Rank your 2018 TV shows throughout the year

[Ran]

1. The Americans S6 - So sad to see it go. Keri Russell was robbed. 

2. The Deuce S2 - Really strong from start to finish. Amazing production values, terrific acting, an important and illuminating story. I'll predict this is going to be #1 on the list next year, in its final season.

3. The Terror - What a cast! And the production values -- and sound design, in particular -- were great. It lost something in its latter half, I thought, maybe getting a bit messier, but it ended strongly.

4. Sharp Objects - Gorgeous, great cast, some real biting commentary.

5. Better Call Saul S4 - I think this season has been a bit over-praised, because one substantial plot thread was just left on ice (Nacho) and another was dragged out (the Germans). Still, some beautiful cinematography and a great cast.

6. Daredevil S3 - The first time a Marvel Netflix show has gone 13 episodes without pacing issues. Charlie Cox is so good as Matt Murdock, D'Onofrio's very mannered performance is gripping, the production values just seem better than that of the other Marvel shows. And yes, the show has the best fight choreography of any show I've watched this year.

7. GLOW S2 - So 80s, so fun.

8. Westworld S2 - Bit messy but some really clever, and even beautiful, moments. "Kiksuya" should have had all the awards.

9. Barry S1 - Clever, points for casting and performance and macabre humor, but I will say that I find it hard to imagine it working as well in S2. Should have been a one-and-done. 

10. Poldark S4 - Its economy of storytelling is something a lot of shows could learn from. A winsome cast, beautiful landscape to film, and a good dollop of melodrama works well.

11. The Handmaid's Tale S2 - Didn't like the ending much at all.

12. Maniac - First episode blew my mind with its production design, and everything was meticulously shot ... but as it went on, I felt it was saying a lot less than it could have, and was less bold than it appeared at first glance.

13: Narcos Mexico - I have some issues with this but I don't know how much is simply not being familiar with the history and how much is that the history isn't that interesting. There's also too much knowing copping from THE GODFATHER films (Gallardo's split with his wife, the "ballroom" scene) and SCARFACE (Rafa's obsession with the film and how it informs his behavior, which seems somewhat wildly at odds with what I can find about the actual Rafael Caro Quintero) as well in a way that I'm not sure reflects the history or is just a somewhat tired attempt to homage them. I think the first five episodes were substantially stronger than the last five episodes, and yes, the callbacks in episode 5 were great. The attack on the marijuna field was very poorly choreographed and Michael Peña seemed utterly out of place shuffling along in that combat scene (his performance was much better elsewhere, especially his final scene). Diego Luna was fine when he was the guy scrambling to claw a position out, but after about the halfway point he just became intensely unappealing because he was so obviously being dumb. From what I can tell, this is because they've substantially changed the timeline related to marijuana production shifting to cocaine transport, and certain major arrests.

14. Homeland S-whatever - Getting long in the tooth, but Mandy Patinkin and Claire Danes remain exceptionally watchable.

15. Godless - Started strong, but I felt it didn't live up to its promise.

16. Silicon Valley - Wearing thin, but still has some spark.

17. Luke Cage - Nothing as great as Mahershala Ali in the first half of S1, nothing so dire as as Diamondback in the second half of S1. It was fine.

18. Jessica Jones - Worse than its first season, and I wasn't that impressed with its first season. Its supporting cast is notably weaker than that of DD and LC. I don't know that I would watch a third season at this rate.

19. Altered Carbon - Tremendous production values, some solid casting, but let down by a showrunner who did not trust her abilities and so made an utter hash of the premise and chief character to shoe-horn in the bit she really liked. Very dubious of a second season being any better, but we'll see.

20. Disenchanted - Uneven, long stretches of not being particularly funny, but never eye-rollingly bad as some of the things listed below it got at certain points.

21. Star Trek Discovery - Very uneven, but has substantial room to improve.

22. Ozark S2 - Watched this for the first time. S1 was substantially better than S2, IMO. Jason Bateman is a non-entity on the show. Laura Linney and Julia Garner are very much the highlights. S2 had enormous amounts of implausibility and dud storylines (like the daughter wanting to be emancipated), and I thought a supporting character like Russ was really lacking.

