This Week's Top Three (Monday, 8/5/13 through Sunday, 8/11/13)

AMC had a big week debuting a new show and beginning seasons in two other shows. I will fully admit I was nervous about all three. I thought the new drama, Low Winter Sun, looked like it might be a little much. I was scared that Hell on Wheels went to far to come back at the end of last season. And I was worried that Breaking Bad might be trudging slowly for 6 or 7 episodes just to get to its climax.

My worries were laid to rest on all three shows. And in typical AMC drama fashion … they came in an pushed Showtime right on out … taking all three spots in This Week’s Top Three.

3. Hell on Wheels, Episodes 1 and 2, Big Bad Wolf and Eminent Domain. The ending of Season 2 of Hell on Wheels presented some major issues for the show going forward. The death of a very popular character followed by the imprisonment of a central antagonist made the future of Cullen Bohannan (Anson Mount) seem very murky and possibly uninteresting. But, the writers figured out how to keep it going and make it fresh. The opening was a little over the top. A little of the story was herky-jerky (I mean, Cullen and Elam get to New York and back awfully quickly). But in the end, it stayed trued to its spirit and remains a believable Western drama … something television has not had much of in recent memory … if ever. Obviously, the most compelling part of the story here is the back and forth between Bohannon and Elam (Common), but the show is able to bring plenty of other parts of the Wild West to the forefront and explore it emotionally and historically. The eviction of a Mormon family to build the railroad right through their land was gripping television and the friction forming early between Bohannon about doing what is best for the railroad and what is right is going to be the main story point throughout the season.

2. Low Winter Sun, Episode 1, Pilot. When AMC debuts a new drama you should watch. Period. I was almost turned off by the previews of this show, but I kept reminding myself to not doubt AMC’s ability to make amazing dramatic television. From the opening moments where two cops murder another cop to the end where one of those cops feels he was duped … you cannot turn away. Mark Strong is perfectly cast as the brooding Detective Frank Agnew and Lennie James is equally solid playing his partner in murder, Joe Geddes. Some of the other parts of the show were a little cliché for cop procedurals, but in general it was well-written and makes you want to come back for more. Two alumni from The Wire, David Costabile and James Ransone, help round out a solid cast. I am very eager to see where this show goes in the next few weeks and see if AMC has struck gold again.

1. Breaking Bad, Episode 1, Blood Money. The weight of the world is on Vince Gilligan’s shoulders for the “Final 8” and in round one he delivered big time. The first eight episodes of Season 5 (aired last summer) were a little gimmicky in their build up to these final eight and left me wondering if Gilligan and the other writers have lost their mojo as the ending approaches. This opening act left no doubt that we are in for a fantastic finish to one of the ten best shows ever on television. The jump forward to Walter White (Bryan Cranston) making a return visit to his house to get his ricin back had so much information in it that I don’t even know where to begin. The house is condemned. It has clearly been the target of vandals and more. His full head of hair seems to indicate that he has beaten cancer … again. And his quick interaction with his next-door neighbor shows that she knows who he is and fears him. Heisenberg has been outed to everyone. But the show gets great when it starts to explore all the sides of Walt trying to get out of the business. Lydia shows up at the car wash and gets an earful from Walt and Skylar. Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) is in such a bad place mentally that he cannot bring himself to even touch any of the $5 million he has received from Walt. He tries getting rid of it any way he can … no matter how reckless it could be to him or to Walt. And Walt, with cancer back full throttle, realizes a major mistake has happened and Hank (Dean Norris) is on to him.

The confrontation between Hank and Walt at the end of the episode is exactly what you expect from great television series. They did not delay this face-to-face for three episodes while messing around … Gilligan got right to it. And for a show that has had so many memorable moments and so many memorable moments and so many memorable lines … it clearly is ready to tackle the end and it surely will not tread lightly.

