Previously, on Outkick the Coverage...
Welcome to 2015! What better way to usher the new year in than a "better late than never" Best of 2014 Top Ten list? I held the piece back until after the CFB Playoff Semis and felt it would be perfect to slide it into the mix during the hype week prior to Oregon/Ohio State next Monday.
Full disclosure, you're about to witness a cop-out. Yes, this is a top ten, but no, the shows aren't ranked 10-1. I just didn't want to slight any of them, and wish I could go to 20. The truth is, I adored every show mentioned and plenty more. So, rather than try to deal with strengths and weaknesses and nitpicks, let's just have some fun and talk about some truly great drama. Once we're done, I'll give you the best comedy and some other random thoughts, but because we have plenty to accomplish, please allow me to dispense with the rest of the formalities.
One final note, I've previously written about some of these shows, so rather than anything overly lengthy, click the links to read those pieces.
THE TEN BEST DRAMAS OF 2014 (In No Particular Order, Because I'm Lame)
MAD MEN (AMC)
Is Mad Men the best show on TV today? It certainly was at one time and if it isn't, it still holds workable keys to the penthouse suite. The first half of the final season that creator Matthew Weiner and AMC presented in 2014 wasn't the show's strongest run, though it did feature two of the best episodes of the series. The biggest highlights came in the final two episodes of the seven, including a nearly perfect scene with Don (Jon Hamm) and Peggy (Elizabeth Moss) as they embraced and danced to "My Way." The 2014 run ended Mad Men Mockingjay Part 1 without a real cliffhanger, more of placing the characters in the emotional, societal, and occupational location they need to be in to set the stage for the final salvo in 2015.
Weiner has recently said in interviews he expects a "mixed reaction" to the finale, which of course is always the case. Weiner, though, was a major contributor to The Sopranos finale, which ranks as one of, if not the most controversial conclusion in serial drama history. Mad Men has been in the top five of virtually every critical list since Season 1 and while most of the award wins have shrunk a bit to become merely award nominations, it's still one of the best we'll ever experience.
THE LEFTOVERS (HBO)
I wrote a full review of Season 1 a few days after the first year concluded, and suffice it to say, I loved it. Damon Lindelof's adaptation of Tom Perrotta's book, with the author involved in the show, was just superb. It was heartbreaking; it was stunningly filmed, acted exceedingly well, and created a few new stars for those uninitiated. Both Carrie Coon and Justin Theroux, who some knew but many had never seen in anything of consequence, now have the first gold star on the resume. Coon was astonishingly good and increasingly so as the season advanced. Theroux was just the right casting decision for a deep role, which is a major compliment to him. The always-great Amy Brenneman is no longer the quirky short-lived girlfriend of Frasier Crane. Instead, she's the staunch new leader of the Guilty Remnant, a concept that both in print and on screen is mesmerizing to watch or consider.
Of everything returning for a second or third year, this may well be the one I'm awaiting the most. I'll briefly mention some of the best of the newer entries into television at the end of this piece, but will not include shows in this portion of the piece. Clearly, The Leftovers was game-changing television. Very few, if any shows, have me at "hello." The Leftovers had me at the wave before anybody's mouth even opened for that greeting.
THE HONOURABLE WOMAN (Sundance)
There is no top ten without Sundance and BBC's The Honourable Woman. I'll bet you haven't seen it, but if you have, you know what an event it actually was. It isn't exactly a series, more a miniseries event, shorter than Fargo at eight episodes, matching it with True Detective. I honestly don't want to say too much about it, simply want you to hopefully take my word on it and discover it for yourself, but that wouldn't make for interesting reading.
