Top 5 TV Shows for 2015

Rents’ Top 5 TV Shows for 2015

5. Ray Donovan Season 3

Season 3 of Ray Donovan was good; not great, but good. Mickey was Mickey; he screwed up all over the place, but you still kinda rooted for him.

Bunchy got married and his new wife dominated him, but he liked it…. a lot! He also came into his own a little, taking some control of his life.

Terry was in jail, killed a prisoner, got out, got sick, kissed his sister in-law, and got shot; fucking roller coaster man.

The Donovan family was a dysfunctional as ever. Bridget lusted over her teacher and Conor was like an actual teenage boy, hardly seen or heard. Meanwhile, Abby was as caustic as ever, with perhaps the line of the series.

Old Lady: Isn't that just sad? I hope he's not driving.

Abby: He's got Parkinson's, you fucking cunt.

Terry: It's good to have a Southie bitch on your side.

As for Ray, like a modern day John Wayne, he waded through the series with a permanent scowl on his face, and said fuck all. He shot some bad guys, screwed Tom Cruises ex and drove off in a Mercedes. The Brady Bunch this family is not.

4. Better Call Saul

Better Call Saul had my pessimist radar on full alert. I was a fully invested fan of Breaking Bad, and I was expecting this to fail as badly as one of Jesse Pinkman’s attempts to give up drugs. But, I was happily surprised to get to the end of the series and want more.

I had always enjoyed Saul as a character, but wasn’t convinced I gave a shit about him enough for an entire series. It turns out I do, and I want more of him and Mike Ehrmantraut for that matter.

Both, Bob Odenkirk, and Jonathon Banks hardly break stride bringing their characters back to life, and Ehrmantraut’s back-story was of particularly interest. I had always wondered how he became such as bad arse.

The relationship between Saul and his brother gives us an insight into how Saul said, ‘fuck you,’ to the mainstream world and took a path of least resistance.

Don’t get me wrong this series has a long way to go to get anywhere close to its forefather, but I have high hopes.

Bring on season 2.

‪THE JINX - The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst

Sometimes real life characters are better than any thing TV or Film can manufacture. Some of you may have forgotten about Robert Durst, as this series played out way back in February. I, on the other hand, have not. His burping and guilty face staring into the camera has lingered in my brain for some time.

Durst’s story of a privileged New Yorker who got away with multiple murders for many years had me captivated from the first episode. Whether he was dressed as a woman, chopping up his neighbors, or on the run from the cops, I was engrossed.

Like many of these stories Durst’s family history doesn’t sound ideal, but the way in which he went about his business without remorse, was cold to say the least.

One thing Robert Durst did prove to me is being rich and white in America is one of the best defenses you can take to a courthouse.

As for the finale, well it was better than anything the Sopranos, Breaking Bad, or The Wire gave us. I mean you just can’t write that shit.

What a ride!

2. High Maintenance

There’ll be some people out there saying this isn’t a TV show, and it wasn’t on in 2015. You’d be correct in most of what you’re saying, but screw you; I’m making up the rules here.

I only came across High Maintenance, a web-based series this year, and the last episodes were actually put online in February. They’re not full shows either, ranging in length from 5-20 minutes.

It was created by husband and wife team; Ben Sinclair and Katja Blichfeld. The series follows a weed-dealer who bikes his way around New York City delivering highs to an eclectic array of clients. Although, the dealer premise is merely a vehicle through which the story moves from one situation to another.

It very much reminds me of Seinfeld, in that it plays out everyday situations which we take for granted. I guess if your everyday situation involves smoking weed.

High Maintenance is so good HBO have picked it up and will deliver a full-blown series in 2016 and I, for one, will be tuning in.

Don’t take my word for it, watch this.

1. Mr Robot

Mr Robot was my favorite show this year. It delivered broken characters inhabiting a broken world, which for me, seems to be a fair reflection of today’s society.

Mr Robot follows the world of Elliot, a morphine-snorting misfit whom is neither good looking or that likeable. This in of itself is strange phenomenon, for TV shows in the USA; I was intrigued.

Elliot works in cyber security by day, and hacks into the computers of anyone who threatens him, or his friends, at night.

Rami Malek, gives an outstanding performance of a paranoid man, driven by loneliness, in a search for something true.

Each episode Elliot gives us a running commentary of what goes on inside his head, and narrates us through his enlistment into an underground society called, Mr Robot. Their goal is to take down a major corporation, E Corp, or Evil Corp as Elliot has labeled them.

The deeper we get inside Elliot’s head the darker things become.

