Best of 2013: TV Shows
I started off this year with a maudlin post that I attempted to wrest toward hopeful, and I was somewhat successful. 2013 was in some ways a frustrating, difficult year, but it wasn’t the year’s totality. So, I want to look back and unearth the good bits. Because my current perspective wants to flatten my memories into something monochromatic when life is full of vibrant contrasts. This year, I need to remember my blog’s title—Color Beyond Shade.
In order to excavate the evidence of good in 2013, I’m going to do a series of 2013’s Best Of’s. This is first of that series—Best TV Shows (non-animated, dramas). Yes, I have to get that specific.
Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. You’ve promised post series on this blog before only to disappear. You’re right. I have. And I can’t promise that won’t happen again. I blog when I have something to say, and in 2013, I had very little to say. So I’m picking topics I want to talk about, the things that made me happy in 2013. So, gentle readers, let’s dive in.
4. Sleepy Hollow (Fox, Monday 9pm EST. Episodes 4-10 on Hulu)
Headless Horseman meets Rip Van Winkle meets four horseman of the apocalypse? Yes, please. This show is just twenty pounds of speculative crazy in a five pound bag. They mishmash all kinds of mythologies together with American history and out comes fantastic over-the-top fun.
Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie) anchors the show for me, and her sister Jenny (Lyndie Greenwood) and their relationship provides solid emotional grounding amidst all the crazy. Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) is an adorable out-of-time British boy, and Tom and Nicole’s chemistry gives the show’s core depth and resonance. As we get to know Captain Irving’s (Orlando Jones) back story, I grow to love him even more. And if you don’t know about Trollando Jones, we need to talk about his interaction with the fandom. It’s priceless. The man is writing fanfic of his own show. Also? His daughter Macey is played by Amandla Stenberg, Rue from The Hunger Games. Did I mention zombie John Cho and sin-eater John Noble?
Not saying it’s a flawless show, but it’s undeniable good fun.
Leverage aired its series finale in December 2012, but I watched it a lot in 2013, and I just finished last night. I am overflowing with feels for this show right now. If you follow me on tumblr, there’s going to be a lot of Leverage spamming in the immediate future. You were warned.
Leverage is a con show about found family and the nature of justice in an unjust world, and how relationships help us empathize and grow. You have the classic roles from any good heist movie. The mastermind is Nate Ford (Timothy Hutton), former insurance investigator. The grifter is Sophie Devereaux (Gina Bellman), former psuedo-nemesis of Nate Ford. The hacker is Alec Hardison (Aldis Hodge), former…well, current self-ascribed geek. The thief is Parker (Beth Riesgraf), and her character arc is, quite possibly, my favorite over all five seasons. The hitter is Eliot Spencer (Christian Kane), former assassin and spook.
The character interactions on this show are unparalleled in their humor and resonance. They feel like real people who love and annoy and respect each other. Despite the unrealistic conceits the show uses for some of the cons, the character arcs always feel true and emotionally grounded. I adore the trio of Parker, Hardison, and Eliot. So, so much.
2. Arrow (CW, Wednesday 8pm EST. Season 1 on Netflix, last 5 episodes on Hulu)
I am not a DC girl. I have never been a DC girl. I’ve been a Marvel girl since the early 90’s when I first started collecting The Astonishing X-men. But in the early 2000’s, I picked up Green Arrow for the first time, and I enjoyed it.
I’d been meaning to watch the TV adaptation for a while, because Drew Greenberg produces and writes for it, and he’s written some of my favorite television episodes of all time. This fall, Arrow came to Netflix, and in 36 hours I had watched all of season one and the first three episodes of season two. This show is comic book action-adventure crack with a heavy dose of emotional depth and family drama.
Arrow really came into its own for me when Team Arrow coalesced. Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) isn’t a loner vigilante disconnected from all people in his quest for vengeance. That’s where he begins in season one, and we are witnessing his transformation into a hero because of the people and the relationships he develops along the way. Namely, his relationship with former spec-ops soldier turned bodyguard, John Diggle (David Ramsey), and MIT-grad hacker turned IT nerd, Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett-Rickards). Oliver isn’t the vigilante. Team Arrow, together, make up the vigilante.
Fast paced falls so short in its description of this show. It sets up plot and knocks it down at a rate that would take most shows several seasons. The mid-season finale for season two? Showed the origins of Barry Allen’s Flash, Solomon Grundy, and Deathstroke. All in one episode. ONE. And despite some of its flaws, the creative team keeps figuring out what works on the show and then goes in that direction. Felicity Smoak is a perfect example. She was supposed to be a one-episode character, but her character and chemistry on screen has turned her into the female lead on the show. And that was a very, very good decision.
1. Elementary (CBS, Thursdays 10pm EST)
Elementary is, hands down, my favorite adaptation of Sherlock Holmes. Ever.
Jonny Lee Miller is my favorite Sherlock, because he is not a sociopath. Because he struggles, with his drug addiction, with normal relationships, with life. Because he cares about humanity. Because he is a decent human being. Because he knows the people in his life, the relationships are what makes him better. Because he isn’t always the smartest person in the room. Because Jonny Lee Miller breaks my heart as Sherlock.
Lucy Liu is my favorite Watson, because she has a life apart from Sherlock, she has friends apart from Sherlock. Because she has her own agency apart from Sherlock. Because she is wicked smart, and Sherlock knows it and respects it. Because Lucy Liu gives me hope.
Sherlock and Watson consult for the NYPD, and they usually work with Captain Tom Gregson
(Aidan Quinn) and Detective Marcus Bell (Jon Michael Hill), who are both smart and competent cops. Despite Sherlock’s brilliance, Watson, Gregson, and Bell are all really good at their jobs and each of them, from time to time, knows something Sherlock doesn’t or makes a connection Sherlock doesn’t see.
The New York City Sherlock and Watson inhabit actually looks like New York in its depiction of characters, and I love that. It has smart writing, devastating acting, and, all that is holy, I want to tell you everything about Moriarty, but I can’t say anything. Just know, it’s so brilliantly handled.So that wraps up Part One of Best TV Shows of 2013. Coming soon: Best TV Shows of 2013 (animated, comedy). What were your favorite TV Shows of 2013?
Comments
Post a Comment