15. “American Vandal”
Who is the Turd Burglar? That’s the new question the second season of “American Vandal” tried to answer, but deep down, there was so much more to unearth and reason with. Sure, Peter and Sam’s foray into the world of a prestigious Catholic private school didn’t quite meet that insane, hysterical height we found ourselves in with Season One. Nevertheless, Season Two found new ways to make us think, and make us laugh until we felt sick to our stomachs (well, not that sick). The new season let the documentarians take the arch-backseat to a new cast of characters, few arriving with such searing commentary as basketball prospect DeMarcus Tillman (a revelatory Melvin Gregg) and quirky loner Kevin McClain (a complex Travis Tope). Tillman and McClain accompanied the scripts in deep excavations as to how their characters think and felt. The story this time provoked a lot of humor at the expense of the private school environment, but the eventual turn into social commentary gave the new episodes their weight. It’s one thing to see poor high schoolers pooping their pants on the scale of a contagion. It’s another to see a show about poor high schoolers pooping their pants deal with such searing truths about internet connectivity and online bullying. – Cory Woodroff
14. “Counterpart”
It’s been such a long year that as we started to put this list together, no one could remember if “Counterpart” aired in 2018 or, like, 2015, particularly as the second season has already begun. But in fact, Justin Marks’ “Counterpart” did indeed get underway in January of this year, and the endless slog of 2018 should not stop us forgetting what a thrilling, characterful and well-executed show it was. The series stars J.K. Simmons as a low-level bureaucrat working for a mysterious organization in Berlin who comes face-to-face with his doppelganger, and discovers that the real role of his employer is to protect a gateway to a parallel world. Obviously, the show’s big draw was a chance to see a double helping of Oscar-winner Simmons, and it doesn’t disappoint in that respect: without any costume or makeup tricks, you can tell just from looking at him which version of Howard he’s playing. But the show’s pleasures extended far beyond that, from its intriguing brutalist aesthetic, to the twisty plotting that gives a sci-fi spin to Le Carré-ish trappings, to an excellent supporting cast (with Olivia Williams, Harry Lloyd and Nazanin Boniadi first among equals) who increasingly move to the forefront. The show hasn’t yet taken off with a wider audience, but with the second season underway, it’s time to get caught up, stat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlOO2SwQ-os
https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/1072149461764210689
13. “The Terror”
As we intimated above, it’s hard to make horror be genuinely scary on TV. And it’s harder still to make a show in 2018 about a hundred somewhat interchangeable British white men being stuck on a boat in the 1840s and make it feel necessary. But “The Terror” did both of those things and more. Adapted from Dan Simmons’ novel by “Suspiria” writer David Kajganich (who split showrunner duties with Soo Hugh), AMC’s series tracked a doomed Arctic expedition (based on real events) which encounters not just the elements, but also a fearsome supernatural monster. It’s something of a cliche to say in a story like this that man proves to be the real monster, and that’s not quite true: this had a terrifying-ass polar beastie that would make the Screaming Skull Bear from “Annihilation” shit itself. But the show was as concerned with the ways that men fall apart under adversity, or do terrible things in the name of survival, and the moments that turned the stomach were often from the people more than the Tuunbaq. It was somehow beautifully paced and plotted despite largely taking place in one square mile over ten episodes, and had a terrific cast all doing tremendous work, with Jared Harris, Paul Ready and Adam Nagaitis being particular standouts. Season Two will take the anthology route, telling a horror story against the backdrop of the internment of Japanese-Americans, but it’ll have a tough task to improve on the original.
12. “A Very English Scandal”
However good a year you might have had, Hugh Grant probably had a better one. He started it off playing the villain in “Paddington 2,” turning in the best performance of his career in the process (and winning a BAFTA nomination for his trouble). And he continued it in the summer by turning in the other best performance of his career, in this tremendous three-part Amazon/BBC miniseries directed by Stephen Frears and written by Russell T. Davies. The show tells the story of Jeremy Thorpe, who rose to lead the UK’s Liberal party in the 1960s before an affair with a troubled, eccentric young man called Norman Scott (Ben Whishaw) led to blackmail, a haphazard murder plot, and eventual disgrace. It’s a story that was virtually unknown outside the UK, and barely known even there nowadays, but Davies’ scripts do a wonderful job in telling it with clarity, wit, and pathos, while never letting the themes — of the establishment’s ability to protect itself — out of its grasp. And as good as Grant is, monstrous and sympathetic in equal measures, Whishaw is certainly his equal, making a character who could be maddening become rather relatable. It’s been a bit underseen outside the UK (where it was a huge hit), but hopefully, the brace of awards that it’s already starting to pick up will change that.
11. “Bojack Horseman”
Every season as the Netflix animated series continues to prove itself one of the best (if not the best) animated series ever to air, “Bojack Horseman” continues to find a way to outdo itself. Be it in moments of levity or deep, haunting despair, the series never allows itself to rest on the triumphs it last experienced. Season 5 followed Bojack (a simply never better Will Arnett) as he found himself on a new, potentially successful television series, addicted to pain medications, and continually trying to rebuild bits of his life he can’t quite seem to hold up for very long. The entire crop of colorful characters were wonderful as always (with Amy Sedaris’s Princess Carolyn being a continued standout) but this was by and large Bojack’s season, punctuated by what possibly will be the series best episode with the innovative and daring “Free Churro” as he delivered a eulogy at his mother’s funeral. Only interrupted by the opening scene that flashes back to Bojack’s childhood as we watch his father deal with his wife’s diminishing mental health and project his own pain and anger onto his son, the episode is theatrical in all the right ways. It’s poignant without veering out of tone and biting without leaning into slapstick to save the comedic moment. Rather, it’s an honest and terrific character deconstruction that tells us everything we need to know and more about the deeply flawed character at the center of the story. – Ally Johnson
