Another year
of TV has come and gone. The 2012-13 season was an eventful one, as it marked
the end of such landmark shows as The
Office, Gossip Girl and 30 Rock, and introduced the world to
new attractions like Hannibal, Orphan Black and 1600 Penn (hey, I didn’t say they were all good). Along with the impending final season of Breaking Bad and whatever else the
summer TV slate has in store, this warmer weather signals the approach of those
all-important Emmy nominations, which will be announced three days from now on
July 18th. This means I get to make another list of things I’d love
to see the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences do.
Drama
Hannibal for Outstanding
Drama Series. With so many perennial contenders for this category still
jousting for a slot (Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones and Downton
Abbey, just to name a few), it would be easy to go with familiar names and
overlook the handful of worthy new shows that emerged over the past year.
Foremost among these rookie challengers, probably along with BBC’s Orphan Black, is Hannibal. I’ll be the first to admit that, when I heard NBC had
picked up a show based on the younger years of the iconic, people-eating
villain, I rolled my eyes and quickly declared the idea depressingly unoriginal,
a massive failure just waiting to happen. Besides, it would be impossible to
find an actor who could fill Anthony Hopkins’s Oscar-winning shoes for the
title role. As it turned out, I was wrong. Although I still prefer Hopkins’s openly
menacing yet charming take on the character over Mads Mikkelsen’s perpetually
unruffled, debonair inscrutability, the show itself ended up being a dark,
twisted psychological thriller with its own unique voice. Showrunner Bryan
Fuller gives it just enough stylized flair to keep the procedural format from
growing too monotonous and populates the world initially created by author
Thomas Harris with complex, unpredictable characters brought to life by a
talented group of actors. For my money, Laurence Fishburne, who plays Jack
Crawford in a tour-de-force performance and was weirdly, disappointingly not
submitted for Emmy consideration, and Lara Jean Chorostecki as the mysterious
crime reporter Freddie Lounds are especially impressive. Touching on themes of
identity, mental health and the nature and effects of violence, the first
season of Hannibal provided a strong
bedrock for what could hopefully become one of the next great TV shows in an
age bursting at the seams with great television.
CHECK IT OUT: “Potage” (Ep. 3), “Entrée” (Ep. 6), “Savoureux” (Ep.
13)
Jon Hamm (Mad Men) for Best Lead Actor. This isn’t exactly an
off-the-beaten-path choice, and in all likelihood, Hamm’s name will be called
come the morning of the 18th. However, considering that last year
saw another show take the Emmy for Best Drama for the first time in five years,
don’t be surprised if Mad Men doesn’t
garner as much love as it has in the past. With a lot of quality dramas popping
up lately, the temptation to reward something newer and currently hipper is
understandable, but if you ask me, Matthew Weiner’s brainchild still ranks
among the most intelligent, well-crafted and flat-out brilliant work on TV,
that rare show that hasn’t been diminished by longevity and deserves to be
recognized for what it’s doing right now, not just what it’s already
accomplished. Season six may have been Mad
Men’s most polarizing yet, but it was also its bravest and most ambitious.
In a season that featured a
complete cipher of a new character (Bob Benson: friendly do-gooder or repressed
serial killer/undercover government agent/corporate spy/time traveler? You
decide), a WTF-heavy, drug-fueled episode and at least two characters
getting stabbed with a bonus face shooting, no move was ballsier than the
direction Weiner and his writers went with Don Draper. By completely stripping
away Don’s cool-guy façade and exposing the petty, cruel egomaniac underneath, they
risked alienating viewers (and, to be fair, many
were turned
off),
but in doing so, they forced us to see that all the wealth, advertising gloss
and poetic speeches simply act as masks to disguise how rotten Don – and, by
extension, the establishment society run by upper-middle-class white men he
represents – are at their core. This character arc reflected the angry
disillusionment, fear and chaos that pervaded America during 1968, the year in
which the season was set, and it worked due largely to Jon Hamm’s incredible
tightrope-walk of a performance. Taking what could’ve been an extremely
melodramatic and self-indulgent storyline about the demise of a privileged brat
and turning it into a quiet, achingly sad study of a man so desperate to maintain
control over his life he can’t recognize that he’s destroying himself and the
people he loves, Hamm makes us simultaneously root for and mourn Don’s
downfall, portraying the ad genius as both a cold-hearted monster and a lost,
vulnerable soul plummeting towards rock bottom. Subtle shifts in his facial
expressions and body language reveal monumental truths about his character,
saying more than words ever could. Rarely has a downward spiral been so
fascinating.