23. Iron Fist S2 - Better paced, still just kind of ... eh. I don't think any of them really get Iron Fist, and I still think moving away from the Marvel version and turn him into something more Jackie Chan -- substantially more light-hearted and humorous -- could have been interesting even if it'd be a wild departure. The final scene kind of saved it for me a bit -- if there's an S3, I'd be interested in seeing where they go with it.

24. House of Cards S6 - Rushed through it just to finish it after having watched for five seasons. Of course, the 1st season was by the far the best -- and the one that hewed closest to the British original -- and the 2nd season worked but was a step down. It went increasingly downhill after that, and I think only inertia -- and Spacey's performance -- really kept me watching. This final season happened mostly to keep the cast and crew employed for one more year, and was a complete and utter mess that ended with a whimper. Robin Wright did what she could with what she had been given, but her character had always been too one-note and that really didn't change despite efforts to give her flashbacks to her youth. Good on Netflix for caring about the welfare of its employees enough to go one more season, but this show is well-buried.

25. Versailles S3 - I watch it for the beautiful costumes mostly. It was pretty dire, and was never a good show but did have its moments.

 

INCOMPLETE:

A Discovery of Witches -- Heard it got a two season renewal, saw some people liked it, gave the first episode a try. It's so lacking in subtext that it hurts. It's just constantly obvious, no subtlety to speak of, so dropped it. Shame, Matthew Goode is pretty good at playing the sort of role he was playing. So, lost Linda and I before even finishing the first episode, and won't be giving it another try.

[Heartofice]

Quote

22. Ozark S2 - Watched this for the first time. S1 was substantially better than S2, IMO. Jason Bateman is a non-entity on the show. Laura Linney and Julia Garner are very much the highlights. S2 had enormous amounts of implausibility and dud storylines (like the daughter wanting to be emancipated), and I thought a supporting character like Russ was really lacking.

I'm always surprised how little love Ozark gets. Sure its not elite level tv but i found it actually very well done and incredibly gripping. I also thought season 2 was a superior to season 1, it just felt like the family were starting to find their feet a bit more and I found the growth in the characters to be a lot stronger. 

Linney is exceptional in the show, but I actually think Bateman is brilliant too. Sure he has his schtick of doing those reactive faces, but it seems to work. Marty is a calculating monster and pretty reserved, waiting for events to unfold infront of him before he does anything. I think you always get a good sense of the pain and frustration his character is feeling. 
 

[Ran]

I actually binged S1 and S2 back-to-back, so the difference between them struck me. I think a big loss between seasons was the loss of Russ, who opened a different side of the story that wasn't replaced by anything equally worthwhile in S2. I felt like S2 was kind of just by the numbers. Also didn't much care for Cade's place in the story.

[Heartofice]

2 minutes ago, Ran said:

I actually binged S1 and S2 back-to-back, so the difference between them struck me. I think a big loss between seasons was the loss of Russ, who opened a different side of the story that wasn't replaced by anything equally worthwhile in S2. I felt like S2 was kind of just by the numbers. Also didn't much care for Cade's place in the story.

Russ was definitely an interesting character, but at the same time I don't think he was very well explored in season one. I rewatched both back to back recently, and it struck me how little I noticed Russ first time around and just how small his part really was in season 1 when watching it the second time. There was a lot of potential there that maybe was wasted.

I agree that Cade is almost a paper thin movie villain at times. It didn't bother me because the show doesn't often come off as worthy drama, and Cade being so frustratingly evil made me more engrossed. I did appreciate those small moments where he acted like a loving father and genuinely seemed to care for his daughter, even if his natural reaction is to revert back to stereotype.

[Corvinus85]

Finished season 3 of The Last Kingdom. Excellent season, possibly the best so far. I'm also adding season 2 of The Gifted to the list, even though it's not done, but it's quite poor so far, and I don't expect it will budge much from where I've placed it. The acting is dreadful; this season overall is quite uninspired. I often forget to tune in for new episodes, and have to catch up.

