In
the days since I began my YLT Project, I’ve been asked with some regularity
about my current viewing habits. Sometimes, I even get asked what my top five
shows are in a given year, and lover of sharing that I am, I share. I’ll even
share them here! After all, as many problems as lists can have, it’s always a
good idea to inventory yourself.
#5 Mad
Men-
As I composed these backwards, this is
the third time, I have to use the word “divisive.” Such is my lot in life, I
guess. There was a growing disquietude with the malaise-ridden repeated cycles
of Don Draper, and admittedly, it can be frustrating to watch characters
failing to change even though the point is that they don’t. Still, in a world
where even the most prestigious dramas, including a few I’ve mentioned here,
involved guns or swords or fists, I think it’s good to still have a show that
chronicles the psychic violences we daily inflict on each other.
#4 Doctor
Who-
This
was a big year for the Doctor, what with it being his show’s 50th
anniversary on top of having a regeneration coming. But it was also a deeply
weird year, which only saw the last half of a season full of largely
stand-alone experiments. Yet again, it was a divisive season, but one I enjoyed
immensely, with many of the levied criticisms ringing hollow. After all, it
remained steadfastly dedicated to showing amazing things.
While the 11th Doctor and
the era he represents has been my favorite, I’m actually pretty excited for
this new era, as this will be the first time I watch the transition between
Doctors live as an invested fan. The myriad ways Doctor Who can change while
remaining itself is one of the things that makes it special and cool. Though I
am a little concerned this new guy might burn Clara (in descending order:
Ponds, Donna, Clara, Rose, Martha) with his high-watt eyeballs.
#3 Game
of Thrones-
Not
much to say, I’m just pleased that this straight up fantasy has been able to
maintain the high level of quality and complexity it has, and still be popular.
#2 Legend
of Korra-
I
spent a couple thousand words extolling this season’s virtues recently, and I
still couldn’t find room to mention by far my favorite comic subplot of the
year—Bolin’s movie star misadventures as Nuktuk: Hero of the South. Obscure
references to film history! Propaganda parody! Special effects jokes! A silly
song! Invented ethnic slurs! This storyline had it all!
Despite my praise, this was a
frequently divisive season for Korra, and even I wouldn’t claim it was
flawless. However, the show evoked feelings so many others ignore, not the
least of which is awe and wonder. On the strength of that, it earns this spot.
#1 Breaking
Bad-
Yes,
this was quite the obvious choice, but Breaking Bad deserves its acclaim, both
in terms of quality and as a rare unifying cultural event. Much digital ink has
already been spilled over it, but I will say it was interesting to see readings
of Good and Evil being place upon what I’d always watched as a capital letter
Existential tale in the tradition of Sartre and Camus.
Speaking of cultural unity, it was
also with wry amusement that I read a few NY commentators writing about this
amazing new experience they had watching the finale in a bar with other fans,
something I had been doing for the past three years. And those commentators
were right—it is pretty amazing watching something with a few hundred fellow
devotees. Some cheers confused me, and I’m sure a few of my exclamations
confused others, but we gasped at the same shocks and groaned each time the
credits rolled around, and were apparently ahead of the curve.
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