THW is described by Wikipedia as a "political spy thriller," which is both accurate and inaccurate. As with most great dramatic stories, at its essence, it's about people in extraordinary situations, how they react, and what results from those various reactions. Maggie Gyllenhaal, nominated for a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award for the role, plays Nessa Stein, an Anglo-Israeli businesswoman who is tied to a struggle for peace in the Middle East and also, more specifically, in helping to wire the West Bank with optical fibre technology. That latter goal is postponed after her business partner's suicide; then comes the disappearance of a friend's child and flashbacks of the most painful variety. Gyllenhaal's work is moving in every possible way. She's also capable of a multi-faceted performance, with emotional shifts that help the story progress.
If it isn't The Americans, The Honourable Woman had the best conclusion of the year. If not for whatever show you might want to name (in my case, possibly Fargo but maybe nothing), The Honourable Woman wasn't just the cherry on 2014 television's sundae, it was the whole sundae. Hugo Blick wrote and directed it, not a big name to many, but now we'll all be paying attention when he has a new project. Here you had a story so deep I've watched it three times, just trying to pick up on all the nuance and every morsel of detail. It requires alert, careful eyes and open ears. You can't watch it with distraction and perhaps you shouldn't even watch it with lights on. It's one of those programs that knows how great it really is and as a result demands complete attention, as in it would be helpful to avoid all contact with anyone in the hour before or the hour after you watch it.
It's a thoughtful show, presented with exquisite intricacy. It's certainly not a comedy and the drama is heavy, with many tough moments, but in truth, that's the case with much of this list and that's what this and those stories all needed to achieve the necessary gravitas.
The Honourable Woman is slick, it's important, and it's just sublime. It was a miniseries without a grander vision and its byproduct is eight episodes with nothing held back and no time wasted. We're the benefactors.
GAME OF THRONES (HBO)
I've never been what you would call a big fan of swords and dragons and chain mail and "doth" and royal power struggles. With that I'm referring to fiction as I've never experienced the real thing. When Game of Thrones was first announced, a diehard fanbase cheered and celebrated. George R.R. Martin's beloved series had been picked up and would be on the network known for the highest quality in drama. I've enjoyed it since the beginning, but in 2014, the show became a "must watch as it happens live" kind of show. I have a DVR but I had to see what was happening in
Westeros every week as it happened. Without spoiling it, Joffrey's story conclusion, his face in that moment, and pretty much every second Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) was on screen, just those things would have been enough. The season ended in a triumphant moment after many of the darkest story arcs we've seen thus far. Triumphant relative to Thrones obviously, gumdrops aren't falling from the skies here folks.
The ratings were off the charts, the social media conversation unbelievable, and the show itself deserved all the chatter. Season 4 was so much fun to watch and a blast to be a part of as an active viewer. GOT may not end up being the GOAT, but it's damn good. Oh, and no repeat of the Red Wedding! The Purple Wedding was much more entertaining for non-masochists.
I'd write more but the OKTC boss man handles it as only he can so I didn't feel it necessary. We'll all be rapping about it soon enough when Season 5 hits later this year.
THE GOOD WIFE (CBS)
The best show on network television, bar none, just as I wrote in my Golden Three piece a few months ago. It's the Sunday show I never miss, never skip, never even consider not watching on the night it airs. The quality is not a new development, as other than the Kalinda storyline with her ex in Season 4, nothing has even been remotely irritating. Season 5 said goodbye to Josh Charles and the acting in the wake of that moment, particularly from Margulies, was stellar. Season 6 has turned things on their heads a bit with Alicia's run for District Attorney and Cary's legal issues, but it's arguably become even more fascinating as a result.
We're experiencing one of the most consistently strong, finest dramas ever seen on one of the four major networks. Even with the "case of the week," most of which are also excellent, the continuing storylines that drive the show â REALLY drive the show. This thing is a Ferrari. It's a pleasure to watch it unfold.