1. Daredevil
2. The Expanse
3. The Last Kingdom
4. Westworld
5. Altered Carbon
6. Lost in Space
7. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D
8. Cobra Kai
9. Luke Cage
10. Iron Fist
11. Jessica Jones
12. The Man in the High Castle
13. Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan
14. Bodyguard
15. Legion
16. The Terror
17. Homeland
18. The First
19. Star Wars Rebels
20. iZombie
21. Star Trek Discovery
22. Krypton
23. Troy: Fall of a City
24. The Walking Dead
25. The Gifted
26. Black Lightning
27. Designated Survivor
28. Britannia
29. The CW superhero shows: Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow

[PetyrPunkinhead]

On 11/21/2018 at 7:19 AM, Heartofice said:

I'm always surprised how little love Ozark gets. Sure its not elite level tv but i found it actually very well done and incredibly gripping. I also thought season 2 was a superior to season 1, it just felt like the family were starting to find their feet a bit more and I found the growth in the characters to be a lot stronger. 

Linney is exceptional in the show, but I actually think Bateman is brilliant too. Sure he has his schtick of doing those reactive faces, but it seems to work. Marty is a calculating monster and pretty reserved, waiting for events to unfold infront of him before he does anything. I think you always get a good sense of the pain and frustration his character is feeling. 
 

I'm surprised by how little critical love I see for Ozark as well. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's more of a successor to Breaking Bad than BCS.

I think Marty is less of a monster than Wendy, especially after S2.  Marty is just superior, sometimes to a fault, at compartmentalizing. Bateman as an actor doesn't have the best range, agreed, but I think that works well for the type of person Marty is. 

On 11/21/2018 at 7:32 AM, Ran said:

I actually binged S1 and S2 back-to-back, so the difference between them struck me. I think a big loss between seasons was the loss of Russ, who opened a different side of the story that wasn't replaced by anything equally worthwhile in S2. I felt like S2 was kind of just by the numbers. Also didn't much care for Cade's place in the story.

Yeah, maybe it's because you binged both seasons back-to-back, but I agree with @Heartofice that S2 did an excellent job of building on S1, and thus S2 outshines S1 for me--but both are great seasons of TV. Seeing these characters we got to know from S1 define morality for themselves, make rules, and how they struggle to break or bend those rules (and seeing how some had no qualms about redefining morality for themselves) made for some truly griping drama. 

[Heartofice]

I put off watching Ozark thinking it was just some cheap BB rip off, but it’s really not, it’s much better than I expected. It really poses interesting questions on the nature of choices we make in life and how moral any of us really are.

The problem with the show is that at times the writers just throw huge obstacles in the way each episode and then we get a neat solution to it. It just seems to be an endless cycle of new trauma the family has to deal with

[briantw]

7 hours ago, Heartofice said:

I put off watching Ozark thinking it was just some cheap BB rip off, but it’s really not, it’s much better than I expected. It really poses interesting questions on the nature of choices we make in life and how moral any of us really are.

The problem with the show is that at times the writers just throw huge obstacles in the way each episode and then we get a neat solution to it. It just seems to be an endless cycle of new trauma the family has to deal with

I thought the first season started out feeling kind of like a Breaking Bad knock off, but it finds its footing over the course of season one and starts to really separate itself in season two.

[dbunting]

I went back and forth but I think overall I liked Ozark S1 more than S2. If it wasn't for a couple of the absurd plots that they put in front of the family then S2 would have been my favorite. 

[dooog]

1. The Deuce S2:  The one show on the list I wouldn't binge, wanted to absorb each episode.

2. The Americans:  A good end to one of the best shows of the past few years.

3. Narcos Mexico: Really enjoyed it though I wasn't mad on Michael Pena's acting.

4. The Last Kingdom:  Far from perfect but an entertaining and very watchable show.

5. The Expanse S3: Favourite season of this show so far and look forward to the next.

6. Mr Mercedes S2: Not nearly as good as S1 but still alright. Love Brendan Gleeson.

7. Better Call Saul S4:  Painfully slow at times, and it's practically two separate shows at this point, but these guys know how to craft a scene.

8. Homeland S7: A show that managed to recover from a big lull around S3 or so, decent.

9. Ozark S2: A bit repetitive but a solid show.

10:... Can't think of anything great. Jack Ryan was watchable but the lead actor is weak. Westworld was a massive let-down.  Never got around to finishing Legion, it felt like a tedious chore. 

