2018 TV Faves

Although we are nearly two weeks into 2019 now, I feel like 2018 was such a success on our screens that a roundup is well deserved. After a hiatus from being a binge watcher, after writing a dissertation on a significantly lengthy TV show, I returned to watching 12 episodes of something I really love all in one go. I feel like 2018 saw the return of good TV not about drug lords or mafia families, and some more light-hearted, but still gripping, shows graced our screens. I was thoroughly impressed by what I watched this year, and very rarely finished anything disappointed (although what did disappoint me is, nonetheless, outlined below).

SO- here's a wee run down of everything that sparked my interest, and my disdain, on our small screens for the past 12 months.

TV Hits

Although it wasn't entirely new to TV this year, it did release its second season in December and was new to my watch-list towards the latter half of the year. Very quickly, The Marvellous Mrs Maisel (Figure 1) became a solid favourite. A mixture of comedy and socio-political satire, Mrs Maisel tells the story of a woman who's journey to stand up uproots everything she, and everyone around her, believes about gender, power and the general status-quo. Not only could I watch Rachel Brosnahan for DAYS but her co-stars such as Tony Shalhoub, who plays her father, are an absolute pleasure to watch fumbling their way through the struggles of realising that patriarchy really is not the answer.

My other TV favourites are for the much less faint hearted. Maniac (Figure 2) featured two of my favourite actors of all time, Emma Stone and Jonah Hill, as they battle through the plights of mental-illness in a dystopian version of where our world is inevitably heading. Beautifully shot with witty and slick dialogue, Maniac took each character through the stages of over-coming trauma in adventurous, and sometimes disturbing settings. This was a hard-hitting, but eventually hear-warming, mini series that won me over from start-to finish.

Killing Eve then came to BBC one after its huge success in America and showed us how sexy a serial killer really can be, meanwhile Haunting of Hill House was so good that I watched five hours of it and then left myself unable to sleep alone for a week. The bent neck lady still haunts me, and that is the sign of a ruddy good horror.

TV Misses

I wasn't entirely impressed with everything I watched this year. After watching the first season entirely in one go, I was seriously annoyed that The Sinner 2 didn't live up to expectations. It was very well acted and I think focusing on the traumas committed against children was a good focus, however it was too easy. The ending was simple and I wasn't gasping my way through each plot twist as I did with the first one. 

Then the biggest disappointment of all was from my beloved Black Mirror. Their new instalment Bandersnatch allows audience to choose options throughout the episode in order to control the conclusion of the narrative. I found that it was badly executed. I give them credit for trying, and the plot was extremely pertinent to the structure, however I ended up on some confusing loop which made me more annoyed than thrilled. I just felt like they should have stuck with what they know, which ALWAYS shocks and impresses me. 

Part two with my hits and misses on film will be coming shortly ....

Figure 1: https://www.tvguide.com/news/best-performances-2018-rachel-brosnahan-marvelous-mrs-maisel/
Figure 2: http://collider.com/maniac-ending-explained/