10.) Nathan For You (Comedy Central - Season 4)
Prior to the season finale, I had Nathan For You ranked a bit lower, but the brilliance of that 4-part finale 'Finding Frances' was so good to elevate it up. More on the finale later, but first let's talk about the first six episodes. They were fine. They were hilarious. But they were a bit different than what Nathan had done previously. His ideas were the same, but now the central line was how far Nathan had to take each one to make it legitimate (creating a fake band to reclassify the Smoke Detector as a Musical instrument, or creating the fake newspaper to announce the name change of a man to the name Michael Richards as a part of his ploy to raise awareness for a restaurant getting a large tip from a fake Michael Richards). These gags and pushses were fun, but the simpler times from before I longed for. In reality, it's probably harder to get enough blind small business owners to take Nathan at his word. Anyway, the final episode was a true classic. The competing raw emotions, of Nathan's desire to help this sad-sack (supposed) Bill Gates impersonator find his lost love, at the same time weighing if the Bill Gates impersonator even deserved to find her. Then the whole sub-plot of Nathan with the escort. The show was so incredibly meta, it really blurred the line whether Nathan the character was pretending to fall for the escort, or Nathan the person, who has shown signs of loneliness throughout past seasons. The whole episode had that feeling, that are we getting a glimpse of the real Nathan? What the show lacked in pure laughs compared to previous years, it brought even more with emotional weight, and not fake weight as in previous years. True, actual emotional weight, culminating perfectly in that final episode.
9.) Stranger Things 2 (NETFLIX - Season 2)
My thoughts on Stranger Things Season 2 are really all over the map. On the one hand, I hated the decision to keep Eleven apart from the rest of the gang for such a long time, and was disappointed that there was nothing mystical or hidden about the two newbies in Max and her brother. I also found Mike a bit annoying this year, and it was a bit weird that the Murray character creepily plied two underage teens with alcohol and more or less suggested they should bang. On the other hand, my issues are pretty much limited to these minor points. (Oh, let's also look past that bizarre episode where Eleven goes to Chicago). The final few episodes of the season, specifically the 6th (the breach in the lab mirrored with Steve and the kids in the vacant lot) and 8th were brilliant. What the Duffer Brothers seem to understand is what makes their show great, and they turned it to, no pun intended, 11. Having Dustin start cursing, and being upset that no one remembers to call them 'Demodogs'? Brilliant. Having Nancy be awesome and give that pity dance with Dustin? Sweet. The great Lucas v. Dustin courtship? Great. The Steve and Dustin pairing? Inspired. The central storyline of the shadow monster inhabiting Will and the demodogs was a little much for my mind (liked the more contained, ephemeral Season 1 terror plot), but growth was needed. Stranger Things was the biggest surprise of the year probably in 2016. They followed it up with more comedy, more pulsating action, and utilized the brilliant set of child actors as well as ever.
8.) Better Call Saul (AMC - Season 3)
Slowly but surely the two half-shows of Better Call Saul are coalescing, and I figure that stands only to continue in Season 4. However, for much of Season 3, it was still the Mike Show and the Saul (Jimmy) Show. Thankfully for us all, both halves are pretty fantastic. Given he is the titular character, it may not seem odd that the Jimmy/Saul half of the show is my favorite, but it is somewhat given how close to Breaking Bad we are getting in the Mike half now, with the entire Cartel gang alive and well (Hector, Bolsa, Don Eladio, and of course, Gus). But the Jimmy/Saul half is just so well played, a brilliant mix of grey characters from Jimmy to Chuck to maybe most of all Howard. The long storyline from Kim unable to let her common sense overcome her quiet love for Jimmy, or the incredible courtroom scene of Jimmy's ethics hearing and Chuck breaking down. And of course the capper that the second Jimmy comes to his senses a bit and undoes the Sandpiper Settlement that would give him a million dollars, Chuck gets his livelihood, his law career, stripped away and decides to (seemingly) kill himself, trapped inside a hollow home stripped of all electricity. The only thing keeping it from being higher up the list is the reliance on the more fan-servicey half on the Mike side. I understnad its place earlier on, but now you almost wish it just was two separate, still great, shows.