Looking forward to the final season of Fortitude before the year is out.

 

 

[Ramsay B.]

39 minutes ago, Triskele said:

I am about half way through this, and this is jumping out to me in a way that's hard to not see once one notices it.  I've not really seen anything else he's been in and wonder if this is an anomaly or not.  

Hmmm, I didn’t notice Pena’s bad acting at all. I’m kinda glad that I didn’t hear anything about it either or I would’ve been focused on it.

Another fun fact about Pena is that he’s a scientologist. 

[Heartofice]

6 hours ago, Triskele said:

I am about half way through this, and this is jumping out to me in a way that's hard to not see once one notices it.  I've not really seen anything else he's been in and wonder if this is an anomaly or not.  

I think Pena is great in it actually. What I appreciate so much about what he's doing is that he looks like a normal human being in it, whereas often actors look like actors. 

Whether its a function of his poorly fitting clothes, weight gain and haircut, but he looks like your average joe who could fit into any situation there. I noticed his mannerisms and walk are different to how I've seen him in other things too, so I think he is doing something subtly different there. 

There are some great actors in this show however. If I was going to criticise anything it would be:
 

Spoiler

Escobar's wig in episode 5.

 

[JGP]

For me, best shows:

 

1. Patriot S2 & Killing Eve S1 [tried, but can't pick one over the other]

2. Counterpart S1

3. The Expanse S3

 

Honorable Mention:

Cloak and Dagger S1 

 

Others were good, but these four five stood out for me enough to be named.

[dooog]

17 hours ago, Triskele said:

I am about half way through this, and this is jumping out to me in a way that's hard to not see once one notices it.  I've not really seen anything else he's been in and wonder if this is an anomaly or not.  

Yeah it cannot be unseen, like how Charlie Hunnam is always moving his head while delivering his lines in Sons of Anarchy or whatever.  I thought Pena was an okay actor until now, though from what i've seen he usually plays secondary characters like in Fury, 12 Strong, The Martian & Ant Man. The only "main role" I can remember is End of Watch but that was a buddy cop movie that didn't require the same acting prowess as playing a guy like Kiki.  As you say, once you notice it it's incredibly annoying, and kind of ruined my immersion in his character. 

[Annara Snow]

On 11/29/2018 at 3:47 PM, JEORDHl said:

For me, best shows:

 

1. Patriot S2 & Killing Eve S1 [tried, but can't pick one over the other]

2. Counterpart S1

3. The Expanse S3

 

Honorable Mention:

Cloak and Dagger S1 

 

Others were good, but these four five stood out for me enough to be named.

In this thread, we're supposed to be ranking all the 2018 shows we've seen, not just naming the best ones.

[Calibandar]

He said the rest didn't stand out enough to be named.

[PetyrPunkinhead]

On 11/25/2018 at 4:21 AM, Heartofice said:

...The problem with the show is that at times the writers just throw huge obstacles in the way each episode and then we get a neat solution to it. It just seems to be an endless cycle of new trauma the family has to deal with

Yeah, I felt like this happened in a more rapid-fire, unrealistic way in S1 than in S2. The point of all these "fires" or obstacles cropping up in S2 was from their moral struggles as well as decisions they made in S1 to keep themselves alive, except for the daughter. Marty's wife seems much more comfortable making morally grey or outright amoral decisions by the end of S2, which should make their dynamic in S3 really interesting.

[JGP]

On 11/30/2018 at 12:40 PM, Annara Snow said:

In this thread, we're supposed to be ranking all the 2018 shows we've seen, not just naming the best ones.

Yeah, sorry. It wasn't an indictment of others if that's how it was interpreted. Those were the best ones for me.

