2014 New TV Shows Worth Checking Out

In the wake left behind by Breaking Bad, good television still happened, more or less. It was sufficient proof that there will always be room for great entertainment.

Mind you, this is not a list of the best new TV shows of 2014. It is new TV shows that I found entertaining enough to recommend to people on the mere basis that I enjoyed them and that there existed a possibility that they might enjoy it, too.

In no particular order:

TRUE DETECTIVE

RATING: 4/4

True Detective has several elements working to its benefit from the get-go, both in front and behind the camera. The writing from creator Nic Pizzolatto (who wrote all eight episodes of the first season) provided plenty of juicy material for leads Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson and Michelle Monaghan to work from and the steady direction from Cary Joji Fukunaga (who directed all eight episodes of the first season) resulted in a singularly gorgeous and unified vision that played out like an eight-hour movie. The ending might leave some viewers polarized but it is still undeniably a must-watch show of the year. Whether season 2 in the anthology— with a new cast and without Cary Joji Fukunaga directing— can uphold the standards set by its predecessor remains to be seen when True Detective returns in the summer of 2015.

RICK AND MORTY

RATING: 4/4

How much do I love this show? Put it this way: If Dan Harmon had to leave Community to focus entirely on Rick and Morty… I’d be very happy— and I love Community, mind.

Rick and Morty are like Doc Brown and Marty McFly from Back to the Future. Where the similarity ends is that they ten times zanier and crazier and Rick Sanchez is an alcoholic foul-mouthed grandfather. This is a show that is NOT afraid to push the envelope and boundaries at all— there were TWO cases of attempted rape (a sensitive topic), a mention of “bukkake” and a whole lot of swearing, all whilst sensitively tackling themes ranging from family, marriage, friendship, love and responsibility in the midst of their universe-destroying shenanigans. And did I mention that it’s funny? It’s very VERY funny!

PENNY DREADFUL

RATING: 3.5/4

Fun fact: four James Bond alums are involved in this show— it’s executive produced by Sam Mendes (director of Skyfall and the upcoming Spectre), created by John Logan (Skyfall and Spectre) and starring Eva Green (Vesper Lynd from Casino Royale) and Timothy Dalton (James Bond himself from The Living Daylights and License to Kill).

Penny Dreadful might not be for everybody. But if you enjoy Gothic horror, Dracula, Frankenstein and Dorian Gray inhabiting the same universe and Eva Green killing every scene she’s in, then Penny Dreadful will be your cup of tea. It is sinister, creepy and has a frightening vampire not seen onscreen since Twilight castrated them to sparkly vegetarians. Granted, it might feel a little like a prelude to a bigger story yet to be explored in the next season but it is still entertaining television and that’s what matters.

THE STRAIN

RATING: 3/4

Just like Penny Dreadful earlier this year, The Strain reinstated vampires to their former throne as scary and bad-ass (but mostly scary) monsters of the night! It’s not perfect television— the show stumbles on occasion and unnecessarily drags at times— but it doesn’t stop it from being a gore-fest of B-grade horror fun, especially when the heroes are fighting the vampires instead of engaging in tedious boring drama.The fun aspect is to be expected given that this is partly from the brilliant mind of Guillermo del Toro (he wrote The Strain as a trilogy of books when he couldn’t get it made as a TV series, then the books got made into a TV series- ironic much?), who also directed the pilot and was very much involved in the production of the first season despite his hectic schedule. Not to mention, David Bradley (Mr Filch from Harry Potter, Walder Frey from Game of Thrones) as a cantankerous Van Helsing-type is surprisingly entertaining to watch. The vampires here will also make you squeamish (HINT: they have long snake-like stinger tongues to bite you with). FUN.

THE FLASH

RATING: 3/4

Superheroes are the new rage. Between DC, Marvel and Fox, there are approximately forty superhero movies going to be released between 2015 and 2020. The popularity is crossing over into the medium of television (or rather, it’s filling in the wake left by ten years of Smallville) and it all started with the CW’s Arrow in 2012. But let’s focus on The Flash because it was the best new superhero/comic book offering of 2014.

When they announced The Flash as a TV series, my biggest worry was how they would pull off the necessary visual effects- especially after Bryan Singer made super-speed cool in X-Men: Days of Future Past. How would they not only pull off the Speedster’s effects but also bring to life some of the grander or bizarre aspects of Barry Allen’s mythology- like Gorilla Grodd- ON A LIMITED BUDGET?