The ending has been done before, so was a little disappointing. I won’t tell you where or when. Lets just say they’ve used it again because it’s good.

Season 2 of Mr Robot is in the works, will be interesting to see if they do a better job than the True Detective team.

Notes, Special Mentions

• I have only just started Season 2 of Fargo and it has every chance of cracking this list.

• True Detective S2 was shit! I tried to pretend I liked it out of respect for S1, but no, it was shit.

• Game of Thrones has almost lost me. I’m thinking I may just watch the last 2 episodes next year, all the action happens there, so it’ll save me 8hrs of my life. I will say this scene was pretty epic though.

• Special mentions to Vikings S3, Show Me A Hero, Narcos, Broadchurch S2, Sense8, Happyish, Deutschland 83

• I am about to watch, Spotless, a French/English collaboration - who’d have thought they’d get together.

@Rarerecordings_ Top 5 TV Shows for 2015

5. Ray Donovan

Series 3 only just cracked the top 5 for me (over Narcos) mostly off of the strength of everyones favourite character - Mickey. How can one guy have the absolute opposite of Midas’ touch? Everything, & everyone this guy comes into contact with goes to complete shit. The Al Swearengen/Katie Holmes & her braces/NFL storyline was a bit dry, but mostly everything involving the Donovan family was solid – Connor fucked his bed, Terry killed a skinhead in prison, Bunchy knocked up a Mexican wrestler, & Brigette tried to seduce Ken Cosgrove from Mad Men.

They might have to wrap it all up this next coming season.

4. Peaky Blinders

I’ve been trying to sell this show to everyone. Set in post-WW1 Birmingham, Cillian Murphy plays Thomas Shelby – the leader of the historically famous Peaky Blinkers gang (called so for the razor blades they stitched into their flat caps – you’ll see when you watch it). The gang run Birmingham, & have hijacked an arms cache bound for Libya, so Winston Churchill sends in a detective (played brilliantly by NZer Sam Neil) to clean the city up after his success sorting out the IRA in Belfast. Watch Tom Hardy steal the show as a Jewish gangster in season 2. Season 3 is due soon.

3. Jinx

This was crazy. I was late to the party & binge watched all 6 episodes over 2 nights so everything was fresh, & the series itself was in the news, with some controversy over director Andrew Jarecki possibly having held back important information regarding the case(s). Right from the start you get the picture that the guy is bad news, & probably murdered his neighbour, then it jumps back in time & you learn that his first wife has never been found…& then his friend (a mafia daughter) is also found dead.

Then the final scene happens. Watch it if you haven’t. There’s nothing like a true story.

2. The Book of Negroes

Had I not just finished Mr Robot last week, this would have been sitting in top spot for me. Essentially a modern version of the classic series Roots, it follows the story of young Aminata being kidnapped in Africa (by African slave traders), her life as a slave in South Carolina, & her long, painful journey back to Africa via Nova Scotia. Incredible story, a great cast & a high quality production from BET. I was left wanting more.

1. Mr Robot

I kept hearing so much about this show & when people would tell me it was about hackers, I thought “nerds on computers, cool”. How wrong was I, the pilot was all I needed to get hooked (still the best episode of the series, I reckon). Basically you take Fight Club & add Anonymous & you have this tripped out adventure inside the mind of a morphine sniffing, paranoid, societal reject, computer genius. Mr Robot becomes a bit predictable towards the end, but the ride more than makes up for it. Remi Malek nailed it.

It was renewed for a second series before the pilot even aired. Hard to see where they take it from here. Hopefully they don’t shit the bed.

Honourable Mentions

• Narcos – Could have done without the American detective’s perspective. I found myself checking Twitter during his scenes.

• Vikings – I’m fully invested, & it was a great season. Vikings is just a casualty of a strong year for TV. Loving the French storyline at the moment – Ragnar’s crew taking an L needed to happen to keep things moving.

• Game Of Thrones – Ditto. I don’t agree with the consensus that it was a bad season – the fucking White Walkers are tearing shit up! Arya can change faces! Khaleesi flew away on a dragon! Still the most epic show on TV.

• Hell On Wheels – weakest season yet of one of my favourite shows – still holding out hope that they’ll finish strong.

• The Last Man On Earth – Genuinely one of the most enjoyable shows on TV purely for the fact that this guy can’t win, even when he’s the last man on earth.

• You’re The Worst – 2 shallow, selfish, booze hags find each other & embark on a romantic relationship. Heaps of funny.

• Silicon Valley – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx3wDTzqDTs

Chur.

@Rarerecordings_