I know it is a little late, but figured I would get back to it.
This was a tough week to pick just three shows, there were a handful of great season finale's and one perfectly executed season premier. In the end, Game of Thrones, The Americans and House of Lies all got left on the cutting room floor due to an excellent week on the small screen.
3. Californication, Episode 12, I'll Lay My Monsters Down. Every year I expect this show to disappoint me for whatever reason. It is kind of goofy, kind of jumps around, doesn't seem to have a real focus. But, every single season the writers prove me wrong. This show knows EXACTLY what it is doing and where it wants to go and is taking us there at such an interesting pace. This season was the best since Season 3 and the angle they are taking heading into what might be the final season is perfect. There is not a single viewer who thought Runkle and Marcy were going to stay on the outs and the show is definitely more fun with those two together, but the Hank/Karen relationship is really what makes Californication go and they have dangled it so well over six seasons. As we continue to watch Hank Moody fail time and time again to get things together and convince the love of his life it is for real, we always hope he will figure it out. The ending of this season let us glimpse that maybe ... just maybe ... he is finally ready to be the guy that is happily married and OK with that.
2. Justified, Episode 13, Ghosts. Justified is simply the most underrated show on television and it is not even a close contest. This show deserves to be on every top 10 list and deserves to be in serious consideration for a Best Drama Emmy nod and we know that just is not going to happen. Another show that never strays from its characters and it has molded them so well over 4 expertly crafted seasons that could all stand alone. This final episode saw a new angle, Boyd Crowder not seeing two steps ahead and watching his beloved Ava head to the slammer. That will make for a very interesting Season 5. The writers have struggled since Season 1 to find reason to keep Boyd and Raylan from going head-to-head because the show just can't win by having one of them lose. But, Boyd is not going to stand for Ava being locked up and his vengeance could finally draw Raylan out to battle, despite Givens' clear soft spot for the homicidal Crowder. The final scene, with Raylan sitting at the grave of his mother and his daddy as he thinks about where his life is heading is perfect. Everyone around him can see that his life ends sooner than later in a grave on that plot. The question is ... can Raylan Givens change from the bitter, cynical guy he is now that he has a daughter on the way to make his life worth living?
1. Mad Men, Episode 1&2, The Doorway Part 1 & 2. There has been a ton of press out there whining about the premier of Mad Men and how "nothing happened" and the show thinks it can get away with doing nothing. They are completely off base and show a lack of understanding what has Mad Men one of the best shows ever on television. This season started off with soul searching for handful of very key characters and where that searching takes them should make for what might be the best show of the year come Emmy time. Don has fallen back into his cheating ways and feels guilty about it, but at the same time doesn't. He feels his grip slipping at work and is starting to move toward full mid-life crisis mode. The development of Megan's successful acting career is perfect for this show and really means we can explore Draper fully. While it often takes a while to see what seeds have been planted, I could not turn away from this premier knowing that so much in it will be explored fully over the next 11 episodes. Mad Men is back ... and wants its Best Drama Emmy back from Homeland.
Honorable Mention: The Americans, Episode 9, Safe House; House of Lies, Episode 12, Til Death Do Us Part
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