鈥淭he fact that television exists in so remote a land,鈥� the restless travel writer Tim Cahill wrote of Hiva Oa in the Marquesas Islands, in his travel story Visions of Terror and Paradise, 鈥渋n a place littered with the artifacts of the old times and the old beliefs, sometimes staggers the imagination and presents the traveller with a number of truly remarkable cultural cross-currents.鈥�
Television produces a lot of trash in any given year. We know this. And yet 鈥�
The year鈥檚 finest dramas 鈥� and there are a considerable number of them 鈥� can be found on the specialty-channel band, from HBO, FX and AMC to The Movie Network, Showcase and Super Channel. They are not, however, to be found on the major, mainstream broadcast networks.
The broadcast networks prefer reality TV over chancy, risk-taking drama, because it鈥檚 cheap to produce and easy to do. True, some competition programs are better than others. They don鈥檛 hold up to long-term scrutiny, though, not in the same way Mad Men, Breaking Bad and Homeland will, five, 10 or even 25 years from now.
There was a lot of remarkable television over the last year, and don鈥檛 let anyone tell you differently, whether they鈥檙e from Hiva Oa or Halifax.
Here are a few programs worthy of mention. As we鈥檝e already seen, there were many others 鈥� almost too many to name here.
(Spoiler alert!)
10. The Killing (AMC)
The bleakness was still there, the long hushes in the rain, the unnerving emotional landscape of a family鈥檚 struggling with the loss a loved one. When The Killing returned from its self-imposed exile in the wilderness 鈥� that ending! How could they?! 鈥� there was a renewed energy, and a renewed focus on the need for answers. When those answers came, it was bound to be a letdown. A broken tail light? Really? When the rain finally settled, though, what we were left with was something remarkable: a TV murder mystery that made us care about the victim for once, in a way those who watched The Killing from the outset won鈥檛 soon forget.
Don鈥檛 believe the reports, by the way, that The Killing has been cancelled. There were signs that AMC may be close to a 12th-hour deal with the online streaming service Netflix that will see the Nordic-styled filmed-in-Vancouver thriller back for a third season.
9. Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
Boardwalk Empire鈥檚 third season might have been maddening for some 鈥� Too many characters! Too much story! Too many notes! Despite the occasional explicit and terrifying moments of violence, there was a renewed focus on family this season. And regret. Regret by Steve Buscemi鈥檚 Prohibition-era bootlegger Nucky Thompson, not so much for his lost empire but over his failing marriage. And regret for the past 鈥� doubly ironic in a period gangster drama that, after all, is set in the past.
8. Game of Thrones (HBO)
Failing marriage was a recurring theme in many of the year鈥檚 finest TV dramas. No marriage was as doomed to fail as the adolescent shackling of a naive, silly Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) and the malevolent, psychotic Boy King Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson), in Game of Thrones鈥� second season. The attention to magical, fantastical detail 鈥� dragons! castles! warlocks! 鈥� in Game of Thrones is breathtaking to behold. It鈥檚 the vital human emotions, though, and the unbearable tension of a child plotting to kill another child, that make Game of Thrones one of primetime television鈥檚 most gripping, addictive thrillers. Game of Thrones isn鈥檛 just for fanboys or fangirls. It鈥檚 a singular and monumental achievement, a complex, adult, emotionally rich fantasy writ large across the small screen.
7. Boss (Starz, Super Channel)
Boss鈥檚 second season was, if anything, even more intricately plotted and unnerving than the first, as Kelsey Grammer鈥檚 scheming Chicago Mayor Tom Kane consolidated power, even as forces gathered in the darkness around him. By the season鈥檚 end, it was clear that Kane鈥檚 ham-handed efforts to repair bridges and mend relationships with his family were just a sham, a bid to buy himself a little extra time before his enemies did him. Perhaps no television drama has been more adept at making a dreary, seemingly meaningless city council meeting look like a matter of life and death.
6. The Walking Dead (AMC)
鈥淭he Walking Dead strips away civilization, and see what imprint it has left on the minds and souls of the survivors.鈥� No, that wasn鈥檛 some fanboy talking at Comic-Con, but rather conservative blogger and social critic Andrew Sullivan, tweeting just days before The Walking Dead鈥檚 midseason finale earlier this month. But wait, there was more. 鈥淭he elementary struggle for survival in the zombie apocalypse isn鈥檛 a struggle against evil; it鈥檚 a struggle against an amoral horror.鈥� Them鈥檚 mighty fine words for what was assumed to be a silly TV zombie thriller, George Romero dumbed down for the small screen. Instead, The Walking Dead has become one of TV鈥檚 most trenchant and poignant commentaries on what it means to be human. A mother, one of the story鈥檚 lead characters from the beginning, died while giving birth to a child. A good Samaritan who鈥檇 done no one harm had his leg amputated to save his life. And a pair of innocents, finding love for the first time, found themselves kidnapped and chained into the middle of a terrible ordeal. TV is so often about dashed expectations. The Walking Dead has done the exact opposite. It鈥檚 taken a low bar and raised it sky high.
