10.) Mindhunter (NETFLIX -
Season 2)
This was my biggest miss maybe ever
as I just completely forgot to include it in my 2017 rankings, where it probably
would have been placed around the #8-#5 mark. Anyway, it took a while for David
Fincher’s love-child to make it back, but it came back strong, shifting its focus
to an ongoing case, mixing in some more legendary serial killers (including
Manson played by the same guy who played Manson in Once Upon a Time in
Hollywood). There were some interesting storylines this year that expanded to
the personal lives outside of the unit, including Tench’s failing marriage and
Carr’s lesbianism being unearthed. Mindhunter actually working on an ongoing
case simplified the serial killer mental examination half of the show, but introduced
mind-bending dramatic moments and tension, which the show did just as well as
those pulsating interviews that defined its first season.
9.) The Deuce (HBO - Season
3)
The Deuce ended in 2019, showing
the end of the ‘deuce’ street in New York, with bright lights of Time Square replacing
the seediness of the past. The only shame of the show moving from pimp-lined
streets straight through the rise of pornography and the modernization of the
city means the show sadly stripped away a lot of its black characters. Still,
though, the final season was a perfect paean to old New York, the struggles and
the beauty. The focus on painfully ending character arcs like Lori realizing
she’ll never escape the ills of work in the business, to Candi realizing she’ll
never be respected outside of it, to Vinny losing his brother and his religion.
The show was painfully depressing at times in its last season, but that was
meaningful, it was real, it showcased a really tough time in the cities, and he
nation’s history with loving care. And I do have to talk about that ending,
Vinnie’s dream-like walk through current-day Time Square, replete with Elmos
and H&Ms, showing every character that played a role in the show, from Method
Man’s pimp through Thunder Thighs, the prostitute that memorably died in the opening
episode. By the end, I was ready to re-evaluate my overall love of this in that
I didn’t love it enough at the time. It is no The Wire, to be sure, but David
Simon created a show with a lot of care and a lot of love.
8.) Veep (HBO - Season 7)
Veep also ended this year and while
the show didn’t reach the heights in its second, third or fourth season (the 4th
one was my #1 show for 2015), it was a great return to form with Selina on the
campaign trail, featured some truly memorable moments, and had a great final
episode, with Selina winning but selling her soul. The show started in the Obama
era – technically in his first term. It ended knee-dump into the Trump era. The
show evolved to go more down the path of Selina being a truly awful person, but
to some degree it needed to. The Veep of S2-4 (Obama years) wouldn’t have made
sense in a post-Trump world. What the show did really well this season is mix
in guest stars and giving all the main cast good beats to play, from Mike as a
failing-upwards blogger-come-talk show host, to Amy selling out and being Jonah’s
campaign manager. The whole idea of Jonah running semi-successfully (in polls
at least) for Congress would have seemed absurd to the Season 2 Veep, but it
made sense now. They also quite well spoofed some of the most inane moments of
the Trump presidency. Overall, Veep left on a high-note – especially the
closing montage of Selina’s funeral with so many incredible gags (Richard as three-term
President, Dan still horndogging, and of course Tom Hanks’s death). It left its
mark as the best comedy of the 2010s, cementing the legacy after two average
seasons in a post-Iannuci world.
7.) Stranger Things (NETFLIX
- Season 3)
They took their sweet time coming
back, and had a very different slant on the next acopalyptic tale to hit
Hawkins, but man was Stranger Things still really good. I didn’t love the fact
early on that they split the main characters into three distinct groups, but
the energy it created when they all finally did come together in Hawkins Mall
was special, and it isolated one of the weaker parts of the season (Dustin
slowly turning into a whining brat) and built a truly special portion with
Steve, Robin and Erica, the two female characters being instantly likable and
awesome. Naturally with a show that started out with key characters (and their
actors) being 10-12 years old, there were some interesting choices as they
aged, but they kept in keeping with the awkwardness of growing up. The show
will come back – it is too successful not to – and it promises to split the group
up outside Hawkins (including the inevitable return of Hopper) but the three ‘small’
seasons in Hawkins won’t be forgotten, including the incredible monents of Eleven
reading Hopper’s note to her. It was all incredible for a show that only gets
bolder, even if some of its characters are stuck in a state of stasis. To be
fair, that has a lot of similarities to growing up in general, no?
6.) Pose (FX - Season 2)
Pose was such a surprise in its first season, shining a light on a really interesting, troubled time in America's history in the start of the LGBTQ movement. What was so great about teh show was how optimistic it was despite such troubling and depressing subject matter. When the showcase of nearly episode is a resplendent ball with brilliant costumes and dances, it is hard to be too negative. None of that changed in its second season, but what did was the stakes becoming a bit higher - as a larger portion of the show's populous were starting to get afflicted with / suffer from HIV and AIDS. There were a few more deaths and a few more truly negative moments. However, there was also as much family as much heart, as much growth, whether it be one of the characters having a brief run as a ad model, or Blanca continuing to grow as a house mother. They stripped away some of the less effective storylines in Season 1, like the white couple with teh husband testing out his queer side, and focused on heart, on family on hope, and kept the show at its pert best.
