Television Review - 2018

Because I made an effort to review every show that I watched in 2018, I'm going to be able to structure this year's TV review post a little differently and cram it all into one. In the past, I've broken out reviews of my five favorite viewing experiences of the year into separate installments, but since I don't have all that much new to say, I'll simply rank them and link those reviews here.

Here are all the shows that I've watched during 2018. I completed the most recently concluded season of the show (and only the most recent season of the show) unless otherwise indicated. The crop is a little thinner this year because Cheers and The Americans both took a very long time.

• Everything Sucks! 
• Cheers (Seasons 5-11)
• The Good Place (Seasons 1-2)
• Atypical (Seasons 1-2)
• Barry 
• Ozark (Season One)
• The Americans (Full series, Seasons 1-6)
• The Big Bang Theory
• Jersey Shore Family Vacation (Seasons 1-2)
• BoJack Horseman
• Better Call Saul
• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
• South Park
• Top Chef (Okay, I forgot to review this)

Here are the shows I watched last year that have dropped off the list due to no new episodes:

• You're the Worst (returns in January)
• The Sopranos
• Master of None
• High Maintenance
• Rick and Morty

Here are the shows that fell out of the rotation since last year, or that I am 100% sure I will not be continuing, with an explanation:

1. Silicon Valley - We watched an episode or two of this, but rumors of its decline in quality along with the departure of T.J. Miller's Erlich Bachman character from the show stunted our enthusiasm, and we've just sort of stopped watching it.

2. Billions - I can't actually say we stopped watching it -- in fact, we watched the third episode of Season Three after a long hiatus last night. We might complete Season Three next year if that momentum sticks, but I think it's just decent, and the repeated power plays and backstabbing make it feel a little too much like House of Cards and Suits at times. The characters on Billions lie somewhere on the spectrum between the boring, 1-dimensional ones found on House of Cards and the highly entertaining but caricature-like ones on Suits, so it's walking a tight rope.

3. Ozark - I can't stress or repeat myself enough on this point, and it's actually cathartic to say it out loud every so often. The Season One finale episode of Ozark was so unbelievably terrible that I'm dropping the show out of principle, even if it definitely had its moments along the way. There's only a handful of TV episodes I've ever seen that I'd slap an "F" grade on, and adjusting for expectations (Ozark was otherwise decent-to-good), it might be the most disappointing (not to mention repulsive) single installment of a show I've ever seen. It's close between that and the How I Met Your Mother finale.

Finally, here were my Top Five Viewing Experiences of the Year:

5. Barry (Season One) - I'm giving this the slight edge over Season Four of Better Call Saul in a year in which I just happened to watch a lot of great TV. In the end, it's probably because Barry was a completely new experience and toed the line between comedy and drama perfectly.

4. Atypical (Seasons 1-2)- The second season wasn't quite as strong as the first, but overall, but Atypical is rife with strong characters and presents an interesting look at a family whose son (and series main character) is on the autism spectrum.

3. BoJack Horseman (Season Five) - BoJack Horseman might be the best actively-running series on TV and delivered another consistently stellar slate of episodes in 2018. It was something of a bounce-back from Season Four, in which there were a few amazing episodes scattered among weaker (for BoJack) installments.

2. Cheers (Seasons 5-11) - This is the best live-action sitcom I've ever seen and it delivered consistent laughs all the way up until the finale, which is one of the greatest episodes of television of all time.

1. The Americans (Full series, Seasons 1-6) - What a ride. FX's period drama is firmly in the "best of all-time" discussion. When I finished watching the show, my reaction was, "Well, I know The Wire is better, but what else?" As far as other completed dramas are concerned, I know there's Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, Deadwood, and Mad Men (which I don't love but is critically acclaimed) to reckon with. I'd certainly put The Americans somewhere in that group.

Atypical (Season Two)

Season One of Atypical was one of my favorite surprises so far this year. Robia Rahsid's show about autistic teen Sam Gardner (Keir Gilchrist) and his family hit a massive home run with its debut and while it was a tough act to follow, the show largely succeeded in continuing the highs in its second season.

Note: There may be some Season One spoilers below, but if you haven't seen the second season, I'll try to avoid ruining much.

