From an action-packed sci-fi adventure to a tweaked modern take on a classic sitcom,
these are the the best TV shows of 2018.
Throw some popcorn in the microwave and dig out your binge-watching sweatpants, because
we're diving in.
Who would've guessed that it would take a cartoon about a foul-mouthed, anthropomorphic
horse to really nail the trials and tribulations of fame, depression, and generational trauma?
Basically, BoJack Horseman has been a revelation, balancing wit, humor, and plenty of madcap
charm with a deep emphasis on the way sadness permeates… well, everything.
And, even for those familiar with how brutally tragic and unflinching the show can get, season
5 took BoJack Horseman to new heights.
"You're here.
And I hate you.
But you're my best friend.
And you need me."
Plenty of other shows have featured anti-hero leads, but BoJack never loses sight of the
fact that its titular lead's crappier actions remain forever present, and the weight of
his awful actions are hiding just below the surface.
Season 5 brought all that subtext directly to the forefront as BoJack struggled to escape
his past mistakes, even when confronting them might be the only way he can ever actually
be free.
And, beyond the weighty subject matter, season 5 was an ambitious exercise from a show that
thrives on pushing the envelope.
For instance, who would've guessed that one of the season's highlights would be a 20-minute
monologue by BoJack, performed with a hypnotizing bittersweetness by actor Will Arnett.
BoJack has always been one of the best shows on Netflix, but season 5 cemented the show
as one of the best series on television, period.
There have been plenty of movies and television shows about acting and Hollywood life, but
no show has managed to capture the unique strangeness of struggling actors in Los Angeles
quite like Barry.
The show follows Bill Hader as Barry, a hitman who's struggling with a growing sense of ennui
and finds his life changed when he stumbles into an acting class and gets bitten by the
acting bug.
"These are professional actors, and they're the real deal.
And they say I got something."
What follows is a hilariously dark comedy, as Barry struggles to leave his life of crime
behind to make it as an actor even while former clients and a manipulative mentor conspire
to keep him in their clutches.
"If you kill him, anything, I'll come back here, and I'll kill every single one of you."
Through it all, Barry is equally funny and ruthless about what it means to make it in
the City of Angels.
Barry actually is a nice guy, but he's also a reluctant contract killer.
Really, he just wants to follow his dreams, like many a young actor in Hollywood.
Anyone who's ever attended a friend's improv class or been asked to look over a movie script
will find plenty to relate to in Barry.
After coming out with a strong start and a lot of positive reviews, the Marvel Netflix
shows have faltered somewhat over the years.
Iron Fist seemed like a misfire almost immediately, and a better-reviewed second season didn't
manage to keep it from getting canceled, a fate that was also suffered by Luke Cage.
With all this dour news, it would have been easy for Daredevil season 3 to come and go
as silently as the ninjas Matt Murdock fights.
But, as it turns out, this batch of episodes came out swinging, and the new season is a
perfect reminder of why people were excited about the Netflix Marvel shows to begin with.
Charlie Cox returns as Matt Murdock, bringing all of his considerable angst and moody charisma
to the fore.
Cox has a lot to work with, too; season 3 puts Daredevil in just about the worst position
imaginable, grinding the hero down to paste just to see if he can build himself back up.
It's a thrilling season with jaw-dropping action and some of the best acting on television.
Best of all, Vincent D'Onofrio returns as Wilson Fisk, the charismatic Kingpin whose
brutality is only matched by his skill at manipulation.
"I have made many mistakes.
But I accept the debt I'm paying because of them."
Despite Daredevil's success, on November 29th, Netflix announced the show would be cancelled.
Here's to hoping Netflix's canceled Marvel shows continue their heroics on some other
platform in the future.
After returning to television for the first time in twenty years in 2005, Doctor Who re-established
itself as a stylish sci-fi show for a new audience.
Still, despite multiple showrunners and multiple actors playing the eponymous Doctor, the next
decade of Doctor Who settled into a comfortable rhythm: an eccentric male lead, on-again off-again
romances with various co-stars, callbacks to the original run, and silly science-fiction
shenanigans.
"No bo ho sho fro ko ro to sho.
Posfokotopobajo."
That all changed in 2018 when, for the first time, a woman took over as the title character.
Jodie Whitaker's turn as the Doctor ended up being exactly the shot in the arm that
the show needed, coinciding nicely with new showrunner Chris Chibnall's tenure.
Based on her web series Awkward Black Girl, Insecure follows a fictionalized version of
creator and star Issa Rae as she grapples with the complexities of black life, feminism,
and millennial culture.
Insecure is whip-smart about portraying complicated issues with nuance and genuine humor.
It's easily one of the funniest shows on television, and packed to the brim with wit and emotion.
Season three hasn't just kept up the show's hot streak, either; it's arguably the best
yet.
Michael Andor Brodeur at Boston Globe writes that "Insecure has never felt more confident,"
and it's hard to disagree.
