This Week's Top Three (Monday, 9/9/13 through Sunday, 9/15/13)

As we enter a wide open Emmy's week (and there will be more posts on that later) we are watching as one show is virtually assuring itself of any and all Emmy's that it will be up for in 2014.
With Sons of Anarchy, Breaking Bad, The Bridge, Low Winter Sun, Hell on Wheels, Boardwalk Empire, Dexter and Ray Donovan all putting on great shows week in a week out ... we have another show sneaking into This Week's Top Three with a great series finale.

3. Burn Notice, Episode 13, Reckoning. Burn Notice had struggled to be even an average show the past couple of seasons, but with its seventh and final season it was successful in bouncing back and closing in a satisfactory way. The violence level ticked up considerably the last couple of seasons as Michael (Jeffrey Donovan) struggled to get closure from his time as a spy and move on to a life as a normal citizen and it had gotten kind of tedious. But, in this final season, his relationship with the CIA and his strained relationships with his closest friends Sam (Bruce Campbell), Jesse (Coby Bell) and Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar) was really put the test and gave the viewer a very good amount of emotional satisfaction as he found his way back to them. Sure, we had the typical "kill off" of a character we cared about in Michael's mother — and it was somewhat unnecessary — but all in all it was a good send off with a happy ending that made putting seven years into this show seem worth it. Good final storylines. An open enough ending for one-off events for the network later. And a show that sends viewers away with a smile. Well done USA Network, if only a single one of your others shows seemed worth a damn to me.

2. Dexter, Episode 12, Monkey in a Box. As one show came to an end, we moved one more closer to the end of another. Dexter closes up shop next Sunday, and its final season has been on par with all but maybe Seasons 1, 2 and 4. The writing has been very good (though a little sketchy with the first "brain surgeon" killer) and the acting has been exceptional as all the different angles are coming together for a perfect storm of events in the series finale. Dexter (Michael C. Hall) has slowly evolved from a psychopathic killer into an everyday citizen ... right at a point when it could cost him everything he cares about. His decision to let Oliver Saxson (Darri Ingolfsson) live and be dealt with by the authorities was shocking and has put his sister Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) in peril as she lies in a pool of her own blood. This ending is very reminiscent of the ending of Season 4 when his complete consumption with getting the Trinity Killer caused him to be absent while his wife was murdered, only this time it is the opposite. His infatuation with Hannah (Yvonne Strahovski) has led him to not murder a man who is dangerous to him and everyone he has grown to love. As the series comes to a close we all have to wonder if our favorite serial killer has finally let too much invade his life. Will it end with Dexter in cuffs? Dead? Or in Argentina?

1. Breaking Bad, Episode 6, Ozmandias. While this week will see wide open Emmy awards ... next year is already a case closed. Barring a total catastrophe in the final couple of episodes, Breaking Bad will run away with the 2014 Best Drama, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress awards. I am calling it before the final season of Mad Men is even in, before Season 3 of Homeland is in and before Seasons 4 of Game of Thrones and Downton Abbey are in. I just can't imagine any of those shows topping the expertly crafted final season Vince Gilligan is giving us to one of the greatest shows that has ever aired. The emotional toll of Hank's death, not only on the viewer, but on Walter, Skylar, Marie and Walt Jr. was perfectly done. As Walter (Bryan Cranston) desperately tried to cling to his family and ran off with his daughter, we see every bit of emotion in his face with Cranston's mesmerizing performance. Somehow, the monster he has become, does not always win out. His decision to leave Holly at a fire station and sever ties with his family by spewing as much venom as he could was the only way to keep them safe. We know that Walt vs. Jesse (Aaron Paul) is not quite yet settled, but Gilligan has made it very difficult for us to see how it gets there. As Walt heads off into anonymity, Gilligan has already let us know that something drags him back to his boarded up home and it likely involves Pinkman. I am not sure what the final two episode hold, but I am sure that they are going to be full of surprises ... and if the first six this season have been any indication ... they will be very satisfying.

Honorable Mention: Sons of Anarchy, Episode 1, "Straw"; Boardwalk Empire, Episode 2, "Resignation"; The Bridge, Episode 10, "Old Friends."