5. The Colbert Report (Comedy Central, CTV)
The Daily Show wins all the Emmys but The Colbert Report is by far the faster, smarter, wittier show. Only a real dunderhead would take umbrage at Stephen Colbert鈥檚 tirades against sa国际传媒 and all things Canadian. He鈥檚 supposed to sound nuts 鈥� that鈥檚 his 鈥渂it,鈥� as he would say. After all, this is a man who noted of Thanksgiving: 鈥淭hanksgiving is just a prelude to the holiest day of the year 鈥� Black Friday.鈥� And here was Colbert, for example, on the media鈥檚 obsession with the ludicrously overblown Gen. David Petraeus sex scandal: 鈥淚 may be a news junkie, but I also gots [sic] to have my stories. And this is both. It鈥檚 like a steamy episode of Generals鈥� Hospital. The sex scandal is all anyone in Washington can talk about. I wonder why the country is in financial ruin.鈥�
Later, in the same segment, Colbert complained the story was getting to be a little too far-fetched for his liking. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not believable anymore. The news has jumped the shark.鈥� But not, thankfully, Colbert himself.
4. Modern Family (ABC, Citytv)
It鈥檚 almost impossible to describe in boring, simple printed words what a nifty high-wire act Modern Family manages to pull off, week after week. I don鈥檛 hold comedy in as high regard as drama as a rule, but Modern Family is the exception. It鈥檚 a wild, heady combination of love, life, longing, heartbreak and pride of family and place. A typical episode runs just 22 minutes. Minute by minute, second by second, there may be no finer written, directed or acted scripted series on television. The exchanges are fast and witty and cutting but never cruel or mean-spirited. There was this, from a father鈥檚 book of advice, lovingly passed on to his college-bound daughter: 鈥淲atch a sunrise at least once a day.鈥� And, 鈥淭he most amazing things that can happen to a human being will happen to you 鈥� if you remember to lower your expectations.鈥� Having Modern Family in our lives right now is a true joy.
3. Homeland (Showtime, Super Channel)
If the true sign of pop-cultural arrival in the post-ironic age of Twitter and the iPad is a parody on Saturday Night Live, then Homeland crossed the rubicon mere weeks ago with a wild send-up in an SNL hosted by Anne Hathaway. Then there was Stephen Colbert鈥檚 鈥淏reaking News alert!鈥� on The Colbert Report: 鈥淭here鈥檚 another scandal at the CIA. Why can鈥檛 Claire Danes get her [act] together?鈥�
Homeland is reputedly U.S. President Barack Obama鈥檚 favourite drama 鈥� and possibly the only TV drama he finds time to watch 鈥� as confirmed to Postmedia News this past summer by Homeland co-star and subsequent best-actor Emmy winner Damian Lewis.
Homeland became a little twisty toward the end of its second season, but it鈥檚 still a dazzling example of how a simple story 鈥� is he or is he not a terrorist? 鈥� told well can become an obsession, and one of the culture鈥檚 most hypnotically addictive thrillers. Claire Danes does have her act together, by the way. Literally.
2. Mad Men (AMC)
Megan Calvet, that little number with Zou Bisou Bisou, Don Draper鈥檚 finding 鈥� and now possibly squandering 鈥� a semblance of happiness, Sally Draper鈥檚 sudden brush with puberty and adolescence: Mad Men had a heady, wonderful fifth season. And then, just when it seemed as if the entire season would turn out to be a flight of fancy 鈥� a mere dream of peace and contentment 鈥� Lane Pryce went and hanged himself in his corner office.
Mad Men has always been best when it sweeps the rug out from underneath the viewer emotionally and unexpectedly. This past season especially, Montreal ingenue Jessica Par茅 emerged as a star-in-the-making, as the seemingly too-good-to-be-true woman of Don Draper鈥檚 dreams, and the sense now is that there will never again be days like it in the Draper marriage. The same could be said of Mad Men: This was a top-drawer season in an already top-shelf drama series.
1. Breaking Bad (AMC)
But then there was Breaking Bad, an always consistent, slow-burning thriller about a keen-minded but morally obtuse middle-class dad and high-school chemistry teacher who turned to cooking meth to help pay the medical bills and found he liked the business a little too much. Breaking Bad returns with its final run of eight episodes in the new year 鈥� probably in July 鈥� but the die is cast. There is no turning back for Bryan Cranston鈥檚 Walter White, not after what he did this past season. It鈥檚 possible that Aaron Paul鈥檚 Jesse Pinkman, Walt鈥檚 previously drug-addled but now sober assistant, will emerge as Breaking Bad鈥檚 one true good man. Then again, if you鈥檝e been watching from the beginning, you know Pinkman has a lot to answer for, too. That鈥檚 Breaking Bad鈥檚 secret ingredient: With just eight episodes to go, it鈥檚 virtually impossible to figure out how this one鈥檚 going to end. And that, more than anything, is the sign of truly meaningful television that will stand the test of time.