FARGO (FX)
First, the easy declaration: Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton) was the best character on TV in 2014. It's fair to say many of us expected Noah Hawley's Coen Brothers adaptation to be a good program, perhaps even a very good program, but I'd have no issue with anyone who called it the best thing on all of TV last year, period. Actually, I think I'd agree with them. FX, behind the strength and acclaim of The Shield, Sons of Anarchy, Louie, The Americans, and others, has made everyone sit up and take notice whenever something new is announced. While some, for example Tyrant, didn't take advantage, Fargo took things to a new level and almost immediately jumped to the top of a lot of critical lists, including my own.
The cast was ridiculous, led by Martin Freeman, Thornton, and Alison Tolman, the latter of which, along with Carrie Coon, was the breakout star of television drama last year. The story ended well, fairly neatly, but in appropriate fashion, and Malvo for a while walked around like Anton Chigurh from No Country for Old Men. Both were fittingly singular malevolent forces with no soul and no interest in any semblance of humanity.
I, however, have MUY interest in the next story in the Fargo saga, which we'll all experience soon enough.
THE AMERICANS (FX)
Here's the one I looked forward to writing about the most in this piece. The Americans is phenomenal. It's a crime Matthew Rhys wasn't nominated for a Supporting Actor Emmy last year and Keri Russell wasn't far behind her co-star. Noah Emmerich is the guy that appears in a recurring role in a show you like, impresses you, and then his story ends. He did it in White Collar. He did it in The Walking Dead. He's done it in several others. Here, he stuck around as FBI Agent Stan Beeman, and as it always is with Noah, we're better as an audience for having him in our lives.
The story of the paranoia and danger associated with the rising tensions of the Cold War in both Russia and the United States during the early 1980s was intriguing but the questions arose as to how the story could be told. The answer, and this is a nice tip of the cap to showrunner Joe Weisberg, is slowly and carefully. The Americans isn't full of gunplay every five seconds or tons of violence. When it gets violent or exceedingly intense, it stands up to the best of them. The death of young Jared Connors (Owen Campbell), plus his revelation of how his parents and sister died, and the ramifications of "pure recruiting" were among the very best of television last year.
Season 3 will open with Philip (Rhys) and Elizabeth (Russell) at another crossroads. They'll have to decide whether to follow the orders communicated through handler Claudia (Emmy nominee Margo Martindale) to allow their daughter, Paige, to follow in Jared's footsteps or to go against their KGB employers. It will likely start out hot and there's no reason whatsoever to believe it won't stay that way.
The Americans was the single most addictive and engrossing week to week drama we saw in 2014. That second season will rank up there on the best single seasons of any show in recent memory. The finale, "Echo," was the best season finale of the year, bar none. While there were shows that barely made the cut here or I had to consider, this wasn't one of them. This was one of the first three that immediately came to mind. If you haven't seen it, you'd best get on that immediately.
TRUE DETECTIVE (HBO)
Here we have a polarizing choice. I've seen in in Top 10s and Top 50s. It's always mentioned, but where and to what extent? The twisting, hard boiled story of two detectives, Martin "Marty" Hart and Rustin "Rust" Cohle, was appointment viewing from its first moment on HBO. Creator and executive producer Nik Pizzolatto had a vision, inspired by pulp stories from decades ago and interspersed with a very loose feeling of something beyond this world, and he executed it with precision.
It was at times hard to watch, no more so than the opening minutes of the first season finale, but it never felt self-serving. This wasn't supposed to be an easy show to watch, similar to the terrific and disgusting Hannibal in that regard. This was about long stretches of dialogue to get into the heads of unbalanced, nearly bipolar characters on both sides of the law. It was about a long chase to a serial killer and psychopath. It was also about its two leads. Watching Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey work is something that wouldn't have happened in 1994, maybe not even in 2004, but in 2014, because of what television drama means and how it's regarded, it didn't seem out of place, just special. The two served as producers of the show as well as major stars who added the "gotta watch this" factor.
