The Honourable Woman
BBC’s The Honourable Woman was a masterclass in how to create a phenomenal drama. From the superb cast to the expertly sculpted story by Hugo Blick, almost every aspect of this series was carried out to perfection. Maggie Gyllenhaal shone in her role as Anglo-Israeli businesswoman Nessa Stein, creating a strong but vulnerable woman whose past continually haunts her. Through Nessa, the series deftly tackled very sensitive political issues and its strength, especially in the closing episodes, came from the fact that it didn’t seek to provide solutions or wish fulfillment. Rather, the series tried to show how everyone is affected by conflict through treating every situation with empathy. In so doing, The Honourable Woman illustrated that the world is complex and nothing — not Nessa, not politics, not conflict — can, or should, be simplified.
True Detective
Labelled the project that revived Matthew McConaughey’s flagging rom-com career, True Detective was one of the most talked about TV shows this year — and with good reason. Its resonance came from the relationship between detectives Rustin Cohle (McConaughey) and Martin Hart (Woody Harrelson) and the vacillations in their partnership over time. Their completely opposite personalities and interactions were fascinating even though it easily could have become the recreation of the well-worn trope of the “odd couple”. The dialogue and philosophical questions they explored while tackling a perverse case together were gripping and handled intelligently. What further elevated True Detective is how visually appealing it is, with a beautiful Louisiana backdrop that seems more reminiscent of film than TV. Additionally, with a brilliantly designed case of murders and disappearances to drive the action along, the upcoming second season may have a difficult time meeting the high expectations set by its predecessor.
The Missing
The BBC had no shortage of excellent dramas in 2014. But with a mere eight episodes and a second season already announced straight after the finale, that is some indication that The Missing was one of its most popular dramas this year. The show tells the story of the disappearance of five-year-old Oliver Hughes while on a family holiday in France. Years later his father, fantastically played by James Nesbitt, is still desperately trying to find him. It’s an emotional thriller you can’t soon forget, and the show explores how an event so shocking impacts upon one’s life and relationships, and additionally how we cope and fail to cope with grief. The Missing takes subject matter that could be easily rendered manipulative and makes something heart-breaking, haunting and real out of it.
The Knick
While period dramas can have the tendency to create a romanticised view of the past, The Knick gladly dispels any such notions. A medical drama set at the turn of the twentieth century, The Knick illustrates the abundant problems, medical and social, that affected the lives of New Yorkers. The show is anchored by strong performances from Clive Owen and Andrew Holland, both playing inventive surgeons who are set apart in society by race. Building off its cast, The Knick further has a huge volume of issues to explore, including racism, the status of women, drug abuse, and much more. Its slow pace allowed these issues to be seamlessly woven into the development of relationships and characters. Ultimately it’s a plot-heavy story that could have descended into melodrama in less steady hands but didn’t, and instead is a very human, moving show about suffering and innovation.
How to Get Away With Murder
Produced by Shonda Rhimes, ABC’s new legal drama was one of the most gripping shows this year. Viola Davis took the lead as Annalise Keating, a law professor and criminal defence lawyer in Philadelphia. Along with her most promising and ambitious students, they become entangled in a murder case that revels in the murky and scandalous, while simultaneously dealing with smaller cases on a week-to-week basis. The nonlinear storytelling and cliffhangers are well constructed, adding constantly to the suspense. The show is certainly elevated by Davis’ star power, who creates a fantastic female protagonist who is always intriguing and can never be quite pinned down by the viewer. Featuring a bizarre but undeniably twisty plot, the show is addictive, bold and fast-paced, and the concluding episodes of the first season in early 2015 are highly anticipated.