[shrugs]

[Annara Snow]

1. The Americans (S6)
2. BoJack Horseman (S5)
3. Sharp Objects
4. The Good Place (S2/S3)
5. The Alienist 
6. The Expanse (S3)
7. Dietland
8. The 100 (S5)
9. Jessica Jones (S2)
10. Black Lightning (S1)
11. Agents of SHIELD (S5)
12. Cloak and Dagger (S1)
13. The Gifted (S1)
14. Runaways (S1)
15. Deception
16.  Star Trek: Discovery (S1)
17.  The X-Files (S11)

How does BoJack Horseman manage to be better and better with each season? People say that about a lot of shows, but in this case, it's true. I didn't think it could top season 4, which was the best season of any show in 2017, but season 5 is even better. Although season 4 had a few more brilliant individual episodes, season 5 was more consistent and had a really strong overall narrative. And was amazingly meta and criticizing itself, while also poking fun and satirizing so many things in its hilarious and witty way, as it always does.

I reshuffled the list slightly and put The 100 over Jessica Jones. Both season 2 of JJ and season 5 of The 100 have been criticized a lot, but I liked them both. In the end, I think I prefer The 100 season 5 because its highs were higher, though its lows were lower. Meanwhile, The Good Place continues to be amazing, and stays where it was with its first part of season 3 (the next episode is in 2019). Not all the episodes were as good, but it had a really strong mid-season finale.

 I'd say places 1-5 were all brilliant, 6-9 I really enjoyed though they had their issues, 10 (Black Lightning) was OK, and 11-17 were all various levels of disappointment. (Except for Deception, which was better than I expected, but I didn't expect it to be anything but an ABC procedural.)

Note that the ranking of Black Lightning and The Gifted is based on their respective first seasons, since I haven't had the time to catch up on their seasons 2 yet.

[PetyrPunkinhead]

Here's an update from my last list a few months back. I put write-ups in red for the new shows I've added. I will also probably watch Marvelous Mrs. Maisel S2, Legion S2, and maybe Good Place S3 & South Park S22 before 2018 is over. (Those last two may not finish their seasons until 2019???)  I can see all four of those shows fighting for spots in my top 20, so I may have to update this list one last time.

