-minted killer Thompson a serious adversary that was willing to do
anything — and kill anyone — to end up on top. The love life of Nucky,
Margaret, Owen and the suddenly alone Gillian Darmody was a distraction to the
overall arc though and the show seems to regularly forget how good of an actor
they have in Michael Kenneth Williams (who portrays Chalky White).
Breaking Bad – Season
5 of Breaking Bad opened with a fantastic scene on Walter’s birthday and the
viewer left wondering, “What the hell?” The rest of the season took us on a
roller-coaster ride to a wonderful final moment setting up the big head-to-head
that fans had to have seen coming for years. There was some sketchy plot
twists along the way (c’mon … the magnet, train heist and death of the
superiorly trained henchman Mike all in an 8-episode arc?), but the show
remains so superbly well acted that it is impossible to turn away.
Downton Abbey – This
season of Downton Abbey was by far its best as death joined the fray seriously for the
first time. The writers clearly did not know that they were going to lose one
of their lead actors, so when he failed to extend his contract, we ended up with a two-death
season in a show that has prided itself on avoiding the “gasp” endings so popular
with shows these days. Somehow it worked perfectly though. The acting on this show is vastly
underrated and the superb one-liners delivered by Maggie Smith on a regular
basis make for the funniest moments on dramatic television.
Game of Thrones – I
must say, following Season 2’s boring almost repeat of Season 1 … I was not
sure that Game of Thrones was going to hold my interest. I was ready to chalk
it up to the crazy fanatics overhyping it and move on … then something crazy
happened and we got what might have been the best show on television this year.
Top to bottom, all the characters were written almost perfectly this season.
Since they had to turn the super popular Peter Dinklage into a good guy (making
Season 2 almost laughable following Season 1) … he delivered greatly throughout
Season 3. Obviously the “Red Wedding” stole the thunder as the season’s moment
(rightfully so) but there is so much going on and so much being well-acted and
well-written right now that this show is a must watch next season just to keep
up.
Homeland – Following
a shocking Emmy sweep for Season 1, it was going to be very difficult for
Homeland to live up to the well-deserved hype … and it performed admirably. I
am often drawn to the best scenes to decide what the best shows were in a given
season, and this season was full of fantastic scenes where two actors/actresses
worked together and stole the show. Of course, the season was also filled with
much more “suspension of disbelief” than we needed in the first season. What I
love about Homeland is it clearly understands that its audience will keep up.
It moves from storyline to storyline extremely quickly without dragging
anything out because it knows the viewer has already figured out where it is
going. I can’t tell you how many times I “figured out” what the rest of the
season was going to be about only to see the show resolve the issue within and
episode or two. That is difficult to do as a writer because you want to draw
out your stories so you don’t run out of them … the top guys at Homeland are
clearly not scared of running out of ideas.
Justified – While
it has been nominated in numerous acting categories and has even taken home a
couple of Emmys … no show on television is as vastly underrated as Justified.
Timothy Olyphant’s portrayal as Raylan Givens is on par with Cranston as White
and Hamm as Draper. As opposed to those other guys though, Givens is a clear
good guy with some questionable tendencies. He has a haunting family past that was
portrayed so perfectly throughout this season I would almost throw an Emmy at
Olyphant if I did not think Hamm was so good this year. The show continues to
run great story arcs around its two fantastic lead actors (Olyphant and the
great Walton Goggins) and moves at a rapid pace while keeping one overall arc
as the main attraction.
Mad Men – The
critics seem to be getting bored with Don Draper’s antics, but this season was
perfect in the Draper world for me and the critics who whined about Draper
being “married” in Season 5 turned right around and whined about him “falling
back to his ways” in Season 6. The last scene of Season 5 all but assured us of
what Season 6 had in store for Draper, but what was done on the show this year
was a slight touch of brilliance. They have kept the viewer invested in Draper
and all of the people running around with him. They showed him falling deeper
and deeper into the pit he so routinely falls into … and they gave us a
life-changing moment that none of us believe will work for Draper. Having Sally
see him for what he is was a HUGE moment for television this year. He finally
realized that she would not see him as a workaholic father … but simply as a
father who would rather be womanizing than see his kids. And it scares him
because that is EXACTLY what he is. He takes being let go by HIS company in
stride, scoops up his kids and sets up a final season where hopefully we can
find ourselves desperately clinging to hope for Dick Whitman.
Sons of Anarchy – This
show is ultraviolent … unbelievably so at times. This show is completely over
the top. This show bounces all over the place. This show is motorcycles and
guns first … story second. Those are the things all the negative critics say. And they
are right. But it is remarkably good at all of those things while also telling a
fantastic story that has arced not only for one or two seasons, but for five. There is plenty of great television out
there right now and there are many reasons people can point to Sons and say it
is flawed. But, simply put, if every show on television had a new episode
sitting on my DVR, SOA would be the first one I hit play on. I am eager to see
what happens between Jax Teller and his treacherous stepfather Clay Morrow on
a weekly basis. I want to know if Jax will get out and get away with his family
or if he will die by the sword he has brought to so many throats. I want to
believe that Morrow will realize the wrongs he has done and try to set them
right all while knowing he absolutely cannot do that. And the motorcycles and
violence … I can’t look away from any of that either.
The Americans – The
best new show on television this year was The Americans. Sure, it did not have
much going against it (House of Cards really is the only other strong newcomer)
but it still provided a great season and has earned a second. This is another
show that is superbly acted right down to the secondary roles, but it still
lost its way a little in the middle of the season. I think it is tough to watch
a period drama that is set in a period that so many of the viewers actually
remember. The drama on this show is the tension between Keri Russell (Elizabeth
Jennings) and Matthew Rhys (Peter Jennings) and how raising a family to serve
Russia, while letting the children be “American” tears at every fabric of their
being. All while a determined American agent, played expertly by Noah Emmerich,
is living right across the street. There is plenty the writers can do with that
without having to get to spy heavy on us. They seemed to have gotten back to
that by the end of the season and I am eagerly awaiting Season 2.
The Good Wife – I
keep trying to think of reasons that The Good Wife was not the best show on television
this year … and frankly … I cannot come up with any. The storylines were
perfectly executed. The acting is the best there is on television. And the show
regularly gets “guest” actors and actresses that other shows would love to
have. I think sometimes the writers and producers of TGW don’t realize that
Alicia’s story alone is good enough to carry the show and they dragged on a
terribly silly storyline involving the super talented Archie Panjabi (as
Kalinda) for way too long at the beginning of the season, but outside of that
there is little to complain about with this show. It is constant intrigue. Will
the firm split? Will Diane leave for state Supreme Court seat? Will Alicia
choose Will or Peter? Will Cary and Alicia leave Will? The story clearly closed
the season with Will left all but alone … and it is going to be fantastic TV
in the fall to see where his character goes from there.
Just missed the cut:
The Walking Dead, House of Cards, Dexter
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