CHECK IT OUT: “Man With a Plan”
(Ep. 7), “Favors” (Ep. 11), “In Care Of” (Ep. 13)
Also, this is a shining beacon of acting brilliance.
Michelle
Fairley (Game of Thrones) for Best
Supporting Actress. She didn’t have the flashiest or biggest role on HBO’s
ensemble fantasy series, but despite her rather disappointingly limited screen
time, Michelle Fairley gradually revealed herself to be the weary heart of the
show’s third season. As Daenerys stormed
cities and gathered her army in the east and the Lannisters and Tyrells
jockeyed for power in King’s Landing, Catelyn Stark struggled between her duty
to help her son Robb fight a war she wanted no part of and her personal desire
to reunite and protect the scattered pieces of her family. Fairley makes
maternal love seem like an unbreakable pillar of strength as well as a blinding
weakness, her wide eyes betraying self-doubt and her inherently quiet, peaceful
nature even as she seems outwardly cold and hardened. When Catelyn’s fierce yet
naïve belief that everyone around her is as bound to honor as she is led to
inevitable, Shakespearean tragedy, the anguished scream that tore out of
Fairley’s throat and the look of utter defeat that passed across her face shattered
the hearts of grizzled A Song of Ice and
Fire veterans and unsuspecting newbies alike.
CHECK IT OUT: “Walk of Punishment” (Ep. 3), “Kissed by Fire” (Ep.
5), “The Rains of Castamere” (Ep. 9)
Justified for Outstanding Writing. There
are times when it feels like Justified
should’ve been submitted as a comedy, rather than a drama. With its idiosyncratic
cast of characters (what other show would have a character named “Yolo” and
have it come off as ironically hilarious instead of eye-rollingly stupid?),
dialogue that crackles and electrifies as intensely as any gunfight and a
wickedly dark sense of humor, the Elmore Leonard-influenced series has made me
laugh more and harder than many actual sitcoms. This ability to have fun and
not always take itself too seriously balances out nicely with the more serious
bent of most of the storylines and themes that the show deals with, and over
the course of four seasons, the immensely talented writers have learned how to
make the seemingly-contrary cheeky and melancholy tones work together.
After the enjoyable but thematically lightweight arc of last year, season 4 took a more intimate direction, delving more deeply into the personal lives and relationships of its characters as they struggled to break free of the past. Raylan continued to grapple with the shadow of his father, while Boyd and Ava tried to use his budding criminal empire to carve out a new, brighter future for themselves but were held back by their less-than-reputable backgrounds and the threat of old crimes coming to light. Even Jacob Pitt’s wisecracking Tim, who finally got some more screen time (hallelujah! Now, work on Rachel, show), had to confront the scars left over from serving in the Gulf War in the form of Colton Rhodes, Boyd’s old Army buddy and new right-hand man, played by the top-notch Ron Eldard; their tense exchange in the episode “Decoy is absolute giddy, stand-up-in-your-living-room-and-applaud gold. Along with their sharp wit and general mastery over the English language, the writing staff led by creator Graham Yost once again demonstrated a deep understanding of character, setting and plot construction that few shows – or movies or books, for that matter – ever achieve. Cleverly uproarious, badass and as elegiac as the best country songs, Justified’s fourth season was an expertly-crafted meditation on the ways in which our history defines and stood among the finest entertainment of this past year.
CHECK IT OUT: “Outlaw” (Ep. 8), “Decoy” (Ep. 11), “Ghosts” (Ep. 13)
If you snub this show, you’re gonna have to answer to Ava
Crowder.
And trust me, Emmys, that won’t end well for you.
Comedy
Laura Dern (Enlightened) for
Best Lead Actress. LIke Justified,
Mike White’s HBO show about a woman who has a mental breakdown and reforms
herself after getting some New Age therapy in Hawaii frequently dances the line
between comedy and drama. Posing meaningful questions about the
responsibilities individuals have to taking care of themselves, the people
around them and the world at large, White, who also gives a nicely understated
performance as the loner Tyler, exhibits a clear-eyed, humanist approach to
storytelling that stands in stark contrast to the cynicism that dominates the
modern television landscape. He adds just enough of a tart, darkly satirical
edge to make all the earnest appeals to be your best self today feel genuinely
inspirational and admirable.
