Women, war and a Western
While television offered more than enough escape from the anxieties and outrages of life in 2017, it also found plenty of contextual and thematic relevance to kick around — sometimes intentional, sometimes just coincidental. I’ve never had a better time doing my job or a harder time picking my yearly favorites. Here they are.
“Twin Peaks: The Return” (Showtime). I couldn’t have been more skeptical about letting David Lynch (and co-creator Mark Frost) run wild for an 18-hour sequel to their groundbreaking yet befuddlingly complex 1990 series. Now I’m a believer. Some say this crazy and exquisitely realized work counts as Lynch’s best film, but I claim it as a triumph for TV — surprisingly linear in its serialized plot, yet mind-blowingly spot-on in its rumination on such subjects as evil, atomic weaponry and the very nature of existence.
“The Handmaid’s Tale” (Hulu). This unforgettably chilling adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s novel arrived with disturbing resonance in an American culture contending with baby-faced nationalists, presidential propaganda and threats to women’s rights. In any other head space, it would simply be a terrific TV show — with a career-defining lead performance from Elisabeth Moss. In 2017, however, it was something more vital, as showrunner Bruce Miller and his writers seeded the story with added hints of a resistance afoot in Gilead, the theocratically fascist country once known as the USA.
“The Vietnam War” (PBS). Years in the making, Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s 10-part documentary series took viewers back through the many decades of diplomatic blunders that led to America’s misguided war in Vietnam. Some quibbled with it, but, in the era of “fake news,” it was reassuring to see a project so thoroughly devoted to sticking to the facts.
“Big Little Lies” (HBO). With a touch of feminist resilience for viewers who can’t quite stomach “The Handmaid’s Tale,” this seven-episode miniseries features an unlikely assembly of heroines (played by Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern and Zoe Kravitz) who are swept up in a backward-spun murder mystery (based on Liane Moriarty’s novel) that takes place in a well-off coastal community. It’s a moody and addictive deep-dive on relationships, class and envy.
“Feud: Bette and Joan” (FX). An extravagant exercise in camp and cultural excavation, “Feud” is a plate of Fancy Feast for the cattiest among us, aided by knockout performances from Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon as Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, respectively, enduring one another during the filming of their 1962 sleeper hit “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” The show also skillfully elicited viewers’ sympathy and a bit of outrage at how the industry mistreats its most talented women.
“Insecure” (HBO). Issa Rae and company took what was already a pretty good dramedy and deepened it. “Insecure” both embraces and subverts the young woman/ big city story template, and it’s not afraid of pessimistic, downbeat outcomes. At its center is a failed relationship between fictional Issa and Lawrence (Jay Ellis) that has provided some of the year’s most honest scenes about heartbreak. “Insecure” retains an ebulliently hilarious and provocative tone — always great fun to watch. “Better Things” (FX). The ignominy of co-creator Louis C.K.’s sexual-misconduct revelations shouldn’t mar Pamela Adlon’s brilliantly self-assured and refreshingly surly dramedy about a single mom, based loosely on her own experiences. (FX feels likewise; C.K. is no longer associated with any of the network’s shows.) “Better Things” went from being a fine show to a truly excellent (and fearless) one, achieving that rare quality of making a viewer feel like part of the family.
“GLOW” (Netflix). Another show about women discovering their own strength? Absolutely. This semi-fictional take on the mid-1980s dawn of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling circuit could be viewed as a direct blow to the misogynistic tendencies of then and now. But mostly it’s just a hoot to watch, thanks to a superb ensemble cast headed by Alison Brie. “The Young Pope” (HBO). Eleven months after it aired, I remain awestruck by Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino’s beautiful (if confounding) 10-part series about a dilettante American cardinal, Lenny Belardo (Jude Law, in a wickedly disciplined performance), who becomes a surprise pick for pope.
“Godless” (Netflix). Yeehaw, it’s a real Western (at last), featuring a broad vista of the genre’s essential narrative conflicts and a particularly strong focus on the iffy morals of the 19thcentury frontier. Michelle Dockery is outstanding as a determined horse rancher who lives on the edge of a small town populated by women who all lost their husbands in a mining disaster. A showdown between a notorious bandit (Jeff Daniels) and his conflicted protege (Jack O’Connell) threatens to take the town down with it. It’s a wild and instantly compelling ride.