Jury Prize
Just
as I did for my Top Ten of 2019, I think it’s in the interest of the viewer to
know what other series should be considered, if not the best of the decade,
certainly some of the shows that would any other time, being considering as
such.
Justified
(FX)
After
Damages disappeared from FX, I didn’t
think there were any other great series left on this channel. Then I saw the
second extraordinary season of Justified
– the battle between the Givens and the Bennetts – and I realized just how
wrong I was.
If
nothing else, this series stands as arguably the greatest Elmore Leonard
creation for film or TV. (Indeed, the later crime writer enjoyed the series so
much, he actually wrote another story just for the writers to work with.) All
of the crime sagas were generally excellent, featuring some truly remarkable
villains. But it involved one of the greatest showdowns of all time between two
of the greatest actors of the medium: Raylan Givens, a U.S. Marshall, who in
the name of what he considers the law will piss on every inch of authority, and
Boyd Crowder, a criminal who spent his entire time in Harlan trying to become
bigger and legitimate. Never has the saying that cops and criminals have a lot
in common been more accurate in their six season struggle (which I’m sure so
many other people considered the weirdest bromance in history) Timothy Olyphant
and Walon Goggins have done great work all decade, but rarely have they been as
good as they were here.
In
retrospect, the Justified finale was
more satisfying than I gave it credit for being at the time, with Raylan
literally giving up the white hat he’d worn the entire series in the last
minutes. And the final twenty minutes had a symmetry that even the best series
on TV had a hard time matching. Goggins has said he would be more than willing
to do another season. I think it’s unlikely, but I gladly come back to Harlan.
The
Crown (Netflix)
Like
a lot of the series on the Jury Prize, it’s hard to know whether or not to rank
this show as one of the great ones as it’s only halfway through its run. But
anyone whose watched the third season knows that this series breathes a lot of
life into figures that we basically considered waxworks for the last thirty
years. And it is more than willing to take risks that some of the greatest
dramas won’t.
Peter
Morgan is one of the great chroniclers of the Elizabeth II and the Prime
Ministers. He’s covered them in film, on stage and on TV. And if it were just
for the extraordinary work of Claire Foy as Elizabeth and John Lithgow as a far past his
prime Churchill, this series would be the stuff of legend. But seeing the heartbreak of so many of these
figures – the early struggles of the marriage between Elizabeth and Prince
Philip, the problems of Princess Margaret, so indelibly played by both Vanessa
Kirby and Helena Bonham-Carter, the struggle with the Duke Of Windsor and the
slowly dissolution of the Empire – moves you to tears. And the decision to use
elder actors every two seasons is a challenge few series would even dream of –
and even fewer pull off.
And
considering all of the drama that has emerged from the royal family and England
in the past year alone – let’s face, there’s some inner critic in some of us
thinking: “That’ll make a great Season 6.”
Sherlock
(BBC/PBS)
In
all my years of reviewing television for some inglorious reason, I never got
around to giving any reviews for Sherlock.
Part of that was due to the way creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gattis
would release their extraordinary reimagining of the Sherlock Holmes stories –
three ninety-minute episodes at a time every two years. Was it a series? A
limited series? A group fo TV movies? I don’t think even the Emmy viewers ever
could say with certainty. But the one thing we can say that is well,
elementary, is that it was an extraordinary piece of work.
If
for no other reason it made international superstars out of Benedict
Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman – who utterly transformed any expectations of
what Holmes and Watson – excuse me, Sherlock and John – could be after so many
interpretations had made them archetypes. But by modernizing so many of their
greatest stories in a way we couldn’t have seen before, making characters who had only a few lines of
dialogue in the entire canon as fully dimensional – Andrew Scott’s Jim Moriarty
and Abby Abbington’s Mary Morstan are just two of the greatest examples, and
opening up new avenues for their clichés in the modern world was a true work of
art.
The
final minutes of the last episode would seem to indicate that the writers have
reached a conclusion with the series. It’s possible, if for no other reason
that the stars are really busy. But
Holmes did have to come back from the dead because the fans demanded it. Either
way, this was one of the great TV masterpieces of the decade, and in my mind,
PBS’s greatest accomplishment.
Fleabag
(Amazon)
Considering
how well the second season ended – not just story wise, but for creator Phoebe
Waller-Bridge winning just about every award in the book – one could understand
both why this brilliant comedy ended perfectly and why millions are demanding
more. This wasn’t an original Amazon series, but so far it stands as their
greatest accomplishment.
Focusing
on a woman only referred to as the title, Waller-Bridge took us in the first
season through the dark world of a hard drinking, very promiscuous woman, who
seemed to delight in poisoning every relationship she had, especially with her
sister (Sian Clifford) a relationship that was held together more by mutual disdain
for Godmother (the incredible Olivia Colman), the kind of nice, open woman you
can’t help but dislike. It was a charming series that became absolutely
extraordinary in its second season and the classic opening episode which
introduced us to Hot Priest (Andrew Scott, is there anything you can’t do?) the
least holy man imaginable to be presiding over a wedding. The second season
focused on Fleabag’s unlikely relationship with this man who was clearly her
soulmate (for one thing, he was the only one who could tell she was breaking
the fourth wall) in every way except the most important one.
The
series ended perfectly for everyone, except sadly, for her. Which is no doubt
why so many people want Waller-Bridge want to go back on her word that this
will be the final season. Considering
that she’s working on so many other things (including hopefully, a return to
her other great show Killing Eve)
it will probably never happen. Probably. Oh God, make her see the light.
Big Little Lies (HBO)
There
are a lot of HBO series that I could put on this list that could earn this
spot - I have a soft spot for Barry which has already become the stuff
of legend and for The Deuce which may
have been one of the best single creations of David Simon. But ultimately, I
turned to Big Little Lies because it
did so many things well in both incarnations.
When
it was just a limited series and an adaptation of Lianne Moriarity’s incredible
novel, it was an exceptional piece of work featuring at least four of the
world’s greatest actresses in the same spot, playing women each in their own
way, quietly damaged and very desperate.
It was so well set to the world of Monterey
that you couldn’t imagine it being
set in New Zealand
originally. And as David E. Kelley continued a triumphant return to form,
creating a whodunit and who-did-it that even those who read the original novel
were surprised, you found yourself wanting to inhale every minute. About the
only problem I had with it winning eight Emmys is that so many competitors were
against each other, it seemed unfair that Reese Witherspoon and Shailene
Woodley had to lose, even if it was to Nicole Kidman and Laura Dern.
I
was appalled, like many were, when HBO decided to go and do a second season. It
had ended so perfectly. My doubts lasted about ten minutes into the second
season premiere when we watched Meryl Streep take over the role of Mary Louise,
the mother of Perry, the monster at the center of Season 1. By the time the
first episode ended, it was clear that Mary Louise was as bad as her son – she
just poured her violence in a different direction. Watching the ‘Monterrey
Five’ deal with the fallout of the murder and the coverup was actually just as
mesmerizing, particularly for Zoe Kravitz, who I really hope doesn’t get
overlooked for an Emmy nod against her equally brilliant cast.
A
lot of people say there will never be a third season. The cast has said they
might do it, they’re just all so busy. I really hope they will, because no
matter how it turns out, these woman are among the most exceptional characters
the decade has produced in one full of strong female characters. The Monterey
Five aren’t heroines or anti-heroines. They’re just women trying to do the best
they can.
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