TV I Watched in 2014

We watch a ton of TV. Here’s the good stuff.

Honorable Mention. The Strain. This show was ridiculous and gross beyond belief but there were two moments I thought were worth it. One is when the villain bellows “You son of a bitch! How daaaare you defy meee?!” in a way that makes Ethel Merman look subtle. The other is when you see two people in the background of a shot discussing something on a hotel balcony. Even though the man throwing the other person off the balcony is telegraphed a mile away, it’s no less hilarious when it happens.

Honorable Mention. House of Cards. This show deserves a mention because they killed off annoying ferret Kate Mara in the first episode by having the vice president push her in front of a train. It was like they heard my complaints.

9. Blackish. I am really enjoying the show’s exploration of getting your kids back in touch with their heritage when they didn’t grow up under the same circumstances as you. Tracee Ellis-Ross is wonderful and those twins are adorable.

8. The Goldbergs. Wendi McLendon-Covey is a treasure and a big part of why this show makes me laugh out loud. My favorite episode is when the father tried to pass off the theme from Family Ties as his wedding renewal vows and the mother countered with the theme of The Facts of Life.

7. The Middle. Even in whatever season we’re up to now, The Middle is as funny and frank about the working class as ever. The highlight this year was Frankie mistakenly buying a dollhouse dining room table, thinking she was getting a great deal for once.

6. Parks and Recreation. I liked the arc about Pawnee merging with Eagleton and their Doppelgangers. This show is hilarious but I guess it is time to end. It’s a shame that NBC is burning off the remaining episodes in a bizarre half-season in a weird time slot. It deserved better. And if Amy Poehler leaves without an Emmy, it will be an injustice. Still, when the show ends, your eyes are gonna piss tears.

5. Orange Is the New Black. The addition of Vee to the cast was a great move since the show needed some prisoners who were straight-out villains and not just people who were flawed but sympathetic. There have to be some people, even in a minimum security prison, who are just evil. What Vee did to manipulate Crazy Eyes and Taystee was tragic. Her demise was quite satisfying but I will miss Lorraine Toussaint.

4. Fargo. The starkness of the Minnesota landscape was like a manifestation of this story’s battle between good and evil. The evil was the man who knowingly sent his wife to her death via an assassin who had been targeting him. The good was Officer Molly Solverson doggedly solving the crime, with a deft performance by Allison Tolman. Fargo evoked the feel of the movie but didn’t just rehash it. 

3. The Walking Dead. Alright, I surrender. After resisting this show for years, I finally enjoy it. I think the group we have now is the strongest of the series and I am particularly invested in where the story takes badass Carol, who has become my favorite. I still have some problems with the writing but I can’t deny that The Walking Dead is one of those shows where I can’t wait to see what happens from week to week.

2. Mad Men. The first half of season seven started slow with most of the characters very unhappy amidst the chaos of 1969. The last two episodes were sublime. The scene with Don and Peggy dancing to “My Way” during an all-nighter really drew on the characters’ history, as did the end with those two and Pete, the work family, sharing a meal at Burger Chef. The tribute to Bert Cooper at the end was beautiful, graceful and strange and linking it to the moon landing was poetry. I will be sad when these characters leave to journey into the ‘70s.

1. The Americans. By a mile, The Americans was the best TV show I saw this year. The second season may have even been better than the first season as the show dug deeper into what it means to be parents when you’re Soviet spies posing as Americans. The performances were outstanding, particularly from Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys, who often play roles within roles within roles. The season finale’s revelations were like a bucket of ice water in the face. It amazes me that The Americans, with two lines of dialogue, can express a sentiment so loaded and tantalizing:

Philip: It would destroy her.

Elizabeth: To be like us?

Season three cannot come quickly enough.