1. Ozark – S2
2. Star Trek Discovery – S1: It’s probably not what most “purists” would want, but I think it’s an entertaining melding of the JJ Abrams/Kelvin Timeline style Trek of the new films and the TV Trek of old. Each episode is just so damn jam packed and I really like the four new main Starfleet characters. Sure, the occasional F-bomb is a bit off-putting for a Trek TV show, and I’m not a huge fan of the Klingons new (old?) look, but those are minor complaints. I just hope they manage to pull off Spock in S2 as well as the recent films have.
3. Altered Carbon – S1
4. Dare Devil – S3: It’d be higher on the list if the finale had gone slightly differently and if the direction was a bit more on point. Performances were spectacular this season though. Really disappointing it’s the final season, but at least it got a more concrete finale than Luke Cage & Iron Fist.
5. New Girl – S7
6. End of the F*cking World - S1
7. The Good Place – S2
8. The Orville – S1
9. The Terror - S1
10. Mindhunter – S1
11. The Crown – S2
12. Star Wars Rebels – S4
13. Agents of SHIELD – S5
14. Handmaid’s Tale – S2
15. Cloak & Dagger – S1
16. American Vandal – S2
17. The Toys That Made Us – S2
18. GLOW – S2
19. Barry S1
20. West World - S2
21. Jack Ryan – S1: A solid politically based action/suspense series that’s well acted and beautifully paced. The ending felt a bit abrupt, but I can’t go into much more lest I get into spoiler territory. A completely binge-worthy and satisfying series. I hope Krasinski and co. get another few seasons of this.
22. Orange Is The New Black – S6
23. Trial & Error S1 & S2
24. Atlanta – S2: It a clever season with some funny, wacky episodes, and strong cast. I feel like it has an overall uneven balance to it though—sometimes it seems like it’s trying too hard and others not hard enough.
25. Making It – S1:  Amy Pohler & Nick Offerman host a competition show which is basically The Great British Baking Show but for crafts. I’ve zero interest in making crafts, but this is just a pleasant damn 42 minutes of TV where creative, funny people make stuff—and then the awkward elimination. Bring on more than six episodes for S2!
26. Lost in Space (2018) – S1
27. Love – S3
28. Letterkenny S1 & S2
29. Better Call Saul – S4: I still feel like there’s way too much filler in this series and that the writing is pretty overrated. Lalo is a good adversary for Gus, but he came in too late. The last two episodes were great and heartbreaking with Jimmy & Kim, but again, it felt like that should’ve been earlier in the season. The flashforward to BB times was one of the best scenes of the season. It looks like we’ll finally get Breaking Bad Saul next season, and my guess is like BB, S5 will be BCS’s last.
30. Fear The Walking Dead – S4: This is maybe the strongest season yet (S3 was also damn good), and I really wanted to put it higher on the list. However, while it did a fantastic job of bringing Morgan from TWD into the series and introduced some really great new characters, I think it could’ve done a slightly better in its handling of the older characters.
31. The Tick (2017) – S1
32. Jessica Jones – S2
33. Last Man On Earth – S4
34. Archer – S9: Danger Island: Honestly it was kind of mediocre, especially compared to last season’s Dreamland, but overall it was fun seeing these characters in another “alternate reality” season. And that finale had an amazing cliffhanger to lead into S10.
35. Brooklyn Nine-Nine – S5
36. Crashing – S2
37. Everything Sucks! – S1
38. Luke Cage – S2
39. Peaky Blinders – S4
40. Fear The Walking Dead – S3
41. Evil Genius (Netflix docu-series)
42. Mr. Robot – S3
43. Norsemen – S1: It’s already on S3, but I just discovered it on Netflix. If you’re a fan of Vikings in any way, you’ll probably get a kick out of this show that’s a comedic satire of (yet just as brutally violent as) the History Channel series.
44. David Letterman, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction – S1
45. Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee (2018)
46. SNL 43: Saturday Night Live is an institution, and when they’re good they’re really good. However, I think they ride their left leaning political tendencies too hard. The Weekend Update segment and cold open are traditionally political in nature, but that mentality has seeped into most sketches as well. There’s plenty of social commentary and satire ripe on the left and extreme left that never gets picked up on the show. I also never watch this show live anymore; usually I catch it on Hulu or clips on YouTube.
47. Hot Ones (Youtube) – S6 & S7
48. The Four S1 & S2: Don’t judge! It’s a guilty pleasure I sometimes watch when jogging on the treadmill. So the exercise counteracts the terrible shallowness of a singing competition with DJ Khalid (Bless up!), Diddy (Eat!), Megan Trainor, and Fergie, right? Right? :/
49. Succession – S1
50. Portlandia – S8
51. The Walking Dead – S8
52. Silicon Valley – S5
53. Arrested Development – S5
54. AP Bio – S1
55. Mystery of Oak Island: I watched various episodes of this reality treasure hunting show on Hulu from a collection of seasons. Interesting premise but there’s A LOT of filler here. Basically watch the last one or two episodes per season and you’re done.
56. Marching Orders – S1

 Other shows:

 * Top of the Lake – S1 & S2: I didn’t put it on my main list becaue S1 aired way back in 2013, but I caught up with it on Hulu this year. I wanted to like this a lot more than I could. The plot was infuriatingly clunky and self serving, and the two big “twists” in the last two episodes were telegraphed a mile away. Solid cast and performances though. Season two has the same problems as S1, but the addition of Gwen Cchristie’s upbeat officer to the cast was a bright star in each episode.

 *Black Mirror – S4: It’s a TV series only technically. So it feels kind of unfair ranking it with the others. Hits and misses, but the hits were homeruns—USS Callister, Hang the DJ, & Black Museum. 

*11.22.63 – I didn’t put this on my main list since it’s really a miniseries, and it’s a few years old. But I’m glad I finally got around to watching this Hulu original. As a long time Stephen King fan I’m kicking myself for not having read the book before seeing series since it so wonderfully captures the tone of what is best about King’s work—fantasy, mixed with suspense, led by complex characters, all wrapped in a dark but ultimately hopeful morality tale.

*Fresh Off The Boat – S2-4: I really liked S1, but drifted away from the series back in S2 a few years back. This year I started catching up with it on Hulu, and started jumping around a bit between seasons. It’s a great throwback to the sitcom formula, but takes on enough continuity with the characters to not feel dated even though it’s set in the 90s. My only complaints are that the show can get a a tiny bit preachy sometimes, and the kid actors can be very hit or miss in terms of performance—except for the kid who plays the youngest son, Evan,; Evan is always on point.