The ending was somewhat ambiguous or maybe a bit too cookie cutter for some, but I enjoyed it. This anthology series (meaning Season 2 and subsequent years will have nothing on the surface to do with the Louisiana story we watched in the first three months of the year) had a beginning, it had a wild, unpredictable middle, and an epic, heart-pounding finish. True Detective also gave us the best singular scene of the year, the continuous shot, final six-minutes of raw reality in the wake of a drug robbery that ended Episode 4, "Who Goes There." Pizzolatto's effort was a rock star in 2014.
RECTIFY (Sundance)
Sundance, in association with AMC, gave us Rectify two years ago, and anyone who knew much about series creator Ray McKinnon and the Breaking Bad relationship to the new entity was immediately intrigued. Of all those I hope one day to sit down with and just pick the brain of, McKinnon is near the front of that line. Ironically, the final two entries in my Best of 2014 list are both about time in a prison, how it changes a person, how those people got there, and life outside of confinement.
Rectify is the story of Daniel Holden (Aden Young), a man convicted of murder just released after serving 19 years in prison. He was on Death Row. His life was over. Then, DNA evidence and new ideas led to his newfound freedom. Young's work on the show is nothing short of, well, Walter Whiteish. Not enough people have seen Rectify, It isn't something many people are talking about, but it should be. It's that good. It's dark. It's haunting. It's unsettling. And that's just in watching Daniel attempt to assimilate back into the population, deal with his family, and deal with a community that largely still believes he's a killer.
Then there's the unanswered and lingering question of whether he's actually innocent at all. Young's biggest strength is in playing McKinnon's lead character with an ambiguity that can lead one to either a "He's a murderer" or "He didn't do it" opinion. This is the single most conflicting character on television and as a performance, I'm truly not sure anyone has been better since Breaking Bad concluded. He's certainly right there with any actor you want to name.
Standing next to Young is Abigail Spencer, who was nominated for a Television Critics Association Supporting Actress award for her work as Holden's eclectic and emotional sister, Amantha. She'll be seen in the second season of True Detective this fall as well.
Rectify is the one you haven't seen that I beg you to go out of your way and watch. It's slow, it broods, and it builds. The supporting cast, not mentioned for time's sake, is excellent. One though, Johnny Ray Gill, who plays Kerwin Whitman, seen only in flashbacks and memory sequences, serves the Morgan Freeman role in Rectify's Shawshank. His stuff is gold. It's also gut wrenching.
This is the one you've missed that you have to find. Rectify. Remember it by name.
ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK (Netflix)
NETFLIX remains the most interesting development (no pun intended) of the past few years. The streaming service most known for giving me access to Young Sherlock Holmes whenever I want it became a destination for scripted series of medium to high quality. Arrested Development returned for a fourth season many years after its original goodbye on FOX. House of Cards arrived as Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright led another movie actor Renaissance and a path to small screen serial drama success and acclaim.
Many would suggest House of Cards should be in my top ten, and it's in my top 20 certainly, but the real star of NETFLIX is Jenji Kohan's (Weeds) adaptation of Piper Kerman's women's prison memoir, Orange is the New Black. Season 1 showed up in 2013 and when it first popped up on my screen, I gave it some thought but it isn't like I felt immediately drawn to watch it that first moment. It felt like, here's a show that's probably pretty good but nothing great and it's probably not too serious. I somehow had missed any hype before the fact so I just settled in and checked it out, mainly out of curiosity.
After I had binged the entire thing in two sittings, I realized it was one of the best things I'd seen all year. It was staggering. My first thought was, wow, this is Lost inside a women's prison, with no narrative or content restraints. It wasn't the same story of course, but it relied on individual character flashbacks, telling the audience why each person we met -- mattered. We got to know each one of them in the collaborative setting of collective incarceration but also learned why they're in a prison predicament, what drove them, and what made them unique.