The foundation for much of the plot of Season Two was set up during the prior season's falling action, so there were natural places for the show to go. Sam has to cope with life without regular visits with therapist Julia (Amy Okuda), Casey (Brigette Lundy-Paine) makes the move to Clayton Prep to continue her track career and has to cope with a generally hostile environment, and mom Elsa (Jennifer Jason Leigh) has to reckon with the consequences of her affair with the bartender from last season and try to get back into the good graces of husband Doug (Michael Rapaport, whom I recently discovered is in the middle of a weird tiff with Bartsool Sports).

As the season progresses, we witness Sam's attempts to become more independent as he looks ahead to going to college. Life is complicated between Sam and ex-girlfriend Paige, as the latter attempts to draw boundaries on their complicated relationship, which typically does not go according to plan. Similarly, Doug's (understandably) mean-spirited attitude toward Elsa results in rules for when she can and cannot see her children. The strictness of those rules gets tested once the reality of being a single working father begins to set in.

As in Season One, however, the heart of the show is Casey, who's stuck between the challenges presented by living with Sam, fully loathing her mother for cheating on her father, and having to attend a confusing school where she has absolutely no allies. She has to deal with Izzie, the captain of the track team, who is initially a major jerk, but inevitably the relationship between the two evolves over the course of the season. Casey's boyfriend Evan seemed almost too perfect in Season One, and sure enough, we begin to see some cracks in that foundation. Casey finds herself in the middle of two love triangles during the course of Season Two -- one predictable, the other far less so.

One of my favorite parts of Season Two was that we got to see and understand a good deal more of Sam's friend/co-worker Zahid (Nik Dodani), whose obnoxious (yet often very funny) schtick in Season One was carefully balanced out by his genuine affection and concern for Sam. Zahid's loyalty to Sam and willingness to help him in any way continues to be endearing, and we learn a little more about his family and ambitions, which is a welcome development. Zahid scenes were consistently highlights for me, and while Casey and Sam are the clear best characters on the show, Zahid is probably the most entertaining and the one I look most forward to seeing on screen.

The second season wasn't flawless, particularly with its minor characters. For example, I didn't buy Izzie's abrupt character shifts throughout the season, and given the way Evan was drawn in Season One, the few moments where it seems like he's being a dick feel somewhat fabricated. However, they largely did better with Paige this time around (which readers may recall was my lone real gripe about the first season), so that kinda made up for it.

Atypical continues to be a charming show that has a way of investing you in its characters (except Elsa. Elsa sucks). Dramedies seem to be pushing themselves more and more toward the drama end of the spectrum these days, but Atypical does a good job of keeping the laughs involved, even during the more serious episodes. I rate Season One higher, but Season Two was still very, very good.

Season Grade: A-

Atypical (Season One)

Continuing the high school drama kick I'm apparently on, I checked out Atypical on Netflix, which is about an high school student named Sam -- who is on the autism spectrum -- and his family. I have very positive things to say about the show, but before I do, I feel like I need to discuss something.

After watching the show, I decided to check out some reviews online, one of which was rather scathing (and judging by the comments, the author was not alone). That review came from someone who identified themself as being on the spectrum (a very useful perspective for a show like this, to be sure) and was disappointed by the characterization of Sam. In particular they felt that Sam was portrayed as an exaggerated and stereotypical caricature who misses social cues far more often than is realistic and whose "utter lack of tact is jarring". From this perspective, I could understand why Atypical's portrayal of Sam could be seen as damaging, as people on the autism spectrum are under-represented in television and characters who are written like someone on the spectrum may not be identified as such (thinking specifically of Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory). While watching the show, I did not process Sam as being representative of people on the autism spectrum in general and just thought of Sam as representative of Sam, a person with a condition that affects different people in unique ways. That's the direction from which I am reviewing Atypical, but I wanted to acknowledge the other viewpoint above because I feel it is important.

*****

Atypical is nominally the story of Sam Gardner (Keir Gilchrist), but it quickly becomes clear that the show is just as much about his younger sister Casey (Brigette Lundy-Paine), his mother Elsa (Jennifer Jason Leigh*), and his father Doug (Michael Rapaport). Despite spending a considerable amount of time with Sam's parents, it's a high school show, and one that runs afoul of my biggest pet peeve about high school shows: inappropriately aged actors. At the time of release, Gilchrist, Lundy-Paine, and Jenna Boyd (who plays Paige, one of Sam's potential love interests), were all 24 years old. This does a disservice to the realism** of the genre.