Broad City
Despite its well-trod premise of restless twenty-somethings struggling to get by in New York City, Comedy Central’s sitcom manages to do the impossible: offer an alternative perspective on a spectrum eclipsed in recent times by Lena Dunham’s behemoth Girls. Similar to Seinfeld, the show can be described as being about “nothing” and hinges primarily on the friendship of marijuana enthusiasts Ilana (Ilana Glazer) and Abbi (Abbi Jacobson) as they navigate the banality of dead-end jobs, ill-fated romances, hook-ups and roommate drama. The duo bring a refreshing brand of eccentric humour, based on their apathy towards authority and conventional codes of behaviour, which is at once relatable and in some instances very admirable.
Looking
Set against the vibrancy of San Francisco, HBO’s Looking brought the complexities and intricacies of dating and relationships in the gay scene to the fore. From awkward first dates, public sexual encounters and fledgling relationships, the series follows the lives of three oddly matched friends as they struggle to steer both their professional and romantic relationships in the right direction. Jonathan Groff gave a strong performance as Patrick, a games designer searching for a meaningful relationship against the gravitational pull of casual encounters as well as burgeoning sexual chemistry with his boss (Russell Tovey), whilst Murray Bartlett brought surprising depth to the seemingly cliched role of the older man cruising for younger guys. Unlike other representations of queer relationships on television, the series was refreshing in its depiction of intimacy and tenderness as well as the realities of maintaining a relationship amongst the temptations and difficulties that plague our modern world.
Olive Kitteridge
Set in the fictional town of Crosby, Maine, the mini-series follows the life of the eponymous lead (Frances McDormand), and her relationship with her husband Henry (Richard Jenkins), her son Chris (John Gallagher Jr) and the town’s inhabitants. Shying away from the quirkiness that plagues small-town American narratives, the show dissects this dichotomy of suffocating intimacy coupled with its deeply nurturing aspect — a dualism which simultaneously condemns and redeems a community from its own malaise. Directed by Lisa Cholodenko (The Kids Are Alright), the raw, nuanced performances by McDormand and Jenkins rescue the series from teetering into the melodramatic, and the supporting cast which includes Bill Murray, Rosemarie DeWitt and Zoe Kazan provide a wealth of well-drawn characters, each crippled by their own personal, yet universal, circumstances, which undoubtedly evoke the viewer’s empathy.
You’re the Worst
In a bid to shy away from the traditional romantic comedy premise, this year saw the rise of the anti-rom-com, the best of which was FX’s You’re the Worst. The show follows the relationship of Jimmy, a narcissistic novelist, and Gretchen, a cynical publicist, who met at a wedding and embark on a tumultuous relationship which proves toxic to everyone involved. Whilst the series follows the traditional romantic push-and-pull tropes of compromise, commitment phobia and sexual temptations, the show never feels predictable, or at times forced to veer into melodrama to keep the narrative arc on track. Whilst the protagonists of the show are embittered and unlikeable at the best of times, it is the writing of Stephen Falk (Weeds) which makes such displays of apathetic affection and brutal honesty, compelling to watch. The supporting characters of Kether Donohue as Gretchen’s philandering friend and Desmin Borges as Jimmy’s PTSD war veteran roommate, are superb in their roles and their good intentions humorously act as a foil to the self-obsessive nature of their respective friends.
Fargo
Inspired by the Coen Brothers’ Oscar-winning film of the same name, this Emmy-award winning anthology series follows the story of weak-willed Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman) who kills his wife and is aided and abetted by the enigmatic hit-man Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton). Whilst the murder disrupts the quaintness of small-town Minnesota life, it is only the beginning of a long-winding series of blackmail, sabotage, kidnapping and further murderous attempts, which deputy police officer Molly Solverson is intent on solving. The eccentricity of the show, with its goof-ball, incompetent detectives, a deaf hitman and, at one point, even a plague of locusts, do not steer the narrative arch off-kilter, and whilst the superimposed text of “based on a true story”, is clearly fictional, the writing and acting of the show make the incredible credible. Allison Tolman’s breakout role as Molly Solverson, the perceptive police woman in a man’s world fighting her convictions, is truly brilliant whilst Thornton is superb as the sadististic hitman, whose psychological and physical torture of his victims is a masterclass in the fine art of assassination.