7.) Narcos (NETFLIX - Season 3)
I really liked Season 2 of Narcos, a great 'later season Breaking Bad-esque' showcase of the downfall of Pablo Escobar. I was a bit saddened knowing Season 3 moves beyond Pablo and to the Cali Cartel. I was even sad that they removed Steve Murphy as a character (might be alone in that). It took a while to rebuild my trust and love, but man did it ever. By the end of it, I was ready for more of the Cali Cartel (even if the set-up for Season 4 is in Mexico, likely). It is hard to describe why I enjoyed this season so much. For one, more is better than less with the central leads. While Pablo had a lot of second and third bananas, they were clearly that. With the Cali Cartel, each of the four main dons were well crafted, especially Pacho and Gilberto. The brief glimpses of Amado Carillo Fuentes. The government figures were even better than before. And while I missed Murphy, the two new guys in Fiestl and Van Ness added a lot of punch to the DEA side of things. Ultimately, what Narcos did well in Season 1-2 it continued to do well: like brilliant on-location cinematography in Colombia, to the great action sequences, to the unabashedly raw language used. All those are still there, and expanding the focus beyond Pablo allowed the story to grow the way it needed to in a way I never could have predicted when we left Pablo behind
6.) Big Little Lies (HBO)
There may be no show on the list that exemplified where TV is in 2017 better than Big Little Lies. Go back five years, and the idea of a miniseries with Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley and Laura Dern would seem impossible. Heck, go back two years. This all may have started with True Detective season 1. This was the female version, just also a lot better. All the leads were great, but so were their male counterparts, especially Stellan Sarsgard playing a truly monstrous role. I don't know if I've ever seen domestic abuse played so rawly, so brilliantly, especially when the female actress is such a name. The mystery itself might have had a all-too-cute ending, but the raw intensity of the group beating up Sarsgard character as payback for the abuse of Celeste and the rape, was raw and powerful. Sure, having this all happen against a tapestry of beautiful Santa Monica, with lush beach-side landscapes, was strange, but also serves to tell a story so rarely told, the silent horrors at times even in the most luxurious neighborhoods. It blended comedic elements well, such as everything really to do with Reese Witherspoon's character. I honestly have no idea why this show would consider a 2nd season. The first was excellent, made at just the right moment in time, with such awesome performances from a truly star-studded cast. Even if the change the formula, they should take heed with what happened to that male counterpart in True Detective.
Prior to the season finale, I had Nathan For You ranked a bit lower, but the brilliance of that 4-part finale 'Finding Frances' was so good to elevate it up. More on the finale later, but first let's talk about the first six episodes. They were fine. They were hilarious. But they were a bit different than what Nathan had done previously. His ideas were the same, but now the central line was how far Nathan had to take each one to make it legitimate (creating a fake band to reclassify the Smoke Detector as a Musical instrument, or creating the fake newspaper to announce the name change of a man to the name Michael Richards as a part of his ploy to raise awareness for a restaurant getting a large tip from a fake Michael Richards). These gags and pushses were fun, but the simpler times from before I longed for. In reality, it's probably harder to get enough blind small business owners to take Nathan at his word. Anyway, the final episode was a true classic. The competing raw emotions, of Nathan's desire to help this sad-sack (supposed) Bill Gates impersonator find his lost love, at the same time weighing if the Bill Gates impersonator even deserved to find her. Then the whole sub-plot of Nathan with the escort. The show was so incredibly meta, it really blurred the line whether Nathan the character was pretending to fall for the escort, or Nathan the person, who has shown signs of loneliness throughout past seasons. The whole episode had that feeling, that are we getting a glimpse of the real Nathan? What the show lacked in pure laughs compared to previous years, it brought even more with emotional weight, and not fake weight as in previous years. True, actual emotional weight, culminating perfectly in that final episode.
9.) Stranger Things 2 (NETFLIX - Season 2)
My thoughts on Stranger Things Season 2 are really all over the map. On the one hand, I hated the decision to keep Eleven apart from the rest of the gang for such a long time, and was disappointed that there was nothing mystical or hidden about the two newbies in Max and her brother. I also found Mike a bit annoying this year, and it was a bit weird that the Murray character creepily plied two underage teens with alcohol and more or less suggested they should bang. On the other hand, my issues are pretty much limited to these minor points. (Oh, let's also look past that bizarre episode where Eleven goes to Chicago). The final few episodes of the season, specifically the 6th (the breach in the lab mirrored with Steve and the kids in the vacant lot) and 8th were brilliant. What the Duffer Brothers seem to understand is what makes their show great, and they turned it to, no pun intended, 11. Having Dustin start cursing, and being upset that no one remembers to call them 'Demodogs'? Brilliant. Having Nancy be awesome and give that pity dance with Dustin? Sweet. The great Lucas v. Dustin courtship? Great. The Steve and Dustin pairing? Inspired. The central storyline of the shadow monster inhabiting Will and the demodogs was a little much for my mind (liked the more contained, ephemeral Season 1 terror plot), but growth was needed. Stranger Things was the biggest surprise of the year probably in 2016. They followed it up with more comedy, more pulsating action, and utilized the brilliant set of child actors as well as ever.