I talk incessantly about cast and listing the talent, but here let's just make it clear, this thing was loaded, it is loaded, it will be loaded going forward. From Taylor Schilling (the breakout star of 2013 along with her cast members) to Kate Mulgrew to Uzo Aduba, Taryn Manning, Laura Prepon, Michael J. Harney, and all the rest, it was ridiculous. I set that up by saying I always do lists of people, as if I wasn't going to end up doing it again. That was a self-defeating prophecy if ever there was one.
Season 2 ramped up everything, including the "Holy Shit" moments that made Season 1 great and in any ranking you'll find, OITNB is never far from the top. As good as House of Cards can be and as much as I enjoy it, it doesn't hold a candle to the story of Piper Chapman and her time inside a women's prison for a drug offense. Orange is a prime example of why I adore television so much.
EVERYTHING ELSE, OTHER CATEGORIES, LOOKING FORWARD
So there you have it. I so badly want to share 11-20 with you but honestly, these ten should be presented without caveat, without hedging, just here to enjoy. I will tell you one thing. Masters of Sex was great for much of the second season and had it been a bit more consistent and avoided a few storylines that were overly cumbersome, it would have made the list. Season 1 did make the mental list.
Well, that was heavy, just a ton of drama there so, without much explanation, the best comedy on TV remains Parks and Recreation, which I wrote about a few months ago. It's final season is set to begin and although the first season was a bit slow and wasn't a standout, everything since has been. It's a pleasure to watch. Brooklyn Nine-Nine is the other one to pay attention to, along with Louie on FX.
Best variety or hard-to-classify show of the year is an easy one. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver took a winning formula, cut most of the fluff guest fodder, and instead packs a wallop in its 30-minute weekly run-time for HBO. The long-form editorial reports, which sounds like an oxymoron but really isn't, are so well produced and Oliver is simply likable, even if you disagree with him, which I often do. It's a tremendous product.
As for more off beat stuff, you've got an amazing 1-2 punch on Comedy Central. Key & Peele quickly moved from very good to must-see and blows the rest of its ilk off the planet, including SNL. And, If you haven't heard of Broad City, you haven't been paying attention. Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, two Upright Citizens Brigaders, have put together something truly awesome and you have to check it out. I often think of Flight of the Conchords when I watch it, though it's more because of two leads with something new to offer. Marry the freedom of Conchords with HBO's Girls and make it fun and completely irreverent, and you've got Broad City. Season 2 kicks off on January 14. Put it on your schedule, watch the first season, and just enjoy. It's without argument that Comedy Central has put more effort into what they've green-lighted and renewed and the results have made the network an increasingly important player in the industry.
Finally, what's the best of the "new" from the fall? Let me give you three, Jenni Urman's excellent Jane the Virgin for CW, which used a fascinating concept and to this point has made virtually no missteps in its inaugural season. Also on the CW is the second entry -- The Flash. I've enjoyed it more than Gotham, which has also been solid. CW worked the kinks out of Arrow, which continues to be such fun to watch, and as a result The Flash looked polished and visually impressive from moment one. Finally, let me mention Showtime's The Affair. While it remains to be seen how long Noah and Alison's story can run, both leads (Dominic West, Ruth Wilson) absolutely crushed it along with their supporting cast. It's a show that isn't sold by its trailer but instead by its content once you actually sit down and watch it. And you should. With The Affair, Sarah Treem and Hagai Levi have taken what in many respects is a tired foundational plot and turned it into something unique, suspenseful, and addictive. Honestly, it narrowly missed my top ten.
So there it is, 2014 in a metric ton of words, not exactly the nutshell I envisioned. It was a pleasure to watch the small screen last year and, thinking back on it, while TV might not be as deep today as it was several years ago in terms of the raw quantity of greatness, there's still plenty of programming begging for attention and some flat out super stuff being created and presented. As we enter 2015, I can't wait to talk about all of it with you.
I love TV. All hail our continued flat screen overlords.
Follow me @GuyNamedJason on Twitter. At that point, you can choose how you react to me. It can positive and encouraging. It can also be mean, angry, and chock full of hate. You do you.