Even three seasons deep into the show, Rae's abilities as a writer, showrunner, producer,
and performer have never been so obviously apparent.
Insecure keeps growing, improving, and changing like few other shows, and season three was
a perfect reminder that you should be making it appointment television.
The Haunting of Hill House is horror at its best, simultaneously terrifying and thrilling
while also dealing with the emotional core that should be at the center of every horror
movie.
That richness of character has led to some reviews calling Hill House "a drama with ghosts"
or "like This Is Us wrapped in a gothic ghost story," but make no mistake.
Hill House is absolutely terrifying.
Director/showrunner Mike Flanagan showcases all the technical brilliance that made Oculus
and Gerald's Game so profoundly scary, and through it all, he never loses sight of the
fact that the ghosts are a way for the audience to connect to the Crain family's trauma.
It's just that, y'know, they're also scary as hell.
Fans of classic '90s sitcoms rejoiced when ABC announced that they'd greenlit a revival
of Roseanne; for many viewers, the show had earned its place in history alongside Cheers,
Frasier, and other classic television comedies.
Unfortunately, the jubilation didn't last long.
Just a couple months after the new series premiered, star Roseanne Barr tweeted out
a racist statement that almost immediately led to the show's cancellation.
Luckily, even though it shared a name with its star, Roseanne was never just about Roseanne.
The creative talent behind the show quickly pivoted to making The Conners, a continuation
of the fans' favorite family, minus Roseanne, of course, whose character had died off-screen.
"What about when the casseroles run out?
What if the person who died is the only one who cooked?"
"Then we keep telling people we're grieving until we figure out how to feed ourselves."
Critical reception to the newly tweaked show has been largely positive, with critics like
Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone writing:
"There are enough sturdy characters and performances here to move on without her, and the premiere
felt more focused than many of the episodes from the spring."
Donald Glover and his team had a lot to live up to when the second season of Atlanta was
announced: the show's first season firmly established it as one of the most electrifying
television series in recent memory.
And Glover's performance as Earn in season two of Atlanta, subtitled "Robbin' Season,"
is as good as you'd expect, but it also showcases other characters with a confidence that you
won't see on any other show.
"I'm just gonna take this s---."
"Wait, what?"
"Hell yeah.
They got a 'no chase' policy."
The season was filled with standout episodes highlighting the other characters in the show,
like the nightmarish "Teddy Perkins," which followed Darius, played by Lakeith Stanfield,
meeting a Michael Jackson-esque musician in an ominous mansion.
"Woods," on the other hand, followed Brian Tyree Henry's Al, A.K.A.
"Paper Boi," as he's haunted by the downsides of his own fame and success.
More than half of the season was directed by Hiro Murai, Glover's longtime music video
director, and Murai's expert visual sense and rich use of surrealism has made Atlanta
one of the best-looking shows on television.
As the prequel, and sometimes-knda-sequel to Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul takes a
bit of a slower pace than its predecessor, but is still prone to occasional explosions
of violence.
You're more likely to see elaborate cons than the vicious meth heads that populated Breaking
Bad, but the underlying moral decay and fantastic character writing is even better.
Bob Odenkirk fills Jimmy with such warmth and humanity that it's like watching a horror
movie as he slowly sinks into corruption, losing his last bits of morality in the process.
Even for a show as consistent as Better Call Saul, season four was a victory lap that took
viewers closer to the events of Breaking Bad than anyone really expected, and we couldn't
be more excited for what's to come.
Much like a Greek tragedy, we already know that Jimmy is destined for moral rot and a
job managing a Cinnabon (Which sounds awesome!
How can you not like Cinnabon?), the beauty of the show is how much you don't want it
to happen.
DC's new take on a familiar cast of caped crusaders, Titans needed just two glorious
words to get fans riled up:
"F--- Batman."
Sure, Robin and the rest of the titular team look like they just bought out a Hot Topic,
but critics dig DC's gritty reimagining of the young super heroes.
For instance, Autumn Noel Kelly at Newsweek wrote positively about the show, claiming:
"Titans is the most balanced superhero show out there.
It's skillfully constructed, narratively speaking, and there's a surprising amount of flavor
beneath its classification as a dark, moody, teen drama."
Turns out, there's more pleasure to be had in Titans than watching Robin drop the f-bomb!
HBO's True Detective brought Cary Fukunaga's work to a mainstream audience.
His keen eye for cinematography was a key component of the show's season one success.
After that, he released Beasts of No Nation, which was met with similarly positive critical
acclaim.
Then, he more or less disappeared for three years before blazing back to the small screen
with Maniac.
The wait was worth it.
Starring Jonah Hill and Emma Stone as patients in an experimental mental health study in
a retro-futuristic dystopia, the beautifully shot Maniac jumps from genre to genre through
Owen and Annie's fantasies.
And Fukunaga keeps the focus squarely on the difficulty of living with mental illness and
trauma and the possibility of finding connection and community despite, or even because of,
those issues.
"Of course you make me happy.
You always made me happy."