That latter part remains to be answered but in the meantime, The Flash is definitely off to a good running start (pun!). The deliberate lightheartedness serves as a welcome relief to the dourness of Arrow, there’s great chemistry between the cast, the characters are likeable enough and there’s the whole mystery of “Who Framed Barry Allen’s Father?” driving the show forward. Props go in particular to Grant Gustin, Jesse L. Martin, Rick Cosnett and Tom Cavanagh for being the compelling emotional linchpins of the show (no, the Iris West romance still isn’t working for me) and above all— for making it fun. The show still has some kinks to work out but if they keep this up, it’s only going to get better.

THE KNICK

RATING: 4/4

Cinemax producing their own TV show is news to me. That it turned out to be one of the year’s finest offerings is another first. But then again, did you expect anything less when Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh (Erin Brockovich, Traffic) helmed every single episode?

The Knick is a medical drama set in early 1920s New York. It is a medical drama in the purest sense, absent of the shine and polish you might find in Grey’s Anatomy. Clive Owen leads the way as Dr Thackery, a cocaine-addicted wunderkind and maverick striving to fill the shoes left behind by his mentor alongside his colleagues. There’s racism, humour, tension and some fantastic cinematography at work here, and the sound production is brilliant, too. It’s great. Very great.

LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER

RATING: 4/4

The best part about Last Week Tonight is that you can watch segments of the episodes on YouTube— which is how I came across them. John Oliver takes the news and gives us his opinion in a manner that is simultaneously thoughtful and downright hilarious. While he tends to tackles all types of affairs, he seems to have a soft spot for poking fun at the Americans without ever coming off as mean-spirited. Favourite segment: his take on the FIFA World Cup 2014. Favourite moment, on the other hand: the Salmon Cannon.

~

What about you, Dear Reader? What were your favourite new TV shows of 2014?

The Role of Identity in The Legend of Korra

When The Legend of Korra aired in 2012, seventy years had passed since the end of the hundred-year war. Aang had died and a new Avatar was born into one of the water tribes. Her name was Korra and based on her energetic introduction alone, it was made clear that she was a different breed of Avatar altogether.

Two years and three Books later, it is fair enough to say that the spin-off had numerous challenges to overcome. While its third season, Change, circumvented a great deal of the criticism plaguing Books One and Two, Air and Spirits, the journey has not been easy— despite the superior animation, J.K. Simmons voicing Tenzin and an ambition to explore larger themes and ideas. It was hard enough for The Legend of Korra to live up to expectations set by Avatar: The Last Airbender (ATLA for short) without having to shoulder the extra burden of pleasing the original fans while drawing in new ones simultaneously.

To stand out from its predecessor and for many other reasons, Korra’s adventures began when she was well into her teens. From a story-telling standing point and in hindsight, it was a sound creative decision as it not only injected fresh blood into the series but offered a different aesthetic to the material. Reception to these ideas, however, was mixed. Fans were a little unhappy with Korra’s belligerent and even bratty behaviour initially, the romantic subplots were poor and the execution of certain storylines was half-baked at best.

With the conclusion of Change and the final Book, titled Balance, set to air this week on October 4^th, an examination of the series thus far reveals that Korra’s journey has been fixated on a central overarching theme of identity.

In comparison, ATLA concerned itself with the theme of destiny: Zuko spent three Books thinking his destiny was to destroy the Avatar before subsequently joining forces with him; it took over a hundred years (and two Books) for Aang to reluctantly accept that his responsibility lay in maintaining the balance of the world; Katara was determined to be accepted as a serious Waterbending Master and Sokka struggled to live up to the expectations of being a warrior chieftain’s son.

In The Legend of Korra, the titular character, Mako, Bolin and Asami all attempted to find and understand their purpose and place in the world as they stood on the threshold to adulthood. Mako and Bolin went from poor street kids to Probending sportsmen to saving the world alongside the Avatar; Asami struggled to build a legacy of her own as a visionary and not as the daughter of an Equalist. And while her companions have more or less finally found themselves, Korra has yet to do so.

Observe her trajectory: born into more peaceful times as the daughter of the Southern Water Tribe chieftain, Korra spent most of her life training to be the Avatar with an enthusiasm absent in Aang— who would happily have palmed off Avatar-related work in exchange for fun play time. Korra dived into her work and role as world saviour so willingly and earnestly that being the Avatar defined who she was. Without it, Korra would have been lost, devoid of purpose.

