The summer has not disappointed as a couple of new shows have been fantastic (The Bridge and Ray Donovan) and a couple shows in their final seasons have been very intriguing as well (Burn Notice and Dexter). But all of those are being dwarfed right now by the acting and brilliance on AMC’s The Killing as viewers are begging for the announcement of a fourth season, even as the rating numbers stay a little on the paltry side.
3. Dexter, Episode 5, This Little Piggy. As the clock
winds down on this excellent series the writers are doing a pretty good job of
keeping us guessing where it is going. I thought they were going to let the
“Brain Surgeon” serial killer get away in an attempt to keep that storyline
going, but the fact that they killed him just five episodes into the season
leaves me wondering where they are planning to go from here. The love/hate
relationship between Dexter and Deb has been fantastic and has worked well,
even if it is a little neurotic from episode to episode. But they have written
it like this on purpose. It almost seems the only way that Dexter does not end
up dead is to scoop Deb in his arms and run off together to never be found and
that just does not seem plausible. That leaves him arrested or dying as the
most likely solution to years of serial killing … and being watching down the
stretch here to see if it will be Quinn, Batista, Deb, Deb’s new boss
(seriously, why is Sean Patrick Flanery on this show if not for something
major?), etc. For the last two seasons the show has struggled through and
entire season just to get to a final 2 minutes, lets hope that they can pick up
the pace and not just sludge through for whatever ending they have planned for
their anti-hero.
2. Ray Donovan, Episode 5, The Golem. While I was looking
forward to “The Bridge” and the upcoming AMC series “Low Winter Sun” with great
anticipation, I almost forgot how good Showtime has gotten at the serial drama
business. Ray Donovan was an afterthought for my summer viewing, but somehow it
has become quite possibly the best show of the summer and is finding new ways
to surprise every single week. Liev Schreiber has hit gold here and found a
role that suits him completely and has already shown off some talents that his
movie career had convinced me he did not have. The overall story is a simple
one that has been carved out so perfectly. How can Ray Donovan be such a
“fixer” — the best in the business — when he cannot even keep himself and his
own family in shape? As he watches his only father — played so well by Jon
Voight — try to ruin everything he has worked for, he finds himself losing
touch with his brothers, his wife, his daughter and his son. As we learn more
and more about Ray’s past Ray it becomes more and more murky who exactly is the
“bad guy.” The closing scene this week, where Ray is crying in his apartment
without knowing that his wife is there was fantastic. Her walking in and asking
him who he is was just speaking for all the curious viewers wondering the same
thing.
1. The Killing, Episode 10, Six Minutes. Simply put, The
Killing is absolutely great television. If you gave up on The Killing after the
drawn on, overacted, terribly soap opera-like second season … I don’t blame
you. But that means you are missing the best TV comeback story in a long time.
This show has been close to perfect this season, and the heart wrenching,
perfectly executed episode ending with an innocent man choking to death while
hanging from a noose was as gripping as television has been this summer. The
Killing is going to struggle with the 2014 Emmys because — like The Bridge, Ray
Donovan and Dexter — it is airing so early in the process. But make no mistake
… the acting on this show is as good as it is on ANY other and the writing here
has been golden. The episode-long back-and-forth between Detective Sarah Linden
(Mireille Enos) and soon-to-be-executed inmate Ray Seward (Peter Sarsgaard) was
impossible to turn away from. Gripping, one-on-one dialogue like this is what
has helped AMC set itself as the standard for television dramas. Despite the
Summer run, Sarsgaard has to be a virtual lock for serious Emmy consideration
at this point and this episode should be the one every voter looks at come next
May. The character simply could not have been better acted and the last 15 minutes
simply could not have been executed any better. Next week’s two hour
season-finale should be fantastic.
Honorable Mention: The Bridge, Episode 3, Rio.
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