8.) Better Call Saul (AMC - Season 3)
Slowly but surely the two half-shows of Better Call Saul are coalescing, and I figure that stands only to continue in Season 4. However, for much of Season 3, it was still the Mike Show and the Saul (Jimmy) Show. Thankfully for us all, both halves are pretty fantastic. Given he is the titular character, it may not seem odd that the Jimmy/Saul half of the show is my favorite, but it is somewhat given how close to Breaking Bad we are getting in the Mike half now, with the entire Cartel gang alive and well (Hector, Bolsa, Don Eladio, and of course, Gus). But the Jimmy/Saul half is just so well played, a brilliant mix of grey characters from Jimmy to Chuck to maybe most of all Howard. The long storyline from Kim unable to let her common sense overcome her quiet love for Jimmy, or the incredible courtroom scene of Jimmy's ethics hearing and Chuck breaking down. And of course the capper that the second Jimmy comes to his senses a bit and undoes the Sandpiper Settlement that would give him a million dollars, Chuck gets his livelihood, his law career, stripped away and decides to (seemingly) kill himself, trapped inside a hollow home stripped of all electricity. The only thing keeping it from being higher up the list is the reliance on the more fan-servicey half on the Mike side. I understnad its place earlier on, but now you almost wish it just was two separate, still great, shows.
7.) Narcos (NETFLIX - Season 3)
I really liked Season 2 of Narcos, a great 'later season Breaking Bad-esque' showcase of the downfall of Pablo Escobar. I was a bit saddened knowing Season 3 moves beyond Pablo and to the Cali Cartel. I was even sad that they removed Steve Murphy as a character (might be alone in that). It took a while to rebuild my trust and love, but man did it ever. By the end of it, I was ready for more of the Cali Cartel (even if the set-up for Season 4 is in Mexico, likely). It is hard to describe why I enjoyed this season so much. For one, more is better than less with the central leads. While Pablo had a lot of second and third bananas, they were clearly that. With the Cali Cartel, each of the four main dons were well crafted, especially Pacho and Gilberto. The brief glimpses of Amado Carillo Fuentes. The government figures were even better than before. And while I missed Murphy, the two new guys in Fiestl and Van Ness added a lot of punch to the DEA side of things. Ultimately, what Narcos did well in Season 1-2 it continued to do well: like brilliant on-location cinematography in Colombia, to the great action sequences, to the unabashedly raw language used. All those are still there, and expanding the focus beyond Pablo allowed the story to grow the way it needed to in a way I never could have predicted when we left Pablo behind
6.) Big Little Lies (HBO)
There may be no show on the list that exemplified where TV is in 2017 better than Big Little Lies. Go back five years, and the idea of a miniseries with Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley and Laura Dern would seem impossible. Heck, go back two years. This all may have started with True Detective season 1. This was the female version, just also a lot better. All the leads were great, but so were their male counterparts, especially Stellan Sarsgard playing a truly monstrous role. I don't know if I've ever seen domestic abuse played so rawly, so brilliantly, especially when the female actress is such a name. The mystery itself might have had a all-too-cute ending, but the raw intensity of the group beating up Sarsgard character as payback for the abuse of Celeste and the rape, was raw and powerful. Sure, having this all happen against a tapestry of beautiful Santa Monica, with lush beach-side landscapes, was strange, but also serves to tell a story so rarely told, the silent horrors at times even in the most luxurious neighborhoods. It blended comedic elements well, such as everything really to do with Reese Witherspoon's character. I honestly have no idea why this show would consider a 2nd season. The first was excellent, made at just the right moment in time, with such awesome performances from a truly star-studded cast. Even if the change the formula, they should take heed with what happened to that male counterpart in True Detective.