So when Amon— Korra’s first proper antagonist— emerges in Republic City sporting an ability to remove a bender’s powers, he was not content with killing Korra as much as destroying her morale and crushing her sense of identity. Book One’s finale may have felt a bit of a cheat when Korra’s powers were fully restored through convenience of a deus ex machina; upon reflecting back, however, perhaps that intention had been deliberate from the beginning. By having imbued Korra with the thought that she could emerge from her battles unscathed, the severing of her connection to the past Avatars at the hands of Unalaq and Vaatu in Spirits suddenly becomes even more brutal in retrospect. By the time Zaheer showed up in Change and nearly kills Korra— proclaiming her legacy would be that of “Korra: the Last Avatar”— her spirit was worn down enough to finally be broken.

And Zaheer was not the sole reason for it.

In the season premiere, ‘A Breath of Fresh Air’, it is apparent that Korra’s confidence in herself as Avatar is already under fire after she fails to find a feasible solution for people and spirits to harmoniously co-exist in Republic City. “I’m the Avatar,” Korra bemoans to Asami, “I should be able to fix this”. Subsequently over the season, Korra is banished from Republic City, makes an enemy (temporarily) of the Earth Queen before finding herself outmatched against Zaheer. In several ways, Korra finds herself stumbling desperately to assert herself, forced to depend several times on her friends for help. An instance that stands out is in the episode, ‘The Terror Within’, where Zaheer and his cohorts nearly succeed in kidnapping Korra if not for Pabu’s and Bolin’s timely intervention. But it is in the season’s finale, ‘Venom of the Red Lotus’, that Korra’s sidelining becomes most prominent when Jinora ultimately brings Zaheer down— literally.

Glancing through Book Three, it is apparent that many of the supporting characters were given a prominence that was a little stringent in Spirits. Staples like Bolin and Asami are pushed to the forefront with a solid purpose; Jinora demonstrates her abilities as a fully-fledged Airbending master; and Lin Beifong and newcomers Kai and Suyin Beifong are similarly allocated generous screen time. All of their actions are important and influential against the onslaught of Zaheer’s plans. In several ways, they had to step up their game when Korra was down— and this has not escaped Korra’s attention.

By the end of ‘Venom of the Red Lotus’, the wounds inflicted on Korra have become more than skin-deep. Notice her despondency to having to rely on Asami to help her get dressed for Jinora’s ceremony. Korra is not a person who likes to depend on others for anything— especially to fight her battles. But the killing blow to her sense of self-worth and identity ironically comes not from the hand of an enemy but her close friend and mentor, Tenzin. By announcing to the gathering that the Air Nomads would take up Korra’s work while she recuperated, he indirectly hinted that a world without an Avatar could exist. It is a cruel twist to consider that Tenzin succeeded in accomplishing what Amon, Unalaq, Vaatu and Zaheer were trying to prove all along. Korra’s tears in the final shot of Change, as she sits there listening, emotionally drained, aren’t tears of happiness. They are the tears of pain and sadness: the knowledge that her spirit has finally crumbled.

Where Korra goes from there remains to be seen. From the trailer of Balance, we know that the story picks up a good three years later and that Korra hasn’t been sighted in Republic City since. A plausible guess is that Korra will be travelling the world to recover her confidence and find herself again, possibly starting with the symbolic act of cutting short her hair.

Every journey and story arc must reach its end. If Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino have a spectacular conclusion lined up, the rockier— even questionable— moments of the show can be forgiven. At any rate, it is certain that within the closing minutes of The Legend of Korra, she will assert herself as the Avatar and that like it or not, we would have to “deal with it”.

What’s So Great About Spaced, Anyway?

  Clockwise: Julia Deakin, Nick Frost, Mark Heap, Katy Carmichael, Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes

I started watching Spaced again a while back, an episode a day as a small (and my only) respite during preparation for exams. This must have been the fourth viewing or so I since first stumbling across it two years ago, and I am yet to find it to be stale or worn out, or worse: to stop being funny at all.

That Spaced has succeeded in staying as relevant and funny as it was when it first aired is no easy feat. After all, any comedy is best when it is new and fresh, for that is when it is capable of generating the loudest laughs, the jokes delivered with lightning-zest, jabs as powerful as Muhammad Ali’s in his prime. But just as even the best sportsman eventually loses the energy and stamina that propelled them to the top, so too to do most comedies, losing that initial lustre that turned it into such a hit. In both diverse instances, it is an affliction of the curse of time.

Spaced is a tale of two Londoners, Tim Bisley (Simon Pegg) and Daisy Steiner (Jessica Hynes neé Stevenson), who barely know each other but conspire to pose as a couple in order to get a flat. As any good sitcom will teach you, it must contain a premise that is simultaneously ridiculous and believable enough to be a ripe source for jokes. In this instance, it’s maintaining the charade to their landlady whilst everyone else is quite aware of the situation… until it all spills into the open humorously in the series’ penultimate episode.