What really holds Enlightened together, however, is the openhearted
performance of Laura Dern as the sometimes delightful, sometimes cringe-worthy
but always unapologetically human Amy Jellicoe. Taking advantage of the kind of
wonderfully dynamic and complex role that women all-too-rarely find, Dern
proves unafraid of embodying Amy and all of her flaws, exposing her as
narcissistic, sanctimonious and completely lacking in any kind of
self-awareness when it comes to social situations, but like the show itself,
she never treats her character with anything less than complete empathy. Buoyed
by excellent supporting work from actors like White, Luke Wilson and Sarah
Burns, it’s a portrayal of such grace and humility that, despite how unlikable
Amy can be at times, it quickly becomes impossible to not root for her to
succeed. Since HBO disappointingly but unsurprisingly canceled Enlightened after only two excellent
seasons, this is the Emmys’ last chance to reward Dern, and it would be a shame
if they pass it up. As EW’s Darren
Franich perceptively
observes in his write-up following the show’s cancellation, after watching
Dern at work, we go from wondering why Amy cares so much to wondering why we
don’t care more.
CHECK IT OUT: “Follow Me” (Ep. 4), “All I Ever Wanted” (Ep. 6),
“Agent of Change” (Ep. 8)
Ease
up on the Modern Family adoration.
Seriously. I’ll be real here: I haven’t watched a ton of Modern Family, but the episodes I have
seen were actually pretty good. While it doesn’t take the risks that something
like Community has, the show is
filled with likable, if rather simplistic, characters and is always reliable
for providing some good, comforting laughs, the kind of thing that will
probably send most people off to bed happy. So, I don’t have anything against Modern Family the way some seem to, but
let’s face it: over the course of its four-seasons-and-counting run, the Steven
Levitan/Christopher Lloyd sitcom has gotten more than its fair share of
attention awards-wise. Its adult cast members in particular annually crowd out
other equally good or better contenders; it doesn’t help that they refuse to
submit anyone in the lead categories, even though Ty Burrell and Julie Bowen
could easily go that way. With such worthy, exciting comedies as Enlightened, Happy Endings, Louie, Veep, etc., available to choose from,
it’s time the Emmys shone a spotlight on something different for a change.
If they must award an old favorite, why not at least give 30 Rock some sentimental farewell love?
CHECK IT OUT: “No-Ho-Ho”
(Ep. 7), “The Marry Prankster” (Ep. 12), “She Got Game Night” (Ep. 18)
Miniseries/TV
Movie
The Hour for Outstanding
Miniseries or TV Movie. People frequently refer to this BBC drama as the
“British Mad Men” (I sometimes think
of it as the optimistic or idealistic version of Mad Men, but the truth is, aside from the period setting and
regular exploration of gender politics, the two shows aren’t all that similar. Creator
Abi Morgan doesn’t aim for Matthew Weiner’s symbolic or thematic complexity, preferring
a more straightforward, accessible approach, yet with its jazzy opening credits
sequence and a mostly somber, though not self-serious, tone that would make
absurdist moments like this from Mad Men feel completely out-of-place, The Hour somehow feels even classier.
Sporting an outstanding ensemble cast headed by Ben Whishaw, Romola Garai and
Dominic West, it follows the day-to-day activities of a newly established
broadcast news team in 1950s London as they deal with complex social issues and
tricky newsroom politics. Each episode deftly combines the deliberate
thoughtfulness of an intimate, small-scale drama with the tautness of a
thriller that comes from each season being structured around a central mystery;
the frequent cliffhangers are as gripping as anything from Lost and lend tension to a show that could easily have been overly
slow or meditative. As compelling as the show’s first season was, its second –
and final – season took things up to a whole new level. Revolving an
investigation of a shady night club, the show found new depths to its already
finely-drawn cast of characters, with the heartbreaking relationship between
supporting players Lix Storm (the delightful Anna Chancellor) and Randall Brown
(new addition Peter Capaldi) in particular serving as a highlight, and it
explored questions of political corruption, social injustice and journalistic
ethics with elegance and bright-eyed honesty, opting for a nuanced approach
rather than soapbox condescension. It’s the urgent, principled, this-is-REAL-journalism firebrand Aaron
Sorkin’s The Newsroom wishes it could
be.
CHECK IT OUT: Episodes 1, 5 and 6
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