“Ripley”
If not the best show on this list, at least the most delicately crafted, striking, and gorgeous to look at, Academy Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker Steven Zaillian’s (“Schindler’s List”) neo-noir psychological thriller based on Patricia Highsmith‘s 1955 crime novel “The Talented Mr. Ripley” was an engrossing and haunting portrait of the mind behind a con-man turned killer. Shot in moody and crisp arthouse black and white by Academy-Award winning cinematography Robert Elswit (“There Will Be Blood”), nothing on television (or arguably film) matched the visually stunning and sinister atmospheres practically sweating out every frame of the gripping series. Yet it had something to say about loneliness, inadequacy, personal failures, and the dark paths that living a meager life on the fringes can lead to. Plus, Andrew Scott, as Ripley, put in such a complex turn as an elusive, unknowable grifter seemingly having become unmoored from his own sense of self. As our review wrote, “Ripley” was not just an absorbing cat-and-mouse thriller about a man trying to get away with murder but “a heartbreaking and tragic portrait of a broken soul and lonely flim-flam man pushed to the edge of desperation.” – RP [read our review]
“The Boys” (Season 4)
Every season of “The Boys” hits you hard. Just when you think you’ve seen it all (I still can’t get the image of The Deep having sex with an octopus out of my brain), the show one-ups itself yet again. And Season 4 has plenty of those jaw-dropping moments (Hughie dressed as a Spider-Man analogue while being sexually humiliated is something I never thought I’d see). But where “The Boys” continues to raise the bar is with its politics. In the first couple of seasons, the politics were fairly clear, but it was really the shock value that earned headlines. Now, the show just hits you over the head with a political sledgehammer each week. In Season 4 alone, the show has taken on conspiracy theories, abortion, and assisted suicide. And let’s not forget just how Trumpian Homelander has become. As wild and depraved as “The Boys” can be, the strong characters and socio-political messaging make it must-see TV. Oh yeah, and where else are you going to see Tilda Swinton voice an octopus and Will Ferrell lampoon “The Blindside?” – Charles Barfield [read our review]
“Mr. & Mrs. Smith”
The original 2005 “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” by director Doug Liman, starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, followed a married couple discovering they are both secretly working as assassins for rival companies, was clever, action-packed popcorn entertainment. The new TV remake, created by Francesca Sloane (“Atlanta,” “Fargo”) and Donald Glover (who also stars), is much different, though it still provides laughs and thrills, just of a different sort—starring Glover and Maya Erskine (“Pen15”). In this version, more down and dirty, dark and gritty, without the “dark and gritty” cliche tropes, the couple are essentially assigned to pose as a married couple while undergoing assassin missions, but through all their harrowing, visceral experiences–many of them darkly, morbidly funny– the pair start to catch feeling for each other. While the spy espionage thing is entertaining with sardonic laughs, what the show is really interrogating is the messiness of marital complications filtered through the challenge of espionage drama. But at its heart, it’s an emotionally credible struggle-of-relationships series that we can all relate to, and better for it in the end. – RP [read our review]
“True Detective: Night Country”
Resurrected after original creator Nic Pizzalatto and HBO couldn’t come to terms on a fourth season, the cable channel turned to Mexican horror and genre filmmaker Issa López (“Tigers Are Not Afraid”), and she created a spellbinding, horrific murder mystery about the traumas, horrors, past transgressions and people that still haunt us. ‘Night Country’ greatly flipped the script too. If season one featured the battling egos of men in the sweaty bayous of Louisiana, López went the opposite way, featuring a similar caustic dynamic between female law enforcement officers (Jodie Foster and Kali Reis of “Catch the Fair One”) but set in the chilling, wintry setting of a fictional Alsakan and arctic town. With shades of supernatural horror evocative of John Carpenter’s “The Thing,” and Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”), and even a little “Silence Of The Lambs,” López put a terrifyingly eerie spin on “True Detective” while still staying close to its police procedural roots. She’s also working on season five, and she’s more than earned the right to take over the mantle of this always-compelling series. – RP [read our review]
“John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in LA”
Comedian John Mulaney has always had a hilarious and distinctive comedic voice, though it hasn’t always hit the mark on TV. His earlier shows, like the somewhat bland “Mulaney” or the charming but bizarre “John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch,” didn’t quite resonate. But with “John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in LA,” he finally finds his stride. This limited variety series blends the sharp wit of prime-era Letterman with the quirky charm of old local public access TV shows, all wrapped up with a Netflix budget. Each episode delves into evergreen local LA topics, featuring a hilariously diverse and often bewildered lineup of guest stars, including Will Ferrell, Pete Davidson, David Letterman, John Carpenter, Sarah Silverman, Flea, Jerry Seinfeld, Nikki Glaser, Jon Stewart, and more. The show captured the hearts and minds of comedy fans, creating one of the most unique, bizarre, and delightful variety shows ever made. It was never meant to stick around for long, but it would definitely be welcome back anytime. – MD