*I know Jennifer Jason Leigh from two things -- this show and Fast Times at Ridgemont High. I am therefore only aware of her existence at two ages, 20 and 55. I feel like I am trying to see Stacy Hamilton in her face every time I watch her on this show and it's super difficult.

**In one accidentally hilarious scene, one of the over-aged high school kids tries to order a drink at a bar, only to be told, "You're clearly not 21".

That complaint aside, nearly every arc and character on this show are great, and Atypcial builds them all into fully realized characters who behave in believable ways (with one exception, which I'll get to). The principal storyline of the season is Sam's attempting to enter the dating world, which is difficult enough for anyone but is even tougher for him given his condition. He tries to work through his issues with his therapist, Julia (whom the show smartly fleshes out beyond just her interactions with Sam), and many of the dating ideas he tries out are built from their sessions together. Gilchrist's performance in the role is excellent and Sam winds up coming off likable despite some of the things he does, because you can tell he's well meaning and just trying to figure out the "rules" of something unfamiliar to him.

As fun as it is to watch Sam, his sister Casey is the show's strongest character and has the most to deal with. She's a track star who's navigating her relationship with her first boyfriend, Evan (Graham Rogers), trying to do what's best for her future track career, dealing with extreme peer pressure from her friends and coach, dealing with pretty substantial issues with each of her parents (we're not talking about typical teenage bullshit here, either), struggling with the ways that Sam's condition has altered her upbringing and family life, all while serving as Sam's de facto guardian through the harsh social waters of high school (when she's not semi-lovingly pushing him around and making fun of him herself). Casey can be very cold and biting, and usually she has a pretty good motivation for it. I think the show strikes the perfect balance between Casey's righteous rage and moments of unnecessary teenage jerkiness, making her someone who's easy to like, yet grounded in reality.

Elsa and Doug are also given quite a bit to do as the parents of these two. For years, Elsa has taken upon herself to responsibly (yet aggressively) manage Sam's autism. She attends support meetings with other parents and has a deep understanding of Sam's condition and what he goes through. She's essentially the primary caregiver, but feels stuck given that it can often be an unrewarding job (and the litany of shit thrown her way by Casey makes it all the more difficult). Her loyalty to her family and role begins being significantly tested before the curtain closes on the first episode. Doug is coming from a different place, as he's been historically uninvolved with Sam, but with Sam's newfound interest in dating, he sees a second chance to connect with his son.

The non-Gardners on the show are generally quality characters as well. Sam's friend and co-worker Zahid is something of a womanizing bonehead, but he's good for comic relief and the way he's invested in Sam's problems is legitimately endearing. Casey's boyfriend Evan has his moments as well and seems pretty relatable, especially given the situations he gets put into by Casey and the rest of the Gardners. The one character on the show that doesn't really work is Paige, who is interested in Sam but we know so little about her that it's not really clear why. Sam isn't particularly nice to her and she's openly condescending about Sam's most prominent interest (Antarctica). It would work better if Paige's affection for Sam was a little more well-developed, because as far as we can tell, she either 1) thinks he's really hot, or 2) just wants someone to label as her boyfriend. Neither of those would provide the required weight for her apparent emotional investment. Then again, I guess teenagers are goofy.

Little problems aside, Atypical has a stellar plot that seamlessly weaves in twists that pack some major highs and emotional gut-punches. This is in stark contrast to a show like, say, This Is Us, which drops random, occasionally nonsensical bombs out of nowhere just to try to give you all the feels. In Atpyical, every place the story goes seems logical and works well within the universe that the show has created for itself. With just eight half-hour episodes, the show doesn't try to do too much and spends just the right amount of time playing out each arc. It's an addictive watch that sucks you into its world and compels you to root for its characters (a happy Casey is just as satisfying as a happy Kate from Everything Sucks!). It does all of this while offering a unique perspective on our world that isn't commonly seen on television (Sam's voice-over narration is a great feature). I've seen some pretty great TV so far in 2018, and Atypical is likely to wind up near the top of the list.

Season One Grade: A