The second element in any great sitcom is in dynamism of the cast and the interactions between their characters. Tim and Daisy share their lodgings with Brian (Mark Heap), an artist who employs… “unusual” (to say the least)… methods of painting his pictures. There is the eternally sozzled landlady, Marsha (Julia Deakin) and her unseen daughter, Amber. There’s Tim’s best friend, Mike (Nick Frost), so army- and war-obsessed he once tried to invade Paris with a tank. Then there’s Daisy’s best friend, Twist (Katy Carmichael), reportedly in fashion (plot twist: she works at a Laundromat). And later on, there’s a dog named Colin (Ada the Dog). Leading the charge of this explosively unstable heap of idiosyncratic characters is Tim and Daisy. Together, this eclectic grouping is highly charged, full of erroneous misunderstandings and even mismatched, yet they are bound together by a muddled sense of deep love and fondness for one another. Ultimately, this bunch of endearing eccentrics serves as the show’s heart.

Spaced is not your average sitcom. Ditching the standard multi-camera setup, recording in front of an audience for employment of a laugh track, it opted instead for a single-camera more visual-driven stylisation falling more in line with cable programmes churned out today than a television comedy. By doing so, Spaced didn’t merely stand out from the rest but seized a rarely utilised opportunity of using visuals as part of the gag or even as the gag. Spaced isn’t just packed with pop culture references— more often than not, it actually pays homage to them and contrary to quickly becoming tired and unoriginal in the way most parodying induces, it never manages to feel once that Spaced is relying solely on these references as the punch line; instead, it is part of the joke itself. You don’t need to understand the homage to laugh at the joke but when you do, the quip becomes twice as funny. In a famous instance, Tim— an avid Star Wars fan— expresses his dissatisfaction with The Phantom Menace by getting rid of his Star Wars merchandise by building a pyre and setting them on fire (unintentional rhyme!), a scene set entirely in the vein of Darth Vader’s funeral in Return of the Jedi.

And these pop culture references aren’t entirely restricted to a particular genre. I counted moments that paid homage not only to Star Wars, The Matrix, The Shining and the Sixth Sense but also to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Say Anything…, The Royle Family and The Omen. I even spotted a Doctor Who gag in the episode Change— the entrance to Tim’s boss’ office is framed on top by a TARDIS sign.

Not to say that everyone working on the show was not important but a large part of Spaced’s success owes thanks to the tight working between writers-and-stars Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes (neé Stevenson) and director Edgar Wright. The writing is sharp, crisp and times its jokes perfectly. Behind the camera, Edgar Wright’s visual aesthetic and fingerprints are plastered all over the series. His signature fast-moving whip pans and well-placed angles serve as a precursor to his work on the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy and Scott Pilgrim vs the World. Most directors in television are given little importance beyond getting the material filmed, forced to adhere to maintain a show’s established style. Here, Spaced depends a good deal on its director and it shows.

Spaced is comprised of a surprisingly short number of episodes— fourteen, to be exact, spread evenly over two series of seven. To understand the importance of how an order of episodes can impact the quality of a television show, one need only point out at the slow downhill slide of How I Met Your Mother, a show that (clearly!) started off as a Friends-esque sitcom before quickly growing into its own quirky beloved niche until the dragging of the titular meeting stretched on for too long (nine years) over twenty-odd episodes annually. If the last few years had a reduced number of episodes, combined with removing of unnecessary material serving as filler, perhaps the series’ finale wouldn’t have gone down as the show’s most divisive episode ever.

Spaced, on the other hand, operated as if it had always been destined for a brief albeit spectacular lifespan and managed to make every second, frame and joke count. In some ways, it felt like a very long Extended Edition of a movie.

Every now and then, a comedy (irrespective of medium) comes along that remains vibrant as the day it debuted. One such gem is the Charlie Chaplin classic, City Lights, one of the last silent films to be made that is still funny and moving as ever. For a more modern choice and in television, I would select Friends— it might not exactly be the best sitcom according to critics and Best Comedy-lists but it certainly boasts a far better universal appeal thanks to a timeless bravura mix of jokes, riotous characters and a cast that felt like a real family. Spaced aired at the end of the twentieth century in 1999 and 2001 and even fifteen years later, I can confidently say that Spaced deservedly belongs in the Club of Exclusive Exceptional. Perhaps even its own room named after it. It has wholly earned that prestige.

In the final episode of Spaced, a running theme is— and I quote— “They say the family of the twenty-first century is made up of friends, not relatives”. And you know what? This is one family I wouldn’t mind being a part of.