Honorable Mention: The Bridge, Episode 5, “The Beast”; Dexter, Episode 7, “Dress Code”

This Week's Top Three (Monday, 7/29/2013 through Sunday, 8/4/2013)

As The Killing closes we head into a week where three AMC shows are slated to debut. Low Winter Sun, Hell on Wheels and Breaking Bad all premier this week, which will make it interesting to see if Dexter, The Bridge and Ray Donovan can stay at the head of the pack. I will also be curious to see how the final 5 episodes of Burn Notice stack up against these heavyweights. Burn Notice has strung together a handful of tightly written shows here during its last hurrah, but it misses the cut again this week.

3. Ray Donovan, Episode 6, Housewarming. Another solid episode put out to continue this shows quest to be the best new show of 2013. Liev Schreiber and Jon Voigt continue to steal scene after scene, as we look deeper and deeper into a dysfunctional Boston family dropped in the Hollywood hills.  The storyline with the stubborn FBI agent trying to bring down Donovan is well done, because Donovan has done his scare tactic and not scared him off. Ray is clearly scared of the thought of having to take out an FBI agent and can’t bring himself to take out his own father, leaving him caught in a position he is unable to solve. As Ray’s family continues to fall apart around him, he does not know how to keep them together and keep everything he has worked for from falling apart. Schreiber’s ability to show the emotional strain on Ray as he transforms back and forth from Ray Donovan family man to Ray Donovan problem solver is so well done that he certainly has him jumping into the Emmy mix next year. Still the show I look forward to the most week-in and week-out right now.

2. Dexter, Episode 6, A Little Reflection. Six episodes left in our glimpse at the life of a Miami police officer serial killer … And they seem to be going out with a bang. The show has always explored Dexter’s willingness to smudge his rules in order to satisfy his own emotional needs, so the Zach storyline has been perfect to give us one more tug-of-war in Dexter’s mind. His — and Dr. Vogel’s — decision to let Zach live and try to teach him the code could be his and the good doc’s downfall. It is nice to see the show really getting into the wind down as they have virtually settled the Deb-Dexter story arc that has dominated the last season and a half and was getting slightly tedious. Hannah McKay showing up at the end only makes things more interesting going forward and is evidence of another mistake by Dexter where he ignored Harry’s Code and tried to be “human.” By chasing Trinity for himself, it cost him his wife and his son his mother. But allowing Hannah to live it could cost him his sister. Is allowing Zach to live going to be his final mistake?

1. The Killing, Episodes 11 and 12, From Up Here and The Road to Hamelin. At the end of the previous episode, viewers of The Killing knew two things for sure. Ray Seward did not kill his wife and Joe Mills was not actually the Piper. Can there be a few holes pointed to throughout the season that make the eventual revelation of Lieutenant Skinner as the Pied Piper a little far-fetched? Sure. But a few slight holes do not change the fact that this payoff was very well done. If you watch shows like this often you learn there are hints dropped off quite often. A couple of weeks ago, when Joe Mills was arrested for the murders, all viewers knew he must not be the actual killer, but what could easily be missed is what Detectives Linden and Holder latched onto in the final two hours. Mills had Bullet and all of the trinkets of the dead girls in his car. It meant that if someone else was the killer — and we knew someone else had to be because why would The Killing give us the killer in episode 9 — it had to be someone close to the investigation … a cop most likely. So, while the season and the final two episodes were a little uneven … the show mostly stayed on course while keeping its “big reveal” in its back pocket. Not to be overlooked this season was the fantastic exploration of the streetkids in Seattle. The entire story almost seemed forced at first. In the end, it was so fantastic and showed so well the difficulty of kids and families that get lost with dealing with the system. Seeing Twitch throw away his habit while at the same time seeing Lyric get into another car was a great way for the show to end their stories and show how the cycle continues. But ... in the end ... what really makes The Killing a show we desperately want to see back for season 4 is the acting. This season could easily bring three acting Emmy nods. Mireille Enos, Joel Kinnaman and Peter Sarsgaard simply could not have performed better and all deserve recognition for their fantastic portrayals of Detective Linden, Detective Holder and inmate Ray Seward, respectively. The final moments of the season between a broken Linden and her desperate to save her partner Holder were agonizing and perfect … and left us all holding our breath for a fourth installment.

Honorable Mention: The Bridge, Episode 4, “Maria of the Desert”; Burn Notice, Episode 8, “